[roarbanana]

I'm genuinely terrified at the prospect of starting at university and especially the idea of the first couple of weeks. What piece of advice would you give to someone just about to start uni? For example, should you go out the first night or unpack and settle in? Should you bring food with you? Should you throw yourself into meeting people or let it happen naturally? All thoughts and snippets of advice are appreciated

[Smack]

Go out as much as possible in freshers. Try and meet as much people as possible - don't just consign yourself to your flatmates, you've got all year to get to know them. Don't be afraid of one night stands or flings. Take some food with you, but more importantly, alcohol - preferably something that you can share. Keep your door open at all times, unless you're sleeping or masturbating. Take as much things as possible, like Xboxes, Wiis, etc. that you can use to help socialise.

[IPlayThePiccolo]

(Original post by Smack)
Go out as much as possible in freshers. Try and meet as much people as possible - don't just consign yourself to your flatmates, you've got all year to get to know them. Don't be afraid of one night stands or flings. Take some food with you, but more importantly, alcohol - preferably something that you can share. Keep your door open at all times, unless you're sleeping or masturbating. Take as much things as possible, like Xboxes, Wiis, etc. that you can use to help socialise.

And have all your worldly possessions stolen



EDIT: Two months later and still getting repped... What can I say, my people love me.

[HARRY PUTAH]

Plenty of chloroform and hankerchiefs.

Plenty of lube.

ermm



Candy trails to lure unsupecting drunk girls to your room

[Smack]

(Original post by IPlayThePiccolo)
And have all your worldly possessions stolen

Obviously only at all times when you're in.

That should have been fairly obvious.

[Manitude]

Get a door wedge - having a literal open door policy is always good.
Yes, bring food!
I'd suggest do whatever your housemates do on the first week or so.
Try not to be a hermit in your room all year!

[py0alb]

dedicate freshers week to trying to make good friends with your flat mates.
go up and talk to random people, its the one time of the year they won't think you're weird.
help organise a social event for your coursemates.
join 2 or 3 clubs and societies and actually go to a few sessions.
don't go home in the first month - the weekends are prime bonding time.
take the opportunity to reinvent yourself (within reason).

[DJkG.1]

DOn't worry you'll meet people inevitably you're living in halls right?

It's virtually impossible not to meet loads people and make friends - even if you don't make an effort to go out etc, though you should.

[wanderlust.xx]

Don't forget about your degree. If you end up with a 2:2 or worse, you'll look back on these parties with regret. Don't come crying on results day when you end up flushing your job prospects down the toilet.

Also, first year doesn't count so you don't have to work hard? Yeah, sure. If you're doing a science degree, good luck re-learning that stuff from first year so you understand lectures while trying to keep up with the homework sheets, seminars and tutorials in your second and third years. I have seen so, so many people who did this and ended up failing one or two modules because of it.

With the above in mind, go out and have fun.

[Hipster]

Wear sunscreen, bro.


For people who don't 'get it':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ

[Loz17]

Make the most of your first year. Without forgetting about your studies, try and get as much extra-curricular activity on your CV as possible. 1st year is the best year to do it as the work load won't be as high as the other 2/3 years of your degree, and usually don't count towards your final grade.

And just enjoy it.

[Fuzzed_Out]

(Original post by wanderlust.xx)
Don't forget about your degree. If you end up with a 2:2 or worse, you'll look back on these parties with regret. Don't come crying on results day when you end up flushing your job prospects down the toilet.

Also, first year doesn't count so you don't have to work hard? Yeah, sure. If you're doing a science degree, good luck re-learning that stuff from first year so you understand lectures while trying to keep up with the homework sheets, seminars and tutorials in your second and third years. I have seen so, so many people who did this and ended up failing one or two modules because of it.

With the above in mind, go out and have fun.

Rep for this, try your hardest to attend all lectures, even if your half a sleep, hopefully some of it will sink in.

Remember that you are there to study in the end and get a decent degree, the stuff you do in first year will be built on the following years.

When your in the room keep your door open, spend time with your flat mates and block mates and try and meet as many people as you can.

[Colour Me Pretty]

(Original post by Smack)
Go out as much as possible in freshers. Try and meet as much people as possible - don't just consign yourself to your flatmates, you've got all year to get to know them. Don't be afraid of one night stands or flings. Take some food with you, but more importantly, alcohol - preferably something that you can share. Keep your door open at all times, unless you're sleeping or masturbating. Take as much things as possible, like Xboxes, Wiis, etc. that you can use to help socialise.

