St Andrews

[IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere]

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?

@Alittlewornout fine to go as 2 households to a restaurant, they think that businesses have better Covid protection than homes.

@Monkey2001 that's a relief to be able to at least meet in a cafe. I have booked a couple of nights in the premier inn in St A during reading week as unlikely she can come home but adter last weekends wobble I want to keep her there if you see what I mean and a mum extended visit might just keep her going until Christmas all be it without a mum hug😪. @Newgirls I would book something soon as lots of people will have the same idea.

I have booked an air B and B and can cancel if needed 👍 it’s a tricky one as N Sturgeon said don’t book international trips, and didn’t mention uk ones. Possibly to protect jobs in hotels etc. But yes that might change very quickly. We shall see.

Other unis now reporting mini lockdowns eg dundee. What a term it’s going to be.

I assume no mixing between households means no going into other halls which surely should help

DD is in DRA and has been sticking to the rules, along with 2 of the flat mates. One has gone home and other is a bit of a party animal! Has been mixing with other flats, was out on beach other week.
They (DD & 2flatmates) had a chat with her on Sunday, telling her she had to stick to the rules as they didn’t want to catch Covid. So I’m hoping that’s worked.

@idsisatwat negotiating tricky bubbles is another tough part of all this but great that your DD has 2 other sensible people for solidarity. It would be an interesting option for the university to allow accommodation swaps if students find other people they would like to share with to make bubbles function better. They could facilitate a "swap shop" where people who want a quieter bubble or a more sociable bubble could move so that they are happier not to stray outside the bubble.

On another note, DS left one of his pairs of trainers at home (he said he only needed 1 as he is a minimalist packer) and I thought he needed a spare pair so I sent them along with a care package (cold and flu stuff, other bits and bobs he had forgotten and snacks for corridor parties). Thought people might like to know that Parcel2Go will ship a big box weighing up to 5kg for under £5. They send tracking info to the recipient and he was quite excited to hear that a parcel had been dispatched. I put it in a dispatch locker on Sunday and it was delivered this morning.

Good tip monkey thanks

Flat swapping would be useful for some wouldn’t it. Maybe after jan break as can’t quite imagine them allowing it at the moment

Another thing which is going to be difficult for our lot is finding flatmates for next year. I think that normally they sort it this term. There might be a record number of people applying to stay in uni accommodation because they have not met enough people to find flatmates.

Quite a few might not be sure about returning yet so I guess there will be more time to decide

@Monkey2001 I think flat swaps is a brilliant idea. I think they’ve already got someone in mind!

Do you think they’ll be able to stay in uni accommodation next year? It’s so difficult for them this year.

I posted a denim jacket (and a couple of other bits DD had forgotten), first class registered post, it was £6 ish. Arrived in a couple of days, so not bad

Just received the answer to my question from the Online Parents' Meeting:
My Question:
How does the rule of 6 apply to DRA flat of 5 students? Can only 1 student out of the 5 have a visitor in the flat at any one point? Or do the bedrooms count as separate spaces? Or are no visitors allowed to the flat at all?

Answer:
'As I am sure you aware the current Scottish guidelines have been changed this week and there are no visitors allowed in any households across the country at the moment. However, when the government announces a move back to the 6/2 rule, only 1 visitor will be allowed in the flat at one time and there are no overnight guests allowed to stay.'
That is a level of clarity I like!

Really tough that even when things are relaxed they can only have 1 guest between them, so will have to negotiate. I think people in larger "households" will not be allowed to have any guests.

There was an exception in the announcement by Nicola Sturgeon for non co-habiting couples, so even now they should allow a non cohabiting partner to visit.

Drama auditions are happening 👍 online and no idea how shows will happen but dd has reported back. The older students seem to be trying to do what they can

@Monkey2001

Really tough that even when things are relaxed they can only have 1 guest between them, so will have to negotiate. I think people in larger "households" will not be allowed to have any guests.

