Uni in the UK - practical issues?

[Anonymous]

prescriptions are hard to fill in the uk, op. Boots is the large pharmacy there and regularly they were so short stocked that they would half fill prescriptions and tell customers to come back the following week. If your kid needs meds, have your US doc write the Rx so it can be filled stateside, and if she can’t bring a term”s worth when she moves, you can mail them to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lived in the UK for many years:
Replace small electric home goods with a UK one… hair dryer, hair straightener etc or risk blowing out the circuit (ask me how i know)
If your child suffers at all from SAD - and its is MUCH darker in winter there, for much longer than it is in USA - get a sun lamp

Especially in Scotland where it starts getting dark shortly after 3pm in winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:prescriptions are hard to fill in the uk, op. Boots is the large pharmacy there and regularly they were so short stocked that they would half fill prescriptions and tell customers to come back the following week. If your kid needs meds, have your US doc write the Rx so it can be filled stateside, and if she can’t bring a term”s worth when she moves, you can mail them to her.

You need to go to a different chemist then. My elderly British parents have no problem at all getting prescriptions filled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lived in the UK for many years:
Replace small electric home goods with a UK one… hair dryer, hair straightener etc or risk blowing out the circuit (ask me how i know)
If your child suffers at all from SAD - and its is MUCH darker in winter there, for much longer than it is in USA - get a sun lamp

Especially in Scotland where it starts getting dark shortly after 3pm in winter.

It starts getting dark in London around 3pm in Winter too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UK universities are mostly on what the US calls a trimester system. The terms are shoter than a US semester, and usually are called Michaelmas, Christmas, and Easter.

Except at Oxbridge, UK universities are much more sink or swim than a US SLAC might be. It is up to the student to get academic help, to find the prof, and so on. Fine for a self-starter but maybe not so well suited for a kid who is used to a lot of hand holding.

No one outside of possibly Oxbridge and maybe movies talks of michaelmas term. Or Christmas and Easter - though those are what the breaks are called. So much misinformation here from people who have a tiny experience of the UK and think it applies everywhere.

So much easier to quibble about minor details than to comment in a way helpful to OP…

+ 1 and it's Michaelmas. Capitalized.

It’s a word that no one uses. Ever. And even my phone didn’t recognize it, hence the lack of capital M which unsurprisingly I couldn’t be bothered to change after spending more effort than I should to get my phone to accept an obscure word no one uses.

Again, lots in the Commonwealth do. But on point that you are referring to them as no one.

“In the commonwealth”???? So bizarre. We are taking about Britain here.

We used Michaelmas at the LSE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At some UK universities (e.g., any university in London) there is no guarantee of student housing after 1st year. Housing on the commercial market is expensive anywhere in London, and in some other places. Oxbridge colleges do have student housing for all 3 years of ugrad.

University food at the refectory often is more affordable than elsewhere. Food in the UK often costs more than metro DC - both geoceries and restaurants. Fast food such as a fish & chips or a burger chain is more affordable, of course.

I’m British. The last few visits home I’ve been shocked at his much cheaper groceries are than in DC. Perhaps this doesn’t hold true in London but it certainly does outside of London. Also no tips at restaurants unless very high end and then only 10 percent so restaurant prices aren’t bad either.

London groceries and most restaurants much cheaper than DC equivalents. And healthier food without hormones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is in school in England now. Some things have been tough. Very difficult to see Dr when sick. DC has had to wait up to two weeks to see a Dr. Housing has been difficult and heat is often off in dorms during winter to save money.

Are you serious? Where on earth are they studying? the University of Victoria Peasantry?

Nonsense.

DP. This was true when I was at lse in the early 2000s. In a dorm that was only five or so years old. We only got heat, I think, eight hours a day? They turned it off during most of the day and night. So you’d have heat when you woke up in the morning and in the evening before you went to bed.

Also the hot water heater in the shower frequently didn’t work. My euro roommates just shrugged at all of this.

Yes, the still have heat only at limited times during the day at my DC’s university in Scotland.

[Anonymous]

I found it helpful to dress in layers, especially in winter. Outside was always cold and usually wet, but building temperatures (indoors) could vary widely from one to another. By wearing multiple layers instead of a single heavy down coat, I could adjust easily to various indoor temperatures.

[Anonymous]

agree that so much info on DCUM is out of date and FB pages - and even vlogs - give a more accurate picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:agree that so much info on DCUM is out of date and FB pages - and even vlogs - give a more accurate picture.

The level of UK parent involvement in the college admission process is comparatively very low (makes sense given a straightforward admissions process and low cost of attendance). I did a quick check to see if my DD's uni even had a parents' FB page. To my surprise they did; however, it had 46 members for a student body of 12,000 undergraduates (I suspect that St Andrew's is an outlier here given the large number of US students who attend).

A good alternative place for information is the student room. It is the UK's college confidential: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/.

PP also mentions vlogs. We found student youTube vlogs to be helpful. Just google your student's uni + international student experience+ YouTube and they should pop up.