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Current Uni Students - Any advice for first year students?
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Organ
......if your female.
Nope, most good student clubs have an entry fee of £3-£4 and then drinks can be £1-£1.50...for singles, or jaegerbombs
1) Be friendly to absolutely everyone, regardless of whether you think they're the sort of person you would have been friends with at school.
2) Set aside 1 hour a day to get ahead with project work so you don't have to do it all in a panic at the last minute like 90% of your classmates will be.
3) Go to your lectures, even the 9am ones. Calculate how much you are paying per lecture, that will scare you.
4) Join some clubs and actually go to some sessions, not just the socials.
5) Don't go home too often, especially in the 1st 2 months. You will miss opportunities to bond with your flatmates
6) Cook yourself a proper evening meal whenever you can.
7) Don't turn down an offer to socialise unless you are really, really busy.
2) Set aside 1 hour a day to get ahead with project work so you don't have to do it all in a panic at the last minute like 90% of your classmates will be.
3) Go to your lectures, even the 9am ones. Calculate how much you are paying per lecture, that will scare you.
4) Join some clubs and actually go to some sessions, not just the socials.
5) Don't go home too often, especially in the 1st 2 months. You will miss opportunities to bond with your flatmates
6) Cook yourself a proper evening meal whenever you can.
7) Don't turn down an offer to socialise unless you are really, really busy.
General/ Social:
Don't arrive to nights out early. This may sound silly if you're from like a city, but living in a small down I didn't have much experience of clubbing and the like (not that I really club now). For example my fresher's bash, I turned up at the time on the ticket. NO-ONE was there. It turned out I met this one guy who did the same and we became friends, but if he hadn't been there, I'd have been sitting there on my own. Of course, ideally you'lll turn up with friends, but no-one else I knew managed to get a ticket.
In fresher's week, do things you wouldn't usually (fun events etc) and more things than you would usually. Although going to any registration event is important, you almost certainly won't be learning anything maths wise which you don't already know, so you don't need to be spending all day studying. It's an important time for making social connections so use it as such, they know students will do this so purposely don't tell you important things in those very early lectures. However, still go along, you can also make friends there.
Grab flatmates/coursemates whoever you meet and suggest exploring together. Campus. The park. Visiting freshers fayre (definitley do this, you get soooo much free stuff :])
Take the time to email or skype your family at some point, to tell them you're enjoying it and having fun, but only do it once during the first week. Then as time goes on do it every now and then, fill them in with what you're up to.
Budget. Works wonders for making sure you aren't poor at the end of the year. Of course, an occasional lapse is ok
MATHS (I do it):
First year at uni is not hard. Ok, well, it is hard. I did put in work and effort. But it is not as hard as you'd think. If your uni puts lectures on line then many people pass barely going to lectures. My friend got a first and attended 6 lectures in the second term. Not that I'm recommending this, I would say go to all the lectures you can manage, but don't beat yourself up about a few missed ones. Maths is very demanding subject hour's wise so missing a few 9ams or other won't matter, as long as you catch up afterwards.
Working together is a big part of maths, so try to meet up to discuss problem sheets etc together with your course mates.
Hours wise- I think your set target is nice (what the uni would recommend probably) but way too overambitious, and definitely not required. From my experience, maths lectures are quite intensive. You will sit there and be making notes the whole lecture, so you will feel a bit knackered afterwards. You almost certainly won't want to do a whole 9-5 day around that. Also, you may have things on- eating lunch with someone, society meeting etc. Of course, if you wasn't to try go for it, but It will wear you out and you really don't need to to get even the highest first!
Reading wise, don't be concerned at all. Background reading is not a big part of maths. You only ever need to read when you have something you don't understand (which can often be solved via our friend the internet) or a special assignment about some kind of maths area/history. I had two of these this year, one I only used one book. Honestly, I think maths is possibly the subject where you LEAST need to use the library. Some people I know hadn't even been in there near the end of first year.
All this applies to first year of course- afterwards you may need to increase your hours and reading and all that. But in first year, it is definitely possible to get a first with just a few hours extra a week doing problem questions/coursework and a few weeks revising before exams.
Sorry about the very long post, was just trying to be comprehensive, and didn't want you to set goals higher than you needed to be gutted when you didn't meet them.
