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

I can seriously suggest that anyone's slightly taller / wider than average DC contemplating a room in a shiny new Unite Students block at their chosen university thinks about that one

6ft8 DH didn't physically fit into some student rooms in any direction!

Congratulations to your son @Pumpkintopf that is fabulous

The offer going out on a Sunday makes me spare a thought for the dedication & hard work of the admissions and other university staff at this time. I know it could have been automated but still, and what a nice way to start a fresh week!

I do think a problem with drilling down too far into university life is that you end up choosing by bigging up what you do choose. The rejects are obviously not good enough on fairly slim margins. What if it then disappoints in other ways you have not thought of?

Avoid Unite.

For History: Durham in my view. If she want to teach it won't matter. If she wants Law after it could. Depends on career after uiversity I think plus what city she prefers. Distance from home is not a big deal if students are happy. How often do they come home?

@Pumpkintopf, yes it can feed into final year projects. I would also say that first and mostly second year module offers tend not to change in their broad remit.

I was more interested in contemporary theory and was especially passionate about a particular period, so I discounted the university degrees that emphasised the periods that I disliked and went for the ones that undertook research and teaching in the topics and areas that I did.

The first and second year offering is not allowed to change from what is advertised as it goes against laws on marketing so we have to ‘teach out’ a module to a cohort to whom it was advertised before we can bring in new modules. Whether this is better for scholarship and research, I am not sure, but your children should be getting what was advertised online and in the prospectus. It’s why research grants usually cover replacement teaching when someone goes on leave.

Also not everyone can do a module or part of a course or whatever. On ds’s course everyone In the whole year signed up for one particular exciting-looking one, and names were drawn out of a hat (or however they choose!). Ds was quite disappointed as even prior to going he had seen it was an option in yr 2. Yes, it was an option, but only for a tenth of the year group.

@Crikeyblimey I think I have watched way too many Jack Edward's videos for a woman of my age. He is very easy on the eye which I think makes him as successful as he is (and the media company he is with). But Ds and I liked to watch him to see what sort of issues he faced with work load or social stuff. And the whole how not to remove a command strip from your wall.

Ds is a massive planner. For this half term he has asked for my help on finding one pot meals. Luckily on a day like today when I have little energy to do anything productive (stupid body) I can sit and watch other people cook and pin anything interesting. I have time, he is doing online lessons. I remember having the book Grub on a Grant bought for my by my older sister. Bless her, she taught me to cook when I was 15. Ds has been cooking since he was 10.

Accommodation wise looking back at the photos of the hovels I lived in, there are no words. 3rd year I was on campus in beautiful halls with an en-suite. I was determined to have somewhere nice for once. It was heaven. Thank you for the heads up re Unite. I have made a note.

Also thank you to @IrmaFayLear I will remember to remind Ds of that too.

@IrmaFayLear

Also not everyone can do a module or part of a course or whatever. On ds’s course everyone In the whole year signed up for one particular exciting-looking one, and names were drawn out of a hat (or however they choose!). Ds was quite disappointed as even prior to going he had seen it was an option in yr 2. Yes, it was an option, but only for a tenth of the year group.

Which uni is that out of interest?

I’m sure the fine print probably warns of it, but good for prospective students to be reminded that demand might outstrip supply so a module isn’t guaranteed.

Outlier my three History DC at Oxford all had exactly the system that Irma describes, and by no means always got their first choice.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom eeeek another Jack Edwards fan here - watched every one of his videos. I literally welled up when he didn't get accepted for his masters at Cambridge this time last year. I confess far too much on this thread!

Ditto at Bristol. Dodging this scenario by not going to Oxbridge seems somewhat draconian though.

On small rooms at Bristol in year 1 one son had a massive room circa 1930 in terms of how it looked - unchanged since then - at Wills Hall and his twin in Churchill hall was in a new block with a room a third the size in a block known by the students as "Shanty" (as in shanty town). instead of the latter son being fed up he really loved it all and only 2 of them shared the shower next to his bed room so for him the size did not matter. For some it is the people more than the physical space although my twins chose to share a room until they were 18 at home (even after their sisters moved out and there was space) so probably were a bit more used to cramped accommodation than others.

