Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued

[Panicmode1]

New thread.....!

DD4 developed a coffee shop habit pretty much on Day One but Costa (I think Costa - a chain anyhow) gave a huge discount to new students. Dirt cheap. But then she progressed to much better outlets: Jericho Coffee, Brew, Missing Bean. There's a lot to be said for going out for a decent coffee surely, it needn't dent the budget too much.

Even for lovers of good coffee Brew is a bit out of the way for central colleges so DD4 tends to go there more when I'm in town and staying up that way but it's reasonably handy for St Hugh's or LMH. Fabulous coffee.

Some departments have cafes so students can eat or get coffee there. DD used to meet someone she knew from school 2 years above her but a medic as the medic finished her lecture just before DD started hers and they fell into a nice habit of having a quick coffee together. That friend got married last month - making me feel ancient as I taught her all the way through school!

Yes exactly Malbec. DD4's coffee habit started with a daily trip with another person from college after DD's early language class ended. Became a fixture. Started the day for the historian, meant that DD could procrastinate before starting anything else, but with chat and a coffee rather than without since procrastination would have happened in any event. Make a virtue of necessity and all that.

My DC could not afford to buy an expensive coffee on a daily basis whilst at O and C but many do and there are some very expensive outlets in both places!

If it's any consolation, DD's department has an external coffee provider who does her something vegan with syrup for 50p a cup.

I suppose it's a question of what's a priority and what else you spend your loan on ofteninaspin. Different students, different ways of using money. DD4 is very good with money (well, except the £1000k earnings she put in the front of the stolen suitcase....). Just that she likes coffee, talking and procrastinating especially after these grisly early classes the Classics II students have five days a week. I'd be fit for nothing without a decent coffee after those.

D1 had an on and off Pret subscription (tto, paused in the vacs) which actually works out good value if you write some of your essays in Pret rather than the Bod...

I think freshers were reeled in with a free month 😁

Ah yes it was Pret JulesJules, not Costa. Exactly the same: free followed by subscription.

Are students allowed home at weekends at all? Reading the college rules seems to suggest they are expected to stay there all term?

TBH most make the most of the short terms in college and the long holidays at home. DD routinely had 4 pieces of work to submit in her first year and 2 essays each week thereafter. By the time you fit in a sport/music/other activities, there isn't really the opportunity. It does of course also depend where you live.

Many courses also have Collections (internal exams like mocks) in the week immediately before term officially starts, so don't encourage them to sign up for a 6 week holiday job either.

DS found that his work was set on a Friday, so weekends were working days last year. Tutorials on Thursdays and Fridays, so they were actually his weekends. Student Nights in clubs are Wednesdays and Thursdays.

So, no, he only came back home mid term on the couple of occasions when he was ill and needed a proper sleep.

Oh, and they pretty much sleep for the first week back home anyway, because the workload is so intense during term time.

Thanks! It all sounds rather intense. Dd worked extremely hard at A levels though and I think enjoyed it in amongst the stress, so she’ll probably be fine.

Getting the offer and the place is the easy bit!

Ds developed a coffee habit when he was having trouble staying awake in early Maths lectures...

DS has emerged after 4 days of trying to code a moon lander (or something!) It was set at the beginning of the summer but he's enjoyed having some head and breathing space so had left it until now...!

@catsnap DS sometimes comes home for Sunday lunch mid term...there is SO little time to do anything other than work, row, a bit of debating and hopefully some socialising in the 8 weeks of term, so I'm always grateful when he asks to come home for a roast! But we are only 1.5 hrs away by train, so easily doable in term time....

DD had some NatSci lectures on Saturday mornings in her 1st year. I think it was Chemistry but I may be wrong. Supervision work had a deadline of Sunday evening in her supervisors "pidge" (pigeon hole at their college) so unless you live close by, weekends home don't really work. DD did manage to go to visit people in Oxford leaving on a Saturday afternoon and working on the bus, staying over and coming back on Sunday afternoon.

DS also had Saturday morning lectures in first year and a hobby-related society which met on alternate Saturday afternoons. In the first year he had four deadlines for supervision work each week (one for each subject) and often the work is only set 2-3 days in advance. The week runs Thursday to Wednesday.

In theory, undergraduates have to spend 59 nights each term in Cambridge (51 for the Easter term) in order to get their degree, although in practice I doubt this is thoroughly checked. I know of other students who did visit home for a weekend.

Sorry to barge in as I’m not an Oxbridge parent at all. But many years ago I was a student there. Congrats to all the new undergrads and the recently graduated.

I just wanted to stick my oar in and say that I made it through four years without a bike, and a sizeable number of my friends did too. My college was fairly central but my second year accommodation wasn’t particularly, and my faculty was a 15 minute walk. I walked everywhere. I wouldn’t want any nervous new starters thinking they had to master a bike if it’s not their thing.

DD doesn't have a bike either, not that she needs one to travel between college and department. Other, further flung parts of Oxford would be more accessible on two wheels than two legs, but on the whole she manages perfectly well.

We are so excited in our house! All of the uni shopping is piled up in DDs bedroom and she’s had a couple of emails from her college.
she is desperate to be given a moving in date now. She’s hoping they will send details of accommodation but knows they probably won’t. It’s all getting very real now!

@HereWeGo2023 Same here, excitement really set in this weekend as DS went shopping for a new black suit and his bow ties!
We are living overseas now so I've had to be slightly restrained in how much I buy for him to take but I'm even excited about doing a Marks & Spencer click and collect for when we arrive.
His college is fairly central so I'm hopeful he'll manage without a bike as it's just one more thing he'll have to store over the summer but he can play that by ear.

DS has managed three years so far without getting on a bike, let alone owning one. It's 1.5 miles from his college to the department of the subject he has settled on, and he prefers to walk.

@BackToWhereItAllBegan that does sound exciting!! I too would be excited for the click and collect! DD’s matriculation gown is being delivered today and I literally cannot wait!
she is going to try and manage without a bike too. I don’t think she’s ridden one since she was about 6 so I’m pleased about that.

@BackToWhereItAllBegan DD's bike stayed in her college for 4 years without ever coming home. After 4 years, she moved to a house so just walked up to the college, took her bike and rode it to her shared house. She's been there 2 years and is moving on Friday. Whilst scruffy bike might fit in my car with nothing else in it, I'm going to suggest she rides it to the new place.