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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Another path - now we have a map

999 replies

chopc · 10/08/2021 14:27

Chopc - Durham-History
@jano69 -Durham -History
@OnTheBenchOfDoom -Durham - Natural Sciences
@Majaso12 -Imperial - don't know subject
@bendmeoverbackwards -Bristol- History
@Pumpkintopf -Imperial/Cambridge -Natural Sciences
@ChimneyPot -Brown (US) - ? Subject
@Stillcrikey -Bristol -MML
@Tenpastseven - Bristol -also modern languages?
@Longtimenewsee - Durham - Chemistry?
@MidLifeCrisis007 - Durham -History
@BigWoollyJumpers - Exeter- History
@SeasonFinale -Bristol- History

OP posts:
bendmeoverbackwards · 19/08/2021 14:03

Dd has been a bit up and down since hearing about accommodation. Of course she's very pleased and relieved but I think it's now hitting home how soon it is she'll be leaving. She's very nervous and has been saying she doesn't want to go. I know this is the nerves talking but if anyone has been through this with older dc, is it common and what's the best way to support them?

olliepolly · 19/08/2021 18:08

Some wobbles are absolutely normal.
I would focus on the practical and the few things that will personalise her room and make it cosy.
The bigger questions of course are is it the right subject and the right uni for them.
Everyone has to work out how to do the drop off and no one size fits all, what worked for us with my very introverted shy DD2 was staying in Bristol for the weekend and letting her lead on how much to see us.
The final goodbye ( we live at the other end of the country ) was tough. Two years later and she is doing just fine , in spite of the pandemic has made great friends from her corridor in CHH and shares a house not far from CHH.
Both my girls came home for a weekend in their first term at uni and for reading week.
It may sound simple but just being there for them is the best and how fantastic that she is secure enough to share with you the fact she is a bit wobbly about it all.

AvocadoPlant · 19/08/2021 18:11

@jano69 sorry to hear your DD had a positive covid result, hoping she recovers quickly and that the rest of the family stay well,
From the posts on here it seems like the Boardwalk festival has turned into a super spreading event.

Peaseblossum22 · 19/08/2021 18:53

Another here with positive gift on Boardmasters . He has been isolating as much as possible , but viewed across the landing definitely looks better today than yesterday . Positive LFT on Monday , still waiting for PCR result , apparently you can’t get second jab until 28 days after PCR test which is irritating .

ChimneyPot · 19/08/2021 19:45

Sorry to hear about the positive tests.

DD has been partying and holidaying since she finished her exam so I am keeping my fingers crossed she gets a negative test tomorrow because she needs one to fly on Monday.

I will miss her terribly but at the moment her last minute attitude to things is driving me nuts. She has organised the important stuff like trips with friends and goodbye drinks/meals with all her friends and getting her eyebrows done because it might take a while to find a good eyebrow stylist in Brown but the unimportant stuff like getting a supply of her prescription meds, dollars, booking a Covid test etc are not on her radar at all.
I asked how many suitcases to book on the flight and she has no idea. Hasn’t thought about it, in fact most of her clothes need to be washed because she is just home from a trip.

She doesn’t have her housing and roommate assignment yet so is limited in ordering stuff for her dorm. I expect we will be spending time in Target over there to get her room kitted out.

MidLifeCrisis007 · 19/08/2021 20:26

@Peaseblossum22

Another here with positive gift on Boardmasters . He has been isolating as much as possible , but viewed across the landing definitely looks better today than yesterday . Positive LFT on Monday , still waiting for PCR result , apparently you can’t get second jab until 28 days after PCR test which is irritating .
Same here. Madame actually escaped her bedroom today and joined us for supper. She literally couldn't get out of bed yesterday and had zero appetite. That said, it's hard to know how much of that is actually due to Covid.... I suspect she'd have been pretty run down and confined to bed for a while even without Covid!

DD's positive PCR result came back yesterday morning. I returned a negative one this morning - thanks AZ.

Track and Trace wanted to know all her close contacts in recent days.... I said I didn't know the names and numbers of all 55,000 of them.

Peaseblossum22 · 19/08/2021 20:45

We are awaiting PCR result but the LFT was very clear on Tuesday . He seems a lot better today and to be honest I am inclined to think that the croaky voice is from too much shouting /singing . Haven’t yet been contacted by test and trace but I don’t think he has the slightest clue who his close contacts are, inclined just to say Boardmasters and leave it at that .

MidLifeCrisis007 · 19/08/2021 20:57

@Peaseblossum22. DD is only 17 (it's her 19 year old brother who is off to Durham!) so T&T wanted to speak to me. They were very persistent... who did she travel down with, who did she share a tent with, who did she travel back with etc. I actually refused to give any names.

jano69 · 19/08/2021 21:00

Looks like DD is in good company. She is looking better today - she's on day 7 despite only getting a positive PCR result this morning. She's out of isolation by Monday 23rd so over half way there already. Hope AZ keeps me and hubby in good health too...

AvocadoPlant · 19/08/2021 21:08

MidLifeCrisis007

Track and Trace wanted to know all her close contacts in recent days.... I said I didn't know the names and numbers of all 55,000 of them.

GrinGrinGrin

Longtimenewsee · 19/08/2021 21:16

Sorry to hear of positive tests. Hope they continue to feel better and do not share it !

