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Advice For Those Going Off To University For The First Time
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I've already been and completed my Business Degree - but if any of you first timers have any questions then feel free to ask me and the other older ones who have been to university will help you young ones out.
Although my general advice would be:
1) If you can - live in Halls - move out of your parents house and go live on your own for a bit - you'll learn so much about life doing this and meet all sorts of people and it will be an amazing exerience to gain some independance.
2) Buy a big marker pen to write your name on your food if you're sharing a fridge.. also there's no need to fill the fridge up with 5 margarine tubs and stuff like that so share a fe things and save room!!
3) If you share a place in halls then make sure everyone pulls their weight and does their own washing up and stuff... and if the cheeky sods start nicking your clean plates cos they're too lazy to wash their own then lock them up in your room (I had to do that)
4) don't get the room nearest the front door the constant banging as people go in and out will drive you mad!!!
5) Take pictures of the state the place was in when you first moved in and make notes of what is missing or damaged - cos at the end of the year they'll try to screw you for it ... my sister and her friends had to pay for a missing lawn mower that they never even saw or used!!! And we had to pay for a carpett o be replaced in the kitchen - but the following year the very same carpet was there - and they charged us £200 for it.
Although my general advice would be:
1) If you can - live in Halls - move out of your parents house and go live on your own for a bit - you'll learn so much about life doing this and meet all sorts of people and it will be an amazing exerience to gain some independance.
2) Buy a big marker pen to write your name on your food if you're sharing a fridge.. also there's no need to fill the fridge up with 5 margarine tubs and stuff like that so share a fe things and save room!!
3) If you share a place in halls then make sure everyone pulls their weight and does their own washing up and stuff... and if the cheeky sods start nicking your clean plates cos they're too lazy to wash their own then lock them up in your room (I had to do that)
4) don't get the room nearest the front door the constant banging as people go in and out will drive you mad!!!
5) Take pictures of the state the place was in when you first moved in and make notes of what is missing or damaged - cos at the end of the year they'll try to screw you for it ... my sister and her friends had to pay for a missing lawn mower that they never even saw or used!!! And we had to pay for a carpett o be replaced in the kitchen - but the following year the very same carpet was there - and they charged us £200 for it.
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Take white tac instead of bluetac - leaves less marks!!!
make an effort and say hello to everyone on your floor/corridor.
take a school uniform, theres bound to be a school disco.
if you're a light sleeper, get some earplugs from boots-theyre really good.
take money because the cash machine will probably be hammered and you might need to buy a bus pass straight away.
most of all have fun!! first year is brilliant!!
Ive got some nice ones aswell, including some with pretty petals around the bulb... and theyre on one of those special trip switches to reduce the danger (i have ALOT of sets of lights dotted around my room).
How will I survive?? I surpose I have my glitter lamp thing (like a Lava lamp but with glitter inside that moves around) but it doesnt quite compensate...
Keep the tips coming though
How about making yourself some lights using LED's instead of lightbulb and running the whole thing off a battery- no fire hazard there.
and you'll probabaly have a bit of trouble - like my lots in the first year had very different idea of what clean means to me - and for them to leave their dirty plates piled a mile high was OK ... didn't bother me too much until they started taking the clean plates out of my drawer and eating their dinner on my plates and then leaving those piled up too.
having said that - I met them - and got to know their friends and we got on good most of the time ... but seriously if you've never lived away from home - go into Halls - you'll lose out BIG TIME if you stay at home ... if you stay at home then university is not much different to high school or college.
And like seed said chose the people in the following years carefully - just cos they are nice mates with you doesn't mean they are good to live with - found this out the hard way ... we got together with one guy we liked - nice enough socially - but to live with a total nightmare!!
Also be extra kind to students studying to become social workers ... a lot of them come from backgrounds where they had their own set of problems and have chosen to go into a career to help others.
also for those of your going to Graduation cermonies - take lots of safety pins with you ... you'll know why you'll need them when you get there.
ooooh the joys of living in halls. people stealing your milk, doors slamming all night, not to mention the fire alarms!!!
For popping balloons?
I've got a place in my 1st choice hall, which I'm really happy about, but it's a shared room, which I'm not so happy about. It's good because it's much much cheaper but i'm really nervous about actually having to share my living space with someone I've never met before...
Anyone had any good/bad experiences or have any tips for survival?!
Thanks!
They always seem to share a room in American movies - but I've never heard of it being done in the UK.
I'd really hate to share a bedroom with a total stranger - espacially if they snored - I could hear my flatmates snore through the walls - if I'd have been in the same room as them - i'd have taken a pillow to them!!!
