University 2020 :10: Empty nests warm vests and covid tests: uni parents 2020

[sammyjoanne]

Carry on from MilicentMartha's University 9 thead
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/a4025020-University-2020-9-And-theyre-off-making-hay-while-the-sun-shines?msgid=101075411#101075411

I suggested to Ds1 (third year) that he redoes the (third) year. He has lost out on so much extracurricular that helped his degree and was really depressed for a lot of second year from April till Sept, and only just rebuilding his motivation to be sociable.
Ds2 in first year is actually still full of motivation to engage, learn, make friends. I think it is worth continuing through till Easter at least, and hope the opportunities and outdoor activities increase. It's why he chose Lancaster after all the countryside walks, the history, exploring, train rides to Manchester etc. I'm sure it will get better.
Ds1 went back to uni today (private acc) Ds2 still here and I'm relieved. Every mouthful of veg is setting him up for another long bout of junk meals and cider, and we still won't be able to visit will we???

@Nettleskeins that might be a good idea he does the third year again. Hopefully come the new uni year there will be oppotunties to help with societies and open days etc.
Thats true, we wont be able to visit them whilst we are in lockdown, which is annoying. Have facetimed her this week and alls well and looking forward to learning next week.

"Has anyone’s DC even voiced the possibility of asking their university about restarting first year again in the autumn?"

One of DS’s flatmates has decided to do this.

I’d like dd1 to redo third year and get the year abroad but I think it’s more complicated than just redoing the year.

Edinburgh medics have been advised first two weeks will be online only so some are now waiting to return, saving a few weeks' rent. Dd is waiting for outcome of Scottish announcement today and a meeting with personal tutor tomorrow but may well wait until late January now, journey complicated by work on East Coast mainline mid January so she either goes next week or in 3+ weeks! If unis really don't want students back on campus or living in halls they need to offer similar incentives.

Dd has had an email from Exeter this morning to say accommodation fees for those in halls with be waived for lockdown for those not returned.
I'm so glad they've finally agreed to this.

Now she's been told Medical Science students are requested to remain at home for the whole of the Spring term. So she won't be paying any accommodation for this whole term.
Shame she's just paid her invoice.

Thanks for your help re TSR, @sammyjoanne, I'll see what I can find.

No news from Lancaster on the rent reductions, however there has been an open letter gone to the VC to demand a 50% rent reduction for people living on campus, and a full rent reduction for any time not spent on campus. And reasons given was not enough facilities were open, mental health services long wait times and encouraging students to take on accommodation with blended learning, only to find hardly any face to face teaching at all. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4V9MGsKkjWiZjM5xWgSVpY59mcTS0Ttpv_4ZgWqttZf0LGg/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3ix-tP20MPmx3ZdJC5HqOVjxCNZn8uER4OtA26Dx5zwBoIzX8ID9bQvLU
The last statement on the blended learning. I totally agree some students have been mis-sold this ideal. I know my daughter feels the same. She was expecting to have the workshops, tutorials and labs at the least, only to find 3 hours per fortnight in a lab was her only in person teaching, and the atrium study space closed. So yeah, can understand why students want to pay less on their accommodation fees on campus.

Another negative Lateral flow test today with DD. Thats 2 negative tests done.

My son is restarting the year in September 2021. He initially started Lancaster Uni in September 2020 but decided he didn’t like the way all learning had moved online and was struggling to keep motivated. Also, he realised, he didn’t want to pay over £18,000 to study online with many social aspects of uni life being unavailable. He spoke to the uni and they said he could defer to this September. Apparently, there were quite a lot of students dong this at the time.
It’s been a tough year for first years whatever choice they’ve made, they just have to do what’s right for them.
He still had to pay some fees but they were minimal as he left early on in the autumn term. If you ask to defer after Christmas, accommodation and tuition fees owed, will be higher. You’d have to look into this.

user1471555064 In the case of DD, shes very happy, although she would have liked to have had more in person teaching and study spaces open like the physics atrium and even have the college study spaces open. She does make use out of the library and likes her independence and the teaching has been excellent, despite it being on line. Hopefully as more get vaccinated things will start to open up again :)

@sammyjoanne Really pleased your DS is really happy at Lancaster. I went there, and my DH many years ago! So pleased that DS chose Lancaster, I hope things start to improve soon as it’s a great uni with so much to offer. DS was considering the value of what he was getting, and decided he wanted more for what he was paying. Interesting debate on radio 2 now about this. May be worth listening to at some point.

