Cost of looking around universities on Open days

Savvy_Sue

nimbo wrote: »

she needs to hear her mum say that she'll have no storage, and that the kitchen is minging....

:rotfl: If her mum thinks the kitchen is minging in halls, she should wait until they move out into their own accommodation!

We turned up 2nd to one house, the first lad to arrive said he'd been cleaning solidly since he arrived, but you could still wipe your finger along the kitchen worktops and pick up a load of grease! :eek:

Here's another tip, try not to be the last one to pick up from a shared house at the end of the year ... your child will be the one failing to see the bins which haven't been emptied and the walls which need to be wiped, and also the one to bring home all the random 'stuff' the others have abandoned by mistake. :rotfl:

Pont

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Here's another tip, try not to be the last one to pick up from a shared house at the end of the year ... your child will be the one failing to see the bins which haven't been emptied and the walls which need to be wiped, and also the one to bring home all the random 'stuff' the others have abandoned by mistake. :rotfl:

Whoa - tell me about it!

After scraping a year's worth of God only knows what off the microwave, scrubbing carpet clean of I shudder to think, and clearing 'things' (best not to mention what) from obscure dark corners... I could go on! The 10 golden rules (in my view)are:-

1) Avoid Welcome Days like the plague.
2) Never voice an opinion when entering halls for the first time - 'lovely' will surfice.
3) Do not become territorial over cupboard space in the kitchen. There will be a free-for-all, and you will secretly feel very proud when your son/daughter has bagged their space.
4) Do not ask "What happened to the new set of saucepans (cutlery, mugs etc)?" when they move from halls. You will note that they have exactly 1 milkpan, 3 spoons and a mug with no handle when they return home for the summer.
5) Do not try to make conversation re: housemates. It appears that by asking "What do Tom's/Susan's parents 'do' for a living?" is very sad.
6) When moving from halls, your son/daughter will find their 'first' house. Again, as point 2 above, your response on first viewing will be 'lovely' (fantastic etc).
7) You will, at sometime be invited to visit (B&B down the road is, of course, where you will be staying). Student sprog and housemates will invite you around for wine and canapes to show off their new found sophistication. Reality will be warm Lambrini and some 'suspect' gunk on cream crackers. Again, your response will resemble that of point 2 above. However, you WILL end up taking all housemates, and associated boy/girlfriends (total 20ish!) out for dinner. This is because you want to be the 'cool' parent.
8) This continues for either 3 years (if you're lucky) or 4 years (if you're me!). Get used to it!
9) You WILL at sometime during this period be the parent who draws the short straw - yes - you get to be guarantor! Lucky old you because you will not get a good night's sleep during that year.
10) You WILL still shed a tear everytime you say goodbye.

Savvy_Sue

:rotfl: so far we have avoided being guarantor, not sure how!!!

GeneHunt_2

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Grrrr.

So Child 2 is on a mission to attend as many university open days in as many far off places as she can, and insists that if possible both parents attend. We are based in Miseryside.

So far it is costing me:

1) Cardiff, started at 9am, no way to arrive on time, without leaving house at 5am, so we go the day before, and stay in B&B.
Because I work away, I have 2 days off work £250 a day minus tax and NIC (I'm self employed).
Dog in Kennels, 2 nights £30
Diesel £60
B&B £95
Meals £50

Call it £700 ?
2) Aston. Started at 9am, I chose not to attend so wife and child 2 go on train. Apparently they can't get there on time, so stay in holiday inn. £65 B&B £30 food, and one way train £45
Say £140?
3) I pick them up at the end and take them to Bath.
2 days off work £250, £60 diesel, £210 B&B, £60 food, £45 looking around roman baths, £8 parking
Call it £900?
4) Manchester 1/2 day off work £125, £48 train fares, £35 food.
Call it £200 ?
2,3,4 all in a week, requiring 5 night stay for dog £60.

So far, then £2200.

Next

6) Wife and child 1 heading to london, luckily I persuaded them that I am not needed, and that it starts at 11:30, they can get a latish train, return price advance with rail card £176. They will spend £40 on Food. MIL will take dog for walk mid day.
7) Nottingham. I am working nearby, and renting a one bed cottage, so they will get train, and stay with me for 1 or 2 nights,
£250 lost pay, £60 train fare
8) Norwich the day after - depending on start time, we might stay in Norwich, but if not : Deisel £70 (return home to Miseryside), add £250 lost pay

In total that's another £900

So in total That's close to £3000.

Okay if I take off my lost earnings (You have to take holidays sometime) of £1650 it's "only" £1350

Oh wait. They went to LJMU last week, at a cost of £6 train and £20 food.

I don't want to be churlish, I know it could be done cheaper, but do these kids know what an investment thier parents are making in them.

As an aside, I'm yet to see or hear anything that either isn't on the internet, or isn't almost the same as every other university.

Once you've seen one student halls of residence and typical room, you have seen every single one in the country. They are all the same.

And the most pointless bit ? The welcome talk. You can't all be number one, and top of every league table. Yes you all think you are the best.

Whilst i would agree that open days can be expensive That's just crazy!!!!!

CoolHotCold

Savvy_Sue & Pont I assume you're both parents with kids at uni right?


From what you both posted it looks like you both helped your child tidy and move out of dorms/halls.


