Is there a general starting uni thread??

[Susiesue61]

I've seen a few threads for specific universities but not a generic one!
DD has gone to JMU in Liverpool and I'm finding it really hard going! Anyone fancy a support thread? Or direct me if there is one already!

Bethecrack we dropped off at York on Sunday. All was going well until my daughter has been taken ill with viral gastric enteritis and can't keep any food down. Not sure I'm cut out for this!!

@Hotmessat54 It is so hard and I totally agree with @honkytonkheroe Hopefully all our teenagers feel more settled very soon.

@OneDayIWillBeOrganised Your poor DD I hope she is on the mend very soon.

OneDayIWillBeOrganised your poor DD. It's awful when they are so far away. My DS has a possible chest infection. Yesterday all 6'4" of him said he wanted me to go there and look after him but I've got no petrol.

LillianGish I hope your DD is happy now whatever she is doing. It's so true about flat mates potentially making or breaking it. I'm glad your DS is having a happier time.

Thanks nitisuldenbur - it all worked out well in the end for DD though it felt like the end of the world at the time. She's now happily ensconced at university in Paris and really loving it. Also learning from her experience has helped DS - he's definitely benefited from being the second one. It's also taught us all to take the long view and not to stress too much about things as they generally have a way of working themselves out in time. It's so hard getting used to being far away from them though - hope your DS will be on the mend soon, and your DD OnedayIwillbeorganised

Hi may I join you please? Eldest ds dropped 4.5 hours away from us. He is playing it really cool says all is fine. I hope so but I’m not sure I don’t think he would let in either way. On a positive note he did ask if you can dry towels in the tumble dryer so at least he has washed some two week in!

he did ask if you can dry towels in the tumble dryer so at least he has washed some two week in I operate on the premise that no news is good news and wait for DS to get in touch - and when he does it's usually with a similar type of query. He actually apologised for not being in touch more, but said he's often with people and doing stuff so he doesn't want to be on his phone all the time messaging, much less talking. It reminded me that in my ancient days making a phone call meant a long queue for the payphone (and then the person you were calling might be out and with not even an answerphone to talk to) and incoming calls were near impossible. No-one gave it a second thought. Modern communications are both a blessing and a curse.

Spoke to DS tonight, he was asking how to get his washing dry in his room. I told him to use the tumble dryer, but he took a bit of persuading to spend the £3 it costs. This from the boy who spent £15 on Dominos last weekend

On a more serious note, he said he'd heard from an acquaintance who has just started at another uni, that she'd had her drink spiked and strongly believed she'd been raped. Maybe a reminder to the girls to be careful with their drinks.

doistayordoigo this is why I'm glad neither of my DDs drink. Or enjoy clubbing. They're both introverts who develop small circles of close friends, usually within their subject or area of interest. DD2 is 2 weeks in and has really bonded with her tutor group, two of whom are disabled too. She's loving the lectures and practicals and is thoroughly coping with all the adulting.

Hope everyone is settling in now.
DD seems a bit better, she's made a couple of friends on her course and is liking her flat mates although not going out too much, they like to socialise in the kitchen! She was having episodes of feeling anxious and tearful which is not like her, but they seem to be getting less.
She has been home and has been playing football for her usual team, she says it's nice to do something normal 😆
Football trials for uni tomorrow so fingers crossed she'll meet some lovely people there!

That's good to hear Susiesue61. My DS was having a great time but is struggling with a virus (not covid). It's having a knock-on effect on managing his life by the sound of it! It's the first week of lectures this week and they appear to be pretty much all online. So disappointed for him.

Hi I’m worried about DS as in Acton halls which is a rough area of london

Hope after not too frenetic freshers all the DCs are settling in well. An evening of High School Musical watching with flat mates for DS3.

DD watched Shrek tonight 😊 She's finding new things hard, so football was a bit overwhelming and she has her first social tomorrow, but other than that, much better at just being away!

DD2 has a film night on Friday with the LGBT society and otherwise has a heavy academic schedule this week so is pacing herself accordingly. She now fully knows her way around and has made friends both in her flat and on her course.

Picking up on @nitisuldenbur’s point what sort of mix of f2f and online are various DC’s getting?

Whilst early days for DS3 with academic study only starting this week, his balance seems very much tilted to online still. This only from a brief conversation mind.

Nevertheless if that is the case it’s some way different to the messaging pre-arrival. And very different to what DS2, who though a finalist, plus different uni but still a humanities course, seems to be experiencing.

boys3 DD2's provision is 100% F2F. Same for DD1 currently in third year. (Different unis, different courses)

DD2 (University of Birmingham) is all f2f except tutors which people apparently said that they liked being online and is at 9am. Everything is now pretty much running as before covid with the exception of a few volunteering opportunities that aren’t back on yet.

DD has 2 days face to face and one morning online. She loves the face to face and hates the online!
So proud of her today, she went to football trials and a social, which she was dreading beforehand- she's just rung and sounds made up with herself, and one of her flatmates walked up to collect her so she didn't have to walk home in the dark 😊

@boys3, both my DTs are having a mix of online and f2f ( both humanities subjects). For DT1 at Leeds It's been f2f seminars and online lectures, though the lectures for one of his modules are also f2f.

For DT2 at Warwick it's more than 50% online, I think. All lectures, which he was expecting from info available in the summer, but in some modules every other seminar is online too. It's confusing because even within one department there are differences. He emailed module leaders before he had to choose his optional modules to ask about this, and one was doing both lectures and seminars f2f. DT2 chose that module but didn't get it. His other chosen module has all seminars f2f. It does seem like a certain amount has been left to the discretion of individual lecturers, or at least to their foresight in booking the right number of rooms, if that's even how it works.

Both DTs are having a good time but it really frustrates me that it was so hard getting the necessary information before uni decisions were made. Of course noone knew what the covid situation would be like, but it wasn't possible to find out even what the best case scenario plans were. It seems there's a lot of f2f teaching, including lectures, going on in lots of other universities - did they just plan better to make it possible?

DT2'S information included no hint beforehand that any seminars might be online.

@Neapolitanicecream Acton is not a particularly “rough” area. I lived there for a couple of years & I believe it has become more gentrified since then. Never had any problems.

Need to correct my last post. Some of DT2's modules don't start until next week and 5 out of 8 total contact hours will then be f2f - better than I thought.

Which uni, @Neapolitanicecream?

thanks for the various responses on f2f v online mix.

I don't think DS is very happy. Most of his course is online despite being small seminar/tutorial groups and then the system doesn't work properly so he's missing most of it. He's been ill and has been fobbed off by the doctor twice despite potentially having a chest infection. His flatmates are nice but not at all like him: they don't like going out and have zero interest in sport. He hasn't mentioned it but I know he will be thinking he's made a mistake. It is such a shame as he already had to take a year out after being screwed over by the 2020 fiasco.

You probably already know but if not the FB group WIWIKAU what I wish I knew all about university is very supportive.

I miss DS loads but he's settling in well so I'm clinging to that.