Helpful Tips for Starting University

Having recently graduated university, I thought I would put together some helpful tips for those just beginning...

1. Be prepared.

Mentally: The workload will be heavier and expectations as to the amount of work you need to do and standard of your work will be higher. It may take time to adjust to the slightly different way of learning. You will no longer be 'spoon-fed' information, independent study means you will actually have to think for yourself. *gulp*

Although this can sound slightly daunting, it is much more rewarding when you complete a piece of work you have thoroughly researched yourself. Trust me. *Said one of the few students who wrote a 12,000 word Dissertation and actually quite enjoyed it.*

Physically: Make sure you have the relevant stationery and equipment with you when you need them. Common sense I know, but a necessity. Usually pens, paper and perhaps a highlighter pen will suffice for lectures.

Always handy to bring a spare pen.

No doubt someone will need one.

Depending on your course you may need other equipment: pencils, rulers, books etc...

Ensure you know what you will need and have it ready.

You should also be prepared to work at home. You may want to invest in a laptop/computer, printer, folders, more paper, pads, coloured pens and anything else necessary to help you organise your work. This leads us to the next tip.

2. Stay organised.

In addition to being organised with equipment, one of the key things you will learn throughout university is how to organise your time. Time-management, a key skill and something that you will later be able to pop on your CV.

A diary will be your new best friend.

You can to use this to note: your university timetable, deadlines, times you are working if you decide to get a part-time job, times you will meet with a group if you have group-work, times set aside to prepare for seminars/lectures and allocated time to work on assessments. This diary will effectively help you organise your life and keep on top of things.

The diary I used for my final year. Full of lectures, seminars, meetings, work and deadlines but it still brings back great memories :)

Also, do not fall into the pitfall of only starting work the night before the deadline.

Wouldn't you much rather look back knowing you put everything you had into each piece of work and truly earned your overall grade? Of course you would.

3. Be friendly.

Everyone is in the same boat. At the beginning of university, most are nervous about meeting new people. Just try to be friendly; to roommates and particularly with people on your course. They are likely to be like-minded people and you will already have something in common, your course! Try to get to know people as seeing friendly faces in lectures and seminars will make your time at university more enjoyable. :)

4. You don't necessarily need to buy everything on the reading list.

Most courses tend to expect you to do some amount of reading. With lecturers on my course recommending one or two textbooks per module, this was expensive and a lot to read!

I would recommend you go to the library as soon as you know what books have been recommended and borrow as many of them as you can. Maybe you will find that you can get enough information from just borrowing a book. Obviously most recommended books are essentials but there may be a couple that you don't necessarily need to purchase.

5. Attend everything.

If it is on your timetable, go to it.

Some days you would much rather have a lay in... so why should you actually make the effort to attend?

At school, coursework and exams are set by recognised boards. At university, it is the lecturers that set assessments. Some lecturers may make subtle or more obvious hints for example, at topics that are 'likely' to come up in the exams. Obviously, it depends on the course and lecturers but this occurred in one of my modules.

It felt like a slight reward for those making the effort to turn up to lectures. This exam had the potential to contain questions on any topic we had covered throughout the year which was a lot! This made it extremely difficult when planning to revise in depth, at least this meant I could narrow down my revision slightly.

You don't want to be the one caught out for not attending.

Prior to this particular exam I was chatting to my friends and a girl joined us who had attended hardly any lectures. We were discussing which topics we had chosen to revise and she started chatting about something we had covered at the beginning of the year that was definitely NOT in the exam paper!

I shared a wide-eyed look with a couple of my friends, we were a bit taken aback. You can't exactly tell someone just before a three-hour exam that you are 100% sure something they revised won't be in there! I felt so bad for her. But she should really have made more of an effort to attend. So there you go, a lesson for all new students. Attend everything you can. Don't skip them for a lay in and make sure you catch up if you have to miss something.

6. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
Lecturers are there to help you. They want you to succeed and are usually happy to answer any queries you may have. There are no stupid questions and if you are nervous to ask a question face-to-face you can always send them an email. :)

7. Keep yourself motivated.
Do whatever you can to keep yourself motivated. Ultimately, you are at university to gain a qualification, usually a degree. Remember why you wanted to do your course in the first place and if you are lacking motivation, chatting to friends or your family may help. If that doesn't work, you can always try to bribe yourself. *If I spend another hour on this piece of work I will let myself watch YouTube videos and have a bit of chocolate.*

Mmmm... my absolute fave chocolate :)

8. Enjoy.
Make the most of your university experience. It will go faster than you expect! Work hard but enjoy yourself, make friends and memories that you will have for the rest of your life. :)

All that's left to say is good luck to those of you starting university!

If you have any questions, comments or other tips for students starting uni please share them below.

Kat x