What about if you're an exhibitionist?

[cjpuddytat]

(Original post by roarbanana)
I'm genuinely terrified at the prospect of starting at university and especially the idea of the first couple of weeks. What piece of advice would you give to someone just about to start uni? For example, should you go out the first night or unpack and settle in? Should you bring food with you? Should you throw yourself into meeting people or let it happen naturally? All thoughts and snippets of advice are appreciated

I was scared too, especially having had a year out before, but really don't worry. It's an exciting time!

If you're staying in Halls, get involved in the Fresher's activities - really, don't miss out! There's plenty of time during the day to get settled in so don't pass up the opportunity to go out in the evenings for the sake of making your room pretty.

If you're self-catered, bring/buy some basic cupboard essentials if you like and something for the first couple of days, but don't go mad! The shops aren't going anywhere.

Buy a door stop!! This is really handy for those endless trips to your room when you're moving your stuff in and also lets people know in your corridor/flat that you're in so you can make conversation when they're passing. I always knew it was ok to go in and speak to people if they've got their door propped open

Some other things I recommend to take are:-
Nic nacs for your room - personal touches like photos/pictures/ornaments, things to make it feel like it's YOUR room
Coat hangers
Portable radio - I didn't really need it in my room because I used the internet but everyone loved it for the kitchen
Local taxi numbers - Get them in your phone the sooner the better
Ethernet cable - Depends on your internet supply but I found that the one they gave us was pretty short and I couldn't use my laptop from my bed so I got a longer one.
Extension leads/More sockets - Be careful of fire hazards but you may find you need more sockets than your room provides
Room scent? Candles are usually not allowed so this is a good alternative
A unique keyring - Everyone will have identical looking keys so put something on yours to make it easily identifiable
Bottle of wine? Something to crack open with your neighbours and a good way to chill out together when you've moved in
Corkscrew - Taken for granted at home!
Portable/mini safe if you don't have a lockable draw/cupboard
Mini fridge - A lot of Halls don't officially allow this but it was really a Godsend for me. Never had to fight for space in the kitchen and could get away with taking a bit more freezer space... Got mine second hand for about £40
Rug - Floors can be a bit dull so adds a bit of comfort and colour
Fridge magnet alphabet - Kept us entertained for a year, always a new message when I went in the kitchen. Sounds silly but anything you can think of as a cheap novelty will go down well.
Under bed storage boxes - If you don't have much storage space then I recc this! I stored most of my tops and t-shirts in roll-out boxes under the bed.


A lot of those things seem pretty obvious but are easily overlooked when you've got a million other things on your mind.

If I think of some more I'll let you know.

The most important thing though - Have fun, relax, and smile! You will adapt quickly and wonder what life was like before Uni.

Almost everyone is in the same boat so don't be scared

Best wishes!

[wizard710]

Take a decent tin opener. You can't understate how good it is if you can give someone a tin opener that works

[heidigirl]

I would say take people who say 'you'll definitely make friends in halls' with a pinch of salt. Just because you end up living in the same flat/building as a load of people, does not mean you're guaranteed to find people you have anything in common with. Secondly, don't stress if you don't; you don't have to be best friends with your flatmates, as long as you can be friendly and civil it's fine.

I hated my halls, and didn't make a single friend in them and while it wasn't so bad the first term, I ended up hating my flatmates because we had such a clash of lifestyles. I like a night out, but I was usually out early and back before 1/2 wanting to sleep, while my flatmates liked to come back at 2/3/4am and scream very loudly for the next hour. I soon discovered there's only so many sleepless nights and apologies-no-one-really-means I can take.

So yeah, go and be open to making all sorts of friends in halls (and hope you do ) but don't worry if you don't; there are lots of other places to make friends. Do join a few societies and try and go to their freshers week socials.

And for people who say 'get a door stop'. Check your uni rules. Propping open fire doors often results in a hefty fine. Someone propping open our flat front door resulted in a £10 fine each.

[GodspeedGehenna]

Be prepared for freshers flu. I was ****ing ill for like two weeks when the term started.

[Intriguing Alias]

(Original post by IPlayThePiccolo)
And have all your worldly possessions stolen

He means when you're in your room (so you can meet people and appear open to talking).

[Pheebs1201]

(Original post by GodspeedGehenna)
Be prepared for freshers flu. I was ****ing ill for like two weeks when the term started.

In what way can we prepare for that

[GodspeedGehenna]

(Original post by Pheebs1201)
In what way can we prepare for that

Have **** loads of pain killers and throat stuff.