Another path- the first year ......

[chopc]

Apologies if I didn't tag anyone. Hopefully have inckueded all current posters

Chopc - Durham-History
@jano69 -Durham -History
@OnTheBenchOfDoom -Durham - Computer science
@Majaso12 -Imperial - Biochemistry
@bendmeoverbackwards -Bristol- History
@Pumpkintopf -Imperial -Physics
@ChimneyPot -Brown (US) - Open
@Stillcrikey -Bristol -MML
@Tenpastseven - Bristol -modern languages
@Longtimenewsee - Durham - Chemistry
@MidLifeCrisis007 - Durham -History
@BigWoollyJumpers - Exeter- History
@SeasonFinale -Bristol- History
@Notagardener LSE
@Revengeofthepangolins UCL - History
@raspberryrippleicecream ? -Maths
@derekthe1adyhamster Birmingham- Computer Science
@Vargas -Durham -Geography
@AvocadoPlant Exeter -History

Ah so MN reverts me back to BenchOfDoom username, even though I am BenchOfCompany now, ah well, you know it is me.

How is everyone doing? When does everyone break up for Easter and will your child actually get a break or too much work/revision to be done?

We collect Ds from Durham on Saturday, he gets 5 weeks break but it will not be a break. His group project goes from bad to worse, they just don't give a shit and Ds is trying to carry the load of several people. He is completely fed up and desperate for it to just be over. He feels that because he is spending so much time on that to save the grade he is neglecting other stuff and his grades are suffering there too. It is a nightmare. Apparently lots of second years on his course are completely fed up, they have complained about other things but apparently the same complaints have been made for years and they never change it. It is comforting for him to know that by late-May all his exams will be done and second year is finished.

@bendmeoverbackwards how is your Dd? Online exams are just easier for staff or that is what has been conveyed to Ds from staff. Did she manage to sort out getting her paper marked? Is she okay now?

<< waves>>
the group project sounds hellish @BenchOfCompany . Dd only had to do one small one and she said that was bad enough! I bet he cannot wait for it to be over.
Im really glad that this year, the bulk of DD’s exams are in person unlike last year with reports of groups sitting in library or in houses doing the online exams all together. 🙄
Dd finishes term on Friday but staying in Durham until the end of March .

@Longtimenewsee I wish Ds's exams were in person because they instead make them super difficult so you cannot just google an answer which I get but last year they had 24 hour ones. It was so difficult that students were still at it at 3am with no sleep trying to get it done. It shouldn't take that long to complete an exam. Ds gets pretty much firsts all the time so this isn't a comprehension thing. Hence why the group project is stressing him out because it can tank his grade.

I am glad we are collecting him Saturday. He is planning on spending the first 3 days working solidly toward another deadline. It is putting Ds2 off applying to Durham watching his brother go through this. Different subject entirely but Ds2 is going to chat to Ds1's mate who is doing the course Ds2 wants to get his personal views, the inside scoop so to speak.

Dh and I keep saying that we don't remember it being that hard at uni , maybe rose-tinted glasses nostalgia but it seems to be that today's students can have a difficult time.

Yes @BenchOfCompany they definitely work them really hard. I’m not sure Dd would have made the same choice of uni had she had known . There is little time for anything other than study . She has friends doing same course at other unis and says it seems less intense. This might be a false impression of course - through the social media lens.
I keep telling her that she must have fun and do other things too.. it’s a shame because there is so much that she misses out on in college. Her and her friends seem to work about 10 times harder than I did at uni !
Shes coming back later and going back early after Easter . Probably be in the billy b all the time tbh

@Longtimenewsee I think the stem subjects which ours are both doing seem to have a lot of contact time, if memory serves last year Ds had 25 hours with some 6 hours days and an 8 hour day; then on another day just 1 hour! Whereas he has mates on humanities courses who have less contact time but still a lot of work to do but they are able to choose their hours of when they are working on stuff. Ds felt like he rolled from one lecture to the next, no break. The 8 hour day he was timetabled for 5 hours before a 1 hour break. Lots of days lectures ended at 6pm. Dh did a stem subject and times have definitely changed.

Ds is coming home because we really look after him when he is here, so we cook for him, do his laundry, cupboards are stocked. There are things he can't cook at uni like anything in a wok because A) he doesn't have one there but B) the hob would never get hot enough. The benefit of friends who are international students is they teach you how to make a mean fried rice. He can study easily here as he has his own study room, we are very lucky. Everyone has a study here except me. Dh, Ds1 and Ds2 all get their own rooms. We converted the double garage when we moved in, hence the space.

DS1 is driving down from Durham today (he's south of Watford Gap!). In a surprising move, he tells me he submitted an essay a whole EIGHT hours before it was due today. That is a PB by about seven and a half hours!!!

