University visits

[rusty30]

Hi all - bit of a latecomer to this thread! My DD started uni in London last year but hated the course. She stuck it out til Christmas but after a lot of soul searching she decided paying tuition for a course she wasn’t suited to was a waste. We fully supported that choice.

She has now applied to Leeds and has an interview soon - it’s an art course (concept art) and DD already has the UCAS points required so admission will be purely down to her portfolio. The course leader said she will tell her on the day if she’s made it on. It’s the only course of its kind and gets a lot of international applicants so we know it will be pretty competitive.

We are staying in Leeds for 2 days (although we have already been for an open day) as if she is successful we want to get a feel for the city. Can anyone point us in the right direction of what to look for? DD is outdoorsy so hiking, climbing etc are her thing definitely not pubs and nightclubs which the uni tries to big up!

Is Leeds a safe place? Public transport / cycle routes good?

She will hopefully be staying in the Liberty Halls (visited and loved these - nice and modern!). She’ll be cycling mostly and we saw a lot of cycle lanes when we visited last so hoping that’s a plus!

Anyone with any experience of Leeds at all?

[dubletrub]

Originally Posted by rusty30

Hi all - bit of a latecomer to this thread! My DD started uni in London last year but hated the course. She stuck it out til Christmas but after a lot of soul searching she decided paying tuition for a course she wasn’t suited to was a waste. We fully supported that choice.

She has now applied to Leeds and has an interview soon - it’s an art course (concept art) and DD already has the UCAS points required so admission will be purely down to her portfolio. The course leader said she will tell her on the day if she’s made it on. It’s the only course of its kind and gets a lot of international applicants so we know it will be pretty competitive.

We are staying in Leeds for 2 days (although we have already been for an open day) as if she is successful we want to get a feel for the city. Can anyone point us in the right direction of what to look for? DD is outdoorsy so hiking, climbing etc are her thing definitely not pubs and nightclubs which the uni tries to big up!

Is Leeds a safe place? Public transport / cycle routes good?

She will hopefully be staying in the Liberty Halls (visited and loved these - nice and modern!). She’ll be cycling mostly and we saw a lot of cycle lanes when we visited last so hoping that’s a plus!

Anyone with any experience of Leeds at all?

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My brother studied in Leeds, my friends daughter is currently there and my in laws all live there so we go up regularly.
Public transport is great around Leeds, non of my in laws have cars as getting around the city is faster on the bus. If she likes hiking there are plenty of hiking routes on the moors. You have Bronte country not far away.
Look at what societies that the uni have that your daughter could join.

[Disney Dreaming]

Hi, sorry for jumping on this thread but i am getting myself in a bit of confusion.
My DS has started the process of booking his open days for next year, and i have been looking at the accommodation, do you get grants for this or are you expected to pay for it all, I can see Disney becoming a distant dream.

[Guest]

It depends where you live and your personal circumstances. In most instances a student loan is available to cover both the fees and something towards maintenance (essentially living).

Martin Lewis on moneysavingexpert expert has some useful information as have the various student loan companies for each country. They do differ.

[Mexy02]

Originally Posted by Disney Dreaming

Hi, sorry for jumping on this thread but i am getting myself in a bit of confusion.
My DS has started the process of booking his open days for next year, and i have been looking at the accommodation, do you get grants for this or are you expected to pay for it all, I can see Disney becoming a distant dream.

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Our maintenance grant won’t cover the accomodation costs, so we need to top that up and then cover his living costs , ie phone , food , stationary etc. He’s has a part time job so that will fund his nights out and clothes.
It depends how much you earn and what uni you pick etc . It’s a minefield tbh, I personally don’t know any parent that doesn’t need to subsidise their children’s uni education if I’m honest .

[WhereIBelong]

Originally Posted by Disney Dreaming

Hi, sorry for jumping on this thread but i am getting myself in a bit of confusion.
My DS has started the process of booking his open days for next year, and i have been looking at the accommodation, do you get grants for this or are you expected to pay for it all, I can see Disney becoming a distant dream.

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We will not be going on big holidays for quite some time to come (2 teenager in a row off to uni!)! DD halls will cost more than the maintenance loan she (we!) qualifies for - so we have decided we will be paying accommodation and she will be using her maintenance loan to live from - gives her some budgeting experience without the risk of losing the roof over her head.

[sammykitten]

Originally Posted by Disney Dreaming

Hi, sorry for jumping on this thread but i am getting myself in a bit of confusion.
My DS has started the process of booking his open days for next year, and i have been looking at the accommodation, do you get grants for this or are you expected to pay for it all, I can see Disney becoming a distant dream.

See more...

this might help give you a rough idea (if you live in England) -

gov.uk/student-finance-calculator/y

[roxie2001]

Dd has finally heard from NTU. Her unconditional offer is for the 3 year psychology course, she applied for the 4 year psychology course with a placement year. So basically if she gets ABB she will be on the placement year but if not she will be on the 3 year course. They said they sent a letter and email to confirm this, we didn’t get either of these though so Dd has emailed back and will wait to see what they say before deciding if she wants to get in touch with UCAS. It is still a little annoying as UEA offered unconditional for the placement year, she got a letter so had it in writing and she would have considered it more if she knew the offer for NTU wasn’t for the placement year.
She is upset today as she failed her theory by one point and hearing that from NTU today as well hasn’t helped.
She is on some new student chat groups and has secured her first choice accommodation though so hopefully everything will turn out ok.

[Melbatb]

Originally Posted by roxie2001

Dd has finally heard from NTU. Her unconditional offer is for the 3 year psychology course, she applied for the 4 year psychology course with a placement year. So basically if she gets ABB she will be on the placement year but if not she will be on the 3 year course. They said they sent a letter and email to confirm this, we didn’t get either of these though so Dd has emailed back and will wait to see what they say before deciding if she wants to get in touch with UCAS. It is still a little annoying as UEA offered unconditional for the placement year, she got a letter so had it in writing and she would have considered it more if she knew the offer for NTU wasn’t for the placement year.
She is upset today as she failed her theory by one point and hearing that from NTU today as well hasn’t helped.
She is on some new student chat groups and has secured her first choice accommodation though so hopefully everything will turn out ok.

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That is really out of order 😟 and more stress that your DD doesn’t need.

Sorry to hear about the theory test too.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by roxie2001

Dd has finally heard from NTU. Her unconditional offer is for the 3 year psychology course, she applied for the 4 year psychology course with a placement year. So basically if she gets ABB she will be on the placement year but if not she will be on the 3 year course. They said they sent a letter and email to confirm this, we didn’t get either of these though so Dd has emailed back and will wait to see what they say before deciding if she wants to get in touch with UCAS. It is still a little annoying as UEA offered unconditional for the placement year, she got a letter so had it in writing and she would have considered it more if she knew the offer for NTU wasn’t for the placement year.
She is upset today as she failed her theory by one point and hearing that from NTU today as well hasn’t helped.
She is on some new student chat groups and has secured her first choice accommodation though so hopefully everything will turn out ok.

See more...

Oh no, that seems so unfair. Hopefully she will get the grades for the placement year, but thankfully she has the same uni as insurance choice so at least she knows for sure where she is going. Disappointing of them though.

Bad news about the theory test too, just 1 mark, such a shame. Hopefully she will pass next time. Georgia has her second practical in a few weeks time, it took 6 weeks to get a retest in our area then they contacted her last week to cancel so she now has another week to wait. She really wants to get that over with now