Starting Uni - The next chapter

[Groovee]

So results day is here and I knew it would happen but in just over 3 weeks Dd will be moving to Dundee.

Thought I would start a thread to get us through those moments that we as parents find hard.

He's almost never ill which is why he's not coping with feeling so bad. He could cope and has coped with a broken bone or a torn ligament better - he just doesn't believe us that he will eventually feel better. He's also a really good sleeper (and has been since he was just 2 weeks old! ) so he's not coping well with sleep deprivation

Still, we've not heard from him since 10am so hopefully he's been snoozing all day.

It is indeed good that he's got his Big Cuz (as dh refers to her) up there: it's not something I'm used to, having family around, as neither my mum or dad had any relatives in the UK. So my "extended" family consists of my dad (mum died 7 years ago) and then dh's family (he's very close to his younger sister and her offspring and gets on ok with a couple of the offspring of his older sister). My db now lives in France and I don't have that much contact, and my aunts and uncles and respective cousins are in SA and Oz.

I also come (thanks to my dad being a doctor ) from the school of "take 2 painkillers and it'll get better in a couple of days" . So I'm not very good with sympathy even for myself (although both dh and I did well with constructive advice and virtual hugs over the WhatsApp messages).

Prettybird please be alert for glandular fever or a quinsy both of which are common and can be dangerous in DS's age group. I was carted off to hospital in Majorca with dehydration due to self diagnosed "sore throat" and DD1 whipped admitted for possible excision of a quinsy. I was 17, she was 19 both of us had glandular fever . We both presented with horrible sore throat but had rallied on . DD is a waterpolo player so contact sports were an issue as spleen can be compromised, thinking about your rugby mad DS.

I did worry about both of those (but didn't mention either of them to ds and only glandular fever to dh ) but he has now been seen by a doctor and not just a pharmacist.

He's now trying to cadge £20 off us to "pay for the extra smoothies" he will need get once he feels better, to put the weight back on that he had been trying so hard to gain. So I reckon he is starting to recover

He's upset that he is almost definitely going to miss this week's cup game as it was going to be played at the Rubislaw (Aberdeen Grammar's very nice ground) rather than their usual location of the pitch that is barely more than a field at Aberdeen Wanderers.

He's now told me what he's been prescribed: he'd sort of implied it was an anti-inflammatory, but it's an antibiotic (I might not be a medic but anything ending in penicillin, even with lots of syllables. is a bit of a give away! ). He made me check with my dad that he could still take the ibuprofen and paracetamol - and had to give him a screenshot as proof!

Plus his attempt to skin extra money off us.....

All signs that he must be getting a bit better!

It's been a while. Dd has done her first 2 weeks on placement. She's decided commuting to Fife might not be too bad when she qualifies. She's back in Dundee for 2 big essays, then coming home for 4 weeks before another 4 weeks on placement. Then she's finished. It's flown in completely.

It has flown in. DS finishes in 2 weeks time, no exams this year as his class test average is sitting about 90%!! Then he has, oh what, about 20 weeks off until he goes back? He needs to get a job I think.

Just about to kick it all off again for DS2 - Aberdeen Uni Offer holders day is next stop.

Gosh, time flies When is the Aberdeen Offer Holders Day Wax ? Has your ds2 decided yet which Uni he'd prefer to go to?

Ds still seems to be enjoying himself. His recent Politics essay was on Is the USA a hegemonic power, or a power in decline? (He let me look at it and it was very interesting once I'd checked that I had the correct understanding of what a hegemony was but I did have the right idea ).

He's back down at the end of the month and then back up in the middle of April, with 3 exams on 3 consecutive days at the end of the month and one "take home exam" ( - what the difference from a essay? )

He's now trying to find a flat for next year - but being quite fussy over the size (preferably only sharing with one other, maybe two), decent sized kitchen and location (between the Uni and the city centre or to the west of the centre, to be closer to the rugby ground).

It's the 27th pb He still hasn't heard from Dundee or Stirling but prior to applying Aberdeen was his preferred option so we are going down the route that that is where he will be going - if he pulls his finger out his bottom and gets studying as he'll need to get the results too!

We are still waiting on the appointment to get a formal diagnosis for his dyspraxia (or whatever they call it now). His physical assessment confirmed he has reasonably significant motor skill difficulties and hyper-mobile joints. We will be too late to get him any additional funding as I think that has to be signed and sealed and with a Uni assessment added before the end of March. I want to go and speak with the support people to see what he will actually need but he's already saying he doesn't want to do that and won't use anything that makes him stand out either! I'm trying to say to him that half the uni will be using laptops or tablets etc but he's not having any of it.

