Current Oxbridge students - new year, new thread

[TenSheds]

Fresh new thread for Oxbridge parents group therapy! With freshers moving in and existing students returning, reckoned someone ought to take the initiative so there's a home for all the news, blues and reviews.

The last continuation thread filled up before anyone set up a new one so hopefully existing and new Oxbridge parents find this one.

Hi just wanted to introduce myself as my DD has been lucky enough to get a place at Cambridge for her degree starting in October. She is very nervous and feeling quite overwhelmed with it all at the moment. Shes worrying about going away from home for the first time. I keep trying to reassure her she will make lots of friends and the info from her college so far has been very welcoming. Any advice from current parents that might reassure her (and me!)?
Also I keep seeing on other parent groups for other unis that people take things like mattress toppers but as she has to move out every term I am thinking that it will be too bulky?

Understandable to be nervous @tootiredtobeinspired. Is there a college WhatsApp group or similar yet? Both DS1 and DD started to ‘meet’ people before they started.

Moved DD into her 5th year house today. A nice spot near the rugby ground. Convenient for training!

@tootiredtobeinspired congratulations to you and your DD. Try not to worry. My DD had a cupboard in her room that she put her kitchen stuff, duvet etc. in, and it could be locked during the holidays.
Hopefully your DD will have college parents who will be in touch shortly. Your DD can ask all those sort of questions.
Cambridge is amazing but quite bonkers. Enjoy the journey and try not to stress too much. My DD did an integrated Masters, then a PhD and is now lecturing and a Director of Studies, all in the space of 9 years.

@tootiredtobeinspired congratulations to your DD. My DD has just finished her time at C and like @Malbecfan ’s DD my DD also had lockable storage which some of the bully items could go in. She used the college duvets and pillows but did get a mattress topper but not until her third year as the mattress in her first couple of years was fine. There were events around the country in August and early September for networking for new students, not college level though. Good luck to your DD

Thanks all, Im sure I will be back with more daft questions as I think of them! Im hopeful she will really love it when she gets there as shes actually a very sociable and friendly girl, I think its just nerves at the moment!

Another parent of an incoming C fresher here. It feels ridiculous to be saying this when for so many it's a great prize, but I'm currently feeling very anxious that this is not the right path for DD and she would have been better off going to her insurance and having a more relaxed and 'normal' university experience with room to breathe. Not helped by her having been summer pooled so that we had a couple of days where it seemed almost certain that she would therefore end up at her insurance and I had convinced myself that was what was meant to be and would be for the best. I think DD was actually on the fence between the two and wanted the decision taken out of her hands, which I worry is not enough motivation to be at C. She certainly was not upset on results day, but she had assumed C was gone anyway because of how one of her A Level papers went (and she was right about that paper!). I went to C a long time ago and did enjoy it, but the academic side is much more intense now from what I can see, but with Oxbridge no longer the help it once was for careers. The college is new to us and the comms so far have not been as welcoming as the college from which she had her original offer. I won't go into details, but DD has had a rough couple of years and, while in some ways achieving a place at C is a great comeback story, the stakes feel higher if she ends up unhappy. So, realising how ridiculous this sounds, I'd be very grateful for any tales of DC who are not burning the candle at both ends to keep up!