Moving on up... Uni/CollegeS5/S6/S4/Work

[Groovee]

Hey everyone

It's that time of year... school returns within the next week or 2, others will be preparing to start college or uni. Some will be moving out. Some will start work... so here's the thread for those in that position.

For me Dd is going into second year at Dundee Uni. She did a fantastic first year. She's off to be a mentor to those starting uni this year. Ds has just gone into S6 and has the world to consider in the next year.

Me... I need to find a job after losing my job in June! Done in quite a callous way that I am taking my time to be kind!

Great thread title groovee :)

I'm here! DS1 about to start 2nd year at Strathclyde and DS2 about to start at Aberdeen unless he's changed his mind.

Didn't know about the job either, hopefully something better comes along.

I'm still struggling. My ex colleagues sat I'll be back very soon but not sure I want to be that flexible for the management. My team was amazing but hey ho. There's something for me.

Definitely something will come along, but try not to bite your nose off to spite your face. If you go back it'll be on your terms and in the knowledge of what they are like.

I'm hoping to semi retire early but that will be at least 4 years away now...

I will keep a foot in each camp as DD1 doing PGDE , DD2 starting Degree at Glasgow after 2 years college. Whilst DD3 will likely be 1 AH, 2 Highers , and Leadership in S6. DD4 4 will be S5 with 5 Highers.

So don't look up folks .

I meant to say on the other thread, Wax that I’m so pleased for your son!

I hope something comes along for you soon, Groovee .

DS is taking AH’s in Maths, Computing Science and Statistics plus Higher Accounting plus Ancient Greek for fun (no qualification. Literally for fun ). I suspect the Higher Accounting will be dropped at some point.

He really wants to do the Edinburgh Data Science degree/PWC apprenticeship. He’ll also apply for Maths or Maths/Statistics at Glasgow, St Andrews and Heriot Watt. He was going to apply to Oxford, but that’s out now, so has a free fifth place. He could either also apply to Maths at Edinburgh or the same PWC programme at St Andrews, but doesn’t know if either of those would jeopardise the Edinburgh/PWC application (I.e. are all applications considered in isolation by Edinburgh re Maths and PWC re applying to two places). He might be better just adding somewhere else in? He’ll be going along to the guidance people at school once he is back!

Thanks Wicked :)

Hopefully careers adviser will be able to recommend best course of action for your DS.

I've just booked a hotel for overnight stay for us for moving in weekend - getting very real all of a sudden. I'm presuming that DS2 will have his own room to stay on the Saturday night... eek!

Dd1 graduated from OU so will hopefully get a job, start her PhD and MOVE OUT!
Dd2 just split with her fiancé and next year's wedding is off. Shr also now needs sonewhere to live!
DS left school, taking a year out to play in as many shows as possible to gain experience. Currently smashing it at the Fringe. Also still at home. This flat was not built for 5 adults!!!

Wax - I'm sure he will have a room

While ds had an unconditional and his accommodation confirmed well in advance, not all the lads in his flat did - so they must have applied at the equivalent time to your ds last year.

The only thing I would warn you about is that parking is apparently mayhem on the Saturday - but it was ok on the Sunday when we took ds up (although we did get up there early, having left Glasgow really early). He didn't go up on the Saturday because of a rugby game (priorities ) which meant that we missed the Parents' Induction on the Saturday afternoon.

What you will see is loads of long suffering parents ferrying luggage and boxes behind grumpy offspring , with fixed smiles on their faces that screamed, "We love the little darling dearly but at the moment we could cheerfully throttle him/her" sharing similar sentiments with other long suffering parents

Ds couldn't see the back of us quickly enough - we were back in Glasgow by 7 the same evening

ha ha pb Need to work out a plan of action. We don't want to do it on the Sunday as we have work on the Monday and DH drives for a living so Aberdeen and back on his day off isn't his idea of fun. I wouldn't drive that and certainly not in his big car. There is a home game on at Pitoddrie on the Saturday too.

thinking that we get him up and in on Saturday and maybe stock him up with shopping on the Sunday before we head back.

Also, if you can get there early, the queue at the Hub will be much smaller to get keys etc. There was no queue when we got there at 9 on the Sunday. There was a giant queue when I went back a few hours later to say there wasn't a kettle in the flat - but fortunately there was a manager asking those in the queue if they were there for things other than picking up their keys.

