Heading towards year 3 exams (uni 2017)

[Xenia]

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.

I know - they are doing everything [possible to keep cover patents out of hospital unload they really need to be admitted. Italian dta suggests they're safer at home unless very poorly.

We are hoping we won't have to go near a hospital in the near future. It's interesting to hear how all the different courses are carrying on.

Ignoring DD's uni work, her hair is now pink and purple and yesterday she bought some nail varnish, so her nails can match her hair. She took part in a uni quiz night last night and celebrated her friend's birthday at midnight on Zoom.

SMaCM I hope your DD manages to finish her last term. I bet her hair looks good. DD2 has put pink streaks all through hers.
Her dissertation & project is almost complete - needs to be submitted by Wednesday. She has had her last meeting with her supervisor this morning - so a few minor tweaks before printing out and check all figure and table numbers etc. She has another meeting this afternoon with her group to reformat a bit of their group report. Then 2 more assignments to go before exams towards the end of May. They now are being given up to 48 hours I believe for each exam due to possible technical issues etc. which means they are being issued with a new timetable as some exams don't have 48 hours between them (depending on modules taken and crossover between years 3 and 4).
Good luck all DCs on these final last few weeks. And then I think it will be a strange 'fade out' to their degree rather than the bangs, whistles, partying, graduation etc that we had last year with DD1

Good luck all DCs on these final last few weeks. And then I think it will be a strange 'fade out' to their degree rather than the bangs, whistles, partying, graduation

It's going to be really odd isn't it? We're planning a slap up meal (if I can cook one!) and some films but it's not the same. I bought DD two vouchers for her favourite restaurants in her university town for Xmas and she's not going to get to use them now - she was saving them for graduation celebrations so that's £100 down the drain.

She's got a job interview today (via Skype) and another one on Wednesday, if she gets the job she'll be commuting daily to work from next month and moving house once the probationary period is over . I'll be pleased for her of course but it's a shame that her potential last few weeks at home will be overshadowed by all this.

@SMaCm how is your DD today?

We re still assuming lock down will be over by late June and they will go back (even though lectures are on line) but we shall see. We seem to be huge optimists here! Some of their friend are locked down in their university houses too.
I assume mine will finish the academic year in Bristol although continuing being careful as they were both doing before lock down whilst there.

We re still assuming lock down will be over by late June and they will go back (even though lectures are on line) but we shall see.

Mine won't be back in Bristol; the last exam is in just over 3 weeks time and then that's it, finished. Her tenancy agreement will be up in early June so she'll have nowhere to stay even if there was any academic reason for going book.

Ds has stayed in his student house on his own, 350 miles from home...but he's had end of year assignments to complete including a fieldwork report which he's had to write up using data from previous field trips ( should have been off to Iceland next week)...
He's having issues with the broadband and has engineer out today , so fingers crossed it's fixed ..he has e mailed his tutors to let them know about these problems , not sure how strict they'll be about submission dates at this time? ....wouldn't have normally been an issue as he could have gone to Uni library
He has another year at Uni as he's in Scotland, but wondering how and when he'll be able to come home (he would either get train home or we would normally go and get him but I'm being shielded and we usually stay overnight as it's a 7hr drive one way) No hotels open - only for essential workers and I don't think there's any way dh would sleep in flat ( no bedding in flatmates room in any case!)

Thanks for asking about DD. She had a go at writing an essay yesterday and is now not talking to anyone. We're just taking each day as it comes. No point in worrying about it.

Can the meal vouchers be used later in the year? Not the same I know.

Good luck to all the DC, at home or away and fingers crossed for broadband solutions.

Messaged DS the other day & he seems ok, we didn't really talk about uni work, more family chat. He did say all was ok with studies though.

@Stopyourhavering64, I don't blame your DH for not wanting to bed down in a student flat! 😆😆😆
I took one look at the bathrooms and decided to hold on when I was last at DS's. 😲😲😲 how they live like that, I have no idea. Grim is not the word, bleurrgh.

SMaCM, I hope your daughter manages to keep going. At least she was trying an essay.
I can hear one of the twins who has usually been working outside under a sunshade at the outside table working is now in a living room with what sounds like a recorded lecture going in the background so at least he is getting work done. I think he is doing more than were he in the university house where one friend is in his rented house - his bed room - as her year abroad ended a bit early and she presumably does not have that much to do as her 4th year is her finals year (language student).

