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Higher education

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

Original poster

St Andrews

996 replies

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 29/01/2020 12:07

DD has received a very good offer from St Andrews. She loves the look of the course and is very keen to go there. Aside from the course she loves the idea of a small town, has no interest in nightlife as part of the "student experience" and loves the quirky traditions.

Does anyone have any experience of being there and the extra expenses that could be involved such as the extra cost of travel, formal dinners and the like?

We are a low income family in an economically deprived area. She is part of a very small 6th form - 12 in the Upper 6th. Her school is not in special measures but is holding on by the skin of its teeth! They are very keen for her to go to St Andrews but she is not going to be their responsibility!

We will support her as much as we possibly can but I am worried that it will be a lot more expensive than a less elite university.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
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13
Monkey2001 · 09/09/2020 19:38

I mean that now students in England can't gather in groups of more than 6, even outside and socially distanced. At the moment our lot can still gather on the beach. The SAGE advice was that outside is a lot less bad than inside, but I think govt was under pressure to make the message simple, with one number inside and out. The limit of 6 is expected to last a long time.

Don't know what Scotland will do.

Alittlewornout · 09/09/2020 19:38

@Newgirls you are so right re the alcohol! If I have 2 glasses of wine I really feel it the next day. As a student nurse we used to finish a late shift at 9.30pm go clubbing, get in about 2am and still presented ourselves for a 730am shift the next morning!!( I promise very little alcohol was consumed with the early start but it's the stamina we had I am now in awe of!)

Monkey2001 · 09/09/2020 19:40

The stamina/speed thing is for everything! I remember doing the shopping and cooking of a picnic for about 15 people in 4 hours, including making quiches. No way I could do that now.

Heffapotamus · 09/09/2020 20:50

It looks like a very stern email has been sent to students about the consequences of breaking the Covid code. ☹️
In addition, the local press ran an article about 150 students on the beach on Sunday night. Our DC need to be so careful. Just one person in a bubble with Covid will subject the whole bubble to quarantine ☹️
Oh I hope they heed the email!

haggisaggis · 09/09/2020 22:03

DD’s student household is 12 - as far as I can gather even under English guidelines it would still be ok for them to meet together. I hope so as they do need a bit of a social life.

Monkey2001 · 09/09/2020 22:57

I think DS was one of the 150! He said the police sent them home and he got back at 1:00, but it all seemed quite gentle and low key. At least it was outside, which is much safer than indoor gatherings. He is pretty good at distancing, definitely does not want to risk missing out on the face-to-face stuff he is lucky enough to get as a medic.

Newgirls · 09/09/2020 23:21

I would totally have been one of the 150 - who can blame them? But I guess also risky or at least the locals might think so. Outside seems low risk to me but who knows

Alittlewornout · 10/09/2020 08:03

Actually feel really sorry for our young people, and the impact this will have in their mental health. My dd is already worried about a friend who is in a flat with only one other person and has become really anxious, not sleeping etc. There is no easy answer. I do think young people are trying their best but the rules can appear quite complicated and ever changing.

Newgirls · 10/09/2020 08:18

150 out of 7000 is pretty low. I think this is really tough on mental health and I’d be amazed if any uni support team is ready to deal with this term. Hence more parental involvement than ever I am sure!

When studies start next week I think it will help many of them get out and about and meet a few real faces. I do hope so.

Alittlewornout · 10/09/2020 08:42

@Newgirls I agree and there arec2 beaches at St Andrew's which are huge. There could have been 20 smaller groups there well spaced out for all we know. The protect Scotland tracing app is now live I have just downloaded it took about 20 seconds. Please encourage all you DC to install it.

haggisaggis · 10/09/2020 11:22

Dd went to the beach on Monday. They were sitting as 2 household groups - 2 m between groups - but still got moved on. I know it’s difficult but for their mental health think there has to be some flexibility. Or they’d be as well being at home.

Newgirls · 10/09/2020 13:45

That sounds really strict

haggisaggis · 10/09/2020 13:56

So 6 people indoors & outdoors in Scotland too from Monday. Not good.

Heffapotamus · 10/09/2020 14:08

@haggisaggis

So 6 people indoors & outdoors in Scotland too from Monday. Not good.
And only from 2 households. Ouch!
Monkey2001 · 10/09/2020 14:29

@haggisaggis

So 6 people indoors & outdoors in Scotland too from Monday. Not good.
Sad
Monkey2001 · 10/09/2020 17:36

Sad message from DS saying 1 student and a member of staff have tested positive. Hope they manage to contain it.

Newgirls · 10/09/2020 18:18

Inevitable really at start of term. The key is containing it now. I wonder if the student was in private or halls etc - with all the social distancing hopefully not a huge spread

Heffapotamus · 10/09/2020 18:21

@Monkey2001

Sad message from DS saying 1 student and a member of staff have tested positive. Hope they manage to contain it.

That's not good. That's their households quarantined for 14 days ☹️
The rule of 6 is stricter in Scotland than England too - 6 indoors or outdoors from just 2 households. Don't know what that means when you're in a household of 8 as my DS is...
It's very tough for them.

Monkey2001 · 10/09/2020 23:28

Somebody posted the whole message on FB and looks like the member of staff had not been in at all, and the student caught it outside Fife, so as long as it has not already spread it should be OK. I have not seen anything about which year they are in. Hopefully it will just make all the students a bit more careful.

Newgirls · 11/09/2020 07:51

Having a testing site in St. Andrews is amazing - round here it’s a nightmare getting one so the uni must have really been a focus for the Scottish gov. Sort of reassuring.

If we get to two weeks with no more cases then it’s clear? Am I being naive?!

Dd was planning to do an online music quiz last night so hope that was fun. She seems to be exploring, finding her departments so I’m happy with all that!

Monkey2001 · 11/09/2020 09:23

I don't think it is likely that we will get to 2 weeks with no more cases, I think the target will be to keep numbers down as it is very unlikely that it will be possible to have 0 cases. Over on the Y12 thread 2 of the posters have had cases in their schools, and schools are much smaller than universities. I think London is currently 15 cases/100,000, so with over 9,000 students and staff I think you should probably expect a few cases.

Newgirls · 11/09/2020 13:08

I think the remoteness might be in its favour compared to big cities. Depends what the uk students brought in with them...

Wbeezer · 11/09/2020 13:16

A run of bad weather at the weekend would help keep casual visitor numbers down.

Monkey2001 · 11/09/2020 21:58

DS seems to have found his tribe - now that they are moved on from the beach in the evening, Andrew Melville common room appears to be the place to go.

idsisatwat · 12/09/2020 08:09

It’s good they’re all settling in and finding people to talk to. DD is in DRA with 3 other girls (the 5th person hasn’t moved in yet). Luckily they seem like a really nice bunch. They ordered pizza in on their first night together.
Though I think DD seems to be surviving on cheese on toast and fruit! Hopefully the cooking will increase.
DD tried the basketball (after some persuading). Loved it and might try for the teams, and had an online pub quiz with Geology society the other day.