Daughter left Uni, help needed accommodation costs.

longtermplanner

I think it's hard to deal with this situation because the money thing gets in the way of trying to decide what is 'best' for your daughter.

(That sounds as though it's up to you to decide what's best for her - that isn't what I meant - I mean it's complicating her decision.)

I know two recent cases of friends whose children have been on the 'wrong' course. One dropped out half way through the first year. the other failed their first year exams because they lacked any motivation to do any work. After a year 'out' they are now both in their first year of a different course at a different uni and both seem to be thriving! A year of close encounters with the benefits system and minimum wage work seems in both cases to have generated a realisation that going to uni is a privilege

Does your daughter know what she wants to do next? If it is a different course at a different uni, she can apply now to start next year. But this time could she think about living at home? there seems to be an assumption in Britain that 'going away to uni' is good for you - well perhaps it is, but it's a damned expensive form of 'finishing school'.

Finishing the current year then changing might be her best option if she wants to do a pretty similar course as she might be able to go into the second year.

But if that isn't appealing, then she (or you if she is in a blue funk and unable to Deal With Things) needs to find out if she can spend the rest of the year in her accommodation and look for work there and/or claim benefits there.

ska_lover

stebiz wrote: »

I agree with most of what you say. But I know of at least 3 close friends who've been to Uni, got a 2:1 and still don't have a job with more than £8 an hour. One hasn't at all.

Really worrying isn't it:cool:

Never_Enough_Money

penrhyn wrote: »

The girl had the privilege of going to university and dropped out, taking a place that someone could have had. I seems reasonable to ask why she left.

Can we assume that you either don't have any children or that if you do that they have never made any mistakes or ever had a change of heart? You comment really isn't any help to the op and certainly not in keeping with the theme of moneysaving expert which is a forum for people to help each other and offer helpful advice, I don't understand why you would post that comment?

Indie_Kid

I was in a similar situation as the OPs daughter.

I knew that I'd still have pay if I dropped out and there was the stuff with student finance. I decided that I was going to stay at uni, drop one module and carry on with the others.

I ended up with completing and just about passing the other modules. (I was a few marks off a first for one of them)

Not currently at uni due to being quite ill over the last year. Also decided that I want to change what I was doing completely.

Mrs_Ryan

I dropped out twice (and before anyone starts having a go, first time I had a miscarriage which led to a breakdown and second time I was very ill with what turned out to be cancer)
I was in the same situation as your daughter however when they started chasing me for the money I was on benefit and unable to pay however obviously my circumstances were a little different. I know what its like to be desperately unhappy and struggling however on both occasions I managed to scrape through the first year and on my first degree I got some sort of certificate out of it. I would say that the best thing for her to do is to at least try and scrape through first year and then sorting things will be a whole lot easier and perhaps things will be clearer for her.

[Deleted User]

adandem wrote: »

Thanks, yes I appreciate this, but sadly the admin people based in her accommodation are not the best and just seem to fob the students off.
She has approached them several times already.

i`d be tempted to let them go to court,after all she cant pay if she has no money,and they will no from experience how pointless going to court can be in these circumstances

Dunroamin

woodbine wrote: »

i`d be tempted to let them go to court,after all she cant pay if she has no money,and they will no from experience how pointless going to court can be in these circumstances

A CCJ at the age of 19 isn't really the best start to life.

ThemeOne

I would advise your daughter to offer the landlords whatever she can - whether that's a payment plan, or whatever lump sum she can raise, and leave the ball in their court.

If, say, they've got half the money, with the prospect of the other half coming in instalments, they may be reluctant to go to court because the court would probably not propose any more beneficial arrangement.

I agree a CCJ (if it comes to that) is not the best start in life but, on the other hand, it's not the end of the world either, and will teach your daughter that actions always have consequences.

And speaking as someone who dropped out of university after the first term (I'm now in my 50s), I can still remember the horrible feeling of being "trapped" in something I hated. Many degrees have become so devalued these days anyway, their value is really debatable.

I can also remember the guilt trips people tried to lay at my door, and can see the same thing in one or two of the posts on this thread. It's quite unnecessary and unhelpful. She's made her choice - there may be some unfortunately knock-on effects re this rent problem - but that shouldn't deflect her, or be used to try and make her feel guilty if she's convinced this is what she wants.

dearlouise

stebiz wrote: »

I agree with most of what you say. But I know of at least 3 close friends who've been to Uni, got a 2:1 and still don't have a job with more than £8 an hour. One hasn't at all.

Okay, so your friends left Uni, 2/3 have jobs, and they are all earning above minimum wage. What's the problem? That sounds good to me!

Too many people think a degree is a golden handshake away from earning £40,000 a year the second you leave.

A career is an investment. Just as a degree is. You have to work hard for both.

That's advice coming from a business studies teacher who worked in the Jobcentre for 3 years.

I would recommend your daughter stick the year out at least. Maybe she will change her mind in that time, or be able to switch courses at that point. Most courses only allow switches at the end of the year. She's going to be significantly worse off with no job, nowhere to live, and a contract to pay rent on accommodation if she doesn't! Seems like a no brainer to me.

Give her a life lesson. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, because it's the right decision. I once worked for £12,000 a year, working a 48 hour week in 6 degrees... Despised it. But I had a mortgage to pay!

adandem

Thank you everyone for your replies.
Okay, the reason she is leaving is very long winded but here's a quick version!
She had to leave her A level course in the first year due to a severe eating disorder, it was not a choice but a medical instruction.
Anyway, she is very arty so when she was well enough, she did an extended BTec in Art and Design although one of her greatest wishes was to be a nurse but always dismissed it due to her own issues.
She passed the course with flying colours and therefore assumed that a degree/career in this area would be the right road to go down.
So.. She is well down the road to recovery and feels that a future as a nurse is now achievable.
She is not enjoying the degree at all and knows it's not something she wants a future in as well as there being very limited opportunities.
I think she was just so happy to get to uni in the first place after bring in a very desperate position with her health.
She is looking at nursing courses at a local uni and don't think transfer would be likely even if she completes the first year.
Not a good position to be in but in some ways it's better to find out early on and the world is not short of graduates.
I understand that she needs to learn a lesson and stand on her own two feet, but as her parent I feel compelled to help her.
I am in my forties and still look to my parents for advice.;)