The Student Room Group

what advice would you give to someone starting uni?

Any advice or tips you wish you'd known before you started?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Marshmallow9999
Any advice or tips you wish you'd known before you started?


Most definitely make the most of it because you will miss it even over 3 years later oh and look for a job or get sponsored BEFORE you graduate.
- don't leave your work until the last minute
- if you need help with anything, (whether that's work or personal issues) talk to someone before t gets out of control
- make use of the free time you have
Original post by Marshmallow9999
Any advice or tips you wish you'd known before you started?


Budget your loan wisely, university can be stressful as it is so dont go adding financial stresses to that if you can avoid it.
Reply 4
Don't buy smirnoff - buy own brand
Original post by Marshmallow9999
Any advice or tips you wish you'd known before you started?


Join a society as soon as you can, even if you don't think it's for you. I made some life-long amazing friends in my final few months from attending a society meeting.
Reply 6
Original post by Tiger Rag
- don't leave your work until the last minute


this! +1
Don't leave work till the last minute :tongue: as above.

Get involved in as much as you can and use the opportunities and resources that are available to you so you have non-academic things to talk about in interviews, applications etc.
Reply 8
No, you're not going to remember this later, write it down. Also make sure you understand everything from the start, don't leave anything to figure out later.

Plus the obvious, don't leave work until the last minute.
Reply 9
Advice for work:

Always fully complete essays at least 2 days before the deadline.
Do extra reading, lecture slides are not enough.
Don't expect the teaching and learning style of university to be anything like school.

Socialising:

Join a society as soon as you can
Try to make an effort and get to know people from the start because being lonely at uni sucks.
If you're not doing revision or extra work throughout the year you're doing it wrong and you're going to notice it get a lot harder once you start second year.
Original post by Southampton Solent Uni Student Ambassador
Join a society as soon as you can, even if you don't think it's for you. I made some life-long amazing friends in my final few months from attending a society meeting.


this particularly at solent mountain sports was great as was shredders.
Get a job. Uni is expensive.

However, you have very few choices

Either, uni + job or uni + socialising. There isn't time for all three.

1 thing I learned - you can't help you who live with, but you can help who you're friends with! Your friends do not have to be your flatmates! Go out at socialise with other people.

I socialise with people outside my flat because I hosted about 3 or 4 parties during freshers and really love it!
Reply 13
Another piece of advice, if you are wanting to share a house with someone next year, ask people before the new year. I cannot stress this enough. All my coursemates (the only people i wanted to live with) have it sorted.

Let them know you are looking as well. Dont just ask them what they are doing about it. Chances are you'll both keep saying "ooh nothing yet i need to do it", and then that person will suddenly have plans.

I think my main problems were leaving it too late, and not asking the important questions strsight away "do you want to share a house" and "do you want to look at some houses together"

Guess you learn from your mistakes.
Uni is about much more than the course.

Go along and speak to the careers service in first year. Many of the most competitive graduate recruitment schemes effectively start the recruitment process in first years with summer internships etc.

Those who get graduate jobs straight after uni invariably have work experience. Make sure that you go out and get paid work experience - start off doing the sort of dross jobs that almost everyone does at least once (waitress, bar, retail etc.) if necessary and then try and broaden your work experience (e.g. being a student ambassador allows you to develop a surprisingly wide range of skills, from public speaking to customer service). Graduate recruiters want to know that you have the basic skills in place - turning up on time, looking presentable, dealing with senior staff etc.
Original post by Marshmallow9999
Any advice or tips you wish you'd known before you started?


Keep in contact with the lecturers! Mine at uni love when you ask them questions/queries it shows you are interested in the subject.
Not really but my collage tutor told me this. Make shoure you like the city or town that your uni is in you are lying there for 3/4 years so take that in to considration
Reply 17
Original post by urbanlocations
Keep in contact with the lecturers! Mine at uni love when you ask them questions/queries it shows you are interested in the subject.


^^This. Don't be a nuisance, but do make sure that staff recognise when you're interested. Asking questions is good for you and them. You'll need job references when you graduate - they'll be so much better if they're actually commenting you as a person, rather than using a set of stock phrases about a student who's only ever been a face in a lecture room.
Reply 18
Uni doesn't have a trigger warning. When you first arrive on campus you will feel anything from mild anxiety to terror. That's normal and that's OK. Despite how others around you may appear, they're feeling the same. It's OK to be scared - getting through that and settling in is all part of the uni learning experience. The feeling wears off - sometimes quite fast. It took me four visits to my uni library before I was brave enough to even take a book off the shelves. But I ended up loving the place. Just roll with it for the first few weeks.
It's ok to get tipsy on the first might but don't get blotto you don't want to be the one everyone has too look after on the first night. Don't be that guy

Quick Reply

Latest