The Student Room Group
Student in halls, University of Hull
University of Hull
Kingston-upon-Hull
Visit website

FRESHERS! Listen up!

As a returning student, I'm here to answer any of your questions about university life, courses, freshers week, sports and societies etc.
It's getting closer, 22nd September! :biggrin: No need to be nervous! Get all your woes and worries sorted before you arrive.
(and also, join the Sharkettes cheerleading squad!!!) :colone:

So, fire away :smile:

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Reply 1
How fast did you make friends?
Student in halls, University of Hull
University of Hull
Kingston-upon-Hull
Visit website
Reply 2
How did your initial first day go, so once you had moved in and you said your goodbyes to your faimly etc? and for the whole freshers weeks at that, how was it for you making friends, and what are people generally like etc :smile:
Reply 3
Whats the quality of the football teams like?
Are there casual teams etc
Reply 4
Original post by lilyobz
How fast did you make friends?


Really quickly - literally my first day! I met my first real uni friend outside the Wilberforce building while we were waiting to go in for our first introductory lecture. We were both really nervous, and unsure of where to go, so we got talking etc. and now we are almost like sisters :smile:

It's really easy to make friends at uni; if you talk to someone, chances are they'll talk back! (It's not like school or college where everyone is in their own little groups and look at you weirdly if you speak to them haha).

And you will get to know the people you are living with. Also, you tend to make new friends when you split off into tutorial groups (most courses have these) because there's only 10 or so people in a group, so it's smaller than a lecture and you get chance to interact.

My best advice is just to be confident and push yourself to talk to new people, and to join a society or sports club - joining the athletic union was the best thing I ever did at uni because you meet so many more people than you ever could without it, and you have the same interests as those people too :smile:

I hope this helps!
Reply 5
Did you have enough money from your loan to last you the entire year? I've worked out I'm only going to have around £2000 once accommodation costs are taken out yet I get the maximum loan/grant because of my household income. I plan to get a job but I don't want to rely on it. I'm thinking of changing to cheaper accommodation too. What do you think?
Reply 6
Original post by megvond18
How did your initial first day go, so once you had moved in and you said your goodbyes to your faimly etc? and for the whole freshers weeks at that, how was it for you making friends, and what are people generally like etc :smile:


Honestly, it takes a good few days to settle in. Everything is so new and different when you move into your new place, and you're getting to know everyone you're living with, going out meeting people, that it's just a whirlwind! So, you don't really have time to sit and think about things if you keep yourself busy!

The first week is pretty hectic! The events start on the Saturday, so you will usually go out with the people you're living with (unless you're not into that sort of thing), and it's brilliant! Then, the real stuff starts on the Monday when you will (usually; depending on department) have introductory lectures and get timetables/reading lists... literally, there's tons of stuff to remember so don't worry if you forget any of it!

There's the freshers fair at the beginning of the week where local businesses give away a lot of free stuff (get there early, Dominos were giving away free pizza last year), and the athletics fair the day after where you can sign up to a sports club, and societies fair where you can join a group - there's literally everything from a Lindyhop society to a Come Dine With Me group! Then you go to the free elective fair (some courses don't allow a free elective though - theyll let you know) and can choose a module from any department (I took Russian language which was so interesting!).

You get given a time and date to register by the department, there's lots of queuing involved but it's a good chance to talk to people who you're waiting in line with, or go with someone else you've met on your course etc. Then you get your student card and photo ID and wham bam you're officially a student! :biggrin:

(along with all this, there's more events in the evenings to go to at Asylum)

Making friends is so easy - like I said above, if you're pleasant and talk to people, chances are they'll talk back and you will get to know each other. I'd recommend joining a society or sports club because you'll meet so many more people - you go on socials at Asylum every Wednesday night with your sports club which are amazing!

The thing that surprised me the most about uni, is how different it is to school/college - literally nobody cares what you look like, what you wear, who you are - everyone is respectful and generally pleasant. So there's no nerd/popular divide or prejudice etc. because there's literally like 20,000 other students who share the campus with you! It's a real step into the adult world, and people who are still in school-mode will generally change very quickly into respectful people :smile: Hope this helps you!

Original post by Boblally
Whats the quality of the football teams like?
Are there casual teams etc


Most of the sports clubs are BUCS affiliated which means they are of the standard to compete with other universities - football is part of the BUCS. When I look at the BUCS website, there seem to be 6 mens teams and 3 ladies teams - I don't know any of the football players as the Sharkettes tend to do Wednesday socials more with the American Footballers, Mens Lacrosse and Boxing.

