Something you wish you knew before starting Uni

I've realised that now I'm finishing uni there were things I wish I knew before starting so that I could prepare. Now that new students are likely to also have that feeling I am curious as to what everyone would like to know?

I wish I knew how lonely uni can be at times or how to take care of yourself and others. I believe some of the topics aren't really covered before you apply to uni, well I wasn't really taught on how to deal with them but how about you?

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Reply 1

claireestelle

I think I wish I knew that I didn't need to separate different colours of washing,i hadn't tried to chuck it all in together until i moved to uni

Reply 2

username2923348

Brutal honestly, I wish I had realised that having a degree does not guarantee me a job. Most my teachers at school implied that having a degree would get me a job, I learnt recently that it certainly doesn't.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by TheRealSquiddy

I get what you mean I've heard it quite a lot from some past students that have ended up somewhere completely different from what they studied. I feel as if they don't represent a true result of university and it placed many students at a false sense of security with their education :/

Reply 4

AzureCeleste

Original post by claireestelle

I think I wish I knew that I didn't need to separate different colours of washing,i hadn't tried to chuck it all in together until i moved to uni

I do agree with this, but like this really applied more for items that have been previously washed. Particularly with dark colours, make sure they no longer colour the water or some of your clothes will come out an odd colour. However, if your clothes have been washed many a time before then its fine to mix colours

Reply 5

PhoenixFortune

To learn ASAP how to write proper academic assignments. I had ridiculously backward habits to start with: like writing my essay and then looking for references that supported my points, only reading the abstract of academic papers without checking how relevant the finer details of the papers were, doing the reading/planning/writing of my assignments at the very last minute, and going way too far over the word limit EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Reply 6

MidgetFever

First year does really count.

Also references, I had no idea what I was doing in terms of referencing to start with, it cost me a lot of time.

Reply 7

Anonymous #1

Original post by PhoenixFortune

Original post by MidgetFever

First year does really count.

Also references, I had no idea what I was doing in terms of referencing to start with, it cost me a lot of time.

I relate to the references 😂. My first year was absolutely awful, I mostly got 40 so I'm glad I improved. I wish they taught us how to reference in high-school, it would have done a great benefit.

Reply 8

nabilahhh

I relate to this one so much :frown:

( I really try but I just can’t

Reply 9

Anonymous #2

Lectures are near to pointless
University social life isn’t as glamorous as it is made to be, can be very lonely at times
Very hard to revise, socialise, attend lectures, cook, clean, laundry at the same time
So much spare time gone to waste, not much to do
Job is not guaranteed
Waste a lot of money on night out and mess up your health/ sleep
. Overall it is portrayed as the only way to be successful when in reality it’s not. Secondary school want to boost their annual statistics of how many students ‘they have sent to uni’. Feels like a scam to me

Reply 10

Anonymous #3

hey, a quick question about uni, may be silly, but are lessons or whatever you have similar to college/school where you fill in work sheets do questions etc, how independent is it? and how are you assessed? are there exams for subjects that have exams in college? thanks ~year 12 student

Reply 11

Zoeyyyyyyyy

Is it extremely difficult to keep up with deadlines?...I've heard life can be extremely hectic in uni

Reply 12

JaffaNeko

It's only difficult if you make it difficult. Alot of the work can be independent but if you organise yourself and prioritise you'll be fine with deadlines.

Original post by Zoeyyyyyyyy

Is it extremely difficult to keep up with deadlines?...I've heard life can be extremely hectic in uni

Reply 13

Little Popcorns

Original post by MidgetFever

First year does really count.

Also references, I had no idea what I was doing in terms of referencing to start with, it cost me a lot of time.

What end result did you get?

Reply 14

BlinkyBill

Careers Forum Helper

I wish I knew how helpful joining societies could be. The friends I made there are still my friends more than a decade later.

Reply 15

jonathanemptage

I wish I knew how to properly revise for exams (I do know now) it would have saved me many (ok 2) resits

Reply 16

MidgetFever

Original post by Little Popcorns

What end result did you get?

As in, grade wise? I've still got two exams to sit but I'm currently averaging 69%. I'm pretty happy with it, I just wished I'd been more serious about it at the start. :lol:

Reply 17

Little Popcorns

Original post by MidgetFever

As in, grade wise? I've still got two exams to sit but I'm currently averaging 69%. I'm pretty happy with it, I just wished I'd been more serious about it at the start. :lol:

Well done

tbh I just had so much stress and the the introductory skills lectures and tutorials were **** and didn’t match what the individual units subsequently wanted you to produce they also had a policy of not checking people’s essays...????

Reply 18

MidgetFever

Original post by Little Popcorns

Well done

Thank you! YESS! Everyone on our course had the same issue, they were really intense and a bunch of people dropped out in the first few weeks, which is a shame because we haven't really used any of the things we'd learnt in them. Do you mind if I ask what you're studying?

That essay thing is a little odd though.. were they not graded at all? or do you mean like, upon request?