Thread 50 - Covid GCSE Cohort - New Year of Adulting

[OrangeSpicedBun]

2024 here we are... our young people are still getting used to adulting and we're still doing that adulting thing ...it's tough !

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). 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 advice to be had.
Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/parents_of_adult_children/4922401-thread-49-covid-gcse-cohort-the-nights-are-drawing-in?page=10

Well to your DS too @crazycrofter. Executive function impairment is a tough thing to master in the world of be there or be square & sharp elbowed youngsters.

@Cantonet Lough. was one of DS's 5 choices. It's a great university, never heard anything bad about it and it truly shone during Covid with its care for the students all marooned on campus and of course it ranks very highly and particularly for for Business courses, Economics etc. A campus environment is a great place for those a bit young for their age. DS2 is at Warwick also a campus uni and has ADHD & OCD. He has thrived there and although as a disability student he is allowed to stay on campus throughout his degree, he felt confident enough to move in with his flatmates into private accommodation for his second yr and hasn't regretted it.
Sheffield always reminds me of the huge row with DS1 on Open day day, but its also a great university especially for engineering and Computer science and i hear has loads of reasonably priced accomodation.

Thanks for all the info, @Monkey2001, very interesting! Will catch up with reading other posts later.

@EffortlessDistraction - yes. He’s applied for chemistry (he has offers from Newcastle, Leeds, Cardiff, Loughborough and Aberdeen). Chemistry was my undergrad subject too. I worry he’s not as passionate about it as I was. I’m probably doing him a disservice. And I’ve never regretted choosing chemistry. Hopefully he’ll be the same.

Those are great offers @EffortlessDistraction . I think Cardiff in particular is very good for sciency subjects e.g Chemistry. DS1 went there and enjoyed it.

Well done to your DS @OublietteBravo which uni is his favourite?

We are also looking at unis for DD2. She is in Year 12 now. She wants to do Maths. We are looking at Nottingham, York and Southampton. Does anyone know how competitive Maths is at these unis?

I worry as she has not done any extra curricular mathsy things to put on her PS. She will probably do a MOOC over summer.

@BlueMarigold my DD is doing Maths at York. She also applied to Nottingham. From our experience, maths is not one of the more popular courses! She had offers from all the Unis she applied to. York was her favourite, partly because she loved the campus feel but also because of the modules they offer in the second and later years. Has she done any of the UK maths challenges?

Thank you @handmademitlove
She did the maths challenge and got silver. Every one else got gold and she was the only one that didn’t so feels a bit bad about it.

@Seeline well done for finding the "golden week" to book a family holiday! We still don't have that confirmed but hoping to lock in some possible dates from elusive DC soon. We are thinking might be easier to book a place in the UK that's big enough for all and then if they can't come after all we just have more room than we need (and more expense, but not as much as changing flights!). We are just back from a few days in Majorca if you want any recommendations of walks, if that's your thing.

@Cantonet he only needs one offer, so he's in a good position already... fwiw a friend's daughter is in final year of Psych at Loughborough and has loved it, she did a placement year in a hospital and is now planning to qualify as a physicians associate. She really loved the campus atmosphere, it was very sociable and the uni was very good during covid.

I'm another who is taking comfort from the "if you make it through your 50s" info earlier. I'm officially moving from "mid" to "late" 50s as of right now and health is mixed but no serious complaints. Hope that's a good sign! Birthday celebrations muted as I'm working but should be able to speak to DC at least.

Happy birthday blinkbonny if today is moving day!

@BlueMarigold Silver is great - I sometimes think perspective is skewed when everyone around you are super high achieving and you begin to think that is normal.... If she has a particular area of maths she is interested in, it is worth.lookomg at what options different unis offer. My DD was not interested in mechanics but very much more into pure maths - some courses are much more applied so she ruled them out. The problem with maths is that almost everyone offers it! She also looked at UEA, which was her insurance offer.

@blinkbonny happy birthday! We've been to Majorca several times. Normally hire a car for a few days to get out and about a bit. I think this time everyone will just want to crash in the sun rather than going walking - it's been a while since we had a proper family holiday!

Happy birthday @blinkbonny !

Happy birthday @blinkbonny

Happy Birthday @blinkbonny!

Good news here in that DS has just been offered a temporary job for 3-6 months which puts something on his CV, some money in his pocket and some space to think about a permanent role. They are fine for him to leave early if he gets a permanent job. He should start in the next few days 🤞.

Happy birthday @blinkbonny !

Well done on your DS's job @2024Newnames

That’s great news 2024!

That’s brilliant @2024Newnames - well done to your ds!

Great news @2024Newnames , a step in the right direction.

@blinkbonny happy birthday. Your friend considering PA might need to think more widely, there is currently uproar about PAs in NHS and it is possible that new students will be paused until a safe scope has been agreed. It is a role which has expanded out of control, some doing a good job, but too many pretending to be doctors after 2 years of "doctor lite" training, seeing undifferentiated patients in GP and missing fatal conditions. I would say more than 50% chance that courses will be suspended for new students, and if not the roles will be much more tightly controlled. It is quite extraordinary that a GP has trained for 10 years before seeing patients without supervision, but PAs 2 years

@blinkbonny happy birthday!

@2024Newnames - thats great news! Well done to your DS

@blinkbonny Have a great birthday.

@2024Newnames Well done to your DS!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, all  - I’ve had a nice day. Quiet, but nice.

@Monkey2001 thanks for the intel, I wasn't aware - will tell my friend!

Happy birthday for yesterday @blinkbonny !
Well done on the job @2024Newnames.
Interesting to read all about our current A level students. Thank you very much for all the feedback about Loughborough. DS does prefers campus universities, so he was a little disappointed to get a Bath rejection yesterday. His friend also received one who's very clever, so I think they've both put it down to experience. I'm trying to big up Loughborough to him. He's still waiting to hear from Bristol . Dd1 did veterinary med. there & loved it, but found it very overwhelming initially with all the very confident public school tribe/Southerners there. Long term however it was very good for her,but DS2 is a very different individual. Anyhow he may get a rejection 🤞🏼

Thanks all, he starts tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about your DS's rejection @Cantonet.

@blinkbonny here are some of the statements on PAs to pass on to your friend which might make her want to re-think. The Royal College of Physicians is going through turmoil in management at the moment, a working group will be reporting back shortly, at which point things will be a bit clearer. There is a toxic relationship at the moment between PAs as a body and doctors as a body, although on a personal level things seem OK. PAs are paid more and treated better by NHS, doctors are both concerned for patient safety and resentful that they are supervising less qualified people, who earn more than they do, work shorter hours and have much more choice and control over locations and specialties, yet the doctor is ultimately responsible if mistakes are made. It is not a sustainable situation.
https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/college/college-publishes-new-statement-medical-associate-professions
https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/bma-sets-out-first-national-guidance-for-the-role-and-responsibilities-of-physician-associates-in-major-intervention-for-patient-safety

Thank you @2024Newnames.
He has two more rejections today - Bristol & UCL 🥲. But he's still staying at school until 8.10. I feel upset on his behalf, as the feedback was that he met the grades, but other applicants scored higher. Given that he missed a term of school due to ill health I'm not sure that's been taken under consideration. But I've been through this with DD1 & Vet. Med. so I'm an old hand 🙄