Advice from anyone who has put their children through Uni.

[Toothfairy]

I'm after some advice and guidance please as I feel a bit like a fish out of water.
My DD has been offered places at two Uni's ( on condition she gets the grades).
What do we do now?
Do we wait to see if she gets the grades before looking at accommodation etc or do we look now?
Will she go into Halls or do we need to rent somewhere?
Do we need to apply for a bursary for her tuition fees?

I have no idea what to do now or what order to do them in?
Any advice would be very welcome

Ps. Her school have been hopeless in answering my questions.

[Rachael's stars]

I think ur best bet would be to phone the uni, they deal with this all day and see what they recomend, you might find you can spply for her bursary now as it can take a while and keep it asside then if she dosnt take the place at uni you have the money to pay it back, iv not gone through this before but I would definitely phone the uni and get some advice
Good luck
And well done to your daughyer getting a place x

[Christi]

Over ten years since I went, but I think you need to wait on the accomodation front. Once she has a confirmed place you'll be sent an accomodation list.

[phoenix2010]

my son went to scarborough uni , and the uni gave 3 options
live on campus , live in large shared accomodation, live in small shared accomodation
prices varied and we chose , then waited to find out what he was allocated

i would always recommend being guided by the uni for the first year , after that my son and 5 friends found their own house to rent , but he would not have wanted to do that for the first year , he didnt know anybody

If you have a look on the unis websites there should be info about the kind of accomodation on offer , but I wouldnt bother looking too hard until you have chosen the uni , there will be a section to fill in inside the uni welcome pack that they send you once you have accepted an offer of a place

at least i think thats what happened , its a few years ago now

one thing to bear in mind , search around for bursaries and scholarships , one of the reasons my son chose scarborough was their excellent bursary and scholarship deals , it added around £3000 a year to the money he had to live on

my friends daughter just went to uni and didnt bother applying for a scholarship she could have had , needless to say my friend wasnt too happy

I did all the applying and sorted all the money stuff for my son , otherwise it would never have happened lol

oh and when choosing a uni , bear in mind they may end up staying there , I encouraged my son to pick scarborough becasue it seemed to offer the best course and facilities , he has now settled there and is 4 hours away from me , I didnt really consider this at the time , still its a nice place to take my holidays :-)

[Toothfairy]

Thank you
We live in Kent and she had been offered 2 conditional places.
One at Southampton Uni and one at Bournemouth.
She still has one interview to go next Monday at Ravensbourne Uni in Greenwich. If she gets offered this one, she could live at home and commute on the train as we are only a 45min train ride into London.

It's a mine field isn't it. Our eldest didn't go on to Uni so although she is our second eldest DD, it's our first time organising it. DH went to Uni but he commuted to London and lived at home plus it was many moons ago

[WibbleWobble]

we went with the uni's advice for the first year..DD1 lived in halls then found her own place with her mates for the second and third years- they stayed in the same place as it was lovely and the landlord was fab. It was above his letting agency office and when all the girls were home for xmas he rang us to ask when they were due back and if he could go in and turn the heating and water on so they werent cold when they got home. The ladies in the office made cakes and food for them and i know one was a good agony aunt to DD. We missed their care when she finished uni!

I have some advice - if your DD lives nr to uni...get yourself a Tesco dot com account or similar and then you can send food to her. We tried the money but DD was spending it on rubbish. So she ordered the food and i would put my card on to pay for it. Better than drinking it all!!

wibble the cost effective

x

[Toothfairy]

Good idea about having the food delivered, thanks
I did think this morning that we would have to send her money weekly rather than monthly, as she would probably blow the lot in week 1 and then starve for the other 3 weeks

[hectors house]

My daughter went to Uni in Cardiff and stayed there, has been there 7 years now luckily it is under 1 1/2 hours for us to go to visit - sometimes we meet in the week in Bristol which is hour away for us, half hour for daughter and she gets to pay for the Severn Bridge.

She is still at the Uni - she now works there and they are paying for her Masters.
She was in halls for first year, then lived with running mates the next year - but they were year older so she moved a third time in with other mates. She is now married and has bought a house on the outskirts (with help from his parents)!

When she went it was only £1300 a year which we paid, she got a loan of £3500 each year which paid for accommodation and she worked as a lifeguard at the uni to pay to live (food and drinking!) Everytime she came home we send her back with food parcels (us and her gran).

[hello kitty]

My dd went to uni last year. She had 4 conditional offers and "firmed" her favourite and chose her fall back one.

After that she applied for accommodation, she had to give a list of 5 choices (ie en suite, shared room etc) but only for her "firm" uni. You must also make sure you apply in time for any funding either the grant or loan (one is means tested). Then sit back and hope they gain the grades they require.

Hth

[jillplum]

You can apply for student finance now. I have just done it for my son for next year which is the second year of his degree course. It wont be paid till september and is paid in three amounts at the start of each term. You can apply for student loan for tuition fees and living expenses. You may also qualify for a maintenance grant depending on you financial situation. This grant does not have to be repaid. If you look on the government website student finance it will tell you what to do.

The question of accomodation and bursary will need to be asked of the Uni or College she decides on.

Good luck

[Toothfairy]

Thank you.
It will be a student loan as we don't qualify for any grants.
Southampton and Bournemouth are £8,050.
We will see if she gets offered Ravensbourne and then apply.

[SYLVIA]

We live in Orpington and my daughter looked at Ravensbourne. She got a place at London college of fashion so lucky lives at home and travels into London. I think her friends looked for digs when they had a place and accepted it. Good luck with whatever she chooses.