Dd disappointed that the Scottish staggered starts have been pushed back to end Feb/March. Her tutor thinks the whole semester will be online.

Yeah I do think this term will be online its inevitable given the number of cases and that nhs is reaching crisis point.
Were watching shawshank redemption on sky thiller (DH, DD2 and me). old classic but good one for a friday night with a bottle of vino :)

DS has got a few more flatmates returning today, thank goodness, though I’m not sure how they have justified moving during lockdown. I expect this has been the first opportunity they had to travel in a private car since Monday’s announcement though. We were lucky that I didn’t start back at work myself until Wednesday, so managed to get him back to Manchester before lockdown was announced.

He’ll be happy enough with online everything. It will be no different to last term for them, with pretty much constant self isolation/tier 3/lockdown. They had a fun first week only back in September before it all came crashing down, but they seem really happy as a flat together, having bonded over it all.

Will DS be able to go back if our broadband can't cope with online course delivery?

Dd's tutor said uni might help with bb issues, not sure how, maybe a 4g dongle?

4g also rubbish here, unfortunately.

Just dropped DS off at Lancaster, was surprised how many of the townhouses seemed to have students in. 7 of ds flat are back, he seemed V happy to be back with them all and think he will study much better there than at home. Ds returns to uni on Thursday or Friday, she's 3rd year medic so no other option for her

Millicent there's a specific section on travel back to uni with a parent or friend in the government regs. If I was driving I think I would take something to prove I was doing a drop off. All the evidence is in the car on the way there, but you could just be going for a very long drive from exercise on the way home!

Hi sorry for long absence from here waves to Lancaster peeps @specialted @sammyjoanne @user1471555064 @Nettleskeins and the others - DD ran back to her flat at uni on 2nd - being autistic she found being away from her set up there quite hard. I was worried because her flat mate shave not returned, but she says there are people on campus, and I'm getting the feeling from here that numbers must be slowly growing. One disaster we have is that Mighty House pulled the flat she and others were about to sign for, and have done that to another group of friends too, so at the moment she is in a panic about accomodation for next year as it seems that everything decent has been taken now. Anyone else at Lancaster still without second year accomodation arranged?

@specialted glad yourDS is back at uni. DD has 7 back just waiting on one from Dubai. They are very happy to be back now🙂

@BCBG hi good to hear she’s back at uni. DD came back 2nd too. She doesn’t have enough study space at home so she was glad to be back. I really hope ur daughter gets somewhere . There is an on line student housing fair later this month. Was advertised on Lancaster University Accommodation page on Facebook. Lancaster university homes website, escape campus are good sites too

DS has gone back to Cardiff today. No teaching but he's final year and needs library access. DD has no reasonable excuse to go back to Lancaster although she'd like to and we'd like her to. She just doesn't fit into the 'reasonable excuses' to go back. Paid her accommodation invoice yesterday as we didn't want to breach contract but really hoping we'll get at least a partial refund. I think our young adults have been royally screwed to be honest, but don't hold the universities entirely responsible.

Ds2 hasn't organised his 2nd year acc at Lancaster. He used the uni matching service to find some other students also needing a "group" booking. They just need a house now. But it can wait I reckon, not panicking...tbh he hasn't heard how he is doing yet so" next year "isn't even a certainty.

We are watching Big Short..about 2008 crash. I'd forgotten how brilliant it is, but it is still incomprehensible to non economists! However I think it is intended to confuse so we see how confused the bankers were..so funny and sad too. Teens learning about mortgages!!!