Heart or head ?

[podderpatch]

DC is at Oxbridge. However the course they are on has a lot of content in an area in which they are not particularly interested - despite checking beforehand.

They're now wondering whether to reapply elsewhere for next year, for a course that seems to fit better.

Is it better to stay at the prestigious Uni and put up with the course, as all Unis reserve the right to change modules, and knowing all of the effort and hope that went into being offered a place there... or change knowing that it's expensive to go to Uni and you'll get the best results doing something you love?

Head or heart?

Thank you all. I think you're right, this is perhaps more about settling in and coming to terms with the situation. Lots to consider, thank you.

DD is at Cambridge, she is friends with someone who moved from Classics to English. They went back to Y1 . They used to publish all lectures in a little book that you could buy but now you just get your own faculty lectures but if you know someone on another course and get schedule from them or contact the faculty you can attend almost any lecture so it can be a good way of sounding out other courses.

OP the young people go up to Oxford and Cambridge with dizzy expectations of how it will all be. It's very early days indeed for your DS. And this is the worst couple of weeks of the most challenging year in terms of almost every aspect of Oxbridge undergrad life. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the focus on the course is a distraction from not having settled yet and no doubt he's under the mistaken illusion that everyone around him has found their feet (they won't have done). Unless he's reading Law or Medicine I would think that there's going to be much more opportunity for branching out individually in subsequent years. I personally would advise him to seek out the student welfare rep in his college and ask to speak one to one. Or if he prefers to test the water, go to a welfare tea (there should be one in college most weeks). I would certainly do that before going to a subject tutor, especially with tutors being so busy with admissions at the moment (although some will be happier to make time than others).

Honestly, I would put good money on things looking brighter as your DS goes into 2024 having had a rest at home over Christmas after the frantic first term. Don't act rashly - such a mistake. What he's saying echoes what so many students are feeling around fifth week of the first term. Hang on in there!

I think there is a real tendency for reality to hit in at this point, the novelty of being away from home and being responsible for yourself is huge. Even if they are in catered halls the mental load of it all can weigh them down.

Ds is now in his final year and I would say he has "enjoyed" about 50%, much more this year because he actually had choice, he could choose his modules. In first year there were some shitty ones to wade through but he knew that it was no different at other universities and would be no different out in the real world of work.

I don't think many people enjoy all aspects of their jobs. As he is at Oxford I would be encouraging him to keep at it. Ds took it one semester at a time. In all honesty as there were no classes after exams (not Oxbridge) his year was probably 25 weeks of contact time. He knows I went through 8 months of hell just being pregnant with his brother