We got DD a car at the start of her second year. Her first year was so grim that even her tutor was surprised she made it through. Having to get up at the crack of dawn to get a bus into town in order to get a bus out to a placement did not help, so we wanted to make things easier.
It's been great. She's able to give lifts to both placements and Lidl, though the overseas student used to wide roads and large
Range Rovers was not impressed by either the tiny car or single track rural lanes, plus get to sports training. And able to get there when her grandmother was dying, and will visit her other grandparents next weekend. We have never bought a car, instead relying on family hand-me-downs, so in a way it was our first car.
She is the reverse though. With parking at £4ph seven days a week and congestion charge at £11.50 she can't bring it home at least not for more than the odd weekend. Who knows where it will spend the summer. Or indeed next year if she returns to London, though I guess then she will be a resident so qualify for discounts. Perhaps grandparents are interested, or have space on the driveway.
Her new room on placement is fine, and they have lots of communal space. One of her friends is sharing with a Muslim girl (they were allocated) who is trying to impose conditions including no male visitors to the flat, no pork etc, so is trying to figure out when she can reasonably assert boundaries. Its difficult. A Muslim friend, who heads a University department in a predominantly Muslim country was over at New Year and was bemused at DDs questions. Was it OK to always be late for a tutor group because you had to pray etc? Non Muslim colleagues where she worked often asked her the same things. There was more flexibility in the religion than some people claimed. I suspect she may soon receive more questions from DD.
Its difficult though, as they face three years of clinical mainly in hospital accommodation then two foundation years. They will want to socialise as a group, cook each other dinner etc, and equally won't want Muslim students forced into separate accommodation. I guess they will just have to figure it out.