Anyone go to/been to university?

missgalaxy

Yummy Mummy! xx
Since I didnt get the job I went for, I am considering going to university to maybe do my nursing.

I would be a mature student (28) with 2 children. Could someone give me some info on what full time uni is like as they dont do parttime study in the course I want. Is it 5 days a week all day? Do you work through holidays etc etc?

Ive emailed the uni asking me whether its too late for the September intake but luckily they have another intake in january which im considering applying for. Is there an interview process with me being a 'mature' student or do you just get a place according to grades and study?

Any advice/info would be fantastic, thank you ladies (and guys!!)

xxx
 
Thanks for replying!

I think I will go to the local uni which is Teeside.

I have completed my NVQ2 and 3 in Care and have completed 2 years at The Open University when my son was younger. Im thinking of doing the Diploma in Adult nursing as Im not 100% sure what type of nursing I want to do so I think this would be the best option.

Can I ask about financies? Do you get some kind of birsary? I currently work so would obviously have to weigh up the financial aspects of it especially with childcare. Please dont answer if its too personal I certanly wont be offended!

They have 2 intakes - September and January. Am I too late to apply for September? Can I apply for january now or do I have to wait until after September?

xx
 
I went to Uni when my children were 2 & 1. I found I had to be more organised than the other students. When Lydia was 2 she was able to go to the creche with Nathan, but until then I had my cousin look after her. I always made sure they were in the creche for enough time for me to study & not just to cover the classes I attended. This way I was able to hand in my assignments on time without being too stressed.

I got help with fees for the creche.

Good luck, it's quite exciting :D
 
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Thank you very much for all the information. I sent them an email earlier today so will wait and see what they say!

My partner works fulltime and I have a 7 year old and a 2 year old so I will need childcare for both of them.

Its something Im interested in so will wait and see! Thank you for the advice! xxx
 
I've literally just graduated from University!
It's not as many hours a week as you might think, particularly because my course was English, and required a lot of reading. You'd only really be able to know by contacting the University in question.
University holidays are usually pretty similar to school termtime, just longer. Generally, you have to work to complete over the holidays, but usually not deadlines.

xxx
 
missgalaxy I am also a nursing student!
You won't be that mature at 28! I started it at 28 and there are only a few younger with quite a few older than me!
Be aware that you have placement hours. Each uni is different but my placements are generally 12 weeks and we have 2 a year. You have to be prepared to work the hours that the nurses do which is shifts. For my trust it is generally 7am-3pm, 1pm-9pm, sometimes long day 7am-9pm but depends on the wards and night 20.45-07.45am. We are expected to do 1 in 3 weekends.
Please research what hours you will be expected to do on placement because I do know it drives wards crazy when students walk in and say I can only do this or I can't do that.
As for uni for the first theory block for me was quite intense with 5 days most week lectures 9.30- 5.30. Second theory block wasn't quite intense with generally 2-3 days a week.
You will get a bursary, and if with kids you will get a bit more but it will depend on what your partner earns. I know one of the girls is moaning cos she's just had her bursary reduced as her OH has got a better job and just earns over £23000 and apparently £23000 is the cut off for whether you get any extra for kids.
From 2012 it will be degree only so you need to get in before then if you want to do the diploma. If you're open to doing the degree it may be worth thinking about it as the funding is means tested which means those with kids generally get a bit more. There's and NHS bursary website, I'll try and find it for you!
Here it is, there's a calculator on there -
Bursary Estimate Calculator
 
Thank you for the link, its good to get a rough estomate. I have emailed the uni to get some more information as its something I am interested in but obviously its a HUGE decision to make and I need to make sure we can do it financially. Im actually getting excited about it now!!.
xx
 
I don't do a nursing degree I am with all the odd bod's in Psychology :) But where I am there is loads of suport from the lectures and there more considerate towards mature students. Plus we have a flexiable nursery for u students to take their kiddliewinks and the hours are varied :)
 
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