Student Advice

[Aleth]

Start looking for 2nd year accommodation early. Aim to have your group of housemates organised and ready to find a place certainly within the first few weeks of returning after Christmas.

Always try and get a place that is a stone's throw from your campus. Nothing sets you up for failure like having to travel for more than 10 minutes to get to lectures. The harder it is to get to lectures, the more likely you are to start skipping them. The more you skip them, the more likely you are to fail.

Having said that, ALWAYS go to ALL your lectures, even if they seem like pointless ones or if noone else is going. For some reason the empty lectures are usually the most important ones. Always take notes, even if the lecturer promises to post notes online. Chances are they will forget as the academic year progresses and not only that, but lecture slides often do not have the "pivotal" sentance or explanation that helps you understand the concept the slide is attempting to summarise. Talk to the lecturers, some of them might be asses but chances are, they're just like students who never wanted to grow up! Lecturers can make very useful contacts when it comes to work placement or getting in on industry projects.

Certainly university can be fun and you'll make some of your most important friendships and contacts there, but you must prioritise passing the course and picking up the skills you need to get employed. If you're in an artistic discipline always be thinking about how you can use projects to add to your portfolio (if not directly, use projects to pick up skills you can use later to make something cool for it).

It's hard to do, but always be thinking ahead. Procrastination has caught me out alot, in bad ways. Apply for your 2nd year student loan in the easter holiday, they moved the deadline date for guaranteed loan payment in time forwards by about 3 months. If you're changing house, you may have to give warning to your broadband company a month in advance!

Get hold of past papers early and work through them with your housemates. (ideally your housemates are on the same course as you.) If you can work through the past 3 years worth of papers for each module/subject a month ahead of the actual exams, you'll know exactly what you need to work on, and the lecturers will still be able to help you at that point (unlike if you discover you don't understand stuff at 4am the night before). Oh and avoid drama-torama housemates, get hold of level-headed people. If they're on the same course as you and they're also bright, this can be a super asset. I'd be wary of troubled geniuses though, aim for people like you or just a notch brighter than you. It sounds bad but people are very useful.

Projects can be a pain, but with people in your house on the same course, you can bounce ideas off each other / motivate each other.

On that note, don't be shy in the first few weeks of uni, the people you meet in the first week or two are the ones you usually stick with, so make your net as broad as possible!

There's probably tons more I could say... but I forget.

Good luck!

Edit: Also don't do dynamis with NA linkshells which start at 2am. In fact, computer games at all should be avoided while you have assignments to do. Having said that, playing them is ok as a celebration once you've handed in/gone through a paper!

[warrior2582]

I suggest you join something. One of my biggest regrets was not knowing what I wanted to do when I got out of college. There should be lots of orgs/clubs that are geared towards every major. It will give you an idea of what your major can offer you when you get out. If you do not know what to do with your free time, you can also join various clubs to meet people and do stuff.

You should avoid skipping class even if you think the class/prof is useless. Once you get in the habit of skipping class there will be no end to it.

Its also good to have a study buddy that takes notes in class as well. Group studies are also good if there aren't too many people just talking about random stuff.

Try to find teachers that people recommend and avoid teachers you have trouble understanding.

[Osede]

Regarding the food, if you haven't cook before, or don't know whether you are gonna to get a small fridge to store those raw food. I would suggest that try to get a meal plan for first year or at least one semester. This will help alots until you get used to the place.

Oh yea, never trust the public refrigirator anyway...

[The Stig]

Regarding the don't waste time thing, unless this course is serious business, you don't need to actually study that hard.

I honestly cannot find the article on BBC right now but this was said 2 odd years ago, I clearly remember it being on BBC news.

Basically it's said that UK degree students have it easy when it comes to studying, with as little as 8 hours per week for studying is sufficient for a "basic" degree (aka 2:2 or 2:1, or 3).

But otherwise in all seriousness, group work is also largely focused on. Try not to get into work with leeches or ones that love to waste time. I had both encounters and it made life a bit hard, to the point of officially complaining about the split of the final marks.

And yeh, to support the above, go to all lectures, disicipline. Remember, you paid for the time, so use it. If other don't, good, as it means a more "personal" time with the lecturer (he'll be more relaxed, more discussion or questions can be asked).



And for the guy who wants to study here, do you have $20000?

Not exaggerating, my exchange rate is a bit off but I'd say $12000 for the course alone and $8000 as living expenses including rent.

[Wintermute]

Look for 2 for 1 offers in the Supermarkets, I managed a weeks food for 25-35 quid and I was kind of being wasteful because I'm a picky eater. I know a guy who survived on 15 quid a week.

Tesco value stuff is suprisingly edible considering the price tags.

Soon as you get to Uni track down the people leaving since they usually sell off old books and electronics. You can pick up a cheap telly, kettle, or rice cooker if you're lucky. Most Unis have some sort of bulleting board for sales.

Double, and Triple think every purchase to make sure you need it. Very tempting to buy stupid toys when you're out from under the parental thumb.


Don't buy any asshole a round.

