Current Oxbridge students - continued again...!

[Panicmode1]

Think the other thread is full....!

Things are very quiet here and uneventful.

Good luck to everybody with interviews for jobs and so on, and to any new starters.i hope that they all have a great time.

DC going to oxford for the open day. They are very excited about encouraging people to apply, and showing off their beautiful college.
They are going down today and return tomorrow night.
They can't believe it was them going to an open day 18 months ago!

I've just got back home from seeing DD4 and her enormous suitcase off on the ferry to start her new life in London. She's got ten days to settle into her flat - sharing with an Oxford friend who's already started work, so is in situ and dealt with taking over the flat etc, thus making life far easier for DD. She has a leisurely ten days to make the transition from Scottish island life to big city life and indeed working life, but the first week of work seems to be a social week in any event, so she's definitely on quite a nice ticket. DS4 was seen off on the ferry a week ago having come home for a bit, and he's currently on Day 4 of his Junior Research Fellowship (well I hope he is - no message so far).

I really hope the upcoming round of applications goes well for the DC of all those on this thread - it's a tense time for them.

that sounds so brilliant pivoinerose - must make you feel so much better about her being so far away!

Your research fellow is busy researching i guess - proof of life would be nice though!
I agree, good luck to everyone's offspring for job/intern applications.

Good luck to your DD in her new job and flat pivoinerose! Does she have older siblings already in London?

DS has just completed the first year of his grad job and has moved - along with two Cambridge friends - into a different East London flat. With DD also in London (on the opposite side of course), the DC are definitely in what they call the “London phase”. Along with a large majority of their uni friends.

Good luck to all of you with DC applying for jobs and internships.

Thanks both. Yes ofteninaspin all eight DC are now in London. DD4's flat is about a minute and a half from DD3's flat (DD3 and her bf have a dog so DD4 is perfectly placed to dogsit the (enormous) dog: DD3 was super keen on DD4 and her friend going for this particular flat....). Meanwhile DS4's new flat is about a minute and a half from where DD2 works so that's good just to meet for coffee etc.

@pivoinerose what an achievement for you - all 8 DCs launched into the working world and all in London too, which will be very convenient for them supporting each other and for you too when you visit. Very good luck to your youngest as she begins her working life.

@ofteninaspin, a whole year gone since your DS started his graduate job! Well done to him too!

My DS1 and DS2 are really lagging behind, having just started year two of law school - SQE1 and 2 now and yet another round of TC applications. They're desperate to move away from home and live in London but as it's looking more likely they'll need to find paralegal jobs there next autumn, I'm not sure they'll be able to afford London life.

@Panicmode1 good luck with your own new job and I hope the first couple of weeks have gone well for you.

@Juja all the best for your DC1's city life and I hope he secures a full time position soon. It sounds like the potential employer really wants him.

@Ironoaks thinking about your DS as he starts supervising others this year, possibly.

I know I've left out loads of people and have completely forgotten who's changed usernames in any case and who you were when we all started out but good luck to everyone's DC and also those whose DCs are counting down the days now until they start out at O & C.

@mutterphore what a lovely message - your two are clearly working so hard - there will be opportunities out there just must seem hard going at the moment. All good luck to them as they enter the next phase of SQE and more applications.

Discovered today DC1 had raided our airing cupboard and gone off yesterday to his new life with all the bottom sheets for our bed - they are even the wrong size for his new bed. Not sure an Oxford degree quite equips them for living in the real world! He has at least admitted his crime...

@pivoinerose how lovely to have your DC in close proximity to each other. Amazing they all have gravitated to London. My DC1 has explicitly chose to avoid London but I expect DC2 will end up there. What they are clear about is our remote corner of England is not where they see themselves.

@ofteninaspin the East End seems the place to be for many...

To all new starters - all the very best for the next couple of weeks before they start. I had one who flourished from the start and one who found it much harder to adjust so don't worry if it's not a dream ticket from the beginning. Pretty much everyone finds their niche and their tribe and there is support from college welfare and university counselling. Do encourage them to make use of it.

@mutterphore your DSs really are examples of resilience. I wish them the very best of luck.

@ofteninaspin it's hard to believe it's a year since your DS started his job. I hope both he and DD are getting on well.

@pivoinerose all 8 in London! So DS 4 is in the smoke now. My DD1 hasn't mentioned him moving but to be fair, we rarely speak now, just the odd WhatsApp or text. Where is he working - you can PM me if you prefer.

@Juja that's the sort of thing my DD1 would do! They are amazing at passing exams and getting the most out of Oxbridge, but their grasp on reality is somewhat tenuous. Best of luck to him.