If you're going to share you'll have to be careful - personally I wouldn't do it - what if the other person leaves the door unlocked and your stuff gets robbed? I think at the end of the day every student should have their own bedroom and just share kitchen and bathrooms.
Which University are you going to?
also earn some money over the summer, and put your loan in an ISA!
I'm really excited, but at the same time, I feel like there's so much to do and organise and I'm worried I'm not prepared enough.
My loan still hasn't come through nor has my accomodation! So at the moment I have no money and no home.
I don't know what english modules to take the first semester - literature or language. I did combined for my A-level and I'm worried I won't be able to cope with all the reading and literature essays, when most of my A-level was language based. The language module looks good, but hard and tedious in places. And then the literature module looks good, but lots of reading and I'm not used to studying books quickly.
And now I can't sleep properly and I need sleep because I'm ill and I neeeeeeeeed to get better for uni. I can't be ill!
Anyway rant over - I'm off to sort stuff out.
I don't get my loan until September 30th, but I've filled out all the forms for paying already so as soon as it comes in, it goes out!
I'm getting more and more nervous as time goes on! I think 99% of people will be though. There's so much to sort out and it's pretty much jumping into the unknown at the beginning, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Oh and following on from my "shared room" query, I'm going to Bristol University...
Claim money back on your TV licence!
The majority of students leave university during the summer, and if you’re not using your television, you won’t need your TV licence.
Provided you don’t need your licence again before it expires, you can claim for any completely unused quarters (three consecutive calendar months, e.g. July, August, and September).
In order to be eligible for this offer, a TV licence would need to have been purchased at the beginning of term in October in order to allow enough time at the end of term year to qualify for a refund.
Call 0870 242 1417 to find out if you can claim your cash back.
Below is some inportant info regarding TV licences. Be aware or you could land yorself a nasty fine.
The facts of TV Licensing
A TV Licence currently costs £116; a black and white licence is £38.50.
If you use a television set, or anything else to receive or record television programme services (such as video recorders, set top boxes or PC’s with broadcast cards) you need a valid TV Licence.
If you’re a student living in halls of residence and use a TV in your own room, you need your own separate TV Licence.
You also need your own licence if you are sharing a house with others and use a TV in your room, if your room is a separately occupied house (a separate tenancy agreement would normally indicate if this is the case).
Only one Licence is required per household.
If you have a separate tenancy agreement but there is only one TV being used in a communal area, then only one licence is required.
If you are sharing a house with others but the house is considered to be one place shared by all, then only one TV Licence is required. This is even if you use a TV in your own room. (A joint tenancy agreement would usually be evidence that the house is a single licensable place).
Cover yourself now
Last year 1,200 people a day were caught watching television without a licence. If you are caught, you could face prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. When you compare that to the cost of buying a TV Licence – which works out at under £10 per month - is it really worth the risk? To buy a TV Licence call on 0870 242 1417 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk
Or I may throw a sheet or a box over it - can they check? Not unless they have a warrant.
Advice for freshers...
Don't go University and come out with that "superior" attitude that so many people seem to "acquire" after a few years of drinking, sorry, studying...
It isn't cool... Just irritating for the rest of society!
Otherwise, enjoy yourselves!
Oh, and you can never have too many socks!!!
God no! I took millions of pairs but they just seem to continually need washing. Washing is the most annoying thing in the world. You will really appreciate your mother and her ability to do obsence amounts of washing a day after a few weeks at Uni.
In halls you get your electric paid for, so take advantage and learn to cook if you don't already know how. If you share a flat with other people, cook meals in turn for everyone.
You can freeze milk as well.
When you make a curry/pasta sauce or whatever, make loads and freeze whatever you don't eat. Get loads of plastic tupperware tubs.
Stay on top of your work or you may find that come Christmas time you are super stressed and it's all on top of you.
Don't expect it to be great all the time and don't always think that everyone else is having a great time. Your first year at uni is not easy (but at least in most places you only need to pass and your grades don't count in the first year).
and well.. it all depends on luck, because in my halls in london(ucl ones) almost all the people got put wityh someone doing something similar or same, but overall theres a big mix but me and my roommate just dont gel, which is fine for living cause you do that with family sometimes, but its the fact its hard to find jsut some time when you feel like being a loner as long hard days make you sometimes :P
oh but not to sound like im followinf the stereotype, we are like one big community in my halls cause theres like 60 of us in 3 adjoining houses and we likie go out together and watch films and cook etc which is rather cool