Reminds me of the first room DH and I shared in London, we lived "out of a suitcase" and had to close the suitcase and stand it upright to be able to open the door.
(we were postgraduate and also in well paid locum jobs but not sure where we were going to work/live).
Sorry, mainly lurking but have a dc who is still waiting for London offers

Thanks @goodbyestranger

I didn’t think it was particular to wherever @IrmaFayLear’s son is btw, I know modules bring oversubscribed happens anywhere, (although hasn’t happened to DD so far). I’m curious though to know which place had a module that was so popular everyone wanted to do it - that must be a fairly rare scenario!

I remember being at Manchester Uni many moons ago doing History. There was a quite famous Professor teaching the Witch craze module. Everybody wanted to do it, we waited in a line on the floor in the corridor all night in our sleeping bags (with our bottle of wine hidden). It was literally the first 50 to sign up on the sheet in the morning, got a place. Fun times!

@quest1on thank you yes he's asked for a curry takeaway at the weekend to celebrate- that's what passes for a celebration these days it seems!

@Tenpastseven thanks - it has removed a bit of the sting for him certainly, he was mostly very relieved as he had always said he'd be happy with either Cambridge or Imperial- he said 'I feel like I've got my life back on track' which may be a bit dramatic as he had other good options but evidently for him, it feels a weight has been lifted.

Thanks @Outlier , agreed, if it wasn't automated the admissions staff are clearly putting the hours in!

@OnTheBenchOfDoom your DS sounds very organised! I was rather hoping for catered halls for ds's first year but that won't be an option now so I think we may have to have a think about good, healthy, quick and easy food to cook in a hall kitchen.

@Applepieco that's dedication! Did the module live up to expectations? I would imagine it was quite fun camping out with your wine bottle and certainly memorable. Dying to know what the witch craze is all about?

@Pumpkintopf

It did indeed! Developed into a love of literature of the period.

DS has received his progress report this morning. Probably not surprisingly, there are no grades on it this time, due to the new grading system.

@calculatorqueen Ds is being given his mock grades this week (he sat them in December!) but they will not be used in the teacher assessment grades, I am thinking because as a cohort they didn't do great. Lots of things were rushed from September. They had been told not to put any firm/insurance on UCAS until later on as they may be way off those grades. I don't think this applies to Ds, at least he hopes not.

@Jan069 I am glad it is not just me watching Jack! Ds likes visual so he could read about matriculation or see it which helps him. A few years ago we went to Dh's old uni of Loughborough to have a walk round just so Ds could understand the concept of what a campus was. We were visiting friends in the area so had a wander round. Dh was shocked they had a Costa.

@Pumpkintopf we also wanted Ds to be catered but he has chosen an en-suite as a priority over food. He can, and likes to cook but we are trying to make it simple for him. I don't think he will be making his own meatballs like he does at home. There are cafes on the Science Site so if he wants a jacket potato for lunch he can eat there depending on his timetable. We have told him for the first term do whatever is easiest to find your feet, it doesn't matter what it costs. He is very sensible, has money in his money box at home that he has had in there for some years. He knows how to budget.

I lived with students in first year who had never even taken a supermarket pizza out of a box to put in the oven. Mummy and Daddy did everything. Some of them were rich and just had ready meals or take aways all the time, some weren't rich and complained. One expected me to teach him to cook So I was determined that my children would not grow up ignorant of the basics of adult-ing.

One thing to be mindful of if we do happen to go into a 1st term still Covid restricted is that those who were catered at many unis had airline type meals delivered and no facilities to make anything nicer whereas those that self catered had facilities at their disposal to make better meals.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom you are very wise, yes we definitely need to ensure ds is not as useless as that!

@SeasonFinale very good point.

@Pumpkintopf I am so please for your DS. Having an option he is excited about is great.

DD definitely wants catered halls. A much higher priority for her than an en-suite. In Georgetown she will almost certainly have a roommate but she is happy enough with that.
It wouldn’t be for me. I did my time in student hovels with one bathroom in the house between 8 of us but I always had my own room.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom
You seem to poke fun at DC who are not keen cooks and, by your tone, you think it’s posh (and by implication lazy oik) for DC to use the term Mummy and Daddy but your DC still has a money box?! Has he not heard of a bank account?

I seriously wish people would stop using judgemental terms about others in a nasty sneering way. Look at my example. We can all do this but it’s not remotely helpful. So what if dc are not great at cooking. So what if they have a money box. I hope you get the point. DC learn. My DD1 never cooked at home. DD2 has a Leiths Certificate. They are all different and individual so please stop sneering and taking the moral high ground. Most DC learn at their own pace.