Have fun!
xxxx
Don't arrive to nights out early. This may sound silly if you're from like a city, but living in a small down I didn't have much experience of clubbing and the like (not that I really club now). For example my fresher's bash, I turned up at the time on the ticket. NO-ONE was there. It turned out I met this one guy who did the same and we became friends, but if he hadn't been there, I'd have been sitting there on my own. Of course, ideally you'lll turn up with friends, but no-one else I knew managed to get a ticket.
In fresher's week, do things you wouldn't usually (fun events etc) and more things than you would usually. Although going to any registration event is important, you almost certainly won't be learning anything maths wise which you don't already know, so you don't need to be spending all day studying. It's an important time for making social connections so use it as such, they know students will do this so purposely don't tell you important things in those very early lectures. However, still go along, you can also make friends there.
Grab flatmates/coursemates whoever you meet and suggest exploring together. Campus. The park. Visiting freshers fayre (definitley do this, you get soooo much free stuff :])
Take the time to email or skype your family at some point, to tell them you're enjoying it and having fun, but only do it once during the first week. Then as time goes on do it every now and then, fill them in with what you're up to.
Budget. Works wonders for making sure you aren't poor at the end of the year. Of course, an occasional lapse is ok
MATHS (I do it):
First year at uni is not hard. Ok, well, it is hard. I did put in work and effort. But it is not as hard as you'd think. If your uni puts lectures on line then many people pass barely going to lectures. My friend got a first and attended 6 lectures in the second term. Not that I'm recommending this, I would say go to all the lectures you can manage, but don't beat yourself up about a few missed ones. Maths is very demanding subject hour's wise so missing a few 9ams or other won't matter, as long as you catch up afterwards.
Working together is a big part of maths, so try to meet up to discuss problem sheets etc together with your course mates.
Hours wise- I think your set target is nice (what the uni would recommend probably) but way too overambitious, and definitely not required. From my experience, maths lectures are quite intensive. You will sit there and be making notes the whole lecture, so you will feel a bit knackered afterwards. You almost certainly won't want to do a whole 9-5 day around that. Also, you may have things on- eating lunch with someone, society meeting etc. Of course, if you wasn't to try go for it, but It will wear you out and you really don't need to to get even the highest first!
Reading wise, don't be concerned at all. Background reading is not a big part of maths. You only ever need to read when you have something you don't understand (which can often be solved via our friend the internet) or a special assignment about some kind of maths area/history. I had two of these this year, one I only used one book. Honestly, I think maths is possibly the subject where you LEAST need to use the library. Some people I know hadn't even been in there near the end of first year.
All this applies to first year of course- afterwards you may need to increase your hours and reading and all that. But in first year, it is definitely possible to get a first with just a few hours extra a week doing problem questions/coursework and a few weeks revising before exams.
Sorry about the very long post, was just trying to be comprehensive, and didn't want you to set goals higher than you needed to be gutted when you didn't meet them.
Have fun!
xxxx
xCBRx
Are these not covered in normal Maths A-level? And what do you mean by further integration?
Frther integration was in our advanced higher maths. Have a look at your Heriot Watt book thing if you still have it.
Have you had a letter about your bursary yet? There was another thread where someone called them and they still haven't sent out all letters.
xCBRx
Are these not covered in normal Maths A-level? And what do you mean by further integration?
Nope - they're not covered in normal maths A-level.
Further integration involves using inverse trigonometric functions in calculus as well as hyperbolic functions.
Subcutaneous
Nope, most good student clubs have an entry fee of £3-£4 and then drinks can be £1-£1.50...for singles, or jaegerbombs
Think thats what he meant by female, i normally knocked back 5 pints and a few tripple vodkas before being quite drunk, then just sip the vks all night
normally end up spending atleast £ 30 
Don't buy too much..i.e dont take a whole load of pots and pans, potato masher, spatula..basically things you wont ever use! Take a full set of cutlery though, the cheap ones, because I found that mine would always go missing
When you first start uni, talk to everyone!! Be friendly, smile, say 'hi' to someone while you're queuing for something! This isn't weird-everyone wants to make friends and will be grateful you're making an effort.
Eat/cook with your flatmates...it is a bonding experience! And so much fun. The amount of baking/ cooking disasters/cake mixture fights we had were so much fun :P
It is your first year, enjoy being a fresher! Obviously work hard to ensure you get into second year :P and dont slack completely, but there are VERY few people I know who have been to every lecture. So relax
When you first start uni, talk to everyone!! Be friendly, smile, say 'hi' to someone while you're queuing for something! This isn't weird-everyone wants to make friends and will be grateful you're making an effort.
