my college tips

7/29/2019 My College Tips

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The best college tips I could gather:

1- Go to as many stupid lame icebreaker events as you can in the first

couple days/weeks of your first semester. They really do help you meet

people.

2- Leave your dorm door open when possible. It's a great way to have

people drop in. Also don't have valuables on show, don't give people the

opportunity. As far i as i know, no one had anything stolen in my Uni BUT

you can't be too careful. And never tell people how much money you have.

3- Skipping a class is the most freeing feeling in the world. Don't skip

regularly, but once a quarter and you're ok. Well, you'll probably feel guilty

and nervous that you may have missed something. Make sure you know

there will be someone there who will tell you if you missed anything. It's

common for people to skip the same classes :/ Early morning classes are

the worst but just remember, at least you don't have to get up at 6am for

a 9pm lecture! XD

4- The first people you meet in Uni don't have to be your friend group.This

is most likely referring to the fact that your societies probably won't be

doing the same course as you.

5- It is so easy to be antisocial in uni... It's not like high school where

you're all forced to hang out together all day. If you aren't actively trying

to build friendships with people you can pretty much fall off the face of the

earth and not exist except as exam grades in the registrar's office. This istrue, the best possible way to make friends immediately is to ask people

questions about themselves, bond over similarities and DON'T mock them

for the stuff they like. It's best to say "Oh i've never really tried" or "I've

never really listened to them properly". Luckily for me, the first person i

made friends with was a local and lots of her friends went to the uni, so i

got to know people a lot more that way. However since you'll be living

there, you'll make loads of friends. But try to get along with your

housemates even if they're idiots. A friend of mine made enemies with her

housemates and they made her life hell.

6- Who you were in high school no longer matters. Well duh XD

7- Manage your time wisely. I would advise using google calendar or the

hotmail calendar. Or you can make your own, perhaps you could buy a

whiteboard. I bought one from Wilko and it was very useful

http://www.wilko.com/sticky-notes-and-memo-pads/wilko-board-magnetic-

dry-wipe-60cmx40cm/invt/0300210?

VBMST=whiteboard&VBMST=whiteboard&VBMTC=e10040cbf52dd0107fb

39f58cdb03ace (i think mine is smaller than this one though). And i bought

these pens http://www.wilko.com/pens-and-pencils/wilko-dry-wipe-chunky-

mixed-colours-x4/invt/0260403. And i would get a planner, organiser,diary etc. Insanely useful.


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ALSO IMPORTANT, find out about all your deadlines immediately and

assign them to memory. Your friends MIGHT remind you about the dates

but don't rely on it. Also your teachers won't remind you and your tutors

are even more clueless about your deadlines.

OH and find out where it is you have to hand them in to. It's best to justwander around and find these places before you have to rush around to

hand in an essay.

9- Get to know your professors. They are people, just like you. Not really as

important, i would say this does work for seminar leaders, they are just

there to help you. Lecturers are just there to talk at you.

OH and buy a dictophone! So important.

10- Don't be afraid to go out and try new things.

11- Get to know your professors office hours. VERY IMPORTANT. Also know

their email address as well. This will be repeated all the time when you

first go.

12- More often than not they'll notice that you're actively trying and care

about succeeding and will be more willing to help/maybe give you that

extra push at the end to higher your grade.

15- Come up with a study plan, even if its a couple nights a week for an

hour or so, it'll help and it will get you into a good habit. SO TRUE. Also i

would advise doing a little reading around before each lecture. Again i'm

not sure how your uni course will work but they usually give you a reading

list that goes with each lecture topic for you to read before each lecture.

16- Work out, you're gonna have free gym access and a lot of free time.

Working out is a great stress reliever and you'll feel great about getting in

shape/staying in shape. Its a nice confidence booster too. I don't think this

applies to England, however i would advise not getting a gym pass. So

many people bought these at my uni and NEVER went. If you want to

exercise, go on a jog. It's free and you'll have a nice view. BUT if you do,

always tell someone where you're going. Preferably more than one person.

17- Notes can be taken equally well with a pen and a notebook. Laptops

often serve as distractions. I will admit to browsing reddit during lectures

(in my defence, it was usually during the research methods lectures, which

i already know all about! XD)

19- You don't need to ask to go to the restroom - just go. But try to go

before or after, everyone will notice you leaving and returning. There was

a girl in my class who went toilet nearly every lecture and seminar, and

everyone talked about it.