Nothing much here to report. DD2 thinks she has found a 1 bed flat to rent (finally) so she will moving out next weekend. Her job starts on 30th. She did her last shift in the cafe today and will be relieved not to have to deal with entitled people any longer. There is something about this part of the world, known colloquially as God's Waiting Room, where there is a cluster of impatient entitled idiots. She will be within 40 minutes of DD1 and her friends on PG courses in London, so she's starting to get excited. I am stressing about having to manage work and my DF without my aide and ally. Come home soon DD1!

These are such good threads.

No 'borrowed' linen from here - if only because DS4's deferred birthday present was an entire set of new bed stuff delivered from Amazon to his new flat a day before he arrived (DD4 very organised and had ordered hers ahead too. She has been consulting me on duvet design choice for about a month now so I knew I was safe).

Malbec I'm completely with you. Very unusually for me I almost felt a tear, standing watching the ferry take DD4 away. But it was a perfect day up here and the two dogs were pulling me along the beach to go for a walk - they move on fast, my two dogs, having been very affectionate recipients of DD4's pats and kisses in the ferry terminal. But it does feel more finite now, with no DC even at uni. I'll PM you to say which uni DS4 has joined. He was hugely surprised to get an offer- very unexpected but he seems to have just been incredibly lucky: bang on the right area of research for the job advertised at exactly the right moment. I actually assumed things would be very uncertain for him for a while, as did he.

Well done to DS4 @pivoinerose . DD2's flat is now confirmed. She's calling the LL tomorrow to discuss furniture. Depending on the outcome of that call, we may be hitting Ikea on Monday morning. There is apparently one in Milton Keynes, so we need to google the closest to her flat and see if we can click and collect.

Possibly a stupid question but is there a board for people like pivoinerose, @mutterphore @ofteninaspin and others who lurk here but our DC have moved on. I know my DD1 is still in C but it won't be for much longer. Would love some solidarity!

DS has an actual plan now: college induction activities from 5 Oct, departmental induction from 7 Oct. He is happier now that he knows what is happening.

Yes please @Malbecfan, but I have no imagination to suggest what it would be called

@Malbecfan I wonder if a 'recent graduates' thread on the Parents of Adult Children board would work?

@PermanentTemporary I had no idea there was a parents of adult children board. Oh dear! To be fair, my safe spaces on MN are here and Elderly Parents. Maybe I'll set one up. Please would some of you come and join me so I don't look like a saddo...

@Malbecfan I've done the deed. Although (in my usual style) a stray comma has appeared.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/parentsofadultchildren/5170023-from-the-gcse-years-to-graduation-beyond

Thanks so much @mutterphore It's certainly an adjustment working full time after about 15 years of pootling not really doing more than 2 or 3 days a week. The people are lovely, but it's not my dream job - however until DH gets a new one (and please God that's soon...), needs must!

DS has just had a week in the sun with his GF and has now flown off to join some uni friends for interrailing. Think he's back on Sunday and heading up to C the following day...not sure where his washing and packing is going to feature but that's his issue to sort out!

Lovely to hear of everyone's news - and I hope that not all of the wise and wonderful parents of graduates disappear completely; you are very much valued on this thread.

Hi, just wondered the reason for variable start dates at Cambridge ? DD arrives 5th Oct but her friend at another college starts a week earlier so much more time to settle in before essays kick in!

I think because each college is a separate legal entity and so each college makes its own decision about start dates 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks yes I know they can make their own decisions, just thought it odd that there is such a difference in settling in time (for U.K. students).

Way back in the dim distant past my DoS asked everyone doing my subject to come up early so we could do some pre-term work together so it may even vary within the same college.

My daughter has received her accommodation allocation - no kitchen (so she'll get discounted food in her college's hall) but she does have an en suite, which was the only thing she would have been disappointed about not getting. Going to try and find out if there will be a little fridge in her room, as that would make her life a lot easier.

I'd also like to say thank you to all the experienced parents here moving away from this thread who have helped with all sorts of questions and been very welcoming.

@Chouffles some of DD's friends are going back for particular sports teams, because they have a specific role on the JCR, are welcoming Freshers, are rehearsing for a play etc, I don't think out of 7 friends at Cambridge any of them are going back the same day, they all have different return days for different reasons and are at different colleges doing different subjects.

@Chouffles if this was Oxford, some of them would also be returning for Collections (College exams). Not sure if this also applies at Csmbridge.

Thanks @Dearover and @PettsWoodParadise yes I can see that in Yr 2 onwards there would be lots of different plans. Was just surprised that for freshers there are huge variations in length of ‘freshers week’.