There are lots of casual teams, most individual courses have a football team (I know there's a Business school team and a Chemistry team!) - the captains usually come around to lectures in the first few weeks of semester and tell you how to sign up. I have a friend who plays on one of the intramural teams and he reckons it's brilliant.

The best bet is to go to the athletic union fair - not sure what date it is yet - in the marquee near the student union, and you can talk to captains and other members and find out more! :biggrin: There are also tons of other sports to take part in too - literally everything from Ice Hockey to SCUBA diving, so even if you don't choose football there's always something new to try. Hope this helps!
Original post by la-penseur
Did you have enough money from your loan to last you the entire year? I've worked out I'm only going to have around £2000 once accommodation costs are taken out yet I get the maximum loan/grant because of my household income. I plan to get a job but I don't want to rely on it. I'm thinking of changing to cheaper accommodation too. What do you think?


I wouldn't be complaining about that £2000 for a whole year from maintenance loan. I worked out I will only get around £200 after all accommodation has been paid- so I guarantee £2000 is enough for just food and entertainment! Lucky!
Reply 8
Original post by la-penseur
Did you have enough money from your loan to last you the entire year? I've worked out I'm only going to have around £2000 once accommodation costs are taken out yet I get the maximum loan/grant because of my household income. I plan to get a job but I don't want to rely on it. I'm thinking of changing to cheaper accommodation too. What do you think?


I had enough to live quite comfortably on, but only because I budgeted my money very carefully every month. I kept track of my finances on an Excel-type computer program.
It sounds REALLY boring, but honestly, it was the best thing I could have done! You also get to know all the short cuts and money saving things from other students (like, don't use the student union shop because it's mega expensive, and Lidl is just across the road from uni).
You just need to think about what's important to you, and factor all that into a monthly budget.

Jobs are scarce in Hull. I took a position at H&M but had to leave within 3 months as the hours affected my uni work and meant I couldn't go out with friends or to sports events - to me, it was more important to enjoy my uni experience, rather than having to work 16 hours a week for minimum wage. But I know people who got bar work, and found the right balance - it all depends on the type of person you are.

So it sounds totally boring and nerdy to make a budget, but it really works in helping to keep track of what's going out and what's coming in.
Also, I didn't get an overdraft, because I lived by 'if I don't have the money, I don't have the money.'

You'll be fine, and the Student Union is there to help with money matters if you still feel unsure about what to do, or if you did have trouble - they'll never let you struggle. It might be worth talking to one of the financial advisers in the first week.
Reply 9
Original post by la-penseur
Did you have enough money from your loan to last you the entire year? I've worked out I'm only going to have around £2000 once accommodation costs are taken out yet I get the maximum loan/grant because of my household income. I plan to get a job but I don't want to rely on it. I'm thinking of changing to cheaper accommodation too. What do you think?


To add to this, I have a friend who works 3 jobs alongside uni, and is a single mother to 3 kids, so it can be done!
And I don't know anybody who has starved yet :wink:
Reply 10
That sounds so great! Thanks for the in depth reply, i was sooo paranoid people would judge me on my appearance instead of the great fun i can be, but once you said that, i feel a little more at ease. I guess the key is to smile and talk lots! And i guess you are around people in your class, free electives, accommodation, any societies, queues etc you must make some kind of friend on the way! It is so nice to think no one is gunna be in their 'groups' as they were a nightmare at school haha...fingers crossed all these worries people have are for no reason at all and uni exceeds our expectations :smile:

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Original post by Féileacán
I had enough to live quite comfortably on, but only because I budgeted my money very carefully every month. I kept track of my finances on an Excel-type computer program.
It sounds REALLY boring, but honestly, it was the best thing I could have done! You also get to know all the short cuts and money saving things from other students (like, don't use the student union shop because it's mega expensive, and Lidl is just across the road from uni).
You just need to think about what's important to you, and factor all that into a monthly budget.

Jobs are scarce in Hull. I took a position at H&M but had to leave within 3 months as the hours affected my uni work and meant I couldn't go out with friends or to sports events - to me, it was more important to enjoy my uni experience, rather than having to work 16 hours a week for minimum wage. But I know people who got bar work, and found the right balance - it all depends on the type of person you are.

So it sounds totally boring and nerdy to make a budget, but it really works in helping to keep track of what's going out and what's coming in.
Also, I didn't get an overdraft, because I lived by 'if I don't have the money, I don't have the money.'

You'll be fine, and the Student Union is there to help with money matters if you still feel unsure about what to do, or if you did have trouble - they'll never let you struggle. It might be worth talking to one of the financial advisers in the first week.