20- Set an alarm about a little over an hour before your class. Having that


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extra time in the morning to yourself helps keep stress down, which helps

you do better.True, i don't do it by choice but i'm always the most awake

and alert in the morning lectures XD

21- Don't pull all-nighters. People usually perform better if they have

studied the material at least 3 days prior to the exam, and furthermoreretain the knowledge better. I'll admit that with my first essays, i severely

underestimated how much time i should spend on them. Which resulted in

my first bunch of all-nighters. They are horrible. Definitely learnt my lesson

and started my essays nearly a month before they were due. Also fair

warning, you will most likely get 3-5 essays due in the same week. Which

will require a lot of reading.

OH and going back to the whole suggested reading advice. Don't just use

these books when writing your essays, you would probably do ok with just

using them. However you should look at the books' bibliography andsearch for those books, that is what will get you better marks.

22- Try to sit in the middle or close to the front (but not the front row) of

your lectures. Sitting too far back tends to make you less interested in the

material, but too close to the front and you're stuck next to "that guy."

Follow this. People who play on their phones and talk thoughout sit at the

back. People who constantly need the toilet and the ones who ask

questions sit at the front. Relating to this, more than likely that during your

lectures it is expected of you to not ask questions during the lecture. So

DON'T ASK QUESTIONS unless you are CERTAIN that the lecturer is ok with

it. A lot of them have well rehearsed lectures and don't appreciate it whenyou throw them off course with your questions (I have witnessed this

happen).

23- Study group sizes usually work best when there're 3 people. More than

that and the group can get side-tracked. Also you can get to know them

better and they will feel more pressured to actually contribute. However,

you don't get to choose your tutor group and these people are usually who

you will be placed with when there is group work.

24- Get 8 hours of sleep a night. There is a temptation to party everynight, but remember, you are paying to be there, and taking out loans to

boot. Dont fuck up your grades so you can get drunk. (I don't expect you

will do this but it's good to keep it in anyways).

25- You will use surprisingly little of what you learn in school in the real

life, but your gpa and your internships are what is going to get you that

first job. You will be told this constantly.

26- It's better to be the best art critic in town than to be in the bottom 5%

of engineers. Unemployed.True i guess...

27- The party on tuesday isn't any better than the one of friday.


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Translation- try to refrain from clubbing on weekdays.

28- In the beginning, you might not make friends right away. Some do,

some don't. If you fall under this category, don't stress. I had a friend join

uni 2 weeks late and she ended up being friends with EVERYBODY. So it

totally doesn't matter. Everyone there wants to make friends.

31- Any and all friends you make in college will stick with you for a while,

so be a little bit outgoing.

32- Don't expect people to be more mature right away in uni. They're all

just coming from college, and a lot of them will act like it.This is true,

however there will be ones who are the same age as you, some will be

mature students (older) and there will be the 17 year olds. BUT DON'T

JUDGE PEOPLE ON THEIR AGE. A lot of the 17 year olds were a lot more

mature than the mature students. I actually saw one the mature students

get kicked out of an exam.

33- If you bring a car to college your freshman year, you will be used as a

cab. Charge for gas.

36- Bring your old videogame systems and hook them up in your dorm

room. It's an easy way to meet people on your floor. Good way to meet

guys ;)

37- You're not a cool kid anymore. When you go to college, everyone

resets to zero. Also try not to mention your a level grades, usually turnsthings awkward.

38- Don't rely on anyone, even your friends, if you are in a team project.

People are lazy and unorganised.THIS!!!!! I learned this the hard way. Just

make sure you do the best you can and inform your tutor if you have any

problems. That's what my friend and i did and the sociology department

changed the way they marked the work so that we could still get good

grades even though we only had 2 people doing the work whereas

everyone else had at least 5.

39- Realise that everyone who's there on day one is in the same boat youare. You're not the only one who has had to move away from home,

doesn't know where anything is and doesn't have any friends yet. BUT try

to get to know everything about uni, everyone will like you if you can help

them out when they're lost or don't know how to use the library. The

amount of people i had to teach how to use the library was too damn high

XD Also don't be surprised if some people just disappear and never come

back. A LOT of people drop out in the first few weeks.

40- You'll have to study on weekends. BUT try to use your free spaces on

weekdays to do all your work. You will have plenty of time off on weekdaysto do this and in effect leave your weekends free.


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41- Don't run to class if you're late, people will point and laugh. If you're

late, you're late. No one will care.

42- Don't you ever hang your coat on a wall sprinkler. Let this in because

wut.

43- Who you are now is not who you will be upon your collegiate

graduation. Personality, intelligence, world-view, views of yourself; they

are going to be entirely different.

