Thread 41 Corona Cohort - Autumn Adventures of our Adult Children

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and support to be had !

previous thread

There is a small yr 11 thread I can't work out how to link it. My son is doing his GCSEs this year and can't work out what to do at college let alone university🤣.

@Monkey2001 Wow, that's a really long summer break!

@BlueMarigold and @handmademitlove, @NCTDN has started a thread "GCSE year 2023." We're Far Away from London, but the fair sounds interesting.

DD and her friends from the course went drawing around town together this afternoon. She decided to sketch them while they were working. (Promise this is the last pic I'll post for at least a week, but they do make me smile.)

Dd says she can't view her timetable, which could be problematic come Monday! She's going to message a friend from her course.

I also have a year 12 ds, but I didn't really click with the thread for his year and/or it's just too much effort to follow two threads! After being totally nochalant/uninterested in academic subjects, apart from History, he's now really enjoying Sociology, which was a results day pot luck choice! And he's decided to drop PE and do Criminology instead, along with Business, as he really enjoyed the sample lesson he went to this week. So social sciences it is.... No idea where those subjects will lead him, but I'm just happy that he's showing some enthusiasm for the first time!

I have a year 13 Dd. She’s applying to do Law. Her personal statement is done and dusted and her UCAS form completed and ready to be submitted (she’s the complete opposite to DS who submitted his in mid-January ). She sits the LNAT exam next weekend. If she feels that the LNAT went will, she will immediately submit her UCAS as she’s applying to Oxford,. The others on her list are Bristol (where Ds has just gone), Manchester, UCL and Nottingham. If she feels like she bombed the LNAT, UCL will go in favour of a non LNAT Uni, most probably York or Warwick.

DS has texted to ask whether his grey tracksuit bottoms should go with darks or lights
I think his loan is delayed because the uni hasn't confirmed he is enrolled, and that's because he hadn't clicked a button on the hub. Hopefully the money will be through in time to pay his rent on Friday.

Love the sketches, keep posting!
Also the news about younger DC, I am on the Y12 thread but it's not as good as this one. There are lots who have already been to several open days, many working all hours etc. Not at all like DD

Lots of students on WIWIKAU have already come home for the weekend. This seems awful early, no??

Seems early to me Piggy, I spoke to DS on FaceTime yesterday and asked if he was home sick at all, he just looked at me like I was mad and said no. It’s nice to missed hey?! 😂

We're picking DS up next weekend to go to a family wedding. He is not happy about the timing at all. I'm secretly very excited about seeing him. And DD being a bridesmaid of course 😁

Well that was a long day... dear lord cambridge is busy! Not used to that many people. Am not a city person! DS gone to freshers quiz. He seems okay but slightly bewildered. @PhotoDad we saw girls sketching by a church today so wondered if your DD was one! Curtains are grey and really quite nice

@craggyrat Not busy as cities go, but busy enough! 😜DD was mainly in Market Square today, but the art students get everywhere with their sketchbooks. Hope that your DS will settle in quickly.

@singingstones my yr12 DS is also not going to open days (or even thinking about them) and doesn’t seem to be doing much work either

@handmademitlove I started a thread for y11 but then found another one Year 11 22/23 support thread. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4615911-year-11-2223-support-thread

@Fiddlersgreen how is your DS feeling about Leicester so far? It has obviously been an odd time with the relationship break down, but is he settling in there and feeling that it was a reasonable choice? As one of the people saying we liked it, I hope we were not wrong!

@Monkey2001 he’s not really speaking to us about the relationship but he’s been out with flatmates every night and met some other lads at football trials so he seems happy enough.
Lectures haven’t started yet so hopefully that will all go well

I don’t think this is one for WIWIKAU, is it?

Taken AFTER we took out the pile of boxes she’d not got round to taking out to recycle. The rack at the end of the bed is a new addition as she can’t just wear clothes until they need washing, so had half her wardrobe on the go at once.

@singingstones @Fiddlersgreen my year 12 ds has only just fully decided on his A Level choices, there’s no way he’ll be thinking about anything else until year 13! He’s already not convinced by uni and if he does go he’ll have a gap year first, so no hurry. That year 12 thread is a bit intimidating isn’t it?!

@craggyrat hope ds settles ok! @Piggywaspushed i think it’s too early for a visit home, but then dd has only been away a week. She’s planning to come home at the end of half term. This time still feels like vital making friends/getting settled time.

Dd has now made some friends on her floor as well as the friends she’s picked up from her course and CU so she’s feeling happy.

On a different note, one of DD’s new friends was spiked last night 😩 Dd says she only left them for a minute and can’t remember what happened. They took an Uber to A&E and by the time she was finally seen she’d started to improve.

Oh that’s very scary @crazycrofter i’m glad they were able to get to a&e and that she’s ok

@crazycrofter
Oh that's not good to hear. I'm glad they had their wits about them and looked after her so well.

On the Y12 thread it was the remark about a DS who was working every day "absolutely non stop and until midnight" that startled me - if he needs to put in that many hours now, how will he manage Y13?! Plus those who know their five UCAS choices already 🤯

I have been out in Roath tonight, lots of lively students about!

@crazycrofter oh no, that poor girl, glad she’s OK. Where did it happen do you know? Maybe we can warn our DCs.

@crazycrofter that's really scary. Thank goodness for your DD and other friends looking after her. The Notts night scene certainly seems full-on but this is a whole new level. Hope your DD is ok, it's shocking to have to deal with that, she sounds very mature.

I don't think any year 12s at my school are going to Open Days , unless the happen to be in tow of a scribbling. Year 13s haven't really got into gear yet (many of them).

Crazy that sounds scary . Hope all is OK.

I think DS went out to a club last night which I am finding hard to compute! I reckon he'll hate it! DS1 hates clubs as a general rule.

Horrible experience for your DD Crazy, 2 cases of people DD knows it happened to in Newcastle last week, both ok thankfully. They were boys, so all need to be vigilant.

@crazycrofter Eek! Hope all is well.