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Preparing for University

I'm heading off to study film and tele for uni and i was kinda wondering what sort of stuff i actually need- like supplies, preparation for freshers week etc. (I'm not moving out so thats fun?) just anything to mentally and - physically(?) prepare myself--- A lot of the youtubers i follow are either studying literature or science and theres not much about what its like studying Filmmaking....

Reply 1

Coventry University Student Ambassadors

Official Rep

Hello,
I'm one of the student ambassadors here at Coventry University.
I study psychology, so I'm not able to necessarily help with filmmaking in particular, but I can help with some generic tips for all new students.
I am going into my 3rd year as as somebody who lived at home for first year and then moved into accommodation in the second year, I found that there were a few things I wish somebody had told me to help me prepare for my degree.

First is to decide how you are going to collect your notes! For example if you prefer to take physical, hand written notes ensure you have purchased all of your paper, pens and books beforehand. Or if you decide to take your notes digitally, that your computer is able to run all the software needed to enhance your note taking performance. This will reduce any stress on this front when the year starts.

I'd also recommend to go to freshers events as much as you can! I know this sounds cliche but, freshers is a great way to meet friends. I didn't go to many freshers events in first year, simply because I was too shy. But when I did, I ended up meeting loads of people who were in the same boat as me, and even going into third year, I've kept a lot of those friends.

As you also stated, you are not moving out, so maybe plan on how long it's going to take to commute to your classes each day. Each university is different but with mine if you are more than 10/15 minutes late your attendance will not be noted and you also miss a lot in that time. This will also help you to keep a routine going and gives you the most out of your degree.

Overall, I'd recommend just going with the flow and doing things in your own time. Prep also helps a lot! This way you're able to get your head down and really enjoy all that your university has to offer.

I hope this helps,
Kind regards.
Courtney H

Reply 2

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hey there !

First congratulations on securing your place at uni. I study Media at Hallam so that degree has a bit of the film and TV stuff in it as well. All I did was made sure I had a good enough laptop with enough storage that could handle all Adobe software as you may get this included with your course and it would be worth downloading onto your laptop so you can carry on things from home and deadlines will be a lot easier. Most universities have a service that lets you borrow film equipment out but this requires you to have your student ID on hand so make sure you've applied for that so it comes on time for when your course start date is and just keep an eye out on your emails for any welcome week events that you may need to book onto.

It's also worth checking your health data is up to date. This could include making sure you have your vaccinations (they suggest making sure you're topped up on your meningitis) and changing your doctor over to the university one if you'd like to, since you say you're living at home this is more like an optional thing for you. I'd also invest in a good sturdy bag that can manage carrying things back and forth. I'd recommend a tote bag or a backpack as the easiest options for transportation. Have you tried reaching out to some of your new coursemates on welcome groups yet? If you haven't then it may be a good idea to join some of the freshers groups on Facebook and try to find your coursemates. It's way easier to reach out over social media than just to approach people in real life.

Hope this helped, you're gonna smash it!
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU