Son going to Uni 2021....I feel clueless, anyone else?!

[anaa1]

Hi! My son is going to be applying for Uni for next Sept. It’s suddenly occurred to me how clueless I feel, my uni experience seems a lifetime ago!! His application needs to be in by January. I need to find out about loans...open day visit on 26th of this month so that will be the first step I guess. DS is an only so it’s not as if I am familiar with any of this. He’s at
College at the moment - how helpful will they be, re applications, or is it best to do it all ASAP without waiting for college to address it?

Can OP say what the course is and people might be able to suggest alternatives?

So glad you have posted this, I feel exactly the same, only just realised we have to apply by Jan!! And all seem to far away in what my son's doing at college. Feeling quite anxious about the whole process tbo. My son only turned 17 in August and into his 2nd year of college on a 2 year course..... Not sure he is ready for uni it's come round so quick.

He can have a gap year. Apply for 2022. He then applies with his A level results. If he’s not ready, it’s not obligatory to go. My DD2 is a mid August birthday but was bright and very confident so no issues at all. For those who need to grow up a bit, waiting is ok. However there is now the worry about what they can do in that year. Often there is peer group pressure to go but he might well surprise you with maturity in the next couple of months!

Yes it is something I'm going to talk to the college about as he still has 1 year free learning at college in theory if he found a course for a year he would like ??
I really hope the college support and help us, I'm trying to do lots research etc . reading up on maintenance loan was abit worrying parents top up 😳 trying to look at options where he can travel rather than live in maybe?
He's studying games design .

Presumably you are in a position where your household income cuts down the amount of maintenance loan that your DS can borrow, but fixed outgoings mean that you can't actually afford to contribute much to his living expenses if he moves away?

Yes by what I've read up on we will have to contribute around £4000 a year if I've got it right , wish I had that a year 😂 spare. But as a parent I don't want to let him down and limit his choices 😒

Don’t worry too much about articles that tell you that you will have to contribute huge sums to make up the difference if they don’t qualify for the full loan. A lot will depend on the accommodation cost. Eg a young man I know starting this year is getting the minimum loan & his halls are slightly less than this (I know this is unusual!). His parents will then give him a weekly amount for food & socialising which will not be anywhere near £4K. They can work in the holidays to supplement their income too.

But I at this stage the focus should be on the UCAS application itself - student finance & accommodation applications are much later in the process.

Ok thank you thats really good to know, I'm hoping his college will support him with the progress even if it's this year or next year if he finds a 1 year course that suits or of interest , lots to think about. Thanks for all the advice and this post, it's been really helpful 😊

If you've got Facebook WIWIKAU helped me loads with mine. It's quite hard to navigate now as it's got so much busier than it used to be but still has some excellent advice. (Ignore the posters stressing about lockdown)

@anaa1 My daughter started last week. I've never been to uni and neither has my husband. We started with the open days first, so she got a general idea of where to apply for. Oxbridge deadline mid October, so bear that in mind. You will have to pay an application fee for UCAS before it goes off to the unis. Thats 1 payment for all 5 choices. UCAS is quite straight forward and college will also help with this. Daughter did most of the application all on her own.

Student loan calculator on the government website. put in your details, you will get estimate of how much maintenance loan he will get. And best time to apply for student finance. is around end of February, early march before the rush comes. Your son will need an account first, then so will you and so will his dad. You use your account to submit your P60, same as Dad, or wage slips. They will email you to say thanks for the submission, and your son will get an email and a letter to say his reward and this will have dates the payments will be made. He has to make sure if he gets a student bank account to change the current bank details on his student finance account to the new one. My daughter kept with same bank and did an upgrade to student bank account so details stayed the same:)

Look at uni websites and scholarships and bursaries. Daughter went to Lancaster and because of her grades and unconditional offer scheme she got award money for exceeding grades. Others offer bursaries if you earn under a threshold, and also emergency bursaries if needed.

For the Unis your son applies to. You tube Vloggers. watched those with daughter. That comes to move in days, what to pack, how to study alevels, freshers week. homesickness tips etc. We learned what to expect and also when the time comes to moving in day, your not sitting wondering how hes getting on.

After results day, go to uni website to prepare. See this link as one example www.lancaster.ac.uk/welcome/campus-learners/
Theres a lot of clickable pictures and icons on there to help you get ready for uni, and there will be other unis that have a similar set up.

@sammyjoanne thanks! All really helpful info. How is your daughter getting on? Thankfully my sons college is now just starting the UCAS registration, etc so the wheels are grinding into gear now and I feel we’re getting going. Exciting times!

And thanks to everyone for the comments, all very helpful.

That's great thank you so much !! 😊😊

@anaa1 she is loving freshers. she doesn't drink and her flat mates are really supportive of that. (she did get some rosé and darkfruits on first day so that helped lol)

She's hardly spend much time in her flat. her housemates (there's 12 in her household) have been out to bars, clubs (socially distanced prebookable tables of 6, all covid secure) . Instagram bingo, on line quizzes, visited the castle and local parks. she knows its a possibility covid could reach her college (its a collegiate uni) so she's also got extra food in a box put to one side in case and she's already done a wash as well to keep on top of it. The club scene really isn't her bag; she doesn't like the idea of lots of people crammed together dancing and being like sardines any way; so having this covid friendly version, shes loved it.
We have not facetimed all freshers week. if she was homesick, by facetiming everyday we felt it would fuel her wanting to come home even more. So we kept it to texts/Imessages only, and we told her to keep busy as much as possible, and its really helped :) We will facetime this weekend at some point so we get a full run down soon :)

And glad the college is getting on with the application. What unis is he applying for?

Also seen posts on the finance, how much its going to cost us. We did a plan. We put £100-120 per month to one side from when the UCAS application went in. This was for uni items such as laptop, kitchen ware, duvets etc etc. so come when your buying it, your not using your CC.
August and Septembers payday just before uni went on freshers week and full shop of food and beer etc. so come October, they should have their maintenance loan payment.

Everyone's situation is different when it comes to the student finance payments. Its on how much your earn, how much accommodation is, is it in london? Student finance calculator is good to get an idea of how much you will get. Also your DC may get a bursary, or scholarship. so definitely check out all the uni's websites and what they offer.