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Any Advice for First Day at University?

Has anyone got any advice for the first day at University.

I know its a while off, but I'm kinda nervous, but am looking forward to it.

I've heard some stuff about leaving you're door open, and trying to meet as many people as possible? But more tips would be great :smile:

But other advice would be great; like how should I greet people? have tea or coffee waiting for them? Or is that too pushy?

So as many first day tips would be fantastic!!

Thank you for any help!!

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Reply 1
Greet people by saying "Hi how are you?" "What course do you do?" ect. Then you could ask if they want a cuppa whilst your talking if you wanted...
Be as friendly as possible. Go knock on peoples doors.
There are 5 questions you'll be sick of hearing by the end of Freshers - whats your name, what course are you doing, where are you from, what floor/block/flat are you from and what halls are you in. It's a simple but effective way to meet people.

Leave your door open, it implies that a. you exist and b. you want to talk to people. I held mine open with a couple of crates of Bud and a tin of Celebrations. As it was too early to start drinking i just offered some sweets to whoever said hi.

Dont just cling to the first people you meet, keep talking to everyone. You're not going to get a better opportunity and they will know you are a friendly person to talk to. You will be thankful for the effort you put in later.

Knock on peoples doors, because they will be just as nervous as you. Best thing to do is introduce yourself to one person and then go and do this together. Your hall is bound to have organised some form of social event so you can round people up then as well.
Reply 3
Thanks alot!!
I don't wanna over think it, but I'm just keen on getting the most out of my first few days??
Any societies you recomend, should I spend time exploring as much of the city as possible, or is there more important things I should be doing?

I would love to hear from more of you!! XD
Reply 4
My freshers was a little different as we had lectures, but I think exploring campus (if you're on campus) or the city (if you're in the city) is a great idea as long as you do it with people. If you meet a few people in halls or at the freshers parties or whatever, maybe suggest that you take a look around together or go the the freshers fair. I think I went to the freshers fair here about 6 times, but still, it was with lots of different people and it was a great way to bond :smile: Same sort of thing with societies - if there's something you're interested in, you should ask people in your flat/halls if they want to come along. If not, a lot of the people there will be freshers, so it's easy to talk to each other. There's no specific societies - just ones you're interested in and then you'll meet people with common interests! You'll find your feet no problem :smile:
Reply 5
Thanks!!

What's freshers week really like? Is it as crazy as everyone says... because I hope so!
Anything I should prepare myself for?? :P
Reply 6
Take fancy dress options. Loads of parties and club crawls.
Door wedge to keep your door open.
Offer to make the tea whilst people are moving in
Our halls did tshirts which we personalised with names and stuff. Soon got to know each other.
Go find the canteen and local shops together asap. Food is important! :smile:

Take cold and flu stuff ready for Freshers' 'flu. We all went down with bad coughs.
Reply 7
Damn, forgot about the fancy dress stuff! Thanks :smile:
Anything in particular, what did you find the most used?? I'm guessing I might need to dig out my old school tie aha!
Reply 8
Original post by Alex Williams
Damn, forgot about the fancy dress stuff! Thanks :smile:
Anything in particular, what did you find the most used?? I'm guessing I might need to dig out my old school tie aha!


We had various themed stuff inc. Halloween, Christmas, Super Heroes, "Wonderland", Old School, beach stuff, army stuff, animals, Mardi gras, toga. Just take lots of cheap stuff. :biggrin:
Talk to lots of people.

Get to the freshers fair or whatever you have and join lots of societies.

Try and get your flat to go out together, and over the whole freshers week make an effort.

Don't judge people and say hi to everyone you meet.

General first term advice

Remember that you can't know everyone, so once you've found the people that you like, make the most effort with them. Don't be the person that 3 different group of people assume has 'other people (e.g. a really tight group of friends)' in their life) which tends to happen when you're matey with lots of different sets of people, but with seeing so many people, you don't have time to get tight with any one set.
Reply 10
Thanks!!
Got any first day experiences??
Original post by Alex Williams
Damn, forgot about the fancy dress stuff! Thanks :smile:
Anything in particular, what did you find the most used?? I'm guessing I might need to dig out my old school tie aha!

What's freshers week really like? Is it as crazy as everyone says... because I hope so!
Anything I should prepare myself for?? :P


You will have plenty of themed nights. In the first couple of weeks we had Baywatch, School disco, Cowboys and Indians, Spartans, cavemen/women, UV night, noahs ark, pub golf, rock, superheroes and army. Obviously you have halloween and christmas as well. Obviously if you have stuff bring it but don't buy a ton because part of the fun is going into town with your friends on the day and buying your outfits/accessories together :wink:

You will enjoy Freshers but don't fall for any of this ''best week of your life'' rubbish because it simply isn't true. I had an awesome Freshers week and it was a unique experience but i've found that nights out get better once you actually know people - half the people i went out with in Freshers i've barely spoken to since! The last week before christmas for example was 10 times better than Freshers.
Original post by glf2110
We had various themed stuff inc. Halloween, Christmas, Super Heroes, "Wonderland", Old School, beach stuff, army stuff, animals, Mardi gras, toga. Just take lots of cheap stuff. :biggrin:

Aww cool,

So far we've had Pirate (Tie for an eye-patch), Halloween (Dr Zoidberg), Underpants (no real imagination needed there), Christmas (Santa Hat) & Sexy Santa (Santa Hat again) for fancy dress nights.
When we arrived last September, everybody had an option of what day they wanted to collect their keys. Out of the 5 of us (including myself), 3 of us moved in on the first day, 1 got there quite late though so they didn't bother coming out with us as they were tired, which is a fair excuse. We went up to the union and socialised with as many other first years as possible. At the end of day 2, everybody had moved in, we went out and had pizza at dominoes :P and then all went up the union to party the night away. However, I do agree with sr90, the freshers week is good, but you tend to hang out with other people when your course starts. Once you make friends it gets better and better :smile:
Mix with your flatmates a lot. As tempting as it is don't shy away because it's too nerve-racking. Don't be afraid to ask questions, remember that everybody is just as nervous as you are, and most of all just go to university with an open mind ready to meet new people :smile:. As for Freshers week, it's often not as crazy as you get told. For me it wasn't that mental as me and my flatmates are more into going to the pub than clubbing, so we went out a lot however it wasn't to all the clubs etc. That said, a lot of people do go clubbing every night and it really is mental, so it depends on what university you go to but more importantly just who you end up living with.

My first day was quite nice. I arrived on the first day so half of the people in my flat weren't actually here yet, so we went to meet the people upstairs, drank a bit in their kitchen, went to the bar then came back and listened to classic rock until the early hours. It was a nice way to get to know everybody however ultimately the people who would become my close circle of friends arrived on the second night. Obviously at first it was a little awkward, as nobody really knew what to say or how to behave, however that disappeared quite soon. :smile:

Basically, be prepared for a little awkwardness, remember it's natural to feel nervous, but nonetheless put yourself out there and make friends. Enjoy!
Reply 15
Take a first aid kit, you'll be the most popular person on the block when you can produce stuff for hangover headaches or a plaster for when someone's sliced a finger in the kitchen. :biggrin:
Reply 16
Thanks, this is all really useful, and I can understand about it getting better overtime!! XD
Keep the advice coming, I really appreciate it!
Reply 17
Original post by Alex Williams
So as many first day tips would be fantastic!! Thank you for any help!!


If you drink beer/lager, buy a crate and offer your flatmates one as a "hello, who/how are you etc" Its what I did and I'm living with my flat next year now :smile:
Reply 18
Make conversation. This is the biggest bit of advice you have. On my first day my whole flat were sitting in our kitchen, and nobody said anything apart from me, but it made it so much easier as i made friends faster with everyone in my flat then those who said nothing

Secondly be confident. Fake it if you have to but not looking worried in public is a huge way to make it easier to get along with people ( you can be how you like in your room)

Thirdly if your in a block of flats or in small flat surrounded by other small flats, go out and talk to random people, go to where the music is playing and people are having fun and make new friends. The reason being that the friends you make in the first 2 weeks are usually the main group of friends you will have and do most things with. Fair enough you might make better friends on your course but its harder as you cant talk in lectures and you spend less time with them. So dont go to uni expecting to make loads of friends on your course, rather to make as many friends as you can. Even if you dont think you want to hang with that 'certain person/flat' being friends is allways a bonus as you get invited and can go to partys and make more friends!

For me the outcome is that im friends with my whole flat, but i get along better with some of them then others and even then spend most of my free time at other friends flats. But if there is ever a party then i know so many people i can invite loads or just turn up and its fine and its allways a laugh even if your not the greatest of friends. Also the party thing works if you invite someone you kind of know and they bring their friends then you get to know more people

But just dont waste the freshers week. Its the one week you can get to know people without it being awkward as everyone is still getting to know everyone else. Because of this dont waste your time with just a few certain people. You have the whole year to become better friends with them (especially if they are flatmates) so go and meet as many as you can. however meeting people randomly who you dont know, well its alot harder imo!

Also dont lie about stuff, and dont brag those are the two things that people will pick up on choose not to talk to you, just be yourself!

oh and one way to get friends quickly with girls is just to make really random assumptioms (like say how they look like a geologist - or some other random course - or how they are really quiet -when they are stupidly loud) as you dont know them and they allways find it funny just for it being so random - just dont interview them (or anyone tbh) on 'what they do' as conversation ends really quickly if you just say bland who,what,when,where,why questions - be interesting!. oh and the reason you should do this is as ive found that with girls they introuduce you to more people then guys, making it easier to make more friends
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 19
Wow! Thanks!
I love the tip about making assumptions, it sounds interesting and different! How to people usually react to them sort of statements

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