Original poster
chopc · 20/08/2021 10:21

Sorry to hear of all the Covid positives. Hope they have a smooth course of illness ...... and will hopefully develop good immunity

I don't know why, I am not feeling it about DS leaving - maybe as it's a month away? Maybe because Durham have made us anxious about college allocation? Don't know

OP posts:
Eastisup · 20/08/2021 10:31

So sorry to hear about all the positive Boardies cases, there have been loads of my youngest dd's friends back from there too all testing positive! Have to say I'm not hugely surprised but hopefully they will have only minor illness and come bouncing back. My eldest was supposed to go in 2019 but it was cancelled at the eleventh hour due to a storm!
We have paid our deposit now and dd is excited mostly but I am still expecting some nerves to show. I am wondering about the logistics of it all mostly!

BigWoollyJumpers · 20/08/2021 11:23

@chopc

Sorry to hear of all the Covid positives. Hope they have a smooth course of illness ...... and will hopefully develop good immunity

I don't know why, I am not feeling it about DS leaving - maybe as it's a month away? Maybe because Durham have made us anxious about college allocation? Don't know

i was lurking on the Durham thread..... goodness me what a year for messing about. Not that we didn't expect some, but it just goes on and on doesn't it?

Current rumour Exeter boards is that 2/3 of the new build most popular accommodation went to last years deferrals. They got first dibs on accommodation, so seem to have got preference. Now, this is of course always debatable, but apparently "someones mum" called to try a swap a room, and was told this by the accommodation help line. At the very least if this is true, they should have been upfront about this, and not continued to assert that all applicants had equal chance of all residences, when they clearly did not. It's frankly all FUBAR.

As it happens DD is very happy with her accommodation, and thinks she got lucky because she specifically requested "quiet", of which there are only a limited number, and most people don't ask for.

Good luck to everyone else still waiting, particularly Durhamites.

And Get Well Soon to all the Covid sufferers.

quest1on · 20/08/2021 11:28

Hi everyone. Just catching up on all your news. We’ve been away the last few weeks on sunnier climes! DS has re-written his PS (here we go again UCAS - can’t wait) Confused. He’s also been busy getting the visa and various paperwork sorted for a voluntary project overseas he going in next month.,

Bend - I think k your DD’s nerves are very normal. I remember feeling that way myself - especially as I was allocated a shared room with one loo and shower between 8. Those were the days! But honestly, from day one, I never looked back and had the time of my life.

Sorry to hear about all those taken down by Covid. When will it end?

AvocadoPlant · 20/08/2021 11:39

I think the major issue this year, and last, is that the grading process has resulted in huge numbers of students achieving their predicted grades, and so taking up their place.
On the local news it was reported that typically only 46% of offers at Bristol result in places being taken up, this year the take up is 76%, and I assume Bristol will have made less offers based on the chaos last year.
Perhaps this feeds into the argument that students should only be able to apply once they have their grades (as has been mooted previously in the national media).

Re Exeter: The Exeter accommodation website has always said that those with unconditional offers will be allocated ahead of those awaiting their results. As well as deferrals this will include students like my DD who made a fresh application this year with grades in hand. We checked this when DD was making her application.

Original poster
chopc · 20/08/2021 11:59

@quest1on is he applying for geography again or a different subject?

His gap year sounds exciting!

OP posts:
Original poster
chopc · 20/08/2021 12:16

@BigWoollyJumpers interesting. Thing is even if Unis were upfront it wouldn't have influences DS choices ........

I wonder what will happen next year

OP posts:
quest1on · 20/08/2021 13:59

Geography again chop! But also one or two international options which tend to be more broad.

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 20/08/2021 17:20

Sorry to read about all the positive covid tests. Ds has his second vaccine early tomorrow morning and is at a house party tonight. He says he'll be home by midnight. Hmmm.

I think because the whole Durham college allocation is still up in the air it doesn't feel very real at the minute, plus he won't move in until the end of September anyway so it isn't imminent.

I remember being in a shared house in first year due to oversubscribed on campus accommodation. It was a 5 hour drive from home, my parents drove me, helped me lug all my stuff in, had a quick picnic lunch and then left to do the 5 hour drive back. I think having to unpack kept my brain busy until other people moved in.

I did spend the first few weeks wondering if this was somewhere I wanted to be. In a way I was glad it was so far from home as the train journey was longer to travel back so no weekend visits.

Ds is planning on making his room very homely which he feels will help him settle in.

ChimneyPot · 20/08/2021 18:12

DD got her roommate and dorm assignment today. She has been DMing her roommate but DD has a going away party tonight so they will talk properly tomorrow.
Roommate is in California so the logistics of talking have to include the time difference.
We both got our negative tests today to allow us to fly on Monday so it is starting to seem very real and very imminent.

Peaseblossum22 · 20/08/2021 18:14

Ds using his isolation to watch plays from reading list . Have just agreed to subscribe to 7 days free of Marquee does anyone have it? Also National Theatre at home, which we did have a free trial for before and was very good

Original poster
chopc · 20/08/2021 18:39

@ChimneyPot I am so excited for your DD. What an adventure!

@OnTheBenchOfDoom agree ....... I also think it's cos DS is so blasé

OP posts:
Eastisup · 20/08/2021 19:20

Gosh @ChimneyPot so exciting! You must be relieved to have negative test results! Hope your dd and her roommate are able to chat soon despite the time difference!

@OnTheBenchOfDoom agree too, I was 8/9 hours from home when I went and really only went home a couple of times in the whole first year. Christmas and the summer I think.
By the time the second year rolled around, I had a job and had to pay to retain a private house over the summer so it just made more sense to stay in the uni town. Hope I see a bit more of my dd!!

MidLifeCrisis007 · 20/08/2021 19:26

I remember sharing a small room (with communal bathroom) with a girl from Armenia in my first term at Durham. I think these days they go to the trouble of asking you to fill in forms to try and find compatible room mates but it was pot luck back then. I had nothing in common with my room mate but we got along fine. And the girl in the room next door was from Consett and still lives there now. She has been a life long friend.