Student Advice

[Aleth]

While we're on food, Asda do 5 frozen meals for £4 if you pick the right ones. The "healthy choice" ones come under that offer atm and are really quite nice.

Chances are that if you take the advice to live as near to campus as possible after you move out of halls, your uni campus is fairly distant from a big superstore (though this may not be the case). If it is really really far, and the local co-op/spar/londis has jacked-up prices, consider getting a to-door delivery from one of the big chains.

The nearest Asda is like £2 on the bus for me, but if as a group we (my housemates and I) order a delivery it comes to £1 each for them to bring the food to us. Just pick a time-slot when you're not at lectures.

Try and not buy coffee/snacks from uni, it may only apply to mine at the moment but the coffee shops on campus are a rip off. If you live near-by this shouldn't be an issue.

Also, because someone mentionned it... as you're a student in the UK you can't SELL blood/plasma. You can only give it for free.

[Aksannyi]

I second the mini-fridge, whoever brought it up. I dealt with thieving roommates for nearly a year and the school wouldn't do anything about it because they "couldn't prove it," even though I just knew who it was. It's so disheartening to get home from class to find that something you left in the fridge is gone.

Other stuff that's been mentioned is good advice.

[Keria]

my housemates used to rob pret a manger and co-op bins for sandwiches and milk

rank but cheap

also yeah lock on your door and a mini fridge, so much beer got stolen from me

[Wintermute]

Mini-Fridge is a good idea if you're using a communal Fridge/Freezer for your halls/floor.

There's nothing more annoying than heading into the kitchen to cook something only to find some dick stole your last Pizzas.

Some clown did that in my halls, then I ate half the food in the freezer in the space of 2 days and unplugged it just to spite the assholes in my halls.

Oh, on the topic of shared kitchens, don't leave anything laying about. You'd be amazed how goddamn filthy some people are and half of them won't know how to cook, how to wash dishes, or how to clean up.

The last thing you want is some retard taking the new pan you just bought and dunking it whilst it's still hot into a cold basin then using steel wool brush to clean it.

"What's Teflon?" You'll rage at how stupid they can be...

If you can manage it then cook, clean up quickly, then take your gear and your meal back to your room.

[The Stig]

If you can manage it then cook, clean up quickly, then take your gear and your meal back to your room.

Yup I do this, on occasions when I need to oven something (pizza, etc), take it out, put it on a plate, wash tray, eat, wash plate, take it back to own room.

You get some uni nutters that take:

All sorts of cutlery
5-10 plates/bowls/cups
Assorted Kitchen equipment

All i took with me was: cup, knife, fork, spoon, 1 bowl 1 plate, all kept in my room.

[Wintermute]

Yup I do this, on occasions when I need to oven something (pizza, etc), take it out, put it on a plate, wash tray, eat, wash plate, take it back to own room.

You get some uni nutters that take:

All sorts of cutlery
5-10 plates/bowls/cups
Assorted Kitchen equipment

All i took with me was: cup, knife, fork, spoon, 1 bowl 1 plate, all kept in my room.

Picking up a cheap rice-cooker is a good idea too. You can boil pretty much anything inside one. I used to cook gammon and chicken in mine.

Travel kettles are nice too. Big enough for a single cup of tea or cup-a-soup.

Just check with people finishing up studies and bulleting boards for deals before you buy one in the shops.

[Julian]

I'll post more later, or on irc, but:

Regarding food, first half of the year, I cooked my own stuff, because my classes were only from 8am~1pm, and I saved a lot of money. Second semester, I had classes from 9am~3pm, and I had a 1h break in there around 11am, so I would just eat at Wendy's everyday. Took a bit of a hit on my wallet, but Wendy's is pretty good and healthy (compared to others,) so it wasn't too bad. Avoid the crappy crapfood places >.>

also, if you have a hot roommate, don't forget to take pix

edit: Here's some more, guess this turned into more general college advice for whoever is reading this for advice.

Like I was saying above, making your own food saves you money, and will probably help lose a few pounds if you need to, or if anything, help avoid the freshman 15. Don't buy junk food and random snacks like cookies and such. And about meal plans, only get them if you know you're going to be getting the most you can out of it. My parents were insisting to get me the meal plan, but I declined, because I knew I would never eat in any of those places, and I didn't.

