The ABC of university life (2019/20 cohort) - Will NewModelArmyMayhem18 forgive me?

[MrKlaw]

previous thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3701968-The-ABC-of-university-life-2019-20-cohort-settling-in-we-hope

Hope you don't mind - people have pent up comments about cheese graters and traffic cones to get out of their system!

@Ginfordinner how easy would it be for you to go and get her?

I was quite ill in my 3rd year (chickenpox followed by glandular fever) and I never got to the point where the thought of 4 hours travel seemed worth the home comforts. plus having db screaming that I couldn't come home as he hadn't had chickenpox
So I'd take from that that she really is feeling dreadful.

@HoldMyLobster, is it Chicago where ER is set? Rewatching the whole run of series I'm minded that it seems to be snowing most of the time! Have a lovely time visiting your DD when you go.

@Jano69 sorry to hear your father isn't well.

@Ginfordinner sorry to hear that your DD is still not well.

HoldMyLobster, is it Chicago where ER is set? Rewatching the whole run of series I'm minded that it seems to be snowing most of the time! Have a lovely time visiting your DD when you go.

Yes that's right - and yes, it does snow a lot there. When DD and I visited in April it snowed the day we arrived! Which reminds me, when we go I should take her snowboots, warm coat, etc.

New post here but we do still do have 45 posts on this one before we reach the magic number!

@HoldMyLobster, I don't envy your DD being in that cold climate for five/six months of the year. Sure I recall various characters commenting on it snowing in October and April, so very long winters presumably. It makes me feel 'brrrr' thinking about DS at UEA which tends to be cold in the winter but benefits from much warmer and drier summers than other parts of the UK.

DD has a middle ear infection and has been prescribed some antibiotics. The GP even showed the trainee nurse what an infected ear looks like.

Ooh your poor dd gin. Glad she's got some antibs.

Thanks for all your kind wishes everyone. Halloween is DD's favourite time of year, and she is so bitterly disppointed to be missing out on everything.

That would certainly explain the dizziness Gin hopefully the antibiotics will kick in fast and she'll start to feel better soon.

Glad that the GP has got to the bottom of what's wrong with your DD @Ginfordinner. Hope she feels much better very soon.

Gin, so sorry that is a nasty thing to have was in bed for five weeks with that before I got antibiotics which cleared it up within a few days. She may have some balance issues for a time afterwards just to warn her.

Great mine tried to get a GP appt yesterday and was told to see a pharmacist - she did that today and guess what pharmacist says see the GP ! Surgery said ring tomorrow and see if they can give her an emergency appointment - I’m going up Saturday anyway as she doesn’t feel well and if need be I’ll take some antibiotics etc up with me . She’s not one to complain. - apart from routine vaccines only seen a doctor twice in her 18 years .

Oh no bengalcat. I hope she can get an appointment. DD was told at first that there weren't any appointments until Friday, then they offered her a call back. After talking to her they realised that she needed to be seen sooner.

@Ginfordinner glad she’s got help. I had a viral version a few years ago and was crawling around as the room was bouncing about(to my eye) and was violently sick too. Was a bit off balance for a few weeks and each cold I got after that for a few years!
@bengalcat wishing your DD well too. PS how could you get antibiotics to take up with you?

Just had to sign a virtual guarantor agreement for DD’s rental next year. Wasn’t what I needed mid stir/fry!

Dd is still thinking about staying on campus next year. York students have definitely been advised not to rush in to making decisions yet as friendships are only really being made now. But dd is not a social person so I await to see if she makes a firm enough friendship group to choose to live with them. I predict she won't but haven't said anything to her about it. I have warned her she probably wont get as nice a room (new ish build with ensuite) if she chooses to stay on. And that she needs to be asking accommodation services how to go about sorting it if she does choose to stay on there. Its definitely an option though as it is advertised on their site.

Well DS ( on gap year) has accepted Newcastle - am so pleased as although it's the other end of the country for us, its a beautiful part of the country, a great city and I'm looking forward to some short breaks there! He's now champing at the bit to get accommodation etc sorted before he goes travelling in Feb. Hope you don't mind me posting on this thread instead of the 2019/20 one, but I feel more at home on this one!
Anyway - wanted to ask if anyone can remember which of the many threads had all the discussion about student loans and accommodation costs? Our situation has changed somewhat in that both DH and I will be retired when DS starts ( we are OLD) - which I think means he will probably get ( at least in his second year) nearly the max loan. But because we've been saving for his uni years, we could afford for him to take a smaller loan - just need to weigh up the pros and cons really.

LaBelleSauvage123 If you have any questions about Newcastle I can try and answer them for you.

More woe from DD. Both her phone and Macbook charger have broken, and she has an essay due in on Monday. How has she managed to break both at the same time?

LaBelleSauvage123 how is your DS getting on on his gap year? Good for him accepting Newcastle. Lovely part of the world to be a student and for visiting family!

Oh no, your poor DD @Ginfordinner. Is it possible that with her being so ill, she tried to use the wrong cable for the devices? Poor thing.

But because we've been saving for his uni years, we could afford for him to take a smaller loan - just need to weigh up the pros and cons really.

Unless he's guaranteed to go straight into a salary well above the national average on graduation, the repayment of even a small portion of any student loan is likely to be sometime in the future. And the amount repayable each year depends on the amount he earns over the threshold, not how much he has borrowed.

In the meantime, your savings, once spent, are spent. If your DS needs financial support once he has graduated, there is no more that he can borrow, plus you no longer have the means to help him.

MarchingFrogs is right.

I agree with @MarchingFrogs; take the loan and save the money to help in other ways like property purchases down the line.

Lancaster parents here ! Any others about ??

@MrKlaw Just saw this about Bath accommodation. How has your ds settled in now? www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/university-bath-students-live-ymca-3489459

Hi @scarecrowfeet - fellow Lancaster mum still here. We are visiting ds on Sunday. He is 1.5 hours away from us. I think we will go for a pub meal and a walk. Ds is settling well, his usual self and enjoying his Physics. How about your dc?