Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued

[Panicmode1]

New thread.....!

@beeswain thank you for welcome, i will look out for your advice!

Did your DS find the workload very onerous? My DC is alternating between excitement and imposter syndrome.

@sytron he is a steady worker, he worked hard but he said it was manageable. The key thing seemed to be to stay on top of it and not get behind.

Would you say it is useful/practical to register with a GP local to the university? Do local GP practices tend to have vacancies in general?
We are 1.5hrs away (DD off to Cambridge next month) and we are in two minds whether to just stay with the current practice, considering it is largely online or telephone appointments for the past few years anyway.

I personally would say register with a university GP just because they know all the ins and outs of student health, exam issues. But others might take a different view.

In fact i remember now that at ds's college it's compulsory to register at a uni GP.

Yes, DS also at a college where it is compulsory to register for a GP in Cambridge...and we are a similar distance away.

DS cambridge college also was compulsory for local gp. They sent him a list of three or four plus list of pharmacies and he had to pick and register. He picked closest whichid right next to college back gate. . Luckily hasn't used them but he did need GP when home at easter and we just rung old GP who sent him to local out of hours so it was fine. He has been to college nurse who was fantastic

dd s college also require that she registers with a local GP. However she has an ongoing repeat monthly prescription with her current home GP, is this easy to sort out?

Mindful that GP, pharmacy and NHS stuff could be difficult to navigate and access.

DD4 needs a repeat asthma medicine and it couldn't have been easier in Oxford. Far easier than our home surgery which had a very archaic system for repeat prescriptions.

That said, obviously makes sense for your DD to go up armed with a fresh supply, just because everything (for her and the GPs) is busy at the start of term.

Congratulations to all the new parents and their DC. Just popping on to the thread to say that if there are any new Cambridge Mathmos who need things demystifying, I may be able to help. Or I may not. dd graduated a year ago. But I'll try.

DS was also required by college to register with a local surgery.
It was helpful when DS had shingles in college in his third year. The college nurse called out the GP and DS was able to start treatment quickly.

DD managed a repeat prescription between our local surgery and Oxford. The process at Oxford was straightforward but our local surgery always made it seem rather complicated.

Hey @OhYouBadBadKitten how nice to see you again. How are you and DD?

My DD's GP has said she will prescribe enough of her medication to get her about 6 weeks in to the term, so that hopefully gives her enough time to register at a uni GP(non Oxbridge!). DS hasn't had to use the GP in Cambridge yet, but the process was really simple. I imagine in uni towns it is a well practised process and probably easier than moving to a new area as an adult!

@Panicmode1 student GPs at Nottingham and Bristol are fantastic. Speedy service and fantastic follow ups. Sure others are too. They only deal with students so no elder generation.

Good to hear - she's going to Nottingham @mumsneedwine!

We are both really good Malbec. Thanks! dd is throughly enjoying her work and life in general and I'm really well. A relief not to be on the annual exam roller coaster any more!

@sytron this worries my daughter too. She's thinking of applying this year with grades in hand, but knows getting in (and realises that in itself is no mean feat) is just the start! HSPS is what she considering, but she's also wondering, if she will most likely get a Masters after, if she shouldn't go for a similar undergraduate degree at a less intense university (like Bath or Bristol or Exeter). She fears Cambridge will be like the last couple months before A level exams but for three years!
I'm also not telling anyone IRL that she's thinking about it. She has a friend who had an offer from Cambridge but missed her grades (she's going to Kings). She told my daughter that it was worse having to tell everyone she didn't make it than her actual disappointment with her results.

Hello@OhYouBadBadKitten! Glad everything is going with for your DD and for you too.

@OhYouBadBadKitten lovely to see you on the thread again; you provided valuable advice and reassurance when DS was starting. Glad to hear that you and your DD are well.

Hi Often and Ironoaks. I hope all is well with you both and your families.

So dd has applied for a student bank account on the 18 August and they still have not got back to her. Anyone else having issues with opening student accounts?

@Teriyakieverything DD1 had some issues with Santander when she tried to change her young persons account to a student one. I think it was because they expected her to do it in Cambridge for some random reason. It didn't take long to sort. Which bank is it?

@Malbecfan its HSBC. Co-incidentally, I was just reading in the papers today that HSBC are trying to get employees to get back to the office for productivity reasons, so it could be that. DD called them up but I’m unclear whether there is an issue or it is just slow, but at account opening they said it should take 10 days, but it’s been 2 weeks. At this rate, they are going to lose a customer for life.

@BackToWhereItAllBegan My DS's bike has also stayed in the locked college bike store over all vacations so it hasn't been a trouble.

@HereWeGo2023 DD has now received her moving in date has your's?- Her's two days earlier than we anticipated - 1st Oct, She is there the previous week for a pre term 4 day course but then a two day gap between the course and moving in. That is in another college but her college have been great about giving her access to her room early. We will then drive down on the 2nd with the remainder of her stuff. Lots of selection of transfers to decorate her walls, photos to print out - plants or fairy lights or both... a good displacement activity from her reading list. So different from DS two years ago who did no prep, didn't read the emails from his college and drove me somewhat spare...