DS has left Durham already but staying with a mate at the mo and coming home tomorrow. He has allegedly handed in all his work for the term

I think it is subject dependent @OnTheBenchOfDoom and @Longtimenewsee

DS has PLENTY of free time although I fear this is time he should be spent reading / researching 🙈

Also I don't understand how they are finished with the second year Mid May...... don't feel I am getting my money's worth 😂

Very spooky as I was thinking earlier today how everyone's DC were getting on. That sounds really tough on your DS @BenchOfCompany it's very unfair when other students are not pulling their weight in a group project. My DD has been very lucky with projects this term with only one girl not contributing at all. Some lecturers ask for feedback as to whether there has been an equal contribution on projects which isn't a bad idea.

My DD is working fairly hard this year, although not are hard as the Durham STEM crowd but definitely less nights out. She has been very 'on it' and even submitted a scientific report 24hours before the deadline, definitely an improvement!

Like @Notagardener DS, DD doesn't favour in person exams for essays as she always runs out of time which brings her grade down slightly. For next year's modules she is carefully looking at subject/lecturer/assessments to really maximise her marks.

Not sure when she will be home as she has an assessment due in next week, two assessments due in beginning of May and one in person exam mid-May. Then all done for year 2.

How did your DD get on @bendmeoverbackwards was she able to get her work marked as she had trouble submitting?

@chopc Having done English lit as a degree I had to spend my "free time" or non-contact hours reading books and researching for small group tutorials. Ds's course feels very different to my experience.

It does feel like it ends too soon and instead of 30 weeks it is only 25 for that lovely tuition fee. Ds finishes a whole 5 weeks before the end of term with no teaching after the exams. Obviously the staff are working until the end of term marking exams but the students are not. My niece is at another uni, she only gets 2 weeks for Easter and her exams also finish mid-late May. She also has a shorter Christmas and starts back before Ds each time, they are the same age.

@MidLifeCrisis007 I always love a Watford Gap reference, I heard about this as a small child and thought there was an actual gap in the country to cross no maps on the wall in my primary school. Luckily we are in God's own Yorkshire so a quick jaunt for us to collect him.

@Dobbyismyabsolutefav they do get to do a peer review of each other however my Ds doesn't know how genuine they will be toward him. We don't think they will say he bore the most responsibility. The good news is that he turned up for every meeting and the people monitoring it are well aware that people were missing the meetings. So the higher ups know his input as luckily there was a way to set work for each person and this was dated and then it can be seen when they completed it. He can get a personal uplift of his grade but it depends where they are starting from. I am pleased your Dd had far less issues.

DD’s exams finish towards the end of May, 1 month before end of academic year but she does have a few lectures and some prep work for yr3 before everything grinds to a halt

She really looks forward to the last month of the academic year though as she can finally relax and have some lie -ins and enjoy the Durham / Newcastle/ surrounding area properly with friends

i hope you all have a lovely time with your DC over Easter

So good to hear all the updates.
DD doesn’t finish for Easter until the end of the month, then as far as I know it just exams next term.

Ha ha @MidLifeCrisis007 glad he's developing good organisation/study skills.

Thank you for asking about my dd's exam submission. It's not great news so far. One of her tutors said there is nothing they can do and she will have to resit it. I think dd is taking it further but I am not too hopeful.

She is in Prague currently for the rest of the second year. The first few weeks were tough, she didn't know anyone and was missing her friends in Bristol. Now she is more settled, has made friends from all over the world and is enjoying her modules. We are hopefully going out to visit her as soon as dd3 has broken up from school.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom your poor ds, the group project sounds so stressful for him. I hope it all gets done and dusted soon.

Are uni terms finished for Easter now? I'm completely out the loop with dd being in Prague now. They don't get much of an Easter break apparently, just the Easter weekend off!

@AvocadoPlant yes Ds has nothing timetabled except exams when he goes back so once those are done he has finished second year.

@bendmeoverbackwards completely shit saying she has to resit, surely this is just admin, they can see she submitted it on time. Does it feel like someone just can't be arsed to do a bit extra to locate it? I hope she is escalating this as high as she can. Totally unfair on her and worth kicking up a fuss so as not to resit.

However, I am pleased she has settled in and is enjoying Prague. Yes Easter is here and I am loving every minute of having Ds home. He is incredibly frustrated with a lot of things re his course but is taking comfort that he is over half way through and can see the end of year 2 shortly.

How is DD3 doing with her revision?

@OnTheBenchOfDoom she didn't actually submit it. What she submitted was the previous week's exam (which was submitted correctly the week before), it had a very similar course code. So she submitted the same one twice

How lovely having your ds home, enjoy the time with him. I hope his third year is kinder to him.