Alcohol, Cigs, and Weed were the reason 3/4 of the people I knew in Uni couldn't afford to eat regularly.

The first few weeks will involve a lot of going out and buying rounds gets very expensive very quickly if you hang out with a big group or with heavy drinkers.

Find some cool people from your course/freshers then buy the booze cheap at the shops and drink in your rooms.

[Tyche]

Despite most of the advice that's perfectly fine here, the absolute must-have advice for college is often the most overlooked. Nothing will save you more time, and possibly more money than the following gem.

Find a good advisor...if your's sucks, get a new one.

[ertyu]

Regarding the don't waste time thing, unless this course is serious business, you don't need to actually study that hard.

I honestly cannot find the article on BBC right now but this was said 2 odd years ago, I clearly remember it being on BBC news.

Basically it's said that UK degree students have it easy when it comes to studying, with as little as 8 hours per week for studying is sufficient for a "basic" degree (aka 2:2 or 2:1, or 3).

But otherwise in all seriousness, group work is also largely focused on. Try not to get into work with leeches or ones that love to waste time. I had both encounters and it made life a bit hard, to the point of officially complaining about the split of the final marks.

And yeh, to support the above, go to all lectures, disicipline. Remember, you paid for the time, so use it. If other don't, good, as it means a more "personal" time with the lecturer (he'll be more relaxed, more discussion or questions can be asked).



And for the guy who wants to study here, do you have $20000?

Not exaggerating, my exchange rate is a bit off but I'd say $12000 for the course alone and $8000 as living expenses including rent.

If I could go to OxBridge, money wouldn't be an issue

[Kerberoz]

Don't play FFXI while in school. Just don't. It's impossible to play casual and you'll end up doing events every single day of the week for people who are most likely not your friends.

If you have a meal plan, steal extra food from the cafeteria to keep on hand in your room, so you don't waste money on snacks.

Want extra spending money? Find a plasma donation center. Almost all campuses have one or two nearby. You'll make $20-30 just for sitting in a chair watching tv/studying/whatever for an hour, and can usually go twice per week.

DON'T BUY YOUR FUCKING BOOKS FROM THE CAMPUS STORE. Ebay, half.com, amazon, craigslist.... anything but brick and mortar stores, because they'll rip you off. A lot of the time you can actually turn a profit by buying your books online and selling them to campus bookstores when you're done with them.

You most likely do not need a laptop. Don't worry about getting one. If you have one, don't take it to class unless it's required for that class. A decent smartphone will handle all of your "mobile" needs, and taking notes on a computer is kinda pointless.

Sort out roommate issues early on. Most people are douchebags, and your roommate will almost always be a douchebag. Set ground rules early and don't let them get on your nerves too much.

If you're not majoring in a math-heavy or foreign language subject, take those classes first, while you still remember stuff from high school, and get them out of the way early on.

[The Stig]

On the subject of offers as Wintermute pointed, don't be afraid to be a freak and buy in bulk. And any offers like 2 for 1 = good.

Basically I had a housemate who freaked out when I emptied out the local Co-Op of their Pepsi Max/Diet Pepsi, which was 12 cans for £2.49.

Now I got to clarify with you here, the guy who freaked out was a bit of the rich type, he did NOT understand why I brought so many despite me telling him "to save money". At one point Sainsbury had them in packs of 6 but were on buy 1 get 1 free which cost £2.79 (so £2.79 got you 12 cans, incase you're not following).

The golden part?

He asked me "Why don't you buy them from Saisbury?"

I explained to him my 12 cans cost £2.49 and it was around the corner. He, for some fucking reason, didn't understand that Co-Op was cheaper. I gave up explaining to him.

I, yes, brought all 20 or so "crates" (of 12) that were there, and they lasted me literally until the end of university. It was all stacked up in my room. Sure, you look weird buying all of it, but I saved so much money in the long term it was unbelievable, and sold them to house mates for 50p a can (cheaper then the vending machine in university!) when they got desperate.

Here's a picture of them:

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...stig/pepsi.jpg

ertyu: Fair enough lol

And to expand on kerb's words on laptop: don't get one, don't carry one to lectures, you end up wasting time on it. Having one in front of you just so you can download the slides beforehand = waste.

[Wintermute]

That's a fucking insane deal Stig. How many trips to cart it all back to your room?

I know a dude who "saved up" for a snowboarding trip by buying a shopping trolley full of 6p Tins of Beans. He had nothing but beans for over a month and it cost him like 15 quid.

[sephir]

That's a fucking insane deal Stig. How many trips to cart it all back to your room?

I know a dude who "saved up" for a snowboarding trip by buying a shopping trolley full of 6p Tins of Beans. He had nothing but beans for over a month and it cost him like 15 quid.

My current room mate before the bet that we have going on, was living off of about 80cents-$1.50(CDN) of food ever day.

Basically his meals consist of
1 bowl of hot water
one cup of Rice
Half a Can of a meat
Some random spices he buys at the cheapest price

He then throws it in the microwave for about 5 minutes and eats it. I honestly don't understand how he lives off food like this because I always buy fresh food and know how to cook it.

