University at 17
My daughter is in S6, she is a late birthday so will be 17 starting university and wont be 18 for 6 months after starting. Does anyone have any advice, is it advisable to defer for a year or do younger students cope as well, any advice would be appreciated
Original post by annon 1974
My daughter is in S6, she is a late birthday so will be 17 starting university and wont be 18 for 6 months after starting. Does anyone have any advice, is it advisable to defer for a year or do younger students cope as well, any advice would be appreciated
It really depends on how your daughter feels about it. She won't feel an age gap between her peers (indeed I have a couple of years on her but it's not noticeable) but she will be somewhat excluded from a part of the social life of university until she turns 18. Clubs are totally out of the question until she turns 18. She might be somewhat limited at pubs too - just yesterday I went to the local spoons with all my flatmates, one of whom is 17, and come 9 o'clock a waiter comes and asks us for our ID and she had to leave - they're not licenced to have under 18s after 9.00PM, apparently. I also feel a bit bad for her because I got an email from the university telling me about her age, to watch my behaviour around her, not provide her alcohol, etc etc etc, which I thought was an extremely mean thing of the university to do.
My flatmate focuses on other parts of the social life of university that she can participate - societies, the gym, so on and so forth. But even that can be a bit limited. I go to a fair bit of societies and it's traditional of several to cap off the session by a trip to the local spoons or the uni bar. I've asked her and she says she doesn't mind too much.
I know I personally wouldn't have liked too much to start uni if I were 17, but I'm not sure it's worth it to sit out an entire year just to start university at 18. It's down to what your daughter would prefer, really.
Original post by annon 1974
My daughter is in S6, she is a late birthday so will be 17 starting university and wont be 18 for 6 months after starting. Does anyone have any advice, is it advisable to defer for a year or do younger students cope as well, any advice would be appreciated
Hello @annon 1974
I went to university at 17 so thought I would give my insight. I moved city (over 3hrs away from home) and stayed in halls in my first year. I was always certain on going to university straight from school and felt ready. Regardless of age starting at uni is a big step and is a change and so if your daughter feels ready then age shouldn't be the reason for defering.
Defering can be a good or bad thing depending on the person. It can give some people more time to learn the skills they might need at uni (if living away from home for example)/ making some money / travel but it can also break up learning and make it harder to have a year out and return to studies.
In terms of socialising age isn't a major factor. Freshers have plenty of non-drinking events, there are lots of sports and other societies to get involved in and so much to offer. Personally I didn't find not being able to go out and drink hard - I think being involved in sports societies gave me a busy social aspect plus the change of a new schedule and classes. One thing I think I found from not going out late to the pub for example was that I maintained a routine and settled a bit better which helped to organise all my uni work whereas other uni mates took a bit longer to find a rythm and sleep pattern.
Best wishes to your daughter - Catherine (University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador)
Original post by annon 1974
My daughter is in S6, she is a late birthday so will be 17 starting university and wont be 18 for 6 months after starting. Does anyone have any advice, is it advisable to defer for a year or do younger students cope as well, any advice would be appreciated
hi there
I decided to defer a year and it was the best decision I ever made! I found out I was going to the wrong uni, as I realised how important being close to home was. I got so much more valuable life experience, through jobs, work experience and travel! I got to learn important pre uni life skills like cooking, how to wash my clothes, get stains out of clothes 😂
but that’s just my personal experience!
Best wishes
Emily
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Minimum age requirement for foundation courses
- University of Birmingham
- travel costs - train
- Do new universities go clearing on results day?
- night life in Manchester at the age of 17
- Is 17 too young to start Uni?
- Freshers 2023 events (under 18)
- Scottish University 2nd Year Entry
- 17 during freshers week
- ‘If you’ve had free school meals since age of 11’ meaning?
- I’ve been accepted to Aberdeen Uni, Im 17, will the social life be ok?
- 17 during freshers
- How to contact us during the winter break
- Age requirement for A100 course
- Glasgow University Software Engineering faster route
- HND Credit Transfer
- Atas delay timeline 2022-2023
- Edinburgh vs Durham
- I don't want to go back to college because of my weight
- Clearing 2023 is open!
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%
