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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Heading towards year 3 exams (uni 2017)

998 replies

Xenia · 05/12/2019 09:23

Continuation of www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3538808-heading-towards-year-2-exams-uni-2017 as we have reached page 40.

Hard to believe they are all in year 3 now and many will finish university in June 2020.

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readsalotgirl63 · 06/12/2019 08:22

Oh I agree its much better to have exams done before Christmas. Dd does tell me she will have to spend time finalising applications for summer work experience placements but I'm sure she'll want to come shopping/lunching etc with usXmas Grin

ErrolTheDragon · 06/12/2019 09:06

DD has had mocks in January the last two years, I'd guess the same again but don't know. She impressed on us early that 'vacation' isn't synonymous with 'holiday'!

Horsemad · 06/12/2019 09:11

DS always studies throughout the Xmas holidays as he always has exams in January.

He generally takes Xmas Day/Boxing Day off but is studying the rest of the time.

Needmoresleep · 06/12/2019 09:18

DD is summer born and for the last however many years has had exams on her birthday. I am hope she will be able to take a proper break when we are in the US, though cooking Christmas dinner in her brothers flat will probably fall to her. (That gap year cookery course was a good investment). But suspect she then has a lot to write up for the six month placement that ends in January.

Carriemac · 06/12/2019 10:39

thanks Xenia , i really didnt appreciate how much the twins needed each other till one of them went abroad - they are usually so independent . havingt yours in the same city must be lovely
My older DS is graduatiuon form his intercalacated masters on friday - our first graduation!

Xenia · 06/12/2019 12:11

I certainly never expected them to go to the same university even but was quite pleased they did - they were both choosing between Bristol and Durham and might have ended up with one at each. Instead they picked different halls and later houses (and differnet courses) and it'[s worked out quite well - they have an emergency person on hand in case of a problem they might not want to talk to their mother about, can share their car there and keep each other's house keys but have mostly different friends. One has a girl friend now but even that doesn't seem to be causing any issues (and she is very nice). They are not identical so that might make a difference.

i remember visiting a school friend in her first year at Durham and next to here room were idential twin girls who wore exactly the same clothes as each other and had made one bed room their living room so they could both continue to share one room. That certainly was a bit strange.

Good luck for the first graduation. Our older 3 graduated a while back. in fact my daughter has just done 10 years at her law firm. Time flies.

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bebumba · 06/12/2019 17:14

I lost you all ages ago I don't know how. I have just been browsing the site and found the new thread. Can I come back?
Ds is doing an integrated masters and is currently doing a work placement across the North Sea. He is home on the 20th for 10 days. One of us is excited..
He has no exams this January either so can come home and relax.

RedHelenB · 06/12/2019 20:22

Hello everyone and welcome Harriet. I won't be around when dd1 comes home at the end of next week but we'll be together for Christmas. She's run out if money so she's not planning much whije she's home other than a meal out with her secondary school friends

Xenia · 07/12/2019 20:20

Sounds good. Mine are coming back on 21st or 20th and probably various friends of their or at least the shcool friend who lives near wll be here a lot - he is at Warwick and when home seems to prefer to come over here most days - they never go to his home but it is full of his siblings and parents and mine just has me and his twin here. I just ordered two new mattresses for next week as the spare room keeps being full - my older son slept on one bed last night and said it was so bad he moved to the floor below as it was so awful - it is definitely the worst mattress so I might as well replace it as he's coming bck to stay for Christmas and will be in that room and 3 of his siblngs are in the others then. He and I spent 30 minutes on the phone cancelling the broadband in his old house - companies certainly make it hard to leave. As soon as we said he was leaving and did not want the service in his new house the nice UK salesman passed us off to very long winded man in India who kept putting us on hold and doing all he could to try to persuade my son to stick with Virgin and then to recommend it to the new occupants etc etc but we were both on to it - every trick in the book used but I think we managed to get it sorted out. and with a £1.84 refund to come in January.

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Haffdonga · 08/12/2019 13:46

@HarrietWimsey
@bebumba
@MaidenMotherCrone
Hello and welcome to friends new and old. Smile It's lovely that we're still all hanging in there together into the third year. It sounds like there's a fair few of us who'll have dcs doing a fourth year one way or another.

@CarrieMac and @Latedecember1963 how are you coping with your dcs being the other side of the world over Christmas? I must admit I've just had a bit of a weep after a whatsapp call to ds1 over there. Struggling with a dodgy internet connection, a weird time delay making conversation almost impossible to chat naturally and difficulty finding time frames between us when we are not out, at work or asleep makes him feel distant in more than just geography.

No idea when ds is coming home. Basically it will most likely be when he realises all his fun uni friends have gone and there's more on offer at home. He'll commit to nothing Wink

latedecember1963 · 08/12/2019 15:28

Aww, thank you for asking, Haffdonga.
At the moment we're doing ok. He always planned a year abroad so it wasn't suddenly sprung on us. I would have loved to do what he's doing but ,even if my parents could have afforded it, there's no way they would have allowed me to go abroad.
It's going to feel really odd on Christmas Eve when we celebrate as a family and he isn't here but I keep reminding myself it's 1 Christmas out of many.
I used to work with someone whose son did RAF tours of duty in Basra and Helmand some Christmasses and he was the same age as DS2. Adelaide is tame compared to that!
I hope you manage to have some better connections next time you speak. I know what you mean about the weird delays on the line, they are so frustrating aren't they?

