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uni guidance and help

Could someone give me a rundown of everything they had to do to prepare for their first year of uni?

When do I pick my optional modules?

Parking at uni?

If it says the start date is the end of September do I need to be there before?

Collecting and doing the student cards?

Any tips whatsoever please.

Reply 1

martin7

Original post by Anonymous #1

Could someone give me a rundown of everything they had to do to prepare for their first year of uni?
When do I pick my optional modules?
Parking at uni?
If it says the start date is the end of September do I need to be there before?
Collecting and doing the student cards?
Any tips whatsoever please.

The answer to a lot of these will be "it depends on the university concerned".

Optional units -- I would expect that your university will contact you shortly after your place is confirmed. This may be a week or so after A-level results day. Keep an eye on your email -- and be sure to check your junk/spam folder in case mail from your university is ending up there. Make sure you also check your university email account regularly once you get access to that. In an ideal world the university will want to get this sorted before freshers week starts, and certainly before teaching starts.

Parking at university -- I suspect most universities won't provide parking for students at all; but it will depend on which university you're going to. The university local to me is surrounded by residents parking zones, and only has limited parking for staff and none at all for students. You'll need to make enquiries of the university concerned to find out how things work. (You could start by looking to see what information they provide on their website.)

Start date -- if you're in university accommodation you'll be advised of the move-in date (and in some cases might need to book a move-in slot; this is to spread the arrivals out over a move-in weekend). You'll normally arrive the weekend immediately before freshers week starts. The expectation is that you'll be attending events during freshers week, some of which are administrative events like registering at the university, picking up your ID card, etc.

Student cards -- as just mentioned this is the sort of thing you'll be doing in freshers week, probably early on. If you need a student card to access your accommodation, it's possible it will be issued on move-in day.

Reply 2

Heriot-Watt Uni

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous #1

Could someone give me a rundown of everything they had to do to prepare for their first year of uni?
When do I pick my optional modules?
Parking at uni?
If it says the start date is the end of September do I need to be there before?
Collecting and doing the student cards?
Any tips whatsoever please.

Hi!

As said above most of these are university dependent and won't happen until closer to the time. I wouldn't worry about missing any of these things because the university will let you know - just make sure you either get email notifications or check them semi-regularly.

Optional-modules are generally picked during enrollment which will happen generally a week after A-level results day. They do give you time to pick this so you don't need to be super speedy but I'd recommend already having your choices picked out. You're universities website should show you which modules are mandatory and which you can choose from, if not, and you do want to know now, I'd give them an email.

Parking at uni is again dependent on the university. At Heriot Watt we provide lots of parking. If you are driving in each day you can just pick one of the car parks however if you are living on campus and need to leave your car overnight you will require a car parking pass and you need to apply for this. This may be similar at your university or if you are in the city they may have no parking.

The start date is the start date and you don't have to show up any earlier. I'd recommend going to welcome / freshers week as it's really fun and a great opportunity to meet new people. For Heriot-Watt this isn't a mandatory week to come to so if necessary you can miss it however at some universities this may be required to attend.

Student cards are normally picked up on campus during your first week at uni. You may take a photo there and have it put on the card or (as I did) you send in a photo for them to use.

I hope this helps a little! My top tip would be to start a packing list early to make sure you don't forget anything important and get excited!!

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask!

- Jessica
2nd year, Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)