University 2019/20 intake: vacations, vaccinations, va-va-voom restored and virtually into their third year

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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Yes, my DS is slack. Unless it’s something of utmost importance to him
DD is pretty good now (22 )

That’s great @Decorhate. Is it near home or uni?

Eeek @simbobs!

@bigTillyMint It’s another city near his uni city. A short walk at both ends plus a 20 minute train journey.

Excellent! Unless you wanted him home of course?

When DS goes back to uni, DD will be home to start her grad job - no empty nest for us

Neither of mine actually lives with us at the moment, which feels strange because their rooms here look like they have just stepped out, DD's in particular. Whilst she doesn't envisage herself coming back she was quite put out when I suggested changing and clearing her room. I think she views it as a seasonal storage facility.

@bigTillyMint I do like having him home, not least because he is an excellent baker! He’s very easy to live with.

We did think that we might have a full house next year if Ds1 did his placement near home & Dd stayed with us when she started her first job. She got a flat sorted very quickly though & is loving the experience of living in London. She also uses her old bedroom as a walk in wardrobe @simbobs !

DD is still in Bristol finishing her MSc, but unfortunately the downside of being in London - jobs! DS has been v easy to live with through all the lockdowns/holidays - not sure it will be as calm with DD. And she is planning on reorganising her bedroom….

I took DD back to Newcastle yesterday to move into her third year flat. There was a happy reunion - only 4 of them this time. Three of the original housemates were to be on placements next year, but covid put paid to that, so DD is happy that they are all still in Newcastle albeit in different flats. Happily they are all in the same street, so I am hoping that the next year will be party central for her.

My DS has sorted out his return date for early September, a month before he starts lectures in October. I will miss him, but he needs to get back to his independent life, away from mum nagging.

I am also waiting for A levels results day next week so it may be off to Portsmouth uni for my DD. Any Portsmouth parents with any hints and tips.

Good luck with A Level results day next week @minesawine. I read an article yesterday (maybe in The Times?) saying that DC at private schools are going to benefit most from the way in which the grades are awarded this year :-(. So unfair.

Thanks @NewModelArmyMayhem18. I had also heard that about private schools. I am very nervous as my DD's school was a bit chaotic (being polite!!)

The current system sucks. And I wonder how many employers in the near future will remember to factor in the anomalies of the 'pandemic' grading of GCSE and A Levels?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 my take in that Tines article was that private school grades would be higher because they manage to do far better online learning with a greater proportion of proper live lessons etc with a bigger proportion of students having access to the right equipment/broadband to facilitate that.

I thought some of it was that but also parents putting pressure on private schools to massage grades. A sort of "I've paid for this expensive education so I expect the results" type of bullying attitude. There is a massive difference between youngsters who've had live online lessons virtually throughout (during the lockdowns) and those young people schooled in the state sector, many of whom have had 'patchy' 'teaching' at best and no 'active' teaching at worst.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58104399

An article referencing the fact that starting alarmed for graduates are rising amidst a lack of available candidates.
Maybe some better news here for our young people?

*starting salaries

That's interesting @blametheparents. I know that in the field I work in there are long-term unfilled vacancies because of the loss of many of the qualified Europeans who used to fill such posts but who are no longer over in the UK.

I, too, had picked up that story about job vacancies. Hope at last. DS has just informed me that he has an interview with M&S next week, but I know he has few if any suitable clothes, and apparently no iron!

Article in The Sunday Times about universities refusing to end online teaching.

Hi long time no post. I wanted to add my story about my DD leaving stuff to the last minute. She had a musical instrument on trial from a shop, and she had to put it in the mail by 8pm on the Tuesday. I mentioned it once or twice in the preceding 48 hours to no avail.

At 6.30pm on the Tuesday she said 'Right I'll take the dog out for his walk.' I pointed out that the instrument needed to be packaged and accepted in person at a UPS location by 8pm.

She made it, after much panicking, looking for packing tape, googling UPS locations accepting packages after 7pm, and racing off in the car.

I love my kids but they definitely inherited my ability to procrastinate.

They love to cause us maximum stress don't they @ZZTopGuitarSolo

They really do...

Don't even get me started on how late she left it to pack her stuff for going back to university.

We left... 6... I repeat 6 hours later than we originally planned.

mine is your DS going back for his third year? My DS is taking the year out, still hoping to find a placement... still having interviews ... has got a summer job and earning plenty of money but not exactly a 'placement type' opportunity.

@Ragwort Fingers crossed something turns up. Ds had given up hope & then got a surprise email last week from a company he’d interviewed with weeks ago & assumed he had not got. Luckily they have an office near his uni city as he had already committed to a house share, thinking he was going back into 3rd year...

Hi Rags Yes my DS is going back in Sept a few weeks before year 3 starts again. He is still in his summer internship and said it has made him realise he definitely doesn't want to work in the city, or in finance, or in tech or in banking. Errr so what was the point of an economics degree then. I am sure it will all become clear

@minesawine Ds is doing biology and has told me he doesn't want an inside job or to work in a lab. 🤷‍♀️