Thread 52 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Autumn 24 - Start of Uni Yr 3

[Oblomov24]

2024 Autumn, start of year 3 for those at Uni.

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.

51 Previous thread - 51.

@BlueMarigold DS applied to Lincoln, got a standard offer then a few days later was sent an unconditional offer. Turns out the same happened to everyone we know who applied to Lincoln and that put DS off so he didn't firm or insure them.
He (and we) had originally had a dilemma about applying as DH (an engineer) was really impressed with the engineering department there and DS and I also liked the vibe of the whole place but it is not high in the rankings for engineering at least.
Two of DS's friends both insured Lincoln and both ended up going there, one doing law and the other doing an IT course. They both like it and are happy there. That said both of them said university is not what they expected it to be, I am not quite sure in what context. I suspect the fact you actually have to work and not just have a party!
DS ended up selecting the more prestigious Bath but as you may well remember had lots of problems and very little support which resulted in him dropping out after 18 months. A part of me wonders if things would have been different if he had gone to Lincoln with good friends although I have no idea what the support there would have been like.

@BlueMarigold another point is that more and more employers now do 'blind' recruitment where they don't know where the degree is from anyway.

@24newernames thank you for this. It would be amazing if Lincoln changed their offer to an unconditional but 104 points is still quite low. DD1 had an unconditional offer from there too and it was her insurance choice. DD2 not really in a position to choose yet as it’s the only offer she has. I know it’s very early days though!

How is your son doing now?

@BlueMarigold He's better than he was but still not in a great place. He's finding it very difficult that all his friends went back to uni last month and he has no other friends left at home. He has been working in a fairly dead-end job for several months now which is temporary so may be due to finish anytime soon, but it's money and gets him out of the house. He's applied for one other local job which he has an interview for in a few weeks and also a couple of degree apprenticeships to start next Autumn but needs to be looking at some other options as his mental health will take a real dive if he is unemployed with no money and nothing to do. The above said, him leaving uni was definitely the right thing to do.

@24newernames that is sad to hear. I really hope he gets a good degree apprenticeship he is happy with and is able to make friends at his current workplace. Or get a new job this year that he loves.

Is there any way he can go to uni that is more local to where you live or do an open university course?

@BlueMarigold Part of the issue is that he has had two years of student funding (and has £24k of student loan for that!). This means he/we would have to completely fund the first year of any course, which would be fees plus living so approx £20-25k. Again, any OU fees would have to be paid up front. A lot less but still £3.5k per module. Bearing in mind his older brother didn't go to uni and we have already forked out maybe £15-20k, it would be hard to justify starting again with £20-25k (which we don't currently have but may be able to get) upfront without being 100% sure it would work.

His current workplace is fairly small and he tolerates workmates but that is it. Most are significantly older (ie older than me!). Doing a dead end job doesn't attract the most interesting people sometimes...

On a more positive note he has recently got a new counsellor that he gets on so much better with than the last one. It's difficult seeing them not happy and not thriving but I am hopeful he will eventually be ok.

@24newernames I see that does sound complicated. I hope things will go well for him and turns a corner. I pray that not too long from now you will look back at this time and be grateful for it as it will be what he needed to get to where he will end up. And he will earn lots of money to pay off the loans.

So sorry to hear that @24newernames . It’s very hard for them when they feel left behind and directionless. He’s still so young though; he’s got his plenty of time to work out what he wants to do and how to get there.

On the subject of uni applications, does anyone have any experience of Reading or Aberdeen? Ds is applying as a back up, but given he’s decided he only wants to apply to the big/international property firms for apprenticeships, as he wants somewhere with a good social scene/lots of peers, I suspect he may end up going to uni after all, because those apprenticeships will be very competitive.

Thanks both.

@crazycrofter another one of DS's friends is at Reading and really enjoying it.

@crazycrofter DD2 applied to Reading! We loved it on the open day.

Thanks! He won’t go to open days… can’t miss work for even a day!

ED 92-96. You?

85-89 <ancient>

@crazycrofter Reading is fairly local to us and everyone seems to speak well of it. DS and I went to the Open Day and were really impressed, the campus is lovely (the main one), we were impressed with just about everything, however DS found the town a bit full-on (it's a city in all but name). As for driving round it, I hate it, it foxes my normally good sense of direction and is awash with bus lanes and cameras. But from the M4 you can get to the campus pretty easily.

Not following the thread for a couple of days and lots to catch up with! Some really inspiring personal stories there, from your parents, your own experiences, and your DC. I experienced both sides of the "teaching hours" thing, as I did joint honours in a STEM and a humanities subject. Regular lectures for the one, looong reading-lists for the other. I can't really say which worked better for me! It was Oxbridge so neither of them felt easy.

DS did his Cambridge entrance test this week. He got an email today saying he had been accepted (!!!!) but it was followed within minutes by one saying "Ooops, sorry, please ignore the email that we sent everyone by mistake." I'm guessing someone in the college office will be hauled over the coals for that.

DD is busy with classwork, but has also found time to decorate the windows of the museum where she volunteers for Hallowe'en, which is nice. And I have a little break for half-term now!

Thanks @EternallyDelighted that’s helpful. Ds grew up navigating Bham city centre on the way to school and he loves his regular day trips to London, so he was worried by Reading not being a city! It’s only 1.5 hours from us so would make a lot of sense. But I’m worried about the cost….

Aberdeen is a wild card, because ds loves outward bound stuff, climbing mountains, paddle boarding, cliff jumping etc so I wondered if the location would suit him. And the uni has a good reputation (he’s not keen on ex-polys, which is ridiculous, particularly since he didn’t do enough work to make RG unis accessible!). But it’s such a long way away!

Good luck to ds with the Cambridge process @PhotoDad

I don't know about cost of living there but imagine it's not cheap. Someone had a DC looking for Reading accom for a placement recently, might have been @Shimy . Another plus is fast trains to all sorts of places including London.

Yes, I did say to him that he could visit London more regularly! But his interest seems to have changed from cities to mountains recently…

@crazycrofter my nephew has just started his first year at Reading and is loving it so far. My friends two daughters both went there (graduated within the past five years) and both really enjoyed it.

@PhotoDad oh what a cruel mistake! Hopefully he has done well in any event.

We went to Reading crazy, to look at it because it was the closest PwC option (he later preferred Notts). Ds really liked it a lot, the campus itself particularly.

Great, thanks! He said yesterday that Aberdeen looked too tucked away on its own and he’d rather be near London.

On the topic of mountains, ...

Aberdeen isn't mountainous!

It's an excellent uni and a nice place but when I grew up in Glasgow it seemed too far away, let alone where you are!

DD2 has had an acknowledgment back from all her unis now and 2 offers. Reading and Keele seem very organised which is something we noticed on the open days. Both unis made the experience so much nicer by helping us park and letting us know where to go etc. They have both sent a link to a portal where she can login and track her application. Offers from Lincoln and Aber and invited to an interview at York. It all feels very real now.

Exciting!

I do think the non RG unis that are just that layer below do do their marketing and open days and offer days more thoughtfully. The Offer Day at Birmingham was chaotic , whereas they were excellent at Aberystwyth and Hull.

Great news @BlueMarigold