Malbecfan · 08/12/2019 20:19

DD is home! It's so nice to have her back. On the other hand I am exhausted. The A14 was all but shut yesterday. The signs said a 30 minute delay but it was over an hour. My sat nav reckoned I had averaged 2mph between 2 cameras. Anyway, I had a wander round the centre of Cambridge then spent an hour looking for the bloody bus stop to get back to the hotel.

At 4.30 this morning, the idiots in the next room decided to take up clog dancing and loud discussions (or so it sounded). They were walking up & down the corridor talking loudly. So I didn't get any more sleep. The reception staff said I should have rung them or come down and complained but there was no number & I didn't fancy wandering round in PJs. It then rained torrentially as we loaded the car. However, we found a cheap place to fill up with fuel, Maccy D's did us a decent breakfast, the M25 was moving and we were home by 12.30. DD has moved all her stuff to her room and there is a new washing mountain for one of us to tackle. She has promised to help me at school tomorrow, so I suppose I could load the trusty machine.

Carriemac · 08/12/2019 20:47

It is hard when they are so far away but DS is having such a fab time in Oz so although I really kiss hill I'm happy for him too.

Needmoresleep · 08/12/2019 22:15

DD is home! She came back for a conference but realised she has nothing on tomorrow so opted for dinner at her favourite rib place, an evening of lounging on the sofa, then up early tomorrow to get some Fortnum and Mason tea which someone has requested for Christmas. She claims she will work the rest of the day and then on the train, but she is so very tired I don’t think a day off will do any harm. She still has two weeks left including a tutor assessment to make sure she has covered all the things she needs to have covered, and has written them up. She claims it is mainly done, bar a couple of loose ends. Just as well as there will be enough med students hunting for patients to clerk to reach their target numbers.

Just as you are advised not to go into hospital in July when newly qualified doctors start their rotations, I suspect you should avoid the period just before assessment when med students are desperate to find patients to fire questions at. DD’s approach has been to get nurses and junior doctors on side by bringing in home made cake, and they then introduce her to patients with interesting illnesses. One last week had something the lecturer had said they would probably never see in their careers, yet she saw it the next day.

HarrietWimsey · 11/12/2019 09:21

My DS comes home on Saturday. I've taken to wandering around the house singing "My boy's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming!" to the tune of the chorus from Three Lions. I can only admit that on here.Blush

bebumba · 11/12/2019 09:28

Dp has surprised me by booking a trip to Bruges next Wednesday for 2 days. He has arranged with DS that he will meet us in Brussels on the 20th and we travel home together on Eurostar.
I haven't seen him since August so I will have to restrain myself and not embarrass him with (not too many)hugs at the station 😀

Horsemad · 11/12/2019 09:48

Lol @HarrietWimsey! 😆

My DS is home late on Fri evening, we are collecting him from the station.

@bebumba, enjoy your trip and go for it, re hugs! 🙂

bebumba · 11/12/2019 10:13

Horsemad thanks. I am not known for being restrained!

bigTillyMint · 11/12/2019 10:49

Aww, lovely to see you looking forward to seeing your DC - me too Smile

Haffdonga · 12/12/2019 23:02

We've just had a minor family trauma when our new (well, now 6 month old) kitten disappeared for two days in atrocious weather. Thank goodness kitten turned up very hungry and healthy after a couple of days, but I thought ds was being quiet on the family whatsapp missing kitten update front. Well, my supposedly intelligent and organised ds has left his brand new, very expensive uninsured phone in the rain while he was playing football and it has completely died. What a total fuckwit. Angry

He's off skiing tomorrow early doors so he's bought a cheapo second hand phone to survive - which doesn't work. Hmm

Still looking forward to seeing him though so I can berate him

ErrolTheDragon · 13/12/2019 01:22

DDs been volunteering on her college interview help desk. Tonight, she went to the Xmas dinner (just a pub thing) of the company she interned with last summer. She called us when she was on her way home to say they've offered her another placement for next summer. She's accepted, so that will save her a lot of time and stress applying.Smile

SMaCM · 13/12/2019 08:11

Oh no Haffdonga! Glad you found the kitten though.

Good news Errol.

DD is coming home today.

Xenia · 13/12/2019 08:47

Glad the kitten turned up. One of my twins says he won't be here on 26th (not sure where he will be) so I suppose if they are coming home about 21st that is not very long before he is away again, but better than their having no friends and hating university.

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Horsemad · 13/12/2019 22:08

Pleased to hear kitten turned up Haffdonga. 🐾

I'm at the station, DS's train is 20 mins late due to trespassers on the line. 🙄

Haffdonga · 15/12/2019 11:36

Gratuitous photo. He's so pleased to be home. Smile

Enjoy having your people home everyone.

Heading towards year 3 exams (uni 2017)