Student Advice

[Blabj]

So, I'm off to University (college for you Amerifags) some September, and I'm looking for some general advice on living the student life!

I've already had some nuggets of wisdom, but I was wondering if anyone on BG would care to have an input!

Things I'm most concerned about are what I'm going to eat (and how, cooking etc.), managing money and accomodation stuffs (I've heard that it can be pretty bad for stealing in dorms - which is where I'm staying)

[kuronosan]

Where are you from?

[Brill Weave]

Student advice?


She had it coming will not stand in court. No matter what Mizango tells you.

[Blabj]

Manchester, United Kingdom. Studying in Sheffield!

[Cephius]

Time Management!

Biggest advice I can give you. Always have a schedule of when to study, and when to goof off. Make sure it's something that fits you. I knew people who partied all day and all night but woke up early to study and it worked for them. College is a blast, but don't lose sight of what you're there for.

Don't party all the time, but don't sit and study 24/7 either. A good balance of both and you'll have a great time.

Also don't be afraid to request a new roommate if the guy you're with doesn't get along with you. You have to live with them, a bad roommate can stress you the fuck out like no other and it's your right to change if you need to.

[The Stig]

Blabj: I was in Plymouth for Uni (2004-2008)8)

What I didn't do was cook, I absolutely hate washing up, and when living with others if you decide to clean up you normally do your housemates' washing as well.

All my meals were salads, sandwiches, ready meals or stuff that can be oven cooked.

Go to Sainsbury or Tesco at nights, 6pm onwards. Hunt down the "reduced" section and you can sometimes pick up a £4.99 pizza for £1.49, and so on. Varies of course but sometimes you get lucky.

Own fridge if possible, and watch out for bandwidth hoggers if not part of the University halls' internet.

Social life wise, nothing much can be said about (in terms of going out) that but you generally find yourself wasting away just chatting about random stuff (I miss those days) until 2-4am in the morning (with housemates)

Up to you if you want to join clubs and societies and shit, I didn't. But more potential there.

Odd story/experience:

Girls who are homesick make wonderful housemates for a short time, you're like a pillar of hope for them (depends on yourself though, but I absolutely had no trouble moving out, a few of my housemates were physically sick and depressed, but got better as everything eased in). Although I fucked up with a girl after 8 weeks (my mind went blank and I did something idiotic) and her boyfriend of 6 months "kicked back into her life" and I was out of the picture =( ... oh well, I tried.

Otherwise, yeh. Try not to go home too much, because it's costly as well, and you miss out on weekend house action (anything stupid that happens basically).

I got more to say but if you need/want anything you can always PM me =p, but I've gotta catch train home now! brb

EDIT: Quick response to Cephius: fuck that, first year = piss around ^^, unless your course is serious business. But however, don't party all the time is correct. And usually it's impossible to get a room mate kicked unless everyone agrees, contracts are powerful =/

[Erza]

Do not procrastinate, ever.

[wop]

Nothing interesting to do in Sheffield anyway, you'll probably spend all your time cooking in the kitchen and improving your culinary skills.

One of the reason I'm a good cook now, was due to my 5 years in fucking Ireland for Uni.

[kuronosan]

My biggest piece of advice to you, judging by the area, would be to not say you're a Manchester fan. Shef Wednesday will hate you.

Joking aside, definitely something I can say is to not drink a lot unless you are really, really, really, really smart. College is something you can go through many times but you make good impressions once. If your transcript is shot full of garbage and bad grades because you wanted to party, you'll hate yourself later when you try to get a job.

Next piece of advice is to know what you want to do. Nothing looks worse on a transcript than a bunch of classes that suddenly change and you have 200 credit hours leading to a degree. It's not bad to change majors, but employers like people who had a plan from the get-go, if you know what I mean.

Now, to answer your questions:

Food - eat local, buy your own food, and find areas on your campus that have food courts (there's got to be a cafeteria in there, usually they have different items every day). Get a compact fridge for leftovers and a microwave to cook them with. A 1000W will do just fine for anything. Check with the registrar to see if there are any restrictions in your dorm (assuming you're staying in one).

Money - Assuming you have a job, just save your money and only buy what you feel is necessary. If you're going to be traveling there, then set aside a specific amount every pay period either from your student account (if you have financial aid) or from your paycheck (if you're getting a job). Saving a few quid here and there will do you wonders later. If you're driving, you can save on petrol by taking a bus or living on campus. Take any money that you would have otherwise spent and put it into savings in case you need it later. Any leftover loan money should be saved to help curb the interest or to get yourself somewhere to live in the off-seasons.

Accommodations - since you mentioned you'll be living in dorms, shop small. You don't need furniture or anything amazing if you have roommates, so don't bring things like 40-inch TVs and four gaming systems. Get something to keep yourself entertained that you can take with you or is easy to carry, like a laptop. That way you can take it with you whenever you want to. Not really sure what else you mean by accommodations, so I'll wait for your reply.

edit: Yea, and whoever said Time Management could not be more correct. Get a planner and write. Down. EVERYTHING. Don't ever procrastinate and think you have time to finish something. Assignments add up quickly.

[ertyu]

I had a question for people who go to college in England. I want to go to Cambridge or Oxford for a master's degree and I have no idea what the process is for applying to one of those schools. Anybody go there or know roughly what you need to do to go there?

[Blabj]

See thats the kinda advice I was looking for! cheers guys!

