Page 24 | Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued

craggyrat · 07/09/2023 12:01

Thanks @OhYouBadBadKitten

@Clemenc0 best wishes to you and yours.My DS is pre reading for year 2 history as we speak - sadly in hus bedroom rather than Greece!

Malbecfan · 07/09/2023 12:46

Good news @craggyrat . Fingers crossed for the ongoing treatment and also for @Clemenc0

Echoing the others about C dress. DD wore a dark blue dress for her Matriculation that I spent a whole £4 on in M&S's sale. She was a bit reluctant for me to buy it, but I said that you never know when you need a smart dress. She did wear pale shoes with ridiculously high heels but the photo of that day is right in front of me and she looked gorgeous. I need to point out that since a badly broken ankle 20 years ago, I don't do heels or strappy shoes, plus DD is 5 feet tall, so even in the heels, she was still tiny compared to everyone else!

Something I don't think has been mentioned: matriculation photos are available online in various extortionate packages. Whilst they make good Christmas presents for grandparents/other relatives, beware of the 2nd mortgage that they cost! I went a bit mad on graduation ones, then DD matriculated again 3 months later for her PhD. Luckily that one was wet and windy and the photos aren't as nice, so I only got one digital one.

HewasH20 · 07/09/2023 21:38

@goodbyestranger in your experience, if doors open at 9.45 for a 10.30 ceremony, at what time should we join the queue?

Ironoaks · 07/09/2023 21:56

DS finishes his internship tomorrow and is flying home on Sunday. He has been working quite hard, so I'm glad he'll get a bit of a break before starting Part III.

goodbyestranger · 07/09/2023 22:23

H20 ime you really won’t get a better seat if you’re first at the gates or last. If you go at 9.45 you’ll stand for ages. If you go at 10.25 you should go straight in but you’re likely to be in the gods - I happen to like those seats best: right up close to the beautiful ceiling but with a wonderful view.

Hope you have a fab day.

HereWeGo2023 · 08/09/2023 13:32

DD is still waiting on hearing about her accommodation and a moving in slot. I can’t believe it’s so close now.
The excitement of getting the grades has given way to extreme nerves that this is actually happening and she’s leaving home!

Teriyakieverything · 08/09/2023 13:48

hmmm…I don’t know anything about moving in slots for her C college, I thought we just turn up?

Teriyakieverything · 08/09/2023 13:48

As in turn up on the day at a reasonable time with her stuff in a car…

craggyrat · 08/09/2023 14:57

DS college last year was slots (c). I think accommodation is allocated 15 September. DS was 12 to 1 and non freshers from memory was after 2. He was one of the later ones, possibly because we were 3 hours away to give us time

LaurelGrove · 08/09/2023 15:15

DD got an email yesterday asking her to pick a 1 hour drop off slot at C. The timetable for freshers suggested drop offs would be over the course of 26/27 - she was concerned the second date would mean everyone would have made friends already, and while I think she's wrong, I can see why she preferred 26th!

HereWeGo2023 · 08/09/2023 16:33

She has now had an email saying they can choose they day, which she has replied to. They are then going to look at where students live in relation to Cambridge and allocate slots accordingly.
we have to turn up at the given time, unload her and then take the car to a car park and come back if we want

HoneyMobster · 08/09/2023 17:51

RAAC news from St Catz Oxford

www.oxfordstudent.com/2023/09/08/st-catz-buildings-closed-due-to-raac/

KittyTinker · 11/09/2023 10:16

Hi just found this thread I have a DS just about to go into 3rd year Oxford PPE. When he had his matriculation we couldn’t attend because of covid restrictions but we found that there is a live webcam of Broad Street Oxford and I sat at home and watched all the students walking down the street in their finery.

HoneyMobster · 11/09/2023 19:53

It's not usual for parents to attend matriculation at Oxford @KittyTinker - I didn't attend DD's last year. But maybe others have?

sytron · 12/09/2023 14:13

I know this is really superficial but after we drop DC off, there is a 'parents event' at the college. I suspect this is a way to separate the parents from their offspring, but it is very nice.

What sort of things do people wear? smart dresses? jeans and a nice top (because we are carrying boxes and cases)?

Thank you for all your advice, I can cope with the academic side, but all the frilly bits are so alien!

HewasH20 · 12/09/2023 14:19

I think you'll find that you actually do surprisingly little carrying on the day thanks to all the 2nd years. Oxford parents are just like every other set of parents around the country, tending to dress for comfort rather than a garden party on drop off day. DD started in Oct 20, so we were hardly allowed in her room and had to accessorise with masks.

