Advice from all you students please!

debsue

My baby (well shes 18) has done well in her A levels and has a place at Uni in London. She was thrilled to bits, but now that she has got to accept her place she is get the jitters. She says that she does not want to go so far from home, which is a suprise as she has always been so independant. Is it normal to feel like this? She is talking about staying at sixth form and retaking her A2 year to try and get better results so that she can go to UNi nearer home.

melancholly

i'd imagine when she gets there, she'll love it. it can be a very scary step and if you're not used to london it can be a big scary place. but they will have a great freshers week when she'll meet lots of people in the same boat. how far away from london are you? i know it helped me a lot knowing that my mum was just on the end of the phone and if i had a terrible time it was only 3 hours door to door to go home for TLC - but i never really needed it!

where are her friends all going? could it be related to that as well?

debsue

we live about 2 hours from london and none of her circle of friends are going to UNI. Thanks for the reply. I have told her I will arrange for her to come home at weekends if she wants.

Dave_Brooker

debsue wrote: »

we live about 2 hours from london and none of her circle of friends are going to UNI. Thanks for the reply. I have told her I will arrange for her to come home at weekends if she wants.

She'll be fine once she's there.

Then it will be your turn to worry:p

nearlyrich

She will be fine, you will be in bits trust me I have been a mum to a fresher twice;)

melancholly

debsue wrote: »

we live about 2 hours from london and none of her circle of friends are going to UNI. Thanks for the reply. I have told her I will arrange for her to come home at weekends if she wants.

that'll be the issue then. as long as she doesn't feel pressure to go, then i'm pretty sure that as soon as she settles in and makes new friends at uni, all will be fine.

it can be a very turbulant time for school friends when everyone goes off in different directions, especially when a large group all head off in one direction and you go in another. it isn't always easy but it just happens - you realise how many people you really do have things in common with apart from the convenience of seeing them at school every day! and invariably it's not as many people as you think!

SharkyGeorge

London is the most incredible place to be as a student. She will probably be fairly central and she must remember that London universities are really international so there will be plenty of people from further away places and more scared than she is. Anywhere she goes to university will be daunting for the first few weeks but she'll settle in really quickly. Make her realise that this is something she may regret not doing in the future. She should at least take the chance and if she's given it a go and still hates it she can always transfer.

I wish her the best of luck!

impy78

I was terrified when I went to uni. But once I got there, I had the best time.

London is expensive and loud, but amazing fun!

ha12roon

Don't worry about it she'll be fine, everyone has mixed feelings i.e. I don't know anyone etc, when going to university, same as when you first start secondary school. Its about getting used to your new surroundings, making lots of friends, oh and also doing some studying lol.

BigBouncyBall

Being in London it's a hell of a lot easier to get home than from some other unis 2 hours away. Trains are easy to get and with a railcard they're pretty reasonable. She'll not need to worry about never seeing you all again - most students come home at least once or twice before the first xmas for a bit of R&R/restocking/clothes washing! I've found that most of my friends in London unis came home more often than those of us out in the sticks as it was so easy and London was so expensive!

princesslizzie

I was exactly the same as your daughter. Infact my home is just over 2 hours from my uni in London! I hated my first month, and cried a lot but in the end I got stuck in with my lectures and the partying. Going out with your flatmates for social evenings is a great way to bond, even if you don't drink. We occasionally went out to the cinema or took trips to Covent Garden to get off the campus. I stuck it out until late October when I had to go home for medical reasons then went back. I've now got a boyfriend down here and have just moved into a new flat with friends and can't wait for uni to start!

I love my home and miss it like crazy but I do feel much more settled. I tried to get involved in uni life as much as possible (not just the drinking!) and this also helped. Hope your daughter changes her mind, because I think she'll have such a good time!