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.

Well, I took DD1 back to Norwich in the end, scrambling into the car the moment the lockdown was announced! She needs to be with her friends and finds it harder to study at home (also, she distracts DD2 from school work).

DD2 applied for the same course at UEA as DD1 but has just been rejected, so no shared journeys for me. She is no less bright than her sister but has really struggled with online learning over the last year, so her grades have plummeted.

@CointreauVersial I am sure there are many more youngsters struggling with online learning too just like your daughter. It must be so hard for them all.

@CointreauVersial that’s really tough for your DD2 although I also think the approach that schools take to predicted UCAS grades can vary a lot. I hope she has / will have some other offers for unis that she can also be really happy at. Fingers crossed.

I'm interested to hear what your DC are doing for accommodation next year. DD lives with 3 others and is happy with the house they are currently in but the others want to move. They have asked if she will go and view a house tomorrow for next year (we live locally so she's the only one here at the moment). I'm reluctant for her to sign up to a new lease in the current situation and I'm sure they could find somewhere similar in the summer when the picture will be clearer.

Oh that's a pity @CointreauVersial.

UEA does seem to be the sort of university that attracts people from the same family. DN's brother wants to do MFL and intimated that UEA would be on his UCAS list.

@juicy0 I've been encouraging DS not to rush into getting his accommodation sorted yet. Their landlord is putting up their rent so they've decided they don't want to stay put and I think five will become three so they may need to merge with other friends/another household.

It transpires that DN is in her flat all alone at the moment. Apparently, she's enjoying sitting in the 'living area' with a view of the Broad, doing her course work in peace and quiet.

I think ds is staying where he is next year. Really he could have stayed home this year. We are close enough that the few f2f he had he could have driven to. But I think he prefers living in Norwich. Let's hope things get back to normal later this year.

DS2 has already signed up for a different house next year with 3 friends. He will want to be in Norwich whether or not there is face to face. His friends at home are nearly all at uni too so it would be boring for him at home. I really think they need to make the most of it and living in a student house is all part of the growing up experience.

@CointreauVersial sorry to hear about DD2 it's such a tough time for them all isn't it, this current situation just doesn't suit some does it and teacher assessments don't work for everyone.

My DS says that they have already agreed to keep the same house for next year, he didn't discuss with us first, which is rather annoying, he likes his house, housemates and Norwich, our problem is realistically he's unlikely to pass the year, so we just didn't want to commit to next year.
We haven't signed gaurentors forms yet and with our other DS they won't let us be gaurentors as we are not in the UK so this may come up for DS2 as well (we have to pay full year upfront for DS1).
I'm pleased that DS2 seems more positive than he was and I'm trying not to worry about the work side, he's got exams at the end January, so will see what happens afterwards. It's not a great situation but with us being in Canada we just have to go along with it for now.

Thank you all for sharing your DC's plans. I agree that living in a student house is part of the experience but this year,so far, has proven to be very expensive considering the number of nights she has actually spent there 🙄
DD is currently trying to finish the last of six pieces of work she had to complete during the holidays but I can see she's def struggling with motivation. Once this one is finished she has an exam to prepare for at the end of Jan and then it's on to new modules in feb. I can't see anything returning to normal for them on campus until after Easter at the earliest and I wouldn't be surprised if the current situation lasts all academic year. I just hope for their sakes that next academic year will be one they can enjoy fully in every sense 🤞🏼

They don't have much after the Easter break though do they @juicy0? I remember thinking last year that the 'summer term' was only about six weeks long (if that)?

The problem is that their final year isn't the time to be catching up on all the socialising they've missed out on for the previous 18 months or so? You can predict it can and will impact on some young peoples' end degree results

DD1 tells me she went for a walk around the UEA lake yesterday, after one of her friends was astonished to hear she'd never actually been there, and dragged her out for a walk! She wasn't around in the summer, obviously, and has never been the most outdoorsy type, but even so....

Thanks for your comments about DD2.... it is what it is, and I'm sure she'll find her place, but a little part of me knows how much DD1 likes UEA, and DD2 would have done too.

@CointreauVersial all is not lost though is it? She could get better grades than she thinks? If so she could apply to UEA via Adjustment?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 I agree. I think the temptation to catch up on the full 'uni experience' next year may well mean that they don't commit as fully to their final year studies as they may have done if their second year had been a normal year. I've just had a quick look and study week starts on 24th may with assessments all done by 18th June.

Lots of snow where we are today (for those who like a weather update )

I don’t think DS2 has any confirmed accommodation plans for September yet. The rest of his house are all finalists, so unless any are staying on for a Masters, or I suppose just staying in Norwich after graduating, he’ll need to find somewhere else / some new people. He quite happily left it to the last minute for this year’s accommodation, and luckily that worked out very well. I think his landlord is looking to do major extension work over the summer - the house he’s in has a really quite large garden - and is probably looking to end the contract a couple of months earlier at end June. Which again works out quite well for him as he wasn’t planning on staying in Norwich during July and august anyway.

Whether a couple of months rent saving in any way makes up for what is likely to be at least a year of disruption is quite another thing.

I know at one of the Boris press conferences a week or so ago he was asked about support / reduced fees for students. His response was that they had suffered and it was something that in a more general sense should be looked at. should being the operative word. I’ll not be holding my breath

@boys3 no snow here in Norfolk sadly, I was willing it to snow all day yesterday but we just had rain and lots of it!
Stress levels are maxed out here today. We have sold our house and can't tie the sale and new purchase together so I need to find somewhere for us to live for 6-8 weeks!

Oh on @juicy...that might be hard to find somewhere. Perhaps you could try a holiday let. They'll be empty.

Are you staying in the same area?

Snow warning for tonight and tomorrow just popped up including Norfolk and lots of the country.
How about air bnb Juicy?

@sluj @icanbewhatiwant thank you, I will get onto both and take a look. Yes, we're staying in the same area, we love Norfolk x

@juicy0 good luck looking.

@sluj yes snow forecast in the morning, but turning to rain. So won't last long.

@juicy0 good luck with finding a short term rental, hopefully Air B&B will work for you.

House buying is so stressful isn’t it, our sale had us super stressed in July.
It’s very weird now seeing photos of our house all styled up in the Feb edition of House & Garden magazine, it pulls the heart strings a bit, as it still feels like our home, (but of course it isn’t) especially as we currently don’t have a UK home .

Glad to hear you may get snow, I realise now I love snow 😍

@juicy0 that gap is a bit of a pain, but as some have already suggested holiday lets could well be an option and presumably with all the restrictions you’d be in a reasonable negotiating position.

However in a couple of months time

• happily sat with a glass of wine in the house you’re buying perusing paint charts

• 20 million or more people with at least first Covid vaccine jab done

• clocks going forward and lighter evenings round the corner.

Amen to that @boys3 !!

We have snow. That'll teach me for saying it doesn't snow in east anglia very often! I don't think it will last long. I wonder what our pup will think of the snow on her walk.

I love snow when I don’t have to go out in it! I texted DS2 last night and said snow was on the way. By the time he gets up it’ll probably be gone

@NotSorry yes I thought that about Ds2 at home. He will sleep through it. I just told ds3 to look out of his bedroom window...he looked and shrugged his shoulders. When I was 11 I'd have gone out to play.