There was an exception in the announcement by Nicola Sturgeon for non co-habiting couples, so even now they should allow a non cohabiting partner to visit.

I think the University rules are stricter than the country-level ones and don't think that would be allowed. I think they would count as the 6th person and not be allowed to stay overnight if we were back to the rule of 6/2.

I think some sports are also still allowed in a covid-secure way.

@dotoallasyouwouldbedoneby my DS has just gone to Sheffield for the weekend to visit his GF (may be their last chance to see each other for a long time), but it would be very unkind of the university to prevent couples from visiting each other if they are at the same university. I suppose the bright side for couples is that there is very little risk of unfaithfulness!

..... and I have told him to have a zero risk approach and not to take the virus back with him!

I wish Jason Leitch would make his mind up. Yesterday he said it would be ok for students to go home for the weekend - and now he's changed his mind again!!! 😡

@Heffapotamus totally agree with you it is complete joke. Has he no idea of the impact all of these restrictions are having on our young peoples mental health. They were encouraged to go into halls of residence and embrace the experience and have been completely sold down the river. I am fizzing mad as had I known any of this I would have encouraged her to stay at home. I don't care what he says about Christmas she will be coming home and I will face the consequences. In my job as a community nurse I am in and out other peoples houses but can't have my own kids in mine during the holidays I don't think I so.

[quote Alittlewornout]@Heffapotamus totally agree with you it is complete joke. Has he no idea of the impact all of these restrictions are having on our young peoples mental health. They were encouraged to go into halls of residence and embrace the experience and have been completely sold down the river. I am fizzing mad as had I known any of this I would have encouraged her to stay at home. I don't care what he says about Christmas she will be coming home and I will face the consequences. In my job as a community nurse I am in and out other peoples houses but can't have my own kids in mine during the holidays I don't think I so.[/quote]
I'm with you on that.
Mind you, I'm a lone household so could probably have him home under the pretext of him being part of my "extended household".
I too feel like they've been sold a crock of shit. They come out of their rooms to eat - that's it. It's like being in prison 😡

This also feels like a turning point for me. So much encouragement for our kids to travel to uni and embrace the experience. And now suddenly it's too dangerous for them to travel home? Then they should have been advised to stay at home in the first place. Feel like they've been conned just to maintain the illusion of business as usual .

@AchickenCalledDaal totally agree. Conned is exactly the word and us parents have been defrauded of our hard earned cash paying for so called halls of residence which would give Alcatraz a run for its money. Our poor poor kids.

Ladies have you seen the breaking news on the bbc news website? I can't link it but students are now being told they cant go to pubs or restaurants!!! They are basically in house arrest in Scotland!! I cant believe this is happening to be honest.

Money above students’ mental health. DD is very low. She was wavering about going in the first place but I persuaded her that it would be better than being stuck in her bedroom. And there she is, stuck in her bedroom and we’ve taken a loan out to pay for such a confinement. I feel so low myself. Misrepresentation springs to mind.

I'm a bit more sympathetic to the Scottish govt position. It is a rubbish situation for our DC, but if people go to homes all around the country for weekends and come back to university that clearly increases the overall risk. The authorities will have great difficulty imposing a lock down which keeps them there over Christmas, in fact I think it would be impossible, but I think what they are trying to do is protect their ability to offer 50% of the university experience, which is compromised once there is a high incidence of positive cases. If they can't keep the cases down, it becomes unviable to keep the students there at all.

It is probably a bit easier for me to feel positive as the teaching of medics has been very good.

I still think that one essential thing for the universities to do is to make the bubbles function well. On the main "Going to University" thread, Lancaster students seem to have events designed for bubbles to participate in, including fancy dress etc. I hope the Student Association steps up to improve the quality of extra-curricular events and that the cases remain low enough for face-to-face teaching to be introduced for all students soon.

@Alittlewornout - woah, I wrote my comment before I saw a ban on students in pubs and restaurants. That is dreadful if true!