Thrills and spills of studying in London

[stoneysongs]

A thread for supporters of DC heading to London unis - was originally going to be UCL which seems very popular this year, but expanded at @Needmoresleep's excellent suggestion.

For chats about moving in, what to take, living in London, whether an Oyster card is worth bothering with, how to do a big shop, where to park at drop off, the dreaded search for 2nd year accommodation etc etc etc

Tagging people I've spotted from the ex Oxbridge thread but all welcome including those with DC currently in London who can share their wisdom and anyone thinking of it for 2025 or beyond

@catmomof3
@lifeturnsonadime
@PotentialUCLmum
@CoffeeMugShot
@space99
@FebruarySmith
@mynameisnotmichaelcaine
@Summertimer

By way of intro I have a DD going to UCL to study BASc Arts and Sciences.

@space99 What accommodation is he staying in?

My daughter messaged me before she went to sleep saying she made some friends and went and chatted in their flat's kitchen before she went to bed which was a relief. She also wants me to text photos of all our cats 3 times a day 😅

Dropped DD off at UCL yesterday, she looked very small and sad when I left but she met everyone in her corridor last night and said they were all really nice. She sounds good this morning.

As we came back from a quick food shop there was a poor mum sitting on the steps outside the hall sobbing her heart out, I really felt for her. DD is coming home on Friday for a doctor's appointment so not so traumatic for us this time.

Drop off also accomplished yesterday. DC not met anyone to make friends with in halls yet, but is really trying. Some students moved in a week earlier so it's going to be harder to break into formed friendships. Catering runs out off the favourites early on apparently. At least it didn't rain on us moving in!

@catmomof3 DS in John Tovell. He finally text and said has met his housemates and they seem nice. DS provides very little info voluntarily so I’ll have to be happy with that for now 😂

@stoneysongs I take it you live fairly close by? Bet you can’t wait for Friday!
@babyzoomer are they in Ramsay Hall? Not good that they run out of stuff early.
Any DC going to the UCL Flourish event this afternoon? Not sure if it’s for all halls 🤷‍♀️

Yes DD is planning on going to the flourish welcome party - she hadn't booked a slot tho, was waiting to find someone to go with, hopefully she did that last night.

@space99 unfortunately we're not close, it took us 4 hrs to get there yesterday 😱
But complications around shared care for one thing and being mid investigation for something else means she's staying with home GP for a few weeks at least. It's a bit quicker on the train and her appt is early afternoon so she can get home and back in a day if she wants. Or she might stay Thursday or Friday night I guess. Really looking forward to hearing all about her first week 🙂

@stoneysongs oh yeah, that sounds sensible. We are about 4 hours away too, although train is just over 2 thankfully.
The Flourish party slot booking is a weird system I thought. My DS just booked one last week, but no idea if anybody else in his house will have same slot. Hope he won’t be the only one on his own.

@space99
Hope they haven't sold out, that's the disadvantage of waiting. I agree it's a weird system. DD said there was also a club night tonight but she hasn't got a ticket and she thinks it may be sold out by now.

@space99 Glad to hear your son finally got in touch and is ok.

DD is going to the Flourish thing with her friend that's from her school, 3 of them got into UCL but one went home after checking in because they didn't feel well. She's also meeting up with a girl she became friends with on the app later. I was so worried she'd hide away in her room so I'm really proud of her for putting herself out there.

@catmomof3 well done to your DD and hope they all enjoy the Flourish party this afternoon. I am pretty sure that I read that they can queue up to get into this party, if they didn’t manage to get tickets @stoneysongs

DS off to Imperial, and is in exactly the same situation re hall welcome parties. By the time his sister persuaded him that he should go, the tickets had sold out. I don't understand why they wouldn't have enough capacity! They would at Oxford, where the accommodation is a third of the cost! Feeling a bit bitter today.

He knows absolutely nobody - his school have never sent anyone to Imperial.

@Partridgewell I agree, it's really rubbish.

But, on the other hand, seeing as there are 3 DC just on this thread with no halls socials tickets, maybe there will actually be a reasonable number of people in the same position across the Imperial halls, and they can get to know each other a bit while the official social events are on 🤞

Please tell your DC to check with their halls - my understanding is they can go without a ticket . . . Tix just to help with numbers etc for some (if not all events)

That is @cloudatlaschapter2 , I will tell him to try! (He won't, though )

But, he has just synched his phone calendar with his imperial calendar and showed me, and as well as all his lectures there are lots of "socials" related to his course. So that's a positive.

*thanks @cloud

I think DD is fairly relaxed about going to the big, organised socials, her hall reps have something arranged for every evening this week and she has made friends with the people sharing her corridor so should be ok. There will be socials for her course next week too. You just need a few people to do things with, don't you, and then other friendships will be made along the way. She left school to go to a sixth form where she didn't know anyone and was fine so I'm not too worried about the socialising bit, it's the admin and the eating that concerns me 😬

That might have been me! I was going for a dignified, quiet weep but may have failed! I had a yellow striped shirt on!

Dropped mine off at UCL halls yesterday. Doesn’t know anyone. Has made a couple of acquaintances and is going to this club night tonight. Is definitely not settled though.

I'm feeling a bit lonely and sad tonight because the house is so quiet. I'm not really sure what to do with myself lol.

My DD was dropped off at UCL yesterday. Says other people on her corridor are nice but keep themselves to themselves - hopefully this will change as they get to know each other better. Off to the Ministry of Sound do tonight, trying not to think about her roaming around London at 2 in the morning to get home!

@StrangerThings73 Feel exactly the same. I don’t even know who she’s with other than a first name. Feels unnerving.

Oh @cloudatlaschapter2 if that was you my heart went out to you. There was another mum the other side of the entrance with her face buried in her DS's chest, also sobbing. I was lucky in that DD refused to believe I'd checked the car properly for any of her stuff left behind, so she walked me back to where I'd parked and we didn't have to say our goodbyes on the spot. I may have cried a little 🥺
DD was not too bad, much more composed than when she said goodbye to the cat before we left 😭

She has been to the welcome party and is off out somewhere else tonight now, so it's all good. She sounds excited and up for it, which helps enormously with the aimless rattling around that we are doing here without her. All in all though, it's not as bad as when DS went, that really felt like the end of something. I think the second one is easier. Plus over the last few weeks she "soiled the nest" more thoroughly than he did 😂

I think we were the only ones on the steps at the time. We managed to say our goodbyes in her room.

She's off to MOS tonight as well!

I don't think I was at all prepared for how this would feel!

It's really rough isn't it - I really miss her and just want her back home but I know that would actually be worse, because she is so ready to go. On the way back home I kept remembering her as a baby, she was so easy, and I loved the night feeds when it felt like we were the only ones awake in the world.

Oh well. They'll be home for Christmas before we know it. And we'll all be complaining then about how stroppy and annoying they've become 😂