Another path to greatnesses

[chopc]

I woke up around 4:30 this morning and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Couldn't get back to sleep so thought I will have a go and starting the new thread. Hope the title is not too cheesy

Bristol experts - are the Stoke Bishop halls like Wills and Churchill a walk to the campus or is it more of a bus ride? DS has an offer for physics- are all lectures etc on a main campus? Sorry am so clueless- hoping we'll get a chance to visit if restrictions ease up!

It is a bus ride. And importantly, students are advised not to walk across the Downs at night. It is very hilly so cycling is only for the determined.

StokeyB is essentially a student town, so, as others claim, can be livelier. If DD was choosing now, she would have opted for one of the Clifton or City Centre Halls. Getting to the town centre in order to catch a once an hour bus to a distant Thursday placement for 9.00am was torture. Not least because Wednesday night is the sports night out. There are also no shops near Stoke Bishop so self catering can be a problem, especially if a flat mate is prone to "borrowing". Being more central would mean more scope for working in the library if you needed quiet before a deadline, more scope to be active in drama or the Student union, and more opportunity to meet up with friends outside your flat. (Wetherspoons on the Whiteladies Road!)

That said it partly depends on course and timetable. DD had 9.00am starts every day. Some courses have relatively little teaching time.

(And disclaimer, this is my personal opinion. Others are free to think differently.)

Thanks @Needmoresleep !

Me too @PresentingPercy.. it’s more that Dd wants to find out what groups and societies she can join on top of all the normal expected interactions. Dd plays a musical instrument so the chance to perform in a group would be fab

@Moominmammacat
1) why do you have to achieve greatness? Or put it upon your children ...
2) when did rejected become redirected?
3) Beetlesand ... "injustice" ... welcome to the world
This exactly. Redirected? What a load of tosh!

Yes, a free (in my son's day) bus ride into town from Stoke Bishop which was not a problem for my twins or my daughter by the way. it also means you live in a nice self contained suburban bit with fields etc around - the Downs area. My son did take his bike by the way and had no trouble cycling when that was useful.

The below which I got on a one second google search so not a researched answer.... seems about right.

"Halls in Stoke Bishop, which are predominantly catered, are notably more expensive than their City Centre counterparts. Churchill Hall tops the chart this year, with a significant 59 per cent of its students having been independently educated. Wills follows with 54 per cent of its cohort from private schools".

@LadyPenelope68, thanks for that - really helpful.

Anyway, moving back on...

DS has put all the Bailey colleges at the top of his list. Hence my concern of ‘over poshness’ but I guess regardless of reputation, there’ll be a mix of people at all colleges.

Thanks all for really helping me see that my initial reactions are somewhat based on bugger all and I’m probably fretting over nothing.

He is very adept at mixing with all kinds of people and doesn’t suffer dickish behaviour, so sure he’ll be just fine.

Thanks @Xenia have been having a bit more of a look at the various halls - I think catered would be good but take on board concerns re this and Covid.

Re Bristol Halls: Last year before he deferred he applied for Hiatt Baker as first choice them Badock with Univ as his 9th choice. He was allocated Badock which obviously he then released when he deferred. This year based on what he has heard from friends already there and people he has met on his gap year (he is abroad) he will apply to Badock as his first choice (and will no doubt be a bit peeved if he misses out having been allocated it last time bit thems the breaks as they say). Stoke Bishop (which is basically a student vilage set up quite like the Warwick campus accommodation) is a short bus ride and the bus pass is included in the accommodation cost and uni run the bus service (same buses that ferried us round Bristol as we had the luxury of the 2019 Open Day). They are apparently frequent and run until 4am. DS will take a bike as that is his usual mode of transport but anticipates he would use that more for getting to lectures and libraries etc. rather than nights out.

He is definitely a play hard/work hard type. I hope after his gap year he can settle back into the study hard mode but he assures me it won't be an issue.

Thanks @SeasonFinale really helpful.
What does he like particularly about Badock?

I'm sure he will settle back in to the hard work aspect no problem at all!

I actually think most students like their halls at Bristol. The boarding school dc like Wills and Churchill because they are catered. It’s like a continuation of school. Wills has a quad but it’s shared bathrooms and old fashioned. Les of dc like home comforts and won’t put up with it. DD had a fireplace in her room and furniture out of the Ark. Its not to everyone’s taste! But the clusters of rooms allow for friendships to develop and communal eating like school helps too. DD had a mix of people around her but self catering appeals to many so they avoid Churchill and Wills. The kitchenettes were basic so planning ahead was necessary if you are going to miss a meal.