I'll be staying in the Halls like I said, so I think I'll get onto them and just find out about what I can and can't bring into my room. I joked about getting a mini fridge, gas stove and kettle etc. and just living in my room, but from the nightmare stories I've heard about having shitty room mates who steal all your food and tea/coffee/milk it doesn't sound like a bad idea! Hahaha

I'm terrible for procrastination, so I think I'll definately look into setting myself a schedule for working.

Thankfully home is only a 40 minute train ride, so it's not like I'd be gone for the weekend should I need to visit back home, but I can see what you're saying.

It's also pretty scary having £10k in the bank for the first time in my life. I'm not exactly the most impulsive guy but I'd be lieing if I said I wasn't tempted to go on a binge and spend it really quickly! Must act responsibly!

[wop]

I had a question for people who go to college in England. I want to go to Cambridge or Oxford for a master's degree and I have no idea what the process is for applying to one of those schools. Anybody go there or know roughly what you need to do to go there?

International student? Come with a big wallet.

And oh, good grades from bachelors help too.

Edit:

And no, I'm not joking.
All British Uni needs some sort of external funding to keep them running. Locals pay a pitiful amount of school fees compared to international students, hence the Uni's here have lower expectations in terms of minimum qualifying grades for foreign students.

Go through the usual application process. Go to their website, and fill in an application form. For OxBridge apps, it's more tricky. Lots of scenario questions to test your aptness.

[kuronosan]

I was actually looking at doing some studies in the University of Wolverhampton for my degree as part of an exchange program. Haven't decided if I will or not yet.

[Erza]

Nothing interesting to do in Sheffield anyway, you'll probably spend all your time cooking in the kitchen and improving your culinary skills.

One of the reason I'm a good cook now, was due to my 5 years in fucking Ireland for Uni.

where'd you go?

[ertyu]

International student? Come with a big wallet.

And oh, good grades from bachelors help too.

Edit:

And no, I'm not joking.
All British Uni needs some sort of external funding to keep them running. Locals pay a pitiful amount of school fees compared to international students, hence they Uni's here have lower expectations in terms of minimum qualifying grades.

Go through the usual application process. Go to their website, and fill in an application form. For OxBridge apps, it's more tricky. Lots of scenario questions to test your aptness.

Wallet isn't that much of a problem, but what is "good"? I didn't do great my first 2 years of Uni because I slacked off like a dumb shit, so If I can graduate with a 3.5-3.6 I think that would be good.

Edit in response to edit: So is there verbal interviews?

[wop]

where'd you go?

Sorry, Northern Ireland not Ireland lol

Was at Queens University Belfast. You been there before? Nice old traditional uni.

(even worse -_-)

I wish I was in Trinity though, more fun there...blahhhh

Etryu, i'll answer the rest when I get home....off work now weeeeeeeeeee

[kuronosan]

If you have a 3.5 or a 3.6 then you're doing okay. If you have less than a 3.0 (or close to one) don't expect to be very welcomed by most international universities. It depends on your course of study.

[Erza]

Sorry, Northern Ireland not Ireland lol

Was at Queens University Belfast. You been there before? Nice old traditional uni.

(even worse -_-)

I wish I was in Trinity though, more fun there...blahhhh

no way would you want to Trinity is the biggest faghole in the country

[ertyu]

I'm always under the impression that if you dont have a 4.0 with a ton of extracurriculars, then you're just fucked from doing anything ever.

For the OP here's one thing I can tell you.

DONT FUCK AROUND

When I was in high school I did all my assignments the day before they were due. Never studied for anything and I got a 4.0 with honors classes. I graduated top 5% of my class, it was jolly good.
When I went to college I thought I could do the same thing but you can't. You need to put studying as your #1 priority. Fuck your friends, fuck your girlfriend (not literally), fuck free time. If you're sitting there playing games and you have a test coming up, or you have an assignment that's due (even if its due in 2 months) get your ass working on it as soon as you can.

[sephir]

Time management is the best advice anyone can ever give to you. Setting aside at least an hour each day to do readings will make your life a breeze. Although first year is a joke, be careful not to get overconfident. Ive had profs who made the midterm on only lectures but then made the final pure readings and the average was in the 30's (the final was worth like 45% of your mark too).

As for cooking, you learn pretty fast what you like and dont like. Lipton sidekicks (if they have those in England) are really easy but yet amazing side dishes. Also it helps if you share meals with a friend of your (housemate, girlfriend etc.) as it will lower your overall costs, make clean ups easier and make some interesting concoctions. I found a huge time sink in thefoodnetwork.com

Dorm life in general can be amazing or suck - ive found it to be either or. My dorm was awful, it was designed by a person who built prisons so it was a square room with no carpet, paint or anything to give it any colour other than cerment grey. On top of that there was only 6 people per floor and the way it was spaced out made it weird to meet people on other floors. However many of my friends lived in other residences on campus and I hung out there quite often. They were modern and everyone in the entire building knew everyone else. The parties there were amazing and the people were great.
As far as theft goes, always keep your room locked unless you are in it. Carry your keys with you and lock the door even if your going to the bathroom. The one time I didnt lock my door (I left it open) and went to take a poop I came back and some random dude was standing in my room eyeing my TV.

University can be the best years of your life. You get to meet tonnes of people, and have some great moments. Just don't let all the fun get out of hand - you are at school for a reason, its best to remember that.