Thanks for the reply. I suppose I'm probably just panicking haha but I think I'm going to have to give this budgeting thing a go!
Reply 12
cheers for the help/advise folks
Reply 13
What are the facilities like? Both educational and non educational? I've has a brief look around the library and it looks really good, with great views of the city, but I know nothing about sports facilities eg. Pitches, gym etc.


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Reply 14
I saw that you mentioned cheerleading, that's something I'd be interested in! Are there any requirements before joining the group and what sort of things does it involve?


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Reply 15
Original post by ellenlish
I saw that you mentioned cheerleading, that's something I'd be interested in! Are there any requirements before joining the group and what sort of things does it involve?


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Hey! That's really great that you want to be involved! We're a co-ed (male & female) squad , and a competition squad. We combine stunts with dancing and tumbling. This is a video of one of our teams at competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHwmFpDTA10 - so you can get a better idea of what we do. We also support the Sharks american football team at their games, and cheer for them :smile:

We have a social every Wednesday night which are usually fancy dress and involve lots of drinking games, and do annual pub golf with the american footballers, and smurfs with another club (I think last year it was boxing).

And then every year in the spring break, we go on Tour, which is where all the uni sports teams go on a trip abroad (this year was Salou in Spain), and spend 4 or 5 days there - it is literally the highlight of the year.

We also do old boys weekend, where all the old american footballers and cheerleaders come back for a weekend (its really cute because some married each other and have kids!) and this year we did pub golf and a james bond theme party, and then had a game on the Sunday where we did a special routine.

There's no pre-requisites! Honestly, when I saw cheerleading at the athletics fair I just thought, this looks like fun, and decided to go to see what it was like, and I was hooked... dispite the fact I never did gymnastics, don't dance much, and have loads of old injuries from playing tennis... It's helpful if you do have that sort of background, but honestly, I couldn't even do a forward roll when I joined! The important thing is being willing to learn new things :smile:

(ps, thought I'd add a little anecdote, I'd been struggling with my tumbling right up until the competition, and never got it quite right, on the morning I tried it in the practice area and it went badly wrong, but had no time because we were on in 5 minutes... I had to wing it, and don't know whether it was the adrenaline, but I pulled it off almost perfect; I was so relieved that I almost forgot the rest of the routine afterwards - but the great thing was that so many people took time out to help me in training, and in the competition everyone noticed I did it, and congratulated me - it's just such an amazing atmosphere, and true definition of a team!)

I can honestly say that joining cheer was the best thing I ever did in uni. it's so much fun! We hope you'll join us! Some of us will be in uniform during Freshers week, so just stop one of us and say hi, we're a nice bunch! Or, visit us at the athletics union fair (not sure time and date yet). We do a two week free practice where people can just turn up and see if they like it, so definitely come along! :biggrin:



Original post by sambrfc10
What are the facilities like? Both educational and non educational? I've has a brief look around the library and it looks really good, with great views of the city, but I know nothing about sports facilities eg. Pitches, gym etc.


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Hellooo! I believe that the facilities are excellent for the most part! It really is a case of don't judge a book by it's cover, because a lot of the buildings look awful from the outside (Wilberforce building, ugghhh!) but inside, they are really nice, modern and clean and all lecture halls have good equipment, computers, big screens, microphones etc. All the computers are new ish and have windows 7, but there's plenty of wi fi coverage for your own laptop (bad, because I spend a lot of my lectures online shopping... oops).

The library is, at the moment, in my opinion, mixed... just small things like not enough places to charge laptops, sometimes the photocopiers and printers don't work, but having said that, they're doing a massive regeneration of it this year.

Errrmmm, the student union is excellent! The shop is great, a bit overpriced, but has literally anything you need if you forgot something (and a mega supply of Pro Plus too), the bars and cafes are really great too (again slightly overpriced), there's a bookshop with all the textbooks you might want to buy (but again, overpriced - it's better to buy secondhand from Amazon - I ended up spending a 3 figure sum there for all my textbooks for the first year, to find out I'll never use them again, and can't sell them on as they publish new editions every year).

Sports facilities are in general great. There's all weather pitches, floodlit pitches, an up to date gym and fitness suite (very good price too, works out at like £18 a month with court/pitch hire, classes etc included), and the tennis courts are good too, but it really depends on how much money your individual club has to afford specialist equipment, e.g. at cheerleading we only have 3 mats to train on whereas at competitions there are 9 mats, but they're something ridiculous like £500 a piece to buy, so we work with what we have. I can't speak for other clubs, many have sponsors, and the more members, the more they can afford to buy their equipment.