One of his friend is at his parents' house (their only house) in Scotland which is so remote it has no wifi of any kind... now glad I kept my landlines and satellite dish and pay for two separate BT broadband lines in case one ever goes down....

Their Bristol houses are rented until 1 July so they probably will be going back even if just for 2 weeks at the end to have a last bit of time with friends.

Today feels different as instead of its being the best Spring for 50 y ears in terms of sunshine we are back to the usual temperature and driving rain and my old repeating the old saying "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out".

I suppose at least it will curtail the litter louts and the hoards coming up and down our very peaceful countryside type but only outer London road and going into the woods opposite as they get really muddy when it rains which puts most walkers off - the fair weather walkers, but not my sons as I know from years of muddy shoes.

I want the gap year one to have a proper chat with his 2 housemates about if their plans are really realistic now and if not then he needs to apply for graduate jobs and/or pick a course (his twin is going to law school for 2 years in London (living at home) from 7 Sept. If they don't talk about it it will get to be too late and they will be sitting in bed rooms at home for a year although according to him if this is over in the summer it is going to be party central at our house. My response was - do you want to kill me.... laughing as I type.

SMaCM's DD. I'm sorry it's so tough for some of them, one way and another, it's desperately unfair.

Spoke to DD on Sunday, she seems to be cracking on to get her 10 'exams' done in the allowed two weeks - she did 4 on successive days, had a day off, then her plan is to do 3, day off, 2, day off and then the last one. Methodical engineering type I suppose!

SmaCM has a university got a 'no detriment' policy regarding covid-19? If so, I would have thought as long as she tries to hand something in, she should be okay.
DD's university haven't got the standard 'no detriment' policy but they have said circumstances will be taken into account.
DD has submitted her dissertation/project and group research paper - with 2 hours to spare . Hopefully she can keep going until the end of May with the rest - she says she has lost her motivation.
I hope those that are still in their university towns/cities are all okay. I think DD is till hoping she will get back to her house before the end of May. Some of her friends are still there but none of her housemates at the moment.

DS's uni has notified students of its no detriment policy but there's a requirement that the student reaches the pass mark for that to be applied. So, while that's a low bar, it's still a bar.

Sorry to hear about your DD SMaCM. Really hope things work out.

Very impressive effort Errol! She's got stamina!

Hellsbells they do have a no detriment policy, but they do have to pass each assignment. She had a trauma last year which knocked her results, so she was working really hard this year to try and pull them back up. We're just taking it as it goes, but she's definitely trying and has had good support from the uni so far. 🤞

SMaCM fingers crossed for your DD. Glad to hear she is getting support from her uni. It would be great if she can complete her degree and get what she wants, but her mental health is very important too.

I think Bristol has some kind of no detriment policy although it does not apply to dissertations still be written so they could pull good marks down. I have one twin at home and one at university (in the sense of in the university house - obviously no university going on there) and they are all being very careful as are those in their student houses.

At least my son's room that has had scaffolding all over his window since September last year it is now down - just as he is not using the room. May be he will get 2 weeks of the 12 months of letting it at the end when he can go back and enjoy the end of term. The estate agent was very difficult to negotiate with (but not the landlord) so when they made it clear they wanted a discount for every month they had no light she just did not pass that on and so they only had about 3 months of slightly reduced rent.

I think Bristol has some kind of no detriment policy although it does not apply to dissertations still be written so they could pull good marks down.

That's what DD has told me. I proof read her dissertation tonight, it's better than the one that got me a 2:1 so fingers crossed.

What are you all planning for their 'graduation' ? Obviously it's limited with lockdown but I have told DD to nominate a day as 'graduation day' and I am planning something at home - I'm making a layer cake which will include the colour of her gown hood and decorating it for her. I'm not a great cake maker but I am not prepared to order one from anywhere right now. Thankfully DS2 is a star baker so will be drafted in to help.

@SMaCM that's sounding promising about your daughter. I'm so glad she's getting good support from the university.

DD's uni have more or less confirmed that they will graduate in February 2021. You are right though, it would be nice to do something to mark the event before then.

DD and her student cohort were given their grade so far yesterday ... except DD's email said that she hadn't passed/completed all her assignments, which she said is not right. So she has another thing to try and sort out, which she really doesn't need at the moment 🙄.

She has been catching up with online lectures today and hopefully will be able to keep getting some work done over the next month or so.

Hello all. DD has been ‘back’ for a couple of weeks. Their big exams this summer have effectively become a progress check. It feels like the right balance. Not too much pressure but doing something constructive. Different medical schools seem to have been taking different approaches. DD hears that Imperial have been piling the work on, right from the start, and no great change in exams, whilst a couple have apparently closed down completely till September.