PermanentTemporary · 12/09/2023 14:25

The parents' drinks thing was purely casual, ok the setting is fancy but it was all jeans at ds's college. I met one really nice family, two relentlessly competitive dads and got out of there to cry in peace

DaisyThistle · 12/09/2023 14:52

HewasH20 · 12/09/2023 14:19

I think you'll find that you actually do surprisingly little carrying on the day thanks to all the 2nd years. Oxford parents are just like every other set of parents around the country, tending to dress for comfort rather than a garden party on drop off day. DD started in Oct 20, so we were hardly allowed in her room and had to accessorise with masks.

Edited

Not necessarily. DS was in a tower room up eight flights of stairs and I don't recall any second year helpers. Definitely wear jeans or trackies and trainers.

Scoobyblue · 12/09/2023 15:36

No help carrying for us either. Definitely wear trainers and jeans.

Original poster

Panicmode1 · 12/09/2023 17:32

We had a 'parents' tea' on drop off day and it was totally casual. As others have said, I would just wear what you are most comfortable in - we did have to carry stuff from the car to DS's room - in a hurry as we were parked on double yellows on the very narrow lane outside his room! I had booked a parking space on someone's drive near the college - far cheaper than parking in town, and a guaranteed space.

I think I said upthread, that I'd envisaged us having lunch together before we left, but he was agitating to get stuck in with unpacking and meeting up with the friends he'd made at a freshers drinks thing in London - so we had a quick trip to the parents' tea, a very quick tour of the chapel and a peek at the new library, and then DH and I ended up buying sandwiches from M&S and sitting on a bench opposite Kings munching them in the sunshine feeling rather like lost sheep!

OP posts:

ProggyMat · 12/09/2023 19:25

No help lugging stuff into DDs room for me, too!
That said, I did enjoy the brief chats - whilst pausing for air - with other parents during my numerous ‘up and down that sodding staircase. DD chatted to lots of other freshers during the task…
The ‘final lug’ leg, I did ask DD to ask if one of the helpers would help me and they duly obliged.
The parents ‘do’ was a few hours later than I had hoped to make my way back ‘op North’.
DD had a wobble before I took her down but as she was clearly fine - I legged it!

Malbecfan · 12/09/2023 19:50

@sytron DD's college had a parents' tea. Due to having to cart all DD's stuff around, the dress code was most definitely informal. The Master hosted it in his lodge and senior staff were on hand and obviously primed to chat to parents. Younger siblings were encouraged to attend but one you had eaten the cake & drunk the tea, listened to a welcome message from the Master, you were gently ushered on your way so the next cohort could come in.

We didn't have drop off slots for DD because her college has some parking on site. It was still manic, but we did manage to get a space. We didn't have any help with carrying stuff but it wasn't too bad. I think I made up DD's bed for her (got me out of dragging stuff up loads of stairs) because I knew she was keen to go off and socialise and if she came back tipsy, at least her bed would be ready.

It's nice thinking back to 2017. I hope your DC have as good a time as she has had. She has just come back from a conference in Switzerland where she gave a presentation - still managed to fit in a paraglide in the Alps! I'm taking DD2 back to her uni tomorrow for her Masters year, so a long day behind the wheel for me. Her uni had slots but as we had to go around Birmingham, so almost missed it, they were very nice and understanding.

Chicoandchunky · 13/09/2023 06:38

No parent's tea at ds's college, although they did have tea and coffee available.

What they did have was a bunch of very willing second years, who met us at the car and helped with the carrying.

Make the most of it, because clearing the room every term is a massive pain!

craggyrat · 13/09/2023 08:08

No parents tea at DS college - C. V slick drop off with slots as reasonable parking on site. They weren't hugely strict on times. Head Porter meeted and greeted and checked you off. Child then escorted by Freshers Rep to get pass and info. Then Frep showed us to room and we unpacked with DS. We were one of last slots at 12 and non freshers couldn't arrive until after 2. College has lovely little on site csfe - it is an open college - so we all went for coffee and chatted with some admin staff then we left him to it. We were staying for 3 nights at the Premier Inn so met him at Starbucks next to college 7am! He had been to a party with college parents previous night but all parties shut down by staff at 11. He was v nervous that second morning but he looked over his stuff in Starbucks and picked the freshers events he liked. We then met him a couple more times for a quick pizza or coffee and by the time we left he was v happy and settled. He is an only one and before cambridge his life was at a swimming pool and he just didn't do social stuff. He is a different person now - far more confident and outgoing and loves C.

goodbyestranger · 13/09/2023 22:37

Well I've never attended a matriculation - it's just not a thing.