Not many students would ever consider walking on the downs alone late at night. DD and friends used to share a taxi back if they needed to. Lots of subjects have 9 am lectures. Much to DDs annoyance. Cheap student nights out were often Mondays! One of her 9am starts was a Tuesday.

The halls nearer the uni or in the city are more geared to going out and falling into lectures without the bus ride. There is nothing wrong with any of them. Goldberg has always been ultra popular.

Stoke Bishop actually has people living there! Lots of them. It’s emphatically not a student village. Students are asked to live peacefully amongst their neighbours.

Lots of music goes on at Bristol. Ask the music dept for ensembles. Also musicians find each other. DD was in a choir at Bristol.

same buses that ferried us round Bristol as we had the luxury of the 2019 Open Day

All 3 of the ones DD and I travelled on during the June 2018 open day (Temple Meads to campus, to and from Stoke Bishop - we walked back to the station, to take in the Park St vintage shops, a good nose around and some rather good falafel wraps from a van by the riverside) were of the one version up from retired Routemaster variety. The one up from the station had so much trouble getting up the final bit of hill that I seriously thought we were going to be asked to get out and push...

Bristol is a great city, though, and I was really sad when DD decided that the course / university just didn't float her boat. DS1 is currently there as a postgraduate student, but the opportunities for visiting in the near future are obviously non-existent. Hopefully, he will stay on there for a while.

The ride from Stoke Bishop to the Clifton Campus is pretty level. Bikes or transport is best. The Riverside is downhill from Clifton so getting back up is a pull!

DD loved the myriad of individual retailers in the Clifton area. Coffee shops and little cafes are great for after lectures in normal times. Students are very much part of the city in that area but in first year “going home” to Stoke Bishop has its own attraction too. Second years like Clifton, Redland and others areas around the Clifton Campus. We loved visiting Bristol. I actually miss it!

Bristol is just a great student city. So much to do and see. I know DC happy in Stoke Bishop, Clifton and City centre halls. It's what you make of it! Mine is in Clifton halls and loving it. He's self catering. Happy to answer any questions

Sorry I meant student village in as much as the halls are grouped together and there was a really studenty vibe to it rather than it was only students there. Unfortunately it is the "party rep" that draws him to Badock. The buses used for 2019 from Templemeads and up to the uni and round the various sites must have been upgarded from the 2018 you had to deal with @MarchingFrogs.

I think his plan (as most students' plans are) is Stoke Bishop year 1 and then private rentals in Clifton thereafter.

Goldney was the hall I referred to earlier as being over-subscribed. Autocorrect went a bit mad!

A friends DS went to a new hall near to Riverside. He was keen on bars. They mostly end up in halls that suit and meet like minded others.

@Crikeyblimey I was deliberately going to ignore LadyPenelope who took at quote from page 1 of this thread and added it to page 17! Rather sad really.

I think it is quite normal to worry about them fitting in and getting on with people. I remember that P&G advert during the Olympics where they showed a 6 year old stood on the 10m dive platform because in reality those Olympians are someone's son or daughter. It doesn't matter that they are 18 we still worry about them

I bet our parents worried about us, I was 6 hours away for uni. Never went home during term due to how long it took to travel. Luckily Durham is not too far from us.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom so true - as they get bigger the worries just seem to be more out of our control. Not sure we'll ever stop worrying about them though- it's a lifelong job!

@Pumpkintopf I still remember being pregnant at 29 and my Mum reaching for my hand to hold it to cross the road. I let her do it because it was not only me she was worried about. It was very sweet but also hilarious!

I lived 3 hours away from her at that point and I know she wished I lived closer so she could Mother me a bit (and Dh.) I totally got how she felt when I had my own children and we did move closer.

I have just remembered my Dad coming into the kitchen and saying be careful with that knife, I was cutting an onion, I was 21 and just graduated uni where I have lived away from home for 3 years. I guess it doesn't stop at 18.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom I absolutely love that story! No matter how old/big they get they are still our babies aren't they?! As you are to your parents.

Gosh that's brought a tear to my eye - bloody lockdown and thoughts of dc leaving home making me over emotional!!

Aww @OnTheBenchOfDoom.. very sweet .
Dd had to move to new school for 6th form and I worried then too. She was perfectly fine of course

Absolutely. My mum often said ‘your name never stops being mum’. She had five of us to worry about and our dad died when I was 14, so she did a lot of worrying about me on her own (I’m the youngest).

I don't have any experience of Bristol university but I do know the city and it's a great place! Clifton is lovely and has a chocolate cafe!

Tonight in Bristol. Evening stroll.