Applying for uni in 2021 part 2

[poppycat10]

Hi all, this is a continuation thread from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3828249-applying-for-uni-in-2021?pg=40

Thanks @pistachioicecream. It has been quite hard trying to guide her, but not make the decision for her. I even suggested a gap year to give her more time to think. I think that you are right about results day and it will certainly help her decision making.

And yes it is really dragging, she seems to be getting out of bed later every day now that the novelty of hanging out with her mates has worn off. Roll on 10 August!

DD has just had her accommodation offer from Exeter, but she’s also been advised that they will not allow parents to help on moving in day.
I thought (hoped) things were returning to normal.

But if we can’t help her move in, I hope they’ve got a lift as she’s on the 4th floor and has a lot of stuff she’s planning to take.

Plus I want to see the room, and the kitchen, and the hall.
Can you tell she’s my youngest…..

4 weeks to go. Don't know about anyone else but time seems to be dragging so slowly at the moment. Feels like life is just in limbo really until results come out. Anyone else feel like that?

oh God yes it's really is limbo, DS really struggles with this inbetween bit, he's excited to move out and start a new life, but is literally marking the days off. He's really trying to keep busy, he has quite a bit of work on going and work trips he's looking forward to, plus arranging things with friend etc but he is still effectively twiddling his thumbs.

I can't wait to see his accommodation either and luckily they haven't mentioned that we can't help him move in. he's got a really big room and I have to stop myself buying shit I'd like to put in it, as if it were me moving out 😂

Hmm. The not allowed to help moving in is t very promising for things being normal ish next year, is it.

My hopes are steadily dwindling in this regard

Oh lord. Not that DD would want any particular help or guidance about where her things should go, but we'd be out of the car park so much faster if DH were helping to unload. I suppose parents and even the odd sibling potentially triples the number of bodies floating around the building.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for September's teaching. His course is quite practical and so to be able accommodate students needing to be for practical stuff, they have moved some non practical lessons online aswell as lectures.

He will also be fully vaccinated by then too. But I suppose it is all going to depend on if the government decides to close unis and school again.

It’ll be so annoying if they fo it again this year. DD has already taken a year out snd has been working part time but is having to give up her job when Jim starts. If it’s all online she might as well stay home and keep working!

Note to self - check spelling before posting!

@NewYearNewTwatName

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for September's teaching. His course is quite practical and so to be able accommodate students needing to be for practical stuff, they have moved some non practical lessons online aswell as lectures.

He will also be fully vaccinated by then too. But I suppose it is all going to depend on if the government decides to close unis and school again.

I think it depends more on the staff and lecturers unions as to whether they allow the staff to work in “unsafe” environments like lecture theatres and classrooms. There were a few months over the past year where in person teaching was allowed by the govt but some unis/some courses kept everything online.

Given covid is here long term (as even the double vaccinated are getting it), I think universities will have to accept the risks, just as the rest us will.
I wonder if there’s any way they could insist that only those who have been vaccinated could attend lectures (with exemptions obviously for those few medically unable to be vaccinated)?

I wonder if there’s any way they could insist that only those who have been vaccinated could attend lectures (with exemptions obviously for those few medically unable to be vaccinated)?

Including, I hope, all those too young to have had both vacs by the start of term -- yr 13s born July/August could be in this position.

@KittiesInsane new guidance out saying anyone 18 in next three months can now get a vaccine

@KittiesInsane of course! Though hopefully all that want to will be vaccinated pretty soon into the autumn term.
I think some Scottish students start at 17.

mumsneedwine, its proving difficult to get the vaccination for someone almost 18 round here. I can't find anywhere for dd to get hers.
What is your dd going to study at Portsmouth? That's where my dd is going too.

Some of the lecturers’ posts on here a while ago made me weep. Sadly some clearly felt that wfh and not dealing with smelly students was like Christmas had come every day. And they were justifying the online provision with guff such as it was more “inclusive” eg for disabled students. Ooh, how this made my blood boil: how cheap to seize upon disabled kids as an excuse. Disabled students don’t want a solely online experience any more than anyone else!

Hope all and their DCs awaiting results are holding up. :)

Two week today, for those taking A levels, and the waiting will be over. Unless that is just England do A levels in Wales, NI come out any earlier? IB results are out I think ?? so hopefully good news already for those DCs.

Starting to see the clearing ads appearing everywhere. York uni leaping out at me from an online national newspaper site this morning. Hoping it won’t come to that, although ending up at York would hardly be the end of the world for many DCs.

@DottyHarmer

Some of the lecturers’ posts on here a while ago made me weep. Sadly some clearly felt that wfh and not dealing with smelly students was like Christmas had come every day. And they were justifying the online provision with guff such as it was more “inclusive” eg for disabled students. Ooh, how this made my blood boil: how cheap to seize upon disabled kids as an excuse. Disabled students don’t want a solely online experience any more than anyone else!

I fully agree. Some of the comments from people claiming to be Uni teaching staff were really awful. I hope they really don't have such disdain for their students in real life. They made it sound like students were a hindrance to what they really wanted to do for work.

DD has had an email from uni today with a list of suggested reading, they stress it’s not compulsory, but is recommended.
Anybody else had anything similar?

Yes, dd. And it was compulsory

DS3 received one a few weeks back, range of books, but also podcasts and other media, with suggestion to dip in; not really that dissimilar to DS1 and DS2's experiences ahead of starting. Amazon Marketplace has been visited. :)

Well, if it comes to pass that all Uni students will need to be double vaccinated to attend, I cannot see how any university has any excuse not to be fully back to normal in Sept. They are doing that in the US, with university therefore back to normal, so should be achievable here?

DD had a note confirming Exeter will have vaccination on-site from arrival, so they will be promoting that as well.

Avocado - that's pants to hear about moving in. Again, I just don't see the rationale. They are going to be mixing with thousands of new students anyway, a few parents around for moving in day isn't really going to make that much difference surely.

Vaccination either opens up society, or it doesn't. If you can sit in a plane of 200 unrelated people for 9 hours in August, you can surely attend a lecture or seminar of one or two hours in September.

Young (well, a lot younger than me, anyway) Dr G of UCU fame is against compulsory vaccination of students. Unfair to internationals (although it would be interesting to see exactly how many international students at c.£20 000 p.a. we have from countries which will not have allowed them access to vaccination by then?), amongst other things. One of the other (admittedly, not explicitly stated in the piece I read) things being that if enough students actually exercise their right not to be vaccinated, it would be detrimental to the health of her members to expect them to have to go anywhere near them, perhaps? Perhaps I'm just too old and cynical, though, having even had that thought.

I very much hope they do make it a condition that all students eligible for vaccination must be double vaccinated by (say) the end of October.
Safer for the students, safer for the staff and safer for the wider population.

Though I guess it’s fair to ask the question that if students have to be vaccinated then they should expect all staff to also be vaccinated, excepting the tiny proportion that are medically unable to be vaccinated,

Also good to know DD will not be the only student spending at least some time this summer opening her text books,

DD has reading lists in two languages (studying MFL with a language from scratch). She was a bit surprised to get a list of texts in the language she hasn't officially started learning yet, but we've had a go together with a big dictionary and my distantly remembered O level, and utterly massacred some poetry.