Sunday 5 February 2012

The only time you see teenagers out with their parents

At the crack of dawn next week my son will thrust a hastily downloaded Google map at me, plug his favourite Justice tracks into the car’s audio system and we’ll set off for yet another university open day (snow permitting!)

The only trouble is that after visiting a handful of universities already, they’re all starting to blur into one. Neither of us can remember which boasts 22 Nobel Prize winners, which has a library with four million books and which serves coffee that tastes like old socks.

University open days are a new and weird phenomenon in our lives. When I went I more or less stuck a pin in the map and hoped for the best. Today’s teenagers get bombarded with leaflets and letters, spend hours trawling through the UCAS website and are encouraged to visit universities all over the shop before applying. The only trouble is that when they get to open days they meet academics in tweed jackets quoting statistics like 1,000 applicants for fewer than 100 places.

Even more bizarre is the sight of thousands of 17 and 18 year olds trailing round campuses with their middle-aged parents. Some look dead embarrassed to be seen out with their mums and dads, while others are clearly livid that their parents have muscled in on the trip. I’ve scored a double. I’m in both categories.

And this year there’s something new to worry about. The newspapers are full of doom and gloom about tuition fees trebling to an eye-watering £9,000 a year and students being saddled with debt for the rest of their lives. I take one look and stuff the papers in the bin. This university lark is hard enough without worrying about that right now…

PS. Forget my hankering for a 2CV. I’ve just spotted my new dream car outside Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Islington (see above!)

8 comments:

  1. I love that van! Doesn't look like it could go very fast though.

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    1. Hi Anonymous. Actually, I'm not sure it goes at all. It doesn't seem to have enough wheels!

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  2. It is completely bizarre - I can't think of any other situation where you would see so many teenagers spending time with their parents! Jamie's Coffee Trike doesn't look a patch on a 2CV!

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    1. I know. There is something comical about teenagers walking along with their parents. They sort of seem to trail behind - as if they're pretending they're not with them at all! And by the way, when are you getting your first 2CV?

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  3. Don't mention the tuition fees! My 14 yr old has decided she needs to investigate the possibility of university scholarships. I wonder how soon she can start applying?

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    1. Hi Maryom. Tuition fees are very scary, I agree. Judging by the open days I've been to, there do seem to be quite a few scholarships and bursaries around but I'm not sure how you go about applying for them.

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  4. Just to add that my sister's now working for an FE college, and they've been doing tutorials all fortnight about what sources of funding exist and how they work etc... I went to all my open days (3 of them, 11 years ago) on my own, and the most important criteria were: does it sound like a good course, is it far enough away that my parents can't decide to visit every weekend (sorry - but 250 miles meant I 'only' got two days of them every half term), and do I like the site / feel like I could live there. My favourite thing was to talk to the students - they won't sugar the pill much :)

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  5. Thanks so much for commenting, Ruthcrafts. Your tips on how to decide on a course are brilliant, so they'll be a great help for my son. He definitely doesn't want to be TOO close to home!

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