Going to Uni

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KimB

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My daughter is hoping to go to uni. this Sept and we are just working our way through the student finance applications. It was suggested at the uni. open day that sshe could have a fridge in her room to keep insulin in. We are hoping to put in application for student disability allowance.
2 Q's really - Has anyone applied for one of these & what did they apply for funding for, things suggested are the mini fridge & extra carb snacks required.
2nd Q is, has anyone else purchased mini fridge for this purpose?.. I assume it can be small, but needs to be reliable & not too noisy.
 
Hi 🙂

I've just finished my degree. I came through it without diability allowance or a mini fridge. It's completely up to your daughter, but after the 3 years of hell I went through (seriously!) with food going missing and whatnot, I'd definitely reccommend getting one to store insulin and emergency food in. Believe it or not, I have even had medication go missing. That's not to say that whichever uni your daughter goes to will have thiefs in halls or whatever, but I'd still say yes, get a fridge for the room! As for types, I looked at getting one at the start of the year and I'd say don't get one of the super small ones. You can pick up some relatively good sized ones from ebay for about ?50 which are way more than enough to store milk, medication and food in. I think the best size is probably 18l (maybe?!) as they can fit snugly under a desk.

Good luck to your daughter and best of luck with the disability allowance application - its something i definitely wish i'd applied for!

Sam
 
KimB said:
My daughter is hoping to go to uni. this Sept and we are just working our way through the student finance applications. It was suggested at the uni. open day that sshe could have a fridge in her room to keep insulin in. We are hoping to put in application for student disability allowance.
2 Q's really - Has anyone applied for one of these & what did they apply for funding for, things suggested are the mini fridge & extra carb snacks required.
2nd Q is, has anyone else purchased mini fridge for this purpose?.. I assume it can be small, but needs to be reliable & not too noisy.
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Hi, sorry I cant really answer either of your questions properly as I never had diabetes when I was university (although I did have a fridge in my room as we werent provided with a kitchen!) but I just wanted to let you know I saw a really cute small fridge in Iceland which would be suitable for just that. Might be worth a look. Good luck!
 
I was diagnosed just before uni (woo). I never applied for any funding, and it hadnt crossed my mind. My mum bought me a mini fridge to keep my insulin in and it was a bit noisey but i got used to the noise hehe. I never even told the staff at uni that i have diebetes, kinda wish i had now because there is another guy on my course and im pretty sure he gets extensions based on the fact he has diabetes 😉
 
katie said:
I was diagnosed just before uni (woo). I never applied for any funding, and it hadnt crossed my mind. My mum bought me a mini fridge to keep my insulin in and it was a bit noisey but i got used to the noise hehe. I never even told the staff at uni that i have diebetes, kinda wish i had now because there is another guy on my course and im pretty sure he gets extensions based on the fact he has diabetes 😉
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XD know that feeling. I know a few diabetics here who got extensions just because of the fact they have diabetes, and I really don't agree with it to be honest with you. A lot of diabetics here make out that its the worst thing in the world (we know its not), so why should they get extensions for it? Unless they get hospitalised with a major hypo or whatever then I really don't think they should grrrr.

I've been very lucky over these 3 years. The archaeology department has been wonderful, looked after me on excavations and always been there if I've needed anything. I remember on my first dig I got so so so drunk they wanted to hospitalise me, and my lecturers came and checked up on me hourly throughout the night to make sure my bloods were ok bless them!

@KimB universities are usually very good with diabetics. Make sure your daughter goes to see the campus nurse to let them know about the diabetes and also Registry to register 'special conditions' for exams to be able to get to take food and drink in 🙂
 
Ah... Now I finished uni 3 years ago and I'm having a bit of a brain block as to what happened with fridges! I know I DID have one in my room in halls in my first year and I would definitely recommend it as it just means quick easy access to hypo remedies and insulin and also prevents other people taking anything that might be left in a communal kitchen. It also gives a bit of privacy. I just can't remember whether we bought it or if it was provided. I have a feeling we bought one and when explaining why I had it the halls said they would have provided one if we'd asked before hand... So yes, definitely worth asking at least!

I was very open about my diabetes with lecturers and people that needed to know, however I never needed or asked for any extra time due to it, but hey, if you can get it, why not?!

Good luck to your daughter, I hope she has an amazing time and if you have any other queries feel free to ask!
 
Argos have mini fridges on sale at the moment, i think they were ?12ish.

Which uni is she thinking about?
 
I got a fridge when I was at uni. I did not get it myself, the halls provided it. I seemed to be very popular when people did not want food to get nicked and especially beer lol!
 
I'm in the process of applying to university to read Applied Biomedical Science. Right now I'm also deep in the process of filling out all of my disabilities forms. It might be a good idea to get hold of the university and tell them about your diabetes. It might mean extra time in exams and other special dispensations. I've got loads of forms to fill out relating to that. This is all for accomodation, I've stated that I would like to have a mini fridge in my room as I would not be happy to leave insulin in a communal fridge. I'm going to post those forms now.

As for disabled students allowance I am going to apply for that too. I need to get hold of my local authority and I expect to be asked to provide a statement from my endocrinologist or GP to say that I am diabetic. I have had to provide one for the university accomodation.

Hope this helps,

Tom H
 
could somebody please tell me what disabled student allowance is and how it differs from DLA?? is it instead of or in addition?

My daughter gets DLA, is studying for A levels at the moment but wants to go to uni in 2011.

thanks
Julie
 
Tom
My daughter just trying to finish Dis.student allowance form and I've just come back to check if any new info. Are you including details of what you funding you want? We are planning to put money for a decent fridge + for additional 'carbs snacks' & glucose tablets (~?1/day) but I've no idea whether this sounds reasonable or not.....
 
Hi Kim,

I haven't even got the forms yet, should have applied on line really but I've chosen to have the paperwork sent to me through the post. See what you can get away with is my advice. I reckon this is one time that a little economy with the truth wouldn't hurt 😉 It's worth a try even if you don't get it. I mentioned a fridge to my uni. Out of curiosity where's your daughter going and what's she going to be studying? I'm going to Brighton to study for a BSc in Applied Biomedical Science.

Tom H
 
Hi all...

Afraid it's a long time since I went to uni, doh! It was 12 yrs ago & I deliberately chose to go into a self catered hall so I would have control over what I ate...not sure in hindsight that was the right decision, as from a social point of view I think the catered halls were better for making friends etc & our hall was a bit out in the sticks. There was a shared kitchen between 5~6 of us with a fridge. I don't remember any problems with insulin strorage, but food pilfering was always an issue, even later on in shared houses!

I find that little 200ml "Tescos economy" (other brands are available! :D) orange juice cartons are fab for hypos - these don't need to be refridgerated so could be kept in your room if the fridge is a no go.

Re grants / extra time - honestly, it never occured to me to ask! I've been through GCSEs, A levels & degree without too much drama in exams, but I can appreciate that if someone has "brittle control" (& some do), they might want to ask about extra time. I do find that if I've had an overnight hypo or run high overnight I am groggy the next day, so I suppose that could potentially have affected exams. So if you're worried about diabetes control affecting things, I'd say ask about extra time.

Good luck with the fridge issue & enjoy the summer! 🙂
 
When I was at uni I didn't use the disability service at all, but wished I had because my friends got loads of little things that were really helpful.

free photocopying card for the library- if you can't concentrate because of being high/low then can take the stuff back to read.
Exams in a special room so that you can have breaks for sorting out your blood sugars without losing time.
some money allowance to get a taxi from uni back to your room if you are unwell and can't walk/get public transport.

just a few ideas of the things you can claim for.
 
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