Starting Y13 (y12 support thread contd) - number 3

[Littleham]

Thread continued folks...

Thanks so much for the replies - just brewing some coffee to build myself up to being supportive for this final bit.have just been talking about it to dd1 and she is v keen to keep it in, so think we will just keep the ref v short and emphasise the determination. I will just be very glad when this is sent off! Has anyone submitted theirs with only 3 uni choices filled in and then added the last two later? I understand from looking at the ucas website today that you can do this but no one at school has mentioned it. Dd cannot decide on all 5 at the moment, so tempted just to put down the ones that she definitely likes for now just so we can send in the application and move things on a bit.

Now just need to check that dd2 meanwhile is actually doing her gcse coursework rather than mooching around on her iPod and saving it up for a dramatic meltdown this evening....

DD has just put 3 down, she's going to add a couple later but these will probably be drama schools as she has a reasonable offer from her favourite place (Bristol) and the other possible option was Exeter, which is chucking out silly offers for English.

Edie speaking completely from my gut feeling here, but I would put in a sentence (very roughly!) along the lines of "since my diagnosis I have learnt some more study effective techniques and am improving ..." - as long as her AS results look better than her GCSE's I guess! Not make a big thing of it, but I imagine it's been quite a big thing for her, so can quite see why she wants to mention it.

Can I ask if any you ladies have kids that have put down London area uni in their 5 choices. The cost of living from the 2nd year onwards seem very expensive. My dd really likes UCL I've had a look at accommodation cost and examples are £220 per week sharing with 5 others ??. Is their any special subsidy or grants going for kids studying in london ?. My dd is the one and only child that wanted to go to uni out of my brood so im a bit clueless. Its going to cost more than my mortgage and car loan put together per month.

If its going to be that expensive its a good job she likes her pot noodles!

I think they can borrow a larger maintenance loan if they are studying in London. But wouldn't cover the difference I suspect.

DS is putting ICL down as one of his choices, but it will be a minor miracle if he gets an offer, so not too worried!
Think the average accomm cost was 200 a week without food.

We discouraged DD from picking a London uni because of the cost.

Sadly for us 3 of the main places to study DD1's instrument are in London. :(

Royal Holloway on list here too for the same reason. Out of London, cheaper, but still London University. Lovely leafy area close to Virginia water and Windsor Great Park. You also get to use all the London Union facilities.

We've told ours that we will fund accommodation, but only at non-London costs, so if they go to London they would have to make up the shortfall. Dd1 wasn't interested in London; dd2 might be. (Ds and dd3 too young to worry about yet!)

mumslife if she's resitting a module I think the result goes down as pending?

£220pw seems excessive. ds is in London and paying £650pm for a room in a house with 6 others, 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms - last year he didn't get into halls and was paying £131pw for a room with 4 others, 2 bathrooms 1 kitchen - seems the norm is roughly £120-175pp/pw depending if you want a box room or a bigger place with a communal area.

He's living in zone 2 so has an oyster trip to factor in. A lot of UCL students live in Camden which is zone 2. The student loan is more if you are in London but is still unlikely to cover accommodation if you are looking for a zone 1 place.

Tell her to check as well, lol! That's what I remember from flicking through dd's UCAS booklet from school

One Central Lindon Uni on DD1s list for the wrong reasons - because it's commutable. Least suitable course of all 5, and heard rumours recently that the mai thing making the course attractive to her may soon go too.

If she did end up there, would prefer her to go unto halls for first year, with the option of kuving at home in subsequent years if she preferred and/or it became too expensive.

Thanks ladies I wish I had done homework before she put it down think if I had known about the living cost would have put her off too. Littleham- royal holloway looks so impressive and regal on photos, grade requirements are lower than UCL going to get dd to have a nosey. Horsemad I feel the same ucl grade requirement is so high and London is so expensive I won't be too disheartened if she didn't get a offer but I know she would be gutted though. Decorhate, Atiao I do hope there is higher loan available for them. I don't think we could afford more than £150 contribution per week which include food and subsidise her accommodation.
Eatyourveg. May I ask do you have to subside with accommodation if yes how much? if you don't mind disclosing. And is the rent for 52 weeks as some parents have said student accommodation is varied can only live there depend on contract but varies for 37weeks to 45weeks but still have to pay for 52 weeks which sounds unfair paying for weeks that they can't live in. Have I got wrong end of the stick with this or this is really true.

Circular- your lucky is commutable distance. If my dd can live say 30/40 miles away would be cheaper accomdation wise but think the commute would be a 3 hour round trip a day and I think with UCL they do have evening classes too. Just think its too much of a compromise.

polka some 30 or 40 mile journeys are faster than our

This year we are covering the accommodation with dgp. Last year he covered it with dgp. The loan this year for London if parental income is zero is £9445 made up of £6058 loan and £3387 grant (non-repayable). It then gradually decreases depending on household income, grants stop completely once parental income hits £43K and the minimum loan you get is £5038 once parental income reaches £70K

the student loan calculator is really good - put in various incomes and it will tell you how much to expect

tenancy agreements vary but most private accommodation will be 12 months - halls will be the academic year.

Polkadotty, £150 per week if you can afford it is very generous. I have friends who give their dc's £200 per month but that is not for London unis

Isn't the 37 ish weeks (or less) presuminhpg coming home Xmas and Easter hols, so emptying out room too? Could be awkward if somewhere like London with restricted or no parking.