Continuing Year 13: January 2016

[Needmoresleep]

Only two more terms at school. Let's support each other support our DC in getting through to the end.

Some progress here. Post 16 Ed Psych assessment and meningitis vac done. Still no news on accommodation.

Thanks for the tip about the reading list Secret. I think he'll feel more motivated once he knows for certain where he's going though I'm sure the reading would be just as relevant for Bristol.

Trying to get him to phone Warwick re accommodation account.

Hope only the good A level dreams come true.

(I dreamt about mine a few days beforehand & they were exactly as I'd dreamt even though one was a lot better than I expected. Weird.)

Virtually no incoming maths students do any studying ahead of time, even at Oxbridge. The first part of the year is in any case spent doing a lightning review of further maths material (Warwick etc) or teaching further maths material very quickly (Bristol etc, which take more students who don't have FM A2).

Thanks haybott that's useful to know, I won't nag him then.

Warwick accom sorted now - problem was that his password was too long but the computer didn't tell him, it just didn't set up his account.

LIZS - having been in the same situation this time last year with (now 1st yr university) Ds I would say that is "good" rather than "some" progress . This time last year we did both post 16 Ed psych and vaccines. The memories my son will have . Seriously, just so good to have done and under your belt.

Meningitis jab booked up. Thanks for the reminder. The boys are with their father for a week and I'm off to Sardinia! It'll bring the two results days closer...

First choice accommodation

That's great LIZS. Warwick don't allocate until after results day and Exeter, well, they don't let you apply, if insurance, until you are offered a place. Gulp. I wish it was more sorted.

Good news LIZS.

Bristol don't let them apply for accom until it becomes their firm choice either.

Enjoy Sardinia Ellen.

Well, Sardinia was lovely if a tad hot!

Just spotted this thread over in Higher Ed. Looks like the discussion has moved over there.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/2697657-A-level-Results-18-days-anxiety-rising-anyone-else

Yes, I think we have probably graduated from secondary education. I will obviously miss the childhood years, but I am happy to move on. No more parents evenings, no more fretting about the state of the uniform or sports kit/art folders/coursework clogging up the hallway, biting my tongue when DD is watching Netflix when there is homework to be done and, huge for us, no more school fees.

Good luck everyone with the results. And thank you for your support over the past year. Yr 13 is tough. Just 10 days to go before result and I really hope everyone gets what they want or need. I am sure DDs decision to take a gap year is the right one, but she still needs to decide what to do until the ski season starts, and start planning for next summer. At the moment she is selling fruit and veg on a market stall which she seems to enjoy. Some regular customers seem to automatically assert that they have been short changed. The stall owner now argues that this can't be the case as DD has a maths A level. She is impressed by his confidence in her numeracy skills.

It seems a shame to leave the thread when we are so close to the 1000. Thank you Needmoresleep for starting the year 13 thread and everyone on here for your support and advice. Good luck all for next week. I'm happy to stay on here a bit longer, or see you in Higher Education......

I am posting on both threads still!
The universities get the results in Sunday I think so roll on next Thursday. I just want it all over and done with so I know where my DDs are going (if anywhere). I will hopefully have 2 starting in September (1 has a confirmed place as she did her exams last year).
Good luck to those getting the Scottish results today.

It's been interesting reading about everyone's DC and their ups and downs.
Not long to results now. Perhaps after that someone will start a thread in HE
for Uni starters 2016. You could follow it as an honorary member even though DD is on a gap year NeedMoreSleep.
Are they your only two hellsbells99? September will see both of mine gone and I am trying to be positive but feeling wobbly.

Yes they are my only 2. DD1 went last year but hated her course and came home in March. She is starting a new degree this September and has chosen a different uni too. Fingers crossed! She is very nervous as she really wants it to work this time. She has been working since Easter and that has motivated her again to go to uni! She has also been self studying further maths to keep her brain engaged.
DD2 is waiting for results next week to see if she meets her offers

Secret - you will have to plan lots of mini breaks and take up a hobby .....they will be home for Christmas if not sooner!

Know the feeling Secret.

Have just signed up for 'Beginner's German' at Adult Education to try & help fill the void. Hope it works out better than my attempt at pottery.

Am waiting for a knee operation & been told could get a call any day. Hope I'm not unconscious when he gets his results.

Sound like you'll need the empty nest thread, Secret and Bethan! DS3 is only 14 and DS2 having ASD means it'll be a long, long time before he's independent, though that is the eventual aim.

Talking of independent, I'm leaving DS1 at home alone for a long weekend tomorrow, which is a first. I'm expecting him to have a friend or 2 around but luckily there's a party already planned elsewhere on Saturday.

Ellen, have a lovely weekend, and Bethan, I hope the operation goes well.

Squirrels, thank you for the honorary membership.

If any mini breaks involve London let me know as I would be happy to join you for a coffee. I have just come back from effectively a month of sorting out my mother's old home and today DD and I will be reviewing her plans for the next few months, till the ski season, and then probably Camp America next summer. She may spend time improving her German, as her French should be helped by working in a French speaking resort. I am hoping plans might include a mother and daughter trip somewhere new.

The big silver lining for DH and me is that we can now go away in term time. Where?!

Your DD sounds like she is going to have a great gap year Needmoresleep!
I wish my DD had the confidence to do something like that.

Hells, the confidence is odd. DDs does not translate to things, say, like talking to officials on the phone. I have no idea what will happen if she has to plead for her place on the phone on results day. I can't be a total MN failure by making the call for her, so it will probably be rehearsals and prompt cards.

I think it is baby steps. DD had the "advantage" that for a long time both DH and I worked full time, so she and her brother got dumped with GPs or in different camps through the holidays. Sport helped as she often went away to compete and was the youngest in a senior team when she was 15. (All those sports camps we used in lieu of child-care came in useful!) Volunteering has again caused her to have to work with different adults. Plus London forces a level of independence, and being a prefect gave her some valuable opportunities. Her comfort zone is pretty stretched. But most get there in the end.

But different stages bring different challenges. Looking back at my University days, the uber-confident types who everyone knew, did not seem to do particularly well later. Instead it was the quieter ones who knew what they were doing and got on with it in a quiet and steady way.

I just can't imagine DD doing something on her own!
She either goes somewhere with her sister (they are very close) or with her friends (or both)! She has been on music tours, holidays, D of E, volunteering etc but always with someone she knows. She did do a Headstart course on her own but that took some cajoling. I know she would love to do a ski season but a) wouldn't have the confidence to go on her own and b) wouldn't want to be away that long. I worry about her settling in to uni for the same reasons.

Hells, they grow up so much in the next year. I suspect we all worry, as very few will have everything in place. DD always got an easy ride in terms of chores, initially because of a commute to school and high-level extra curricular. Then the sheer hell of Yr 13, and the priority of getting her through it. Cooking and cleaning in a chalet will be a huge shock. The gap year will be good. She is OK on independence and resilience, but if she can improve her organisational skills, her first year will be so much easier.

Some will struggle, but most do a massive amount of growing up in the year after leaving school.

hells I second what NMS says. DS1 did very well academically in Y13 but was painfully shy and lacking in confidence. I worried about him coping at uni in all kinds of ways. He settled in amazingly well and surprised me by pushing himself to try new things and mix socially. Hopefully your DD will find her feet and do the same.
DS2 on the other hand, I have no worries about other than the fact that he'll forget I exist and never text.
NMS London beckons when the nest is empty.

Thanks NMS and Secret!