Glad to hear that your DS has settled and enjoyed his first year. We are going to look at the halls when we are up but obviously he might not have much choice by the time he is able to apply. I'm wary about inflicting him on others, maybe he needs a wee hovel all to himself! :o

He should be ok for accommodation, as long as he doesn't want en suite Aberdeen Uni guaranteed accommodation in Hillhead for all 1st years.

Ds' accommodation has 2 loos for a flat of 5. There is also (cheaper) accommodation which is more like hotel corridors of single rooms, with big kitchens at the end of the corridors and sets of showers and communal TV/recreation rooms.

The accommodation talk was good - but give yourself time to get up to a Hillhead too. But if you don't make the official tours, they are still (unofficially) open later in the afternoon.

Thanks pb I went to the accommodation talk at the Open Day but not sure what our exact plans are. Definitely the subject talk and a visit to Hillhead. We are tied to our train times which were expensive even at non-flexible, if he'd been more committal about being able to go earlier (no assignments on at school) we could have got a better deal. Still, we should arrive in time to grab a bit of lunch and maybe get up to Hillhead and back before the talk and then that leaves us 4 hours until the train back to fill so he may score dinner off me too. After all this he had better bloody go! :o

DS2 had it in his head that halls at Aberdeen were only £140 a month - i think he was confused and he just about collapsed when I said that was a week not a month. Obviously they are not all that expensive.

That's the en suite ones - which go quickly. I think ds' one is £119/week (not sure what it would be next year ).

They also ask for £100 when you book the accommodation - but that comes off the 1st month's rent.

The PIR introduction lecture is good. Last year, they spilt the parents and students and had both groups answering PIR questions. Really helped give a flavour of what they'd be learning about.

Dd has her flat organised for next year. Right over from her uni building this time.

She's also managed to get a job as a support worker at Easter and summer supporting children with additional needs. It's more money that I earn in a similar role.

She has 2 placements next year so she'll need to save up.

Wax not too late for (badly named) Disabled Students Allowance. DD1 only had her mild dyslexic tendencies confirmed as dyslexia with severe dysphonia (can't break down sounds within words) in S6. Despite very extensive screening report accompanied by letter headed paper letter from school uni wouldn't accept her condition until they'd carried out their own screening. Too high a risk of fraudulent docs - fair enough.

She was awarded the allowance which meant they bought her a really good laptop to install all the relevant support software, which they installed, printer to print lecture notes in advance, lecturers notified that she would need notes in advance, stickers to put on small assessments informing marker of her condition so spelling shouldn't be penalised, professional proofreading and so on.

That all happened between semester 1 and 2. I was worried that she might fail some exams before it was in place but disable students officer was very reassuring .

Now she's been offered her post grad and her graduation lunch is booked .

Thanks for that Lidl and well done to your DD, you must be very proud :)

All we have at the moment is a report from OT which says under the recommendations that he would benefit from continued access to appropriate ICT resources and addition time/support during exam periods and that will continue to be required at University. They are referring him to the DCD clinic to identify if he meets the criteria for a diagnosis.

I think I'll take that report with us and see what they say and hopefully they can maybe encourage him about using ICT in lectures etc too.

Well done to your DD too groovee :)

Currently trying to get DD's room packed up.

I'm not looking forward to that process - good luck Groovee!

DD still has her room till 8th June but leaving for camp america on 10th June so presume she will come home a bit earlier...

She has her room until the 1st of June but she has 3 weeks on holiday then finishes placement on the 17th of May. So I am sure that we'll have a busy visit cleaning up.

However we had a lovely lunch at Wee Mexico. It's diagonal from Debenhams if anyone is in Dundee.

Ds is in the process of trying to rent a 2 bed flat closer in to town (and more convenient for getting to rugby training ). It's vacant now but at the moment they're proposed taking on the lease from June. His uni accommodation is to the end of May, so we may need to pack his stuff up and move it into his cousin's flat for day or two.

He's still planning on coming down to Glasgow for the summer though to get a job and to learn to drive - but that means anything he earns will have to go on paying his rent up there.

Ds and 4 friends got their house for next year sorted before Christmas. Was quite impressed by his organisation! They’re not taking it on until September so no rent to pay over the summer. I have told him he needs to get a summer job though.

Dd is moving more central in Dundee too and it's cheaper.

My niece has her new flat organised in Aberdeen. She went for one with a cleaner 🤣🙄

Ds didn't want to share with more than 1, possibly two other people. I think he got put off sharing by being in a flat of people who wouldn't clean up after themselves (and if you saw his room and knew how little he does at home, you'd realise how bad they must have been! )

He was also fussy about who he wanted to share with as he didn't want to share with anyone who (to quote him) "did drugs"

But he seems happy with who he's agreed to share with

next year DD is sharing with 4 of her 5 existing flatmates plus someone else from a different flat in the same hall - private halls about 300 yards from where she currently is so no big changes for her!