Not all will have the same access to technology or, with libraries closed, quiet study conditions, so carrying on ‘as normal’ seems discriminatory. But nothing would be equally awful.

DD is disappointed that her intercalation won’t be the experience she had hoped for. She was looking forward to being back in London at a point when school friends were graduating. She was also looking forward to doing something academic with a different cohort. There will be relatively few ‘externals’ so most will already know each other, whilst she may have limited chances to meet them.

The big silver lining is that having missed 3 months of clinical this academic year, there is a full year for the medical school to sort things out. If there is a second wave, those in her cohort who are not taking a year out, face further disruption. At some point there must be a risk that someone decides that they have missed too much of a five year course.

The next issue is how to rescue her things, both from Bristol and her placement. At some point we will just have to do it, but will wait in case lockdown lifts a bit. As the end of her contract gets closer we will be in a better position to argue that it is a necessary move.

I hope everyone and their DC are well. It’s quite strange to have them back home.

@Xenia, absolutely re no detriment policy at Bristol - DD is putting all her focus on her diss and then will tackle the essays which are covered apparently!
@bettybattenburg, good on your DD getting hers submitted!

@Needmoresleep, DD has been home for 6 weeks and is itching to go back - I think she and her medic friend will go back at the start of June and then she will be there to move her stuff into next years house as she’s staying to do a Masters. Not sure she will get back to her job though, as it’s a nightclub and they aren’t likely to be reopened first!

@SMaCM I hope the university sort out their mistake with your DD's assignments.

I feel terribly sorry for those who are missing out on graduation events. DS has just been showing me facebook photos of his friends' online graduation party. Lots of people standing in living rooms with proud parents and home-made mortar boards. Not quite the same for them. It must be such an anticlimax. I hope those of you with graduates get a chance to do it in real life.

Like your dd, Needmoresleep I'm so pleased ds is intercalating next year because it gives the uni an extra year to try and get things back onto some kind of normal timetable. His year have already been told their electives are cancelled (when they get to swan off somewhere exotic and pretend to be doctors on a beach in Thailand). I'd promised ds I'd fund him to go and stay with his brother in Australia so I'm disappointed for him.

DS is itching to get his stuff back too - many a light-hearted conversation about why collecting his music equipment would be counted as an essential trip. But he is finally getting some online lectures though, currently Obs and Gynae which gave dh the shock of his life when he walked into ds's room mid lecture to catch the most graphic slide of some poor woman mid gynae op!

Hope everyone is keeping well. It's interesting to hear how everyone's DCs and their universities are dealing with things.
DS2 seems ok. He's busy with assignments as he goes into the last 2 months of his semester. We haven't sussed out getting him home yet, but his accomodation provider have said they will extend his stay if he needs it. I suppose they will be glad of the rent as they aren't going to be getting the usual intake of foreign students.

Bristol will give degrees this summer as usual but the graduation ceremony will be at a later time. In fact their older sister who want to Bristol 13 years ago went with us to a Feb graduation (as she was working abroad by the July graduations) so it has not always been necessary to go to the July ceremony anyway. Even so, it is a pity. One of mine is coming back tomorrow I think, as is his housemate as it is not as easy to lock down there. They are being very very safe but I do hope he gets back okay. He thought I would refuse to l get him back. He is very clean and careful. Spent years complaining about how badly I wash up pans, always cleans his hands well. He is allowed to move house under the regs and to move if he has had a row with someone so hopefully will be okay. The plan still remains that once diss. and essays/exams are over and lock down lifted they will all be back to Bristol for end of term.

"When will a decision be made as to when Graduation will take place?

We continue to monitor the situation closely and to follow the UK government guidelines to help combat the spread of the virus. When the restrictions change, and it is safe to do so (full all those involved) we can start to plan for future graduation celebrations.

At this stage, we have no way of knowing when the current Coronavirus pandemic will ease to allow us to make definite plans. We will update you on this once we are able to make revised plans for graduation."

Both my twins are leaving stuff in Bristol rooms to collect before end of term although I have said leave no valuables there like passports particularly in the house which might be completely empty.

I am glad most people students are doing well. As my son is coming back early he won't have had the conversation with his gap year friends about their plans. I suppose as long as they have it by about 1 June that would be good. As I keep saying not deciding things is effectively taking a decision as other options are then lost.