Eat/cook with your flatmates...it is a bonding experience! And so much fun. The amount of baking/ cooking disasters/cake mixture fights we had were so much fun :P
It is your first year, enjoy being a fresher! Obviously work hard to ensure you get into second year :P and dont slack completely, but there are VERY few people I know who have been to every lecture. So relax
OL1V3R
Nope - they're not covered in normal maths A-level.
Further integration involves using inverse trigonometric functions in calculus as well as hyperbolic functions.
Further integration involves using inverse trigonometric functions in calculus as well as hyperbolic functions.
Is there stuff covered in normal Maths A-level that is not in Advanced Higher?
I can't believe that Matrices, Vectors and Complex Numbers aren't in A-level. What do you do instead?
Thanks for the people who have replied to this thread, it has been insightful.
My prime tip for people going into their first year of uni is to not underestimate the importance of what you've come (and are paying) to do. Your education should come first, and your experience should be supplemented with the new things you encounter (new people, living independently etc.), and your social life is totally separate: you will make fantastic friends, and many of them might stay with you decades later (there's some statistic about loads of couples who marry meeting at uni), so focus on making the most of your degree, don't make it the bane of you life, like I witnessed a lot of people doing ("Ugh, this essay is ruining my weekend", "Let's go shopping instead of going to that seminar"). It's not hard to get the balance between work and play spot on, and it just makes everything so much more enjoyable.
Going to university opens a whole new environment to you, and it's true, you do sort of 'find yourself'.
Going to university opens a whole new environment to you, and it's true, you do sort of 'find yourself'.
xCBRx
Is there stuff covered in normal Maths A-level that is not in Advanced Higher?
I can't believe that Matrices, Vectors and Complex Numbers aren't in A-level. What do you do instead?
I can't believe that Matrices, Vectors and Complex Numbers aren't in A-level. What do you do instead?
A normal maths A-level syllabus in general covers the following topics:
Revision of GCSE material (graph transformations, simultaneous equations, inequalities, quadratic equations, etc.)
Basic coordinate geometry (gradients, mid-points, finding perpendicular and parallel lines, circle geometry, asymptotes, implicit¶metric curves)
Sequences and series (recurrence relations, arithmetic series, convergence, binomial expansion, geometric series)
Basic differentiation (simple rules, finding normals, higher derivatives, stationary points, chain&product"ient rules, forming basic differential equations, implicit¶metric differentiation)
Basic integration (simple rules, definite integration, approximate integration, integration by parts&partial-fractions&substitution&reverse of chain rule, volumes of revolution)
Basic algebra and functions (equating coefficients, factor theorem, remainder theorem, function inverses, modulus graphs, transformations, partial fractions)
Exponentials and logarithms (the "laws", changing bases, exponential growth&decay, solving equations)
Trigonometry (radians, graph transformations, solving equations, sine&cosine rules, identities, double-angle&addition formulae [with proofs of], trig inverses)
Numerical methods (iterative approximations)
Basic vectors (addition, subtraction, scalars, magnitudes, scalar products, planes, distances)
A typical further-maths syllabus includes the following:
Complex numbers (basic algebra, conjugates, modulus, argand diagrams, solving equations, De Moivre theorem, loci)
Numerical methods (interval bisection, linear interpolation, Newton-Rhapson method, rates of convergence)
Coordinate geometry (conic sections, focus&directrix, radius of curvature)
Matrix algebra (determinants&inverses of 2x2 and 3x3, basic arithmetic, simultaneous equations, linear transformations, eigenvalues&eigenvectors)
Sequences and series (standard results, method of differences)
Proof (basic notation, proof by induction)
Differential equations (auxiliary equations, forming equations, integrating factor, separable equations, complementary functions, particular integrals, general solutions)
Maclaurin and Taylor series (definitions, standard results, finding approximations)
Polar coordinates (definitions, converting between polar&cartesian, tangents&normals, graph sketching)
Hyperbolic functions (definitions, relationships, Osborne's rule, inverses, graph sketching)
Differentiation (hyperbolic functions, inverse trig functions)
Integration (arc-lengths, hyperbolic functions, inverse trig functions, reduction formulae)
Vectors (cross product, vector equations of planes, intersections, perpendicular distances, triple-scalar product)
Note that there may be some overlap, and the syllabus will vary from board to board, but this is generally what is included in the syllabus.