I don't know how it works for other schools, but when class registration starts, I suggest you register ASAP, not only to get a good schedule, but to also make sure you get the classes that you need. This is especially true in a big school, don't be like me, it's been a good 3-4 months since registration for next fall has started, and I'm STILL looking for one more class change to make my schedule perfect. (I got screwed though, my registration time was like, the last one, all the fucking classes were already taken)

Like someone else said, use your adviser. They're incredibly useful and helpful, and I highly suggest getting to know yours, it will only do you good. (I probably could have asked mine to make my registration starting date earlier, and he probably would have done it, my fault) If yours suck, and if you're able to, get a new one.

Also like your adviser, get to know your professors! They have their office hours for a reason. This may not really apply much in your first, and maybe second years, in random general education stuff, but when you're taking your core classes for your major, this is really important. A lot of times, no one even goes to their office hours, so it's a good time to get to know them, and more importantly, for them to know you. Networking is very important.

Buying books: Check online and stuff first, but make sure you're buying the right version. You can get cheap "international" versions from India or something, but it may or may not cause problems. Don't avoid your campus bookstore, because sometimes they may have the better deal. Remember that in the end of the semester you'll be able to sell your books back if you want to, although probably only for a fraction of the cost.

One of the things that my school does, is that the books supply a code to use to sign up for online homework. Which makes it a bitch to sell the books back, unless you're mean and sell it for near full price to a new freshie

You may want to wait until the first day of class, and to get all your syllabi, because sometimes they change what book they want, or just end up saying they wont be using any of those "required" books at all. I suggest you get your books your first year and see how often you use them, so then on your 2nd year+ you can decide if you actually need to buy any or not. Sometimes you still have to because of the HW code though :/

Also, this is especially true in your first semester. In every class you have, right before your first test/quiz, STUDY HARD. You have no idea what to expect, so be prepared for anything. Professors like to catch students by surprise on their first tests, and a bunch of people end up doing badly. If that class offers one test drop, that first test is often what people will end up dropping because of this. If you're careful and avoid it, you can save your drop for a harder test later in the semester. Also, once you know the format and how your prof does his/her tests, you'll have a better idea of what you actually have to study for the next one.

will post moar later maybe

[Aeyze]

Just about to go into my final year at Reading here, just a couple of odds and ends.

Don't buy new textbooks. Ever. They're expensive as hell. Depending on your course you may get a lot of recommended reading or textbooks etc etc. More often then not there'll probably be multiple copies in the library and if you can get a hold of a textbook you can probably continually renew it for most of the term if you need to. Also keep an eye on boards in your department or departmental emails, postgrad or graduating students might be selling off old textbooks, sure they may be a few editions old but who cares it's pretty much the same. If there's a second hand bookshop in the town your uni's in they're great too, there's an Oxfam bookshop down in town here and I picked up some nice useful hefty textbooks for £3 a piece.

Check your uni emails each day. I got really lax and as such ended cutting it really fine with deadlines for stuff. Remember to check it periodically through holiday periods too just in case.

Also, little kettle in your room = amazing.

As well, mentioned on the previous page, if you're gonna go out of halls and into rented accomodation for 2nd year, start looking early. iirc we had ours sorted by February, deposit paid and all and I live the grand height of about 3 minutes across the road from the main entrance to campus. Competition for houses close to uni is incredibly tight, the faster you can make a decision over is this the house for you the better. I phoned up and told the estate agents we'd place a deposit down on it the next day and was told people had already been enquiring about it, but no deposit had been paid yet so we were in luck.

I'm not sure if this applies to others, but my landlord was pretty chill when one of our housemates dropped out before the tenancy started and he let us get away with paying normal rent rather then upping it to cover for the lack of one tenant. As it is, once it hits september/october, or whenever term starts, there's plenty of people who didn't get around to sorting out accomodation and will jump at any empty rooms.

[Dolmen]

http://www.derekrayburn.com/html/ima.../Fun/ramen.gif

[Kryssan]

I found it was easiest, and cheap, to survive off bread and water, using vitamins to supplement. It also has the benefit of keeping you really thin. Other than that there was this great Wok right across from the political science halls and when I felt like a little more flavor I'd drop by there. $5 got me enough shrimp fried rice for a few days.

There are still times I'll go a week or two off just bread and water, and I haven't seen a college classroom in 6 years. Makes me laugh, since bread and water is actually a NJP you can receive.

[Uzor]

While you might want to save money, a healthy diet is very important both for now and the future. A healthy died both helps prevention of various diseases as well as making you more focused during class.

