University 2020 entrants - Parents chat - Third years, final frontiers, graduation cheers, (for some)

[sammyjoanne]

Here is the previous thread from when they were second years www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4366703-University-2020-2021-Part-12-Now-they-are-second-year-students-Hard-work-starts-and-getting-more-and-more-smart?page=4&reply=120485264

Ok title sounds a bit cheesy, but best I could come up with lol.
Feel free for placemarking :)

Hi! What is he planning on doing?

Well, currently he’s planning to do a ski season til March and then heading to Australia to work in a boarding school as an assistant house master/rugby coach!

Oh wow, that sounds fantastic.

DS is on his placement year & not enjoying it - it’s full time wfh & he’s had enough of being stuck in his room.

he’s also repeating some assignments & exams from last year as he had a breakdown in 2nd term & didn’t complete the year. With help of a diagnosis, medication & support he’s getting there. He’s just got 80% in an assignment he failed to hand in last year which has boosted his confidence.

he is also dyslexic & dyspraxic & gets overwhelmed easily & with so much education & exams cancelled hasn’t learnt the techniques to approach assignments.

@KingscoteStaff which ski company will the season be with, DS also planning a season once he graduates? He has Uk & EU passport so easy for him.

Good to hear updates on all the DC.

DD had a total nightmare 2nd year in terms of houseshare and then her gran passed away which knocked her for six, so she ended up missing out on the Mbio Integrated Masters course (by just under 1% - she only made a mess of one exam - but big time and whilst she re-took it she could only get maximum 40%). Thankfully she was still on course for a 2:1 because she had such a great first year.

This year seems to be going okay, she is having CBT sessions and seems to be achieving high 2:1's or firsts in the assessments that count but she's coming up to 4 weeks of full-on essays on her modules and then her dissertation.

She wants to do a Masters; so touch wood she manages to maintain her grades. She's had an invite to return to the summer lab job she did last year July-Sept and then Im treating her to a trip to South Korea and Japan and maybe Singapore if I have enough pennies (21st present).

It's amazing how many dc have struggled in year two (including my own). Anyway good to hear most are back on track, they all will find their path however winding it may be! I'm so much more relaxed about ds this year, having a solid close friendship group has made such a difference. Hope it continues!

I think because their first year was so peculiar - bubbles, online freshers, online lectures, seminar groups sitting 2 metres apart in masks, no sport, no music, no drama, no societies, most of the Spring term at home - there was a lot of pressure to make their 2nd year ‘perfect’!

And of course that was never going to happen.

@KingscoteStaff I totally agree .

As they had A level mocks, A levels & 1st year exams and a lot of assessments cancelled I also think they haven’t learnt enough revision & exam technique ( long time since GCSEs) and learnt how to deal with exam pressures. This is definitely the case for my son.

My dd just had the houseshare from hell and it really impacted her and because most of the Uni work was still online, there was no escape.

The house mates were generally "fine" socially but living with them was a different matter...one moved a cat in when two of the housemates were allergic to cats! The kitchen was filthy, no one would do any chores, one housemate couldn't pay their rent third term.....Such a lot for young adults to deal with and my dd seemed to hold it together until the cat was really affecting her health. She was sensible and came home to sit her exams but she just bombed the one exam and she knew it.

Im just shocked at how many kids are struggling with mental health.

HI, I'm new to this thread but have a DS in the 2020 Covid cohort. He will be sitting finals this summer - his first "proper" in person exams since GCSEs. Agree with @Eve that the opportunities to practice exam technique and manage exam pressures have been limited as first and second year exams were online and "open book".

DS has actually had a pretty good university experience despite Covid. His first year "household bubble" were (and still are) a lovely bunch which made a huge difference to his settling into uni life. Second year was a very, very busy year as sports and social events were pretty much back to normal and there was a lot to pack in!

WFH for a placement year sounds dismal @Eve. I cannot understand why any organisation finds this acceptable. DS completed a two months internship last summer and was in the office every day (bar the tube strikes). He will be starting on a grad scheme in September in London and that will be in person too.

First year for DD was good despite covid restrictions, second year not so good. She was going through a lot or personal stuff which affected her grades, but this year seems to be going a lot better and shes in regular contact with the supervisors and they think if she continues as she does she could qualify for the 4th year masters year. Seems like a lot of students had pretty crappy 2nd year. What after no exams, then online first year exams and year two being generally harder, it has been difficult for them. Shes currently revising for the general physics exam in order to get her degree accredited so shes been busy doing that. Glad this thread has been on going, I joined 1st week of her freshers week and wow, some people have been here since yr 11. Its amazing how far they have come :)

I think DD has been lucky doing a Scottish degree as she has had 2 years to settle before having to worry about results counting. She's planning to intermit next year and do a placement year before returning for her last year so I'll be on this thread for another couple of years.

DD is coming back to live with us for her placement year as employer is in nearby city. I hope the placement is completely in the office. I suspect if WFH she will skip the placement. She is hoping the placement will rule in/out a particular career path.

Will be interested to hear everyone's DCs next steps as my DD will be a year behind.

@SandyIrvin I'll be with you in on thread as ds restarted year two in sept so has another year to go! I'm glad it's allowed him to have a bit more fun before the hard work ramps up.

Dds course is 4 years (also Scotland) although currently abroad, so will be around a bit longer. She hopes to rejoin her second year household for next year.

@specialted good to have company for another year and great to hear that your DS is enjoying 2nd year. Any advice for those choosing to step away and restart (asking for my DN who has just decided to come home and restart the year again in September)?

@SandyIrvin talk to tutors asap and speak to the uni department that deals with interruption of studies/intercalation or whatever the uni calls it. They were really really helpful and supportive. Dn will need to give reasons why etc but was a fairly straightforward process. Think they are used to it happening a lot. They then let student finance know. Ds had an email in the summer term asking if he wanted to come back and to choose modules etc and that was pretty much it. He applied for student finance again as usual.

@LIZS good that your DD can move in with her 2nd year household for her 4th year. DD has a friend doing a 5 year MPhys so hoping to take a space of someone graduating in her flat for her last year (as definitely not doing RA work!)

@specialted I think my DN will easily get to restart he has a really good reasons. How much work (academic) did your DS do in the gap between leaving and restarting? DN studying STEM subjects where they don't usually recommend gaps. My sister worried that he will end up taking on extra hours in his part time job in the gap

Dd found out her graduation date today....3 years have flown by.

@SandyIrvine DD also has another year if she passes enough marks to get to masters year. She wants to do a research Phd, but shes waiting to see how her results go in the summer, fingers crossed x

@SandyIrvin he did absolutely zero academic work in the six months off. He's a doing humanities subject so wasnt really a problem. He worked full time in a supermarket whilst he was off!

DD has finished all her lectures now. Working hard on her dissertation at the moment. Has two exams and then she is finished!

She has applied to teach English in South Korea for a year after she graduates.

Hope all other DC are doing well.

My dd is just starting a batch of 10 essays she needs to complete by 27th April .....No Easter break and her 21st birthday has been cut to one night out with close friends. They are all science essays so pretty tough going with referencing etc..

Busy end of degree with her dissertation starting a week after she finishes her exams.

Wow! That’s crazy busy. Which Uni is she at?

Warwick...I think she under estimated the number of essays although most students have at least 7...

She is buckling down and she has stated she prefers essays to time controlled exams...10 x 1500 words in 4 weeks will be challenging and then her dissertation is 8 to 10k words.