UEA (2019) Surely 2021 (and getting on for halfway through our DC's degrees) things have got to get better????

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

New thread following on from the previous one.

Lots of and into 2021.

[quote Hattifatteners]@Appuskidu It wasn't DS's first choice and he currently pays £165/week. He does medicine, so his contract is slightly longer, 40 weeks. I believe the standard is 38 weeks. If you have a shorter contract than that, it would mean that you'd need to empty your room for holidays. Which is a real pain. I don't think UEA does this. I also don't believe anything is as cheap as £90/week. Unless a shared room? You can find all the accommodation options and prices from UEA website.[/quote]
I did say £90 something, but maybe this is incorrect?

@Appuskidu then it must be

Correct I mean...

The Ziggs are the cheapest accommodation (DS paid just over £4K per year for his room in first year). Subsequent year accommodation in private houses seems to be around £400 a month. Relatively cheap compared with lots of other universities (from recall) and cities.

I think it was 39 weeks. We paid £170 for en suite. It was Paston house, which was ds's 4th or 5th choice. He said the village accommodation was cheaper and nicer. He liked barton and hicklung the best. But they were more.

DS2"s contract (Ziggurats-and this year, not the cheapest option, as I commented on another thread, I assume it's to try to make up some of the loss from allocating all the twin rooms as single occupancy, but I may be wrong) runs from 19th September to 27th June. So 40 weeks.

Gosh I'm shocked to hear the Ziggurats are no longer the cheapest option. They always represented very good value for money.

@Hattifatteners
My older DS has just graduated from UEA in medicine and his younger brother is still there in year 3 doing geography.
My DS1 has just started his first FY1 job and says he can see why the UEA medics come out as amongst the best prepared in the annual surveys. He feels he has all the skills he needs to start the job. He enjoyed the course itself and the regular placements despite the covid situation. The course was logically organised and the weekly GP work day got them used to patient contact right from the start. If I remember right, week one started with a trip to the morgue to get that bit over ! Good luck to your DS, he will enjoy it .
PS DS recommends the UEA medics rugby for a group that is great for fitness, socialising and practical support with the course.

@sluj that's really good to hear that UEA teaches its medics-in-the-making so well. It's quite a new medical school compared with most but clearly benefits massively from having the hospital effectively on campus, don't you think?

@sluj that's great to hear! So far so good. DS mentioned GP placements starting this week. I will mention rugby group to him. He played in primary school but not really since.

@Hattifatteners
It's not as new as some of them so it's had time to get it's act together. My DS had placements in Kings Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Colchester and next door hospital - all with transport or accommodation included if necessary. They also organised transport to the GPS out of town. DS particularly enjoyed his placement in Southwold.

The rugby club has been brilliant, lots of social activity and totally mixed abilities but they also ran supervision sessions and OSCE practice sessions. My son enjoyed his time there and the friends he made in different years through the Med rugby. He was nabbed by one of them as he collected his keys and they walked him over to registration, very welcoming and friendly.
Hope your DS enjoys his time, those 5 years went so quickly.

@sluj Southwold is lovely. It's our nearest seaside town. Glad he liked being there. Lots of old folk though!

@Hattifatteners UEA is quite a small campus compared to some - ds2 was also in Paston House and it is right in the campus - he is now in a house which is only 10 mins walk away.

My DS3 has just started at Birmingham and there doesn't seem to be any halls on the campus, they are all on the outskirts. He's had to take his bike as the campus is so huge.