45- Read the textbook in advance. Maybe just skim through it, you'll

probably only use a few parts of it. Although they usually have guides on

how to answer essay questions and how the exams will work.

46- Know how to cook. College cafeteria food is generally abysmal and fast

food is unhealthy. Check! :D

47- Make constant jokes about all the rahman you eat and how late you

stay up on school nights and how broke you are, and summarize it by

saying things like "this is soooo college". Sarcasm! Don't do this. You can

bond with people over how broke you are BUT don't make it the only

things you say. Also a lot on people in uni are downers "Urgh we have

waaay too much work to do", "This work is too hard", "Why is there so

much reading?". "It's too early" etc etc. Don't let people dampen your

enthuasiasm.

49- Be prepared to not be prepared. I can tell you everything i know but istill don't know everything... i'm sorry. Each course is different, each uni is

different :/

50- Use the calendar app to schedule things for yourself. Mentioned this

above. BUT i will add, you will probably want to buy a smart phone or

tablet. It is important that you have access to your uni emails at all times.

Lecturers say they will tell you in advance if a lesson is cancelled or moved

but there are times when they tell you just before. Also you may want to

quickly search for a library book number and the computers are being

used. AND they will give you a bunch of booklets that you won't be able to

carry around all the time but you can store them on the phone. It's not a

necessity but it will be valuable to you. At least carry a printed map of the

campus with you at ALL TIMES. Seriously. Not kidding, will save your butt

multiple times.

51- Most of the time, professors will not even know your name.This is true

but don't feel put down by this. You will probably have a different teacher

every lecture.

53- Just because you have access to pizza and french fries every day does

not mean you should eat pizza and french fries every day.


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54- Most of life is just showing up.

55- At the start of the year there are TONS of events with free food.Take

advantage of this. ALSO there will be fairs with loads of free stuff,

sometimes essentials. We had free pizza at my uni XD

56- Your teachers probably gave a shit and made a big deal of it if you

skipped class in high school. In university, nobody will care or likely even

notice. It's all down to you.

57- Eat breakfast.

58- Go to school to learn new skills, not to please family and friends or

follow a social norm.

59- You shouldn't care too much of what people think about you. There are

so many more types of people in college than in high school.

61- Books ain't cheap. Your best bet is amazon.

62- You'll have a new perspective on who your real friends are by the time

you graduate. Also, you'll probably meet some new, life-long friends in

college.

64- College Triangle: Sleep. partying. good grades. Choose two.

65- Be open, be friendly, everyone is just as scared and eager as you.

66- You never know what one small thing can lead to. Try new things.

67- Go to the library as soon as possible. Seriously. Walk around, figure out

how the system works. Find the English Lit section, this will probably

become your home away from home. And try to find the suggested

reading books, it will make it easier on you in the future. Less stress. Also

i'm not sure about your uni's library but mine is open 24/7 even on

christmas :O However it always packed from about 10-8 i would say.

However if you get in at like 7, it will probably be empty and it is heavenly.

I've been in there early in the morning and you pretty much have the runof the place and the librarians and cleaners are a lot nicer to you since

they think you're a lot smarter than the rest XD But that's just my

experience. I sound like such a saddo but i didn't have a choice! XD

I would advise taking bathroom flip flops with you, you don't know who has

been using your shower before you and you don't know what they've done

in there (pee, pee everywhere).

You may want to take an extension cord, i'm not sure how many sockets

you will have.

Don't forget your phone charger!


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Don't underestimate your need of a stapler and holepunch.

You could also bring board games if you have any. (Just not Monopoly!

You'll lose friends instead of gaining them XD).

Also you will need a shopping bag, the canvas ones. My Uni gave us allone for free and it was a godsend when it came to library books. Since

you're allowed to take out up to 18 books.... you're going to need extra

bags :P

Also a last minute add,YOU WILL NEED A MEMORY STICK. Also always

carry change for the printer (the printers work the same as college. Put

money on your card, scan your card on the printer. Bingo). You will have to

print every copy of your essay twice and make sure you take your ID Card

everywhere. You might want to get used to SkyDrive, it will has microsoft

word on it and saving your essays on there as well as on a memory stick is

always a good idea. You will probably have SkyDrive account assigned to

you by the uni but if not your hotmail account works on it.

https://skydrive.live.com/ Just sign in with your hotmail account, click

create then 'work document' and bam free word XD

ALSO! Keep an eye on your library book due dates, i had like 4 in late

fees in my first few weeks because i didn't realise that one book that i took

out only let you take it out for a day and it charged you a 1 everyday it

was late! Of course most books in there aren't that extreme if they're late

but still becareful.

my college tips

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