Thanks for asking about dd3 - ups and downs. Her school attendance has improved recently and she has decided she wants to stay on for A Levels. I'm not 100% convinced A Levels are right for her and her school doesn't offer any alternatives but socially it's a good fit. All her friends are staying on and I think it would be hugely disruptive for her to start somewhere new. She needs a minimum of 46 points from the 8 best GCSEs to stay, she's currently on 42 (from mock results) and I'm hoping most of them will go up by a grade. In any case, I will be a nervous wreck until results day in August!

@bendmeoverbackwards sorry, I blame my perimenopause brain for getting mixed up over the submission.

Sometimes sixth form is about the experience too, maybe she will have some really great teachers, enjoy it and do well. Plus all her friends are there which will help motivate her to go in. It is good that her attendance is up now too, it means she will benefit from more teaching and revision before her exams. I can understand the worry of results day.

Am loving having Ds home even though he is busy with uni work, just nice to eat dinner as a whole family and he helps prepare dinner which is lovely for chatting.

Snap with the perimenopause brain @OnTheBenchOfDoom 🙄Or I might actually be menopausal rather than peri, who knows?!

@bendmeoverbackwards my mind is seriously a sieve. I have started to have a little note pad that I can write things on, things to look up, to buy, to talk to Dh or the children about. I forgot my pin code for my phone, I have had the same code for over a decade. I am definitely peri but have a lovely older sister who is menopausal who sends me links to articles and books and there to answer any questions I may have. I am on an app to monitor my symptoms as I would forget those too

These group projects are a nightmare, and it annoys me that they can drag down an otherwise excellent student's grades!

DS has a presentation next week and two of the team of five have so far failed to engage at all. DS ended up putting together a suggested framework powerpoint, shared it with the other two and thought they'd agreed who was doing what. DS did his 'section' but now has a massive practical exam this week and no time to work on it any more until next weekend, but now says one of the others says they want to cover a different case study in the presentation which doesn't make sense/ completely changes the overall argument. They have no idea whether the other two are even going to turn up!

Is mine the last to break up? He has two seminars tomorrow (24 March) at 4-5pm and 5-6pm so won't be home until Saturday.

He then is taking his gf away abroad for a week for her 21st as a surprise. She knows they are going away but not where.

He had to select next year's modules yesterday (final year). Seems early to be doing that.

Hi all. Lovely to see all the news, good and bad. I always have a wry smile when people say once your kids get to school it gets easier! It changes, but goodness me, the stress still continues, just different stresses.

DD isn't back until Monday 3rd. She has lectures/seminars and a submission up until 30th, then the train strikes were scheduled and also lots of engineering works, so she had to book the Monday. Then of course the strikes have been suspended. She is a bit pissed off tbh.

So looking forward to her coming back, she is very tired. She works very hard, and doesn't do much for fun. Her friendships all seem to end badly...... and this gets her down. She does a lot of gym work, but that is fairly solitary too, one girl who she was very close with and went out regularly with, they had a terrible row, and are now not speaking, very sad, but tbh it wasn't a very equal friendship and has now inevitably imploded. She now only really has her BF, and one other very good friend. She needs to be out and about more, but is so shy and socially anxious. Vicious circle.

Have a lovely Easter everyone. I'm hoping the weather gets better and Spring springs. DH and I both had Covid recently, first time for us, and we both feel a bit jaded now, we weren't terribly ill either. We both need some sun on our skins.

‘@BigWoollyJumpers hi, I’ve just read your update, I’m sorry your DD is having a tough time.
I think that often people might know lots of others but when the chips are down will actually only have a core of a few friends that they can absolutely rely on, so having a couple of people like that is pretty good.

It’s a tricky time too as next term is so short. The society DDs involved in have had their last social event for the year last week, which I guess sums up how short term 3 is expected to be. But does make it difficult to join something new.

DD hasn’t really engaged with the History Soc, but do they have anything coming up?

DD gets on with her housemates but the actual lack of consideration in the house has been really difficult for her to deal with. We’ve focussed on just getting to the end of this term and looking forward to being home for the Easter break.

@BigWoollyJumpers. I agree the stress still continues when they’re at uni! Sorry to hear your dd isn’t having a great time.

Picking dd up about 5 pm today. She’s still working up until the last day with 2 things to submit today, she’s had so much to submit the last 2 weeks. Then revision for exams in May and also a tutor dissertation to do over Easter which is due in June sometime. Then she has a Python exam in June, a new module starting in Summer term with coursework on it, taking her up to the very end of June. So can’t relax after her exams in May!