So I think for accommodation to compare those 2 uni's is like comparing apples and oranges - 38 weeks for Paston House seems to ring a bell although DS2 got the last term refunded as that was first lockdown

@NotSorry I wonder if your comment was meant for @Appuskidu as our DS has already started at UEA?
He is staying at Victory house and the whole building seems to be full of Health Science students. He's got his first placement today and was quite exited about it. @sluj I hope the organisation continues to be excellent and our DS will have as positive experience as your DS.

oops sorry, yes it was for @Appuskidu

so many posts about accommodation I got in a muddle

Hello. I hope everyone is getting on ok. Ds says he has lots of face to face. So hopefully it's the same for everyone. His student house is quite a walk from the university. But obviously for their second year it didn't matter as they weren't going in. It's taking him about 40 mins, he could park his car in the park, that is just a short walk, but it's only 2 hour max. stay. So he's having to walk. I think the exercise will do him good though. Let's hope this final year goes well for them all. The third year has come so quickly. Dd2 is year 13 so we are looking at universities again. So when ds1 finishes, ds2 will be about to start.

I think lots of walking is good for mental health @icanbewhatiwant but yes, they may not have factored in long walks to and from uni, with much more f2f teaching.

Think DS is having a lot of f2f too. He's complaining of feeling a bit anxious this year. Think it's the dawning realisation that he has some big decisions to make about his future. Those doing three-year courses will undoubtedly feel short-changed by the university experience and rather as if time has run away with itself!

Good luck for your DS2 @icanbewhatiwant. At least without overlap between the two of them, it works out less expensive.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes I'm glad to not have 2 away at the same time. Ds3 is year 8. So a long time before he goes to university (if indeed he goes)

They do have decisions to make this year. Ds1 doesn't have a clue what to do next. He says he doesn't want to work in lab though (he's doing biology) I think he'd quite to be home living from the bank of mum and dad though. But he does miss social life when home. He proudly announced they'd arrived home 5am Saturday morn.

DS doesn't really have a clue about what he wants to do either. He has an extra-curricular interest in finance/investment but is doing a humanities degree so not sure how likely he would be to get a 'City' job. He's considering doing something post-graduate but think that's only worthwhile if it adds potentially to his employability rather than just being a way of putting off making a decision for another year!

Mind you, I do have a feeling that young people are not so quick to jump on the 'corporate bandwagon' these days as they would have been in years gone by (but maybe that's because many chose to go back home once they've graduated). One of my best friends' DD graduated from Bristol a couple of years ago and is still doing very studenty type fill-in jobs interspersed by global travelling (well as much as has been possible over the past 24 months).

DSib's eldest decided to change courses after a year (and start back as a fresher), so there's going to be at least a two year overlap at university for their two.

Those doing three-year courses will undoubtedly feel short-changed by the university experience and rather as if time has run away with itself!

I think that is very true. Hopefully for those in their third year it will be a far more normal experience. It does seem a promising start so far.

DS2 is living quite a bit of a way out, so apparently bus and electric scooter! :) to get onto campus.

The other thing I would say is that having two at Uni at the same time is not quite as bad as I feared. Mine was a little unexpected as DS2 took a gap year and DS3 didn't. Fortunately there was a more considered gap between DS1 and DS2. The biggest issue, if that is the right word, is that the two currently at uni are at completely opposite sides of the UK.

Is your DC2 likely to consider UEA as an option @icanbewhatiwant

@boys3 no, Ds2 wouldn't consider UEA. Plus he knows Ds1 regrets being so close to home. Ds1 only wanted to go to UEA. Ds2 only wants to go to Sussex. He will put others on his ucas form though. He knows ds1 went where he wanted so he's hoping for the same. But I think there will be fewer places next year...also competing against those from this year taking a gap year, who will have the inflated grades. They say grades will be reduced next year and the following year, to get back online with 2019 grades. So we will have to see what happens.

There's a programme on BBC 1 tonight filmed at UEA apparently. It's called The Trick
Might be worth a watch?

@sluj. Defo going to watch it as DD has a close personal connection to the story!

@boys3 I feel your pain-had DS's at Newcastle and Brighton-such a pain!!!! Delighted that DD plunked herself right in the middle!!

Interestingly DD has said she was told by a lecturer at UEA that their year has had the most disrupted education since WW2!!!!!