I would not recommend only eating junk food because it is cheap, or sticking to noodles every day. You certainly could survive on it, but food is one area you should not try to get by cheap imo. It would be better for you to spend money on food rather than things you can live without.

If you actually take some time beforehand to look up healthy meals, you can get it very cheap, although it can take some time to prepare. Of course you do not have to eat healthy every day, but junk food is never good for you.

[Leif]

You can find many textbooks in PDF format online if you know where to look. Also, websites like iChapters sell book chapters/entire books in digital form. This can be helpful because many books have the full sequence of courses in them while you may only need part of the book to actually function.

If not, you can usually find pretty cheap books on Amazon if you have some time to find the cheapest ones.

[raginbull]

Just got a question. For you guys who have been, or are soon to be attending uni, did you already have all the money you needed for the duration, before you started there? Noticed the OP said they already have £10k (which is $16,400 approximately) in the bank. Note that I mean enough money not just for the cost of studying, but living costs as well.

[Elites]

Quit ffxi or any other MMORPG your hooked on first before you start college. Open your books, forget the booze, frat orgy parties and get your degree.

[Obev]

Just got a question. For you guys who have been, or are soon to be attending uni, did you already have all the money you needed for the duration, before you started there? Noticed the OP said they already have £10k (which is $16,400 approximately) in the bank. Note that I mean enough money not just for the cost of studying, but living costs as well.

The student loan theoretically covers all of this - fees, rent, food, beer. Well, maybe not beer. And not much food. If you're not getting enough from the student loan, it's because they assess it on parental income and assume that your parents will cover the gap between what they lend you and what you need.

Quit ffxi or any other MMORPG your hooked on first before you start college. Open your books, forget the booze, frat orgy parties and get your degree.

Can't agree more with "quit MMOs." I finally quit FFXI at the start of my final year, and it was the best damn decision I ever made. Even better would have been to quit it sooner, so I could have actually tried in previous years instead of writing essays between Fafnir windows.

Fraternities are a North American phenomenon. No orgies for us. Well, at least, I never got invited to any... Don't forget the booze. A healthy social life is a useful thing to have. Just don't turn up to lectures drunk. Budget beer money the way you'd budget for food.

For food, what I've been doing for the last few years (and what I'll probably be doing in the next year for my MA) is to cook cheap things in bulk. I bought vegetables at markets for barely anything - onions, a few peppers, some cabbage, some leeks, whatever. I got cheap bargain bucket meat, a few eggs, rice, and some tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. from a supermarket. Then I just fried a combination of any of these elements up in the wok, cooked the rice, combined the stir-fry and rice, put in a couple of eggs, and called it done. I shoved it in tupperware boxes and put it in the fridge. Then I'd be able to take some to uni and microwave it up. Saved me a load of money on meals, though the fifth day in the row eating microwaved eggy rice stir-fry bacon cabbage mess got a bit monotonous. The money saved went straight into beer, most of the time.

[kuronosan]

Quick question. I found out if I attend the University of Wolverhampton that my tuition is paid for but not room & board. On average, what would I expect to pay for room & board only?

[Leif]

Usually about $10,000 per year is average for room and board in the US.

edit: i just looked up your school, and its in the UK so idk! -sorry

[Wintermute]

Quick question. I found out if I attend the University of Wolverhampton that my tuition is paid for but not room & board. On average, what would I expect to pay for room & board only?

It will vary. Most Unis have halls for students to use in their first year, prices can vary if they have multiple halls of residence according to how new they are and the facilities they include. Some halls may have an on suite bathroom and shower, others may just be a bed.

Most Unis in the UK will boot you out after first year to make room for the new intake so you're better off looking at real-estate sites to check renting costs since you'll spend every year after first renting.

Uni sites and brochures usually list the costs of their Halls of Residence, if you can't find any send them an email asking.

Edit: Wolverhampton Uni Accomodations link/info http://www.wlv.ac.uk/Default.aspx?page=6900

[Blabj]

I'm paying £1330~ every 3 months. It works out at about £110/week, which is more than they advertised the room for! I think they get you on all the hidden stuff like insurance and maintenance bills etc.

[Azkarin2]

Enjoy life. College is an awesome time so make sure to enjoy it. If you plan your schedule and study time appropriately there will be plenty of time to drink/party. Make sure to balance the social life and academic and you'll walk away with a degree and 4,5,6 years of great memories.