Since my 1st year of Uni was over 5 years ago now, I don't know when your children finished 1st year and had the move, but I can guarantee any student who had their parents help clean was promptly ridiculed by the rest. Yes our flat may of had a bleach stained carpet (after a rather unfortunate incident with a bucket of puke, I learned that cleaning a carpet with pure bleach doesn't work) and the 2nd sink could of been used for Biochem101 after draining of water and even the foot sized hole in the wall, I can't imagine getting my parents to help clean any of my mess up and aside from parents helping move items out of the halls there was no help taken in cleaning.






And to the OP, I went to Open Days on my own and with my parents but only if they wanted or could make it otherwise I went with mates. The whole idea (at least to me) is to say bye to the parents and start my own journey through life.


(Pont, point 10 is true for both parties)

Savvy_Sue

I think I managed to avoid any actual cleaning: I tended to take stuff out to the car and in between trips say things like "you'll need to clean around the bin" or "I don't know what that is but I'm sure you shouldn't leave it like that."

If we weren't the last to leave the place, I checked each son had done what they thought they needed to do. If we WERE the last to leave, I prompted, but there wasn't anyone left to laugh at them.

I think the most cleaning I did was a few years post Uni when DS1 and a friend were moving out of a shared flat. I sat on the stairs and cleaned the skirting boards because I couldn't carry any boxes with a damaged shoulder!

bouncydog1

Word of warning on the cleaning. OH and I and DD spent several hours cleaning her room, bathroom and others leaving immaculate. landlords agents have carried out a final inspection and are withholding £350 from deposit for cleaning. It appears from a local website review that they always use a particular agency to clean their student lets at the end of a tenancy.

we are going to dispute as nothing in lease and is I suspect a way of getting the tenants to pay for the clean before the next ones move in.

Suggest you video every room carefully on arrival paying particular attention to skirtings, corners, any drawer contents, stuff left in bins etc etc.

rosalie-lavender

CoolHotCold wrote: »

Savvy_Sue & Pont I assume you're both parents with kids at uni right?


From what you both posted it looks like you both helped your child tidy and move out of dorms/halls.


Since my 1st year of Uni was over 5 years ago now, I don't know when your children finished 1st year and had the move, but I can guarantee any student who had their parents help clean was promptly ridiculed by the rest. Yes our flat may of had a bleach stained carpet (after a rather unfortunate incident with a bucket of puke, I learned that cleaning a carpet with pure bleach doesn't work) and the 2nd sink could of been used for Biochem101 after draining of water and even the foot sized hole in the wall, I can't imagine getting my parents to help clean any of my mess up and aside from parents helping move items out of the halls there was no help taken in cleaning.






And to the OP, I went to Open Days on my own and with my parents but only if they wanted or could make it otherwise I went with mates. The whole idea (at least to me) is to say bye to the parents and start my own journey through life.


(Pont, point 10 is true for both parties)

I have helped clean for both my boys and they have had no ridicule from housemates. In fact their housemates are quite happy because I have helped them clean too! Last year I was stuck in one house for an entire afternoon while my DH transported our son and four other friends to their new house. I spent the afternoon cleaning the house to help them all out, something they were very pleased about and thanked me for.

Halls was different because they had cleaners anyway, so we just packed up and came home. Helping pack was almost essential to get out on time. They had to be out by 10 am and coming a day early wasn't an option because of my job. With my youngest son's room being so small you could hardly turn round, some of the stuff had to be packed after other stuff had been removed from the room, making it difficult to pack before we arrived. Leaving anything outside blocked the stairwell and corridor.

We need a van to transport our boys home-with two of them at one uni and a wealth of musical instruments and other electronics the car is too small. It is difficult to pack up their rooms in advance without taking over the communal areas so much of the cleaning has to be done on the day.

We work as a team-while they pack up and load the van, I clean. That way we get home before midnight.

As far as I am concerned we are a family and help each other out. I help them and their housemates clean and when my computer breaks down they fix it for me! They have both also been a huge support to me over the years. If they got ridiculed because their parents help clean/pack up, I think they would be looking for new housemates.

rosalie-lavender

bouncydog1 wrote: »

Word of warning on the cleaning. OH and I and DD spent several hours cleaning her room, bathroom and others leaving immaculate. landlords agents have carried out a final inspection and are withholding £350 from deposit for cleaning. It appears from a local website review that they always use a particular agency to clean their student lets at the end of a tenancy.

we are going to dispute as nothing in lease and is I suspect a way of getting the tenants to pay for the clean before the next ones move in.

Suggest you video every room carefully on arrival paying particular attention to skirtings, corners, any drawer contents, stuff left in bins etc etc.

That sort of thing hasn't been an issue for us so far luckily as my youngest is in Uni managed rented housing and the eldest has been lucky with his letting agencies. There is a hefty fine, from the uni if cleaning isn't up to scratch or things are left behind but it is fair and expected standards are notified in advance.

Our daughter is going to a totally different university in another area and I will definitely bear in mind what you say. She is much more likely than the boys to have to go into private rental and is going to be more open to the same sort of issue you have.

Pont

I never touched 'cleaning up' from halls. But...I was determined to make sure our lot got their deposits back from their 2nd year rental - they did in full!

From experience - 3rd year was placement in France. Whoa, what a difference. Beautiful city centre apartment (wooden floors, huge windows etc), also half the price with most utilities included. Also the wonderful CAF (housing allowance for students) kicked in. Alas, now have to contend with 4th year rental back here for DD1... and DD2 now enters her first year.

Here we go again! Thank goodness only 2 kids!!!