By the time we'd gone off to meet ds' cousin and go to Grub for some lunch (ds' favourite lunch haunt - although we were going to go to the Bobbin, but they had big signs up saying NO U18s under any circumstances that day ) and had to gone to the Aberdeen Sports Village to sign ds up and pay for membership, and got back to Hillhead, a brand new kettle had been delivered to the flat not that we got offered a cup of tea

This was the packing/shopping list I put together for ds last year. It also reminded me to get things as I shopped over the summer, so it wasn't all bought at the last minute. Some of the stuff is quite specific to ds (rugby and cycling stuff). It's a pretty "stream of consciousness" list with no particular order and me jotting things down as I thought of them.

Hope it helps others formulate their lists for their little darlings beloved offspring

[ ] 2 shirts + 1 white shirt
[ ] rugby boots and gumshield
[ ] 3 pairs of rugby socks
[ ] 3 rugby strips
[ ] shaving stuff
[ ] shoes
[ ] toothbrush
[ ] glasses
[ ] winter jacket
[ ] winter coat
[ ] waterproof jacket
[ ] 4 hoodies
[ ] 7 t-shirts
[ ] 3 workout t-shirts
[ ] Laptop
[ ] Bluetooth headphones
[ ] 3 basketball shorts
[ ] 3 rugby shorts
[ ] a normal pair of shorts
[ ] 3 pairs of jeans
[ ] lots of socks
[ ] usb and micro usb cables
[ ] jotters
[ ] Duvet
[ ] pillows
[ ] bedsheets
[ ] 3x towels
[ ] laundry bag/IKEA blue bag
[ ] mugs and cups
[ ] 2x dinner plate, side plates and bowls
[ ] cutlery
[ ] saucepans and frying pans
[ ] fridge
[ ] knives
[ ] forks
[ ] bottle opener
[ ] colander
[ ] printer
[ ] extension lead
[ ] door stops
[ ] Dust pan and brush
[ ] Waste bin
[ ] Copies of passport and certificates
[ ] Plastic storage containers
[ ] Kitchen foil
[ ] cling film
[ ] Colour catchers
[ ] Bleach
[ ] washing up brush
[ ] Fairy liquid
[ ] 1st aid kit
[ ] Red wine vinegar
[ ] Extra virgin olive oil
[ ] Salt
[ ] Pepper
[ ] Coathangers
[ ] Cook books
[ ] Toilet rolls
[ ] Rubbish bags
[ ] Small food bags
[ ] Desk/side light
[ ] Food processor
[ ] Leatherman multi-tool
[ ] Bicycle repair kit
[ ] Young Scot card (updated)
[ ] Salt & pepper mills
[ ] Chilli powder
[ ] Cycling gloves
[ ] Gloves
[ ] Big Bobble hat
[ ] Hair gel
[ ] Toothpaste
[ ] Colour wash
[ ] Pens & pencils
[ ] Scissors
[ ] Nail scissors
[ ] D-lock
[ ] Combination lock
[ ] Boxers
[ ] wet wipes
[ ] tyre levers
[ ] Big pump
[ ] Little pump
[ ] helmet
[ ] plastic shopping bags
[ ] filing trays
[ ] folders
[ ] Ethernet cables
[ ] pyjamas & dressing gown
[ ] stapler
[ ] hole punch

My niece went to Aberdeen on the Saturday and out for dinner with the parents then a food shop on the Sunday as they stayed over at the Malmaison.

This year she's found a flat that includes a cleaner 🤣🤣 love her for that one! Dd is moving close to Uni this year.

thanks for that pb, i've been away browsing stuff - laughing at how low boxers came down on the list! .

Just noticed that the dorm type rooms mean that the shared facilities are cleaned Monday to Friday and that might be a game changer for DS!

I still prefer the thought of a group flat for social reasons but will need to wait and see what is available choice wise tomorrow.

We've booked somewhere a little more modest that malmaison but I'm sure we could manage dinner and a food shop :)

The 3 x towels was 2 bath sheets (one new grey one, one old white one) and one hand towel. Not sure the grey bath sheet ever got washed until it came home and the old white bath sheet never got used!