So overall I'd say it's great! I love being on campus because it's like your own little world there with everything you need, and it's really pretty too :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 16
I wanted to join the swimming club, and just wanted to know how good you have to be to join a sports club. Or is it a case of they take on all abilities?
Reply 17
Original post by Féileacán
Hey! That's really great that you want to be involved! We're a co-ed (male & female) squad , and a competition squad. We combine stunts with dancing and tumbling. This is a video of one of our teams at competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHwmFpDTA10 - so you can get a better idea of what we do. We also support the Sharks american football team at their games, and cheer for them :smile:

We have a social every Wednesday night which are usually fancy dress and involve lots of drinking games, and do annual pub golf with the american footballers, and smurfs with another club (I think last year it was boxing).

And then every year in the spring break, we go on Tour, which is where all the uni sports teams go on a trip abroad (this year was Salou in Spain), and spend 4 or 5 days there - it is literally the highlight of the year.

We also do old boys weekend, where all the old american footballers and cheerleaders come back for a weekend (its really cute because some married each other and have kids!) and this year we did pub golf and a james bond theme party, and then had a game on the Sunday where we did a special routine.

There's no pre-requisites! Honestly, when I saw cheerleading at the athletics fair I just thought, this looks like fun, and decided to go to see what it was like, and I was hooked... dispite the fact I never did gymnastics, don't dance much, and have loads of old injuries from playing tennis... It's helpful if you do have that sort of background, but honestly, I couldn't even do a forward roll when I joined! The important thing is being willing to learn new things :smile:

(ps, thought I'd add a little anecdote, I'd been struggling with my tumbling right up until the competition, and never got it quite right, on the morning I tried it in the practice area and it went badly wrong, but had no time because we were on in 5 minutes... I had to wing it, and don't know whether it was the adrenaline, but I pulled it off almost perfect; I was so relieved that I almost forgot the rest of the routine afterwards - but the great thing was that so many people took time out to help me in training, and in the competition everyone noticed I did it, and congratulated me - it's just such an amazing atmosphere, and true definition of a team!)

I can honestly say that joining cheer was the best thing I ever did in uni. it's so much fun! We hope you'll join us! Some of us will be in uniform during Freshers week, so just stop one of us and say hi, we're a nice bunch! Or, visit us at the athletics union fair (not sure time and date yet). We do a two week free practice where people can just turn up and see if they like it, so definitely come along! :biggrin:






Hellooo! I believe that the facilities are excellent for the most part! It really is a case of don't judge a book by it's cover, because a lot of the buildings look awful from the outside (Wilberforce building, ugghhh!) but inside, they are really nice, modern and clean and all lecture halls have good equipment, computers, big screens, microphones etc. All the computers are new ish and have windows 7, but there's plenty of wi fi coverage for your own laptop (bad, because I spend a lot of my lectures online shopping... oops).

The library is, at the moment, in my opinion, mixed... just small things like not enough places to charge laptops, sometimes the photocopiers and printers don't work, but having said that, they're doing a massive regeneration of it this year.

Errrmmm, the student union is excellent! The shop is great, a bit overpriced, but has literally anything you need if you forgot something (and a mega supply of Pro Plus too), the bars and cafes are really great too (again slightly overpriced), there's a bookshop with all the textbooks you might want to buy (but again, overpriced - it's better to buy secondhand from Amazon - I ended up spending a 3 figure sum there for all my textbooks for the first year, to find out I'll never use them again, and can't sell them on as they publish new editions every year).

Sports facilities are in general great. There's all weather pitches, floodlit pitches, an up to date gym and fitness suite (very good price too, works out at like £18 a month with court/pitch hire, classes etc included), and the tennis courts are good too, but it really depends on how much money your individual club has to afford specialist equipment, e.g. at cheerleading we only have 3 mats to train on whereas at competitions there are 9 mats, but they're something ridiculous like £500 a piece to buy, so we work with what we have. I can't speak for other clubs, many have sponsors, and the more members, the more they can afford to buy their equipment.

So overall I'd say it's great! I love being on campus because it's like your own little world there with everything you need, and it's really pretty too :smile:


Thank you so much for your reply! I watched the video and it sounds like a lot of fun :smile:

I've got in to Hull now as my firm choice so I'm definitely going to join the squad I think!

I've read in some other places that it's better to get a platinum cards because of the weekly socials for sports teams, would you recommend that? To be honest I don't really wanna pay £140 for one so I was just gonna get a freshers band instead but if I'm better with the card I might think about it!


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Gym is good for general fitness, but pretty rubbish for free weights if that's your thing. It's got good stuff but not enough for the amount of people that use it.
Reply 19
Original post by PeoplesChampion
Gym is good for general fitness, but pretty rubbish for free weights if that's your thing. It's got good stuff but not enough for the amount of people that use it.


Is there anywhere else locally that would be better then?


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