Phantom_X
I will be a fresher this autumn. Any non-drinkers have advice on freshers week ? A lot of people have told me that even though its ok not to drink, it does feel kind of wierd when your flatmates do.....
I'm not a drinker myself, and I knew a few people who also aren't. While I don't personally like going out all that much, and didn't really do much in my freshers' week (though admittedly there was no such official week at my university), I know people who didn't drink and still had a lot of fun - same goes throughout the year. Your flatmates won't judge, and if they do then they're not worth knowing anyway. I found that my flatmates didn't drink a large amount anyway, but just carried on their lives quite normally as I did with no awkwardness or anything. Don't worry about it
Phantom_X
I will be a fresher this autumn. Any non-drinkers have advice on freshers week ? A lot of people have told me that even though its ok not to drink, it does feel kind of wierd when your flatmates do.....
I don't drink either.
Just worrying that I will feel completely out of place during freshers week!
Another non-drinker here Don't worry about it, just think about how much money you'll save AND the fact that you can wake up the next morning not in pain and knowing that you didn't embarrass yourself 
Don't worry about it, just think about how much money you'll save AND the fact that you can wake up the next morning not in pain and knowing that you didn't embarrass yourself 
Phantom_X
Dude you are going to York too ?
sweet. what college are you going to apply to ?
We should totally form a non-drinkers alliance during freshers
sweet. what college are you going to apply to ?
We should totally form a non-drinkers alliance during freshers
I am! Hopefully! We shall see what happens come the 19th...
And if I get in, I'll most likely be going for James or Vanbrugh...I'm all about the cheap accommodation! What about you?
And we will do that! We could all sit around drinking free water! Ha
carlylwright
I am! Hopefully! We shall see what happens come the 19th...
And if I get in, I'll most likely be going for James or Vanbrugh...I'm all about the cheap accommodation! What about you?
And we will do that! We could all sit around drinking free water! Ha
And if I get in, I'll most likely be going for James or Vanbrugh...I'm all about the cheap accommodation! What about you?
And we will do that! We could all sit around drinking free water! Ha
Alcuin. Im unconditional so im waiting for my confirmation email though.
and certainly. The one advantage of non drinkers seems to be the extra money left over !
From the social aspect:
freshers week, use this time wisely! your main focus of this wee should be to try and meet lots of people and spend lots of time with your housemates. it's really important that you make the effort with your housemates as you will be living with these people all year and you want to try and get along with them. go to a lot of social events with your housemates... i found it works a treat! especially if you go on nights out with them. about 1 month in you will soon be able to establish your group of close friends at uni therefore the socialising in freshers is really really important!
exchanging housemates' numbers on the first day is a good tip too...!
don't worry about no one being your friend, everyone is in the same boat and is wanting to make friends so it shouldn't be a problem... just dont be spending most of your time in your room, spend it in the communal areas or go and knock on your housemates' room doors to see what they are up to or doing later on.
do set aside a certain amount of money for freshers week as it can get expensive if you go out most nights as i did, but it was worse for me 'cos we had freshers fortnight lol
and please please do try your best to attend lectures and seminars, its really tempting to miss them but dont as i have found out in the first year... you tend to fall behind and not have a clue what you are doing lol. and yeah as someone previously mentioned.... you will be saying "**** it 40%" as i have done many times :P
just remember to have as much fun as possible as you are probably going to have the time of your life at uni
freshers week, use this time wisely! your main focus of this wee should be to try and meet lots of people and spend lots of time with your housemates. it's really important that you make the effort with your housemates as you will be living with these people all year and you want to try and get along with them. go to a lot of social events with your housemates... i found it works a treat! especially if you go on nights out with them. about 1 month in you will soon be able to establish your group of close friends at uni therefore the socialising in freshers is really really important!
exchanging housemates' numbers on the first day is a good tip too...!
don't worry about no one being your friend, everyone is in the same boat and is wanting to make friends so it shouldn't be a problem... just dont be spending most of your time in your room, spend it in the communal areas or go and knock on your housemates' room doors to see what they are up to or doing later on.
do set aside a certain amount of money for freshers week as it can get expensive if you go out most nights as i did, but it was worse for me 'cos we had freshers fortnight lol
and please please do try your best to attend lectures and seminars, its really tempting to miss them but dont as i have found out in the first year... you tend to fall behind and not have a clue what you are doing lol. and yeah as someone previously mentioned.... you will be saying "**** it 40%" as i have done many times :P
just remember to have as much fun as possible as you are probably going to have the time of your life at uni
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