I think I also insisted on sending up one of his microfibre/fleece type towels that he'd used to take to his cycling events (in the hope that he'd take it with him to rugby matches/training).

Iirc, ds had some input to the list: I'm sure I wouldn't have written "3 workout T-shirts" nor "3 basketball shorts" (in fact, we had to go and buy 2 pairs ).

It's safe to say that he wont need any work out t-shirts or shorts! :o

Will need to add guitar and stands etc and 7000 pairs of ear buds and 20 litres of shampoo and conditioner.

Shared facilities also means banks of shower cubicles - that was a big No No for ds.

He was really keen on the ensuite flats - but when he eventually realised that the additional cost would come out of his own budget, he wasn't so keen (£142/week versus £118/week - I agreed that the £5/week extra for 2 loos per 5 people rather than 1 loo per 5 was probably worth it).

DS1 left his job, could not stand his boss any longer apparently, announced he was having the summer off but is using the time to perfect his gaming as well as taking personal responsibility for sorting his mental health out as his social anxiety was getting out of hand. He's talking about moving out but had to find a job first, not easy at the moment apparently.
DS1 has had a good first year at St Andrew's, enjoyed halls so much he's staying for another year, I think he's missing the weekend breakfasts. He's finding it a bit boring at home but is trying to be useful, volunteering at the Wallace Monument and building a website and social media presence for DHs business. He's been off on some mini adventures around the country and is going to have a go at ballroom dancing next year instead of fencing😀. I'd love him to meet a nice girl this year but am not getting my hopes up!
Meanwhile DS3 has started S4, he's a bright lad but a bit allergic to school and reluctant to push himself, it's going to be a bumpy ride but I think I'm a bit tougher these days?
I think I can relate to all the young people on these threads, the strugglers and the achievers, I'm quite invested!

He's quite shy but more than one shower might be good for the flatmates as he spends quite a while in there.

Ds is the same - he spends at least 15 minutes in the shower every morning God know what he does in there as he doesn't need to shave daily

He may of course be different at Uni. He's certainly apparently more house proud than he is at home as he got annoyed at his flat mates for not cleaning and being untidy in the communal areas

Hello everyone, I have DS going into 2nd year at Aberdeen Uni and DD going for 5 Highers with a view to applying for medicine next year.

Wax that was great news for your DS! I'd echo what prettybird said about Aberdeen except we took DS to Hillhead at around 11am on the Saturday and it was fine. We got parked ok (on the grass, they turned a blind eye for the many of us doing that!) and the Hub was quiet enough for picking up keys.

DS has a beautiful, brand new Roost student flat on Pittodrie Street this year - cheaper than New Carnegie and with bigger en suites and kitchens. Totally wasted on students

I'd love to hear from anyone who has DC heading for medicine... DD is doing everything she can to make her CV stand out - part time job, volunteering in a care home, DofE... but we don't have any knowledge of the UKCAT process and we're worried we're missing something!

Looking forward to following everyone's stories over the year

ds will be going into his 2nd year at Aberdeen too. He's moving into a house with 4 friends. He enjoyed the social aspect of 1st year but don't think he really understands he's there to work yet though..
DD did well in her highers - 3As and 1 B. She's very dyslexic and dyscalculic so these are amazing results and hope they'll be good enough for her to do a PIR degree. I don't suppose anyone knows what the learning support is like at Dundee and Aberdeen? (although she really doesn't want to go to the same place as her brother!)

Actually, if I think about it, from my perspective, based on my experience of catered Uni Halls albeit c40 years ago ), I'd have chosen the "corridor" type halls (Wavell House, Fyfe House, Adam Smith House) with the big communal kitchens and a communal social room - which are cleaned . The rooms were bigger, albeit a bit tired decoration-wise and there was a sink in the room (which I'd also had at Uni, which meant that you didn't need to go to the bathroom to do your teeth ). Plus they were cheaper.

The 5 person flats to me meant that you were losing out on the Uni experience that I had of meeting lots of new people. My enduring friendships from Uni are those that I was in Halls with owhile I was at Uni, not those that were on my course.

Ds1 and 2 at Strathclyde. No more school here!