University life for freshers (2019/20) - we're hopping towards Easter with a pandemic to avoid **Title edited by MNHQ**

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@Benjispruce your skills may come in very useful at some point.

I was remembering with great fondness the lovely Victorian villa I grew up in - DSibs had the top floor (granny annexe) with their own bathroom and kitchen! That would have been perfect in current circumstances. As it is my family is squashed into a small house with only one bathroom (and not even a separate loo). With DS back it's feeling really cramped.

Sorry haven’t read all the updates BUT has everyone’s dc come home now from uni? DS breaks up officially next Friday but not sure wether it’s best to just leave them till term ends or to advise him to come home.

@Benjispruce you may find it heavingly busy. I'm quite surprised it's going ahead TBQH. Good luck.

@Shimy many but not all I think? DS has stopped face to face lessons now at Bath but has asked to wait until Friday for a pickup - as they won’t be back this year so I guess he wants a couple more days with his friends before coming home for 6 months (wow that sounds like a long time when you write it down)

Maybe a bit early to thinking about this, but if the current situation is still ongoing in September is it worth considering deferring the second year of University & having a 'gap year' and then returning the following September? I'm not sure how it would work but might it be an option?

Anyone working in a Uni who knows about this?

No Shimy, I'm not sure everyone has left yet or all universities have 'closed' - I know definitions of this are fluid! but for example I just checked one univ web page and it is emphasising that even though teaching is going online the university is not closed, and most facilities are staying open (won't name it because you never know how up to date pages are and I don't want to sow confusion!)

I think some may be holding off from saying 'stay away until September' to see how things pan out in the next few weeks - so I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that all will go remote-only next term.

Interesting, Ragwort. For the students I suppose the question would be what to do in the gap year - job prospects in hospitality/retail not great (understatement), and travel may well still be disrupted, so would they just be sitting at home getting low? And of course if the measures are still in place (which is the hypothetical scenario, otherwise the univs will be bau), they won't be able to meet up with friends or go out to a museum/cinema. So carrying on with the degree online might be the most constructive thing way to spend the time!

My DS is home because he has nothing to do at uni at the moment. No face-to-face teaching and nothing online yet. We expect that the course leaders will be in touch with all students by next week. As with other places there is no information about what will happen after Easter; I assume it is all wait and see.

Personally, I do not think universities should have reacted so quickly and sent students out into their respective communities, but what do I know? Is anyone managing to get their DC to socially distance themselves from their peers? DS is at his gf house now (she has a large bed), he has also been in a car with 2 other friends (from his uni) and met 2 others for a short time, reasoning that these are all people that he has been seeing in the last 2 weeks anyway, and their sole concession seems to be that they will meet up in open air rather than pubs or 'Spoons. I do get his reasoning.
When DD gets back from France later she will be in lockdown for 7 days, though!

"As with other places there is no information about what will happen after Easter; I assume it is all wait and see."

That's the thing though, it seems that some are not 'wait and see' but effectively saying see you in September - although I think another pp has said none have actually said that, that is the 'subtext'. I tend to think that it may be too early to know what is best - if the 'have you had it' test became available, or even a 'have you got it at the moment' test more widely available (which I think I read is perhaps not so far off), this could change the position quite significantly. The consequences of 'effectively closing' ie going online with living away students back home, for summer term will be very significant for the students. And, possibly more long term for the universities although that is in the realms of speculation!

The SFE stuff for next year will be mad, too. When do we have to do that by? I have had reminder text but juts parked it atm.

I believe it's June for current students @Piggywaspushed.

Ah, OK. Not sure I know where any log on details have gone but will set to it in time.

DS never looks at his emails. I really need him to start!

@MrKlaw & @Canitreallybehappening20 That’s a relief then. I was afraid I was the only terrible mum who hadn’t rushed to retrieve her offspring. Ds’s uni is doing the same I.e planning online stuff but face to face still continuing for now. DS also has loads of coursework he’s trying to be through.

One silver lining of picking up DS, under his bed I found all the pasta, tins and loo roll we dropped him off with after Christmas.
I think he’d forgotten it was all there, we are now well stocked at home 😊

Shimy my DD is at Durham and is refusing to come home. She's sort of self isolating in her room (not going to meals because her friends have left not because they are not serving) but one of the societies which is outside are still getting together on the river so she's busy with that. She is dreading having to come home next week (she's booked a train for Thursday) as she has no social life at home and so risks getting very low. I am in health care so as our staff start to self isolate I can get her doing stuff in work. She has also offered to do online (or face to face if allowed) tuition to friends kids for GCSEs and A levels. She said she even will do it for free to keep her busy. I guess that's an option for students who are home with nothing to do. She's also planning to go back to college after the Easter break as planned because as yet no one has told her not to. Quite a few of her friends got the train home so left stuff there. I've told her to not plan and just take it week by week.

I think that's a very good message mumtoeim - take it day by day even, as things are changing so fast. Changes in testing or in knowledge about ongoing infection rates may happen quickly and that could have a significant impact.

(Also, becoming more controversial here, but I do hope that people doing things like tuition get paid for it. Maybe too 'political' a discussion for this thread!)

We ended up doing DS's sfe application last week when he was back for a couple of days, working from home, but only because I had gone into his account to check when the 3rd payment was coming and saw the reminder.

DD at Durham until Friday night/Saturday.

DS is home and has to self isolate because of me. Not a hardship for him anyway. he was under instruction to bring his 22 loo rolls home but didn't

The sfe thing will be a nightmare for so many unfortunate people whose finances will change over these coming months.

Is it easy to do for year 2, otherwise?

DS is coming home tomorrow for the weekend as planned. He will drive back to Nottingham instead of getting the train and try to hold out for as long as he can there as possible. He’s then got the advantage of having his car there and is able to bring everything home if need be.
He’s been told that Nottingham will send out an email on Monday about next term.

@Shimy, we didn’t go to get DS - he got the train home. He says all his friends were picked up but we couldn’t just rush up there.
obviously there are freshers still there @Benjispruce and @mum2eim. What are they doing for food if not eating in as no cooking facilities in DSs college. I’m hoping we can go up to collect his stuff if no ban on driving that far/staying in a hotel overnight. Though of DH and I share the driving we could be OK.

He’s been told he will have 48hr online essay submissions instead of exams

My DS is at Nottingham.. said DH would pick him up Saturday and he's said he's staying and so are flatmates .. they are at Broadgate .... don't know what he's up to !!!

@piggywaspushed, online application very easy. Unless there has been a change in details most information is already in place. You just have to add your salary for year end 2019.

Bloomin eck. Not sure as I would know that.