We now have a bet going on between him and our other room mate. Basically one person cannot eat any food that is still good still "fresh" 2 weeks after buying it. Whereas the other cannot have ANY manufactured or added sugars. Its rather interesting watching them because after 2 days they both hit some sort of depression state.

[Shade]

Don't fall into the trap of pulling all nighters. There will be people who do this in your class, and every day they will come in, late and dead tired, looking all like "oh poor me, I stayed up all night, I worked so hard." ... and fall asleep in their chair, or work half-assedly all day. And they will get way less shit done than the people who put in a full day and got a full night's sleep, even though they are up for way more hours.

DO WORK DURING SCHOOL HOURS.
SLEEP AT NIGHT.
REPEAT.

If you do this, you should even be able to find time for eating, and the occassional fun thing. Remember that downtime is important, it keeps you sane.

[The Stig]

About 8 trips? I gather 2 "crates" in 1 trip, I think I utilised my friends at one point as we were walking back. They got a can each for helping me =p, hence the slightly smaller number in trips

I didn't do it all in one go, I know people won't buy them because they, like the rich housemate, see it was a rip off somehow. So within 1 week or so I got all the pepsi.

Regarding extremely cheap food, I think food is food at the end of the day and they see it as just that. I think I can do it, basically you just need something to keep occupied/busy, so the food is enough to "keep you going" but not satisfy you, but if you can take your mind off it it's possible.

As unhealthy as it sounds, I played FFXI during uni in the final year, but all I did was sky 2 times a week, but it helped me on the food department. Basically if I play I'm not hungry =p

[Wintermute]

Don't fall into the trap of pulling all nighters. There will be people who do this in your class, and every day they will come in, late and dead tired, looking all like "oh poor me, I stayed up all night, I worked so hard." ... and fall asleep in their chair, or work half-assedly all day. And they will get way less shit done than the people who put in a full day and got a full night's sleep, even though they are up for way more hours.

Christ, listen to this.

Don't be the dude who staggers into a lecture late stinking of Red Bull and stale clothes all the time.

Basically one person cannot eat any food that is still good still "fresh" 2 weeks after buying it. Whereas the other cannot have ANY manufactured or added sugars. Its rather interesting watching them because after 2 days they both hit some sort of depression state.

I used to eat meat and chicken that had gone off all the time. I paid for the food I was going to bloody well eat it.

Chicken does weird things when it goes off, that said I think Uni made me immune to salmonella.

Oh yeah, another thing. If you like fresh meat go down the local butchers near closing time.
The meat gets cheaper as the day goes on since it loses its freshness and butchers can't afford to have it sitting there for days.

[Seraph]

Despite most of the advice that's perfectly fine here, the absolute must-have advice for college is often the most overlooked. Nothing will save you more time, and possibly more money than the following gem.

Find a good advisor...if your's sucks, get a new one.

The other 'food survival' tips here are nice, but as far as really kicking ass where it matters, Tyche hit the nail on the head.

[ZarakiKujata]

I would disagree with those advising not to brign a laptop. Just have to develop the self control not to chat/surf the internet/facebook. I type a lot faster then I write, and often times when I am going over notes at the end of teh semester they are illegible to me for a variety of reasons which can be avoided by typing shit out.

If you are living in dorms just stick to the meal plan, steal from there as often as you can. I never needed any snacks or outside food just eatting off the meal plan.
And as others have mentioned make sure you are on top of time management in a way that works for you whatever it may be. My roommate this past semester was a complete tool who drove me crazy until he ultimately flunked out because he could not manage classes, homework, 3-4hours of a day of phone sex with his internet girlfriend and WoW.

[wop]

Ham and instant cooked food kept disappearing from our fridge (we live on 1st floor).

Housemate stayed up one night to investigate, and saw someone climbing in through the kitchen window ala spiderman style.
He rushed out into the kitchen to confront the thief (he lives like 2 doors away lol), and he fell down from 1st floor, ended up with fractured bone.

[Blabj]

That's desperate.

[Seraph]

Ham and instant cooked food kept disappearing from our fridge (we live on 1st floor).

Housemate stayed up one night to investigate, and saw someone climbing in through the kitchen window ala spiderman style.
He rushed out into the kitchen to confront the thief (he lives like 2 doors away lol), and he fell down from 1st floor, ended up with fractured bone.

Asshole deserves it, I would have made anyone a bowl of Ramen while in college. No need to steal shit.

[Korietsu]

Few things. If you're living in a dorm, make sure you secure your personal effects with a padlock. If you're living in an apartment with a school assigned roommate, get a locking door knob and install it into your door, if you don't have one.

Take advantage of student organizations related to your major, and most of all, go to any review sessions offered, even if you've got an A in the class, as those people might have material for other classes, and know about professors in other classes making your life easier when choosing.

Don't play MMO's.

Finally for cooking, use box meals such as hamburger helper, etc. A simple filling meal can be 5 bucks, and last you for a couple of days. Such as chicken and rice, ground beef and mac, etc.