Parents of Durham freshers 2025

[MillicentFaucet]

We've chatted on a different threads over the past few months so do any anxious/excited/slightly overwhelmed parents want to congregate here for Durham chat?
My DS will be starting an MEng next month and has been allocated to Cuths 🐯(but no confirmation of what type of accommodation he has yet).
He's slowly working his way through registration etc and fretting about the important things like what to wear for matriculation <sigh>
How's everyone else getting on?

Thank you @MillicentFaucet @WombatChocolate @RayonSunrise it all sounds really positive and he's really looking forward to (hopefully) starting in September. I suppose another good thing about VM is that they don't tend to share bedrooms, something DC wouldn't particularly like. Sharing a bathroom is absolutely fine. I have never understood the need for an en-suite at their age. Good to know also that they don't tend to get reallocated from VM. I've just had a look at mouthful.of.marys -thanks for sharing the link. The food actually sounds quite nice.

@MillicentFaucet He will be studying History. Has one more exam to go and then a long wait for results day!

Hope your DC are enjoying all the socials, sounds like they are having a lot of fun this time of the year!

I cannot tell you what an amazing time one of our young relatives has had at VM, having put it low on his list. So much so that his girlfriend, at one of the sought-after Bailey colleges, told me that she wishes she'd gone there. He went there a shy nerd and has just become Mr popular college guy. Totally blossomed, he's a real joiner-inner and has a lovely bunch of friends. He took a gap year beforehand but I honestly don't know a young person who's been through the most wonderful blossoming between sixth form and mid university. I think it's the combination of the gap year, Durham and VM, and his own efforts of course, but he was a depressed anxious boy and he's now just the happiest person with a really appealing confidence.

When we went to the OHD the principal (head? Don't know what they call them) made a real effort to greet families and I liked the way he directed his conversation to DD rather than us.

What a lovely post @Valleyofthedollymix , it's wonderful to read about our young'uns living their best Durham life!
DS had exams wed-fri last week and had been studying really hard for them. He brought some friends home on the hot, sweaty bank holiday Monday for pizza, beers & badminton in our garden. They returned ready for the final push, I think they've spent this week either drunk, asleep or hungover lol

That's so lovely to hear @Valleyofthedollymix! Really reassuring to hear such positive stories, especially given that we didn't visit VM at the OHD.

@Fabfabfab - welcome to this thread! @MillicentFaucet does an excellent job of keeping us in touch!

My DD got 11th choice: she wanted Bailey & catered; she got Hill and self-catering (specifically John Snow). Had a few days of disappointment but quickly got used to the idea and was really excited to be confirmed there shortly after results day. Fortunately, thanks to Mumsnet, i already knew that Durham college allocation disappointment was a thing and also that everyone comes to love where they land. That’s certainly been true of DD. She’s had a great time there.

Thank you! Glad to hear your DD is having a great time. I agree that Mumsnet has been so helpful in understanding the college allocation process as otherwise it could have been much more of a negative surprise. I'm now instead very calmly letting DC know that not getting your top choice is very common at Durham and that it will all work out for the best anyway. After an initial 30 minutes of dismay he now seems pretty happy with VM :)

Well - nearly at the end of Party Easter term! How are all the DC doing?

My daughter is, by her own admission, living her “best life”: all the fun of uni without any actual academic pressure. This past week she’s taken a visiting friend on a college bar crawl, introduced them to Klute, taken in a play at the Assembly Rooms and attended her college day as well as someone else’s (shhhh!). She confessed she may need to sleep until Tuesday to catch up on all her sleep so she’s packed & prepared to come home by next weekend!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely time.