am starting uni

Steve-O

Steve-O

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Sooo im starting uni in september and i was just wondering if u guys had any tips for me before i start in september :D ohhh btw im going into game design at university of essex
 
Disregard lectures and acquire bitches

If someone offers you drugs say thank you, because drugs are expensive

Do squat thrusts in the main courtyard/quad/lobby/building to make friends

Wear your shirt inside out so people think you are just too cool to for school, thus making you the ultimate candidate for college

Do not wear 'humorous' tees, or you might as well write 'boring prick' on your forehead

It should never be a case of 'why is this beer only 10c a can?' it should only be a matter of 'how much of this beer can we physically transport RIGHT NOW!'

'I have an assignment tomorrow' is not an excuse to not go on a night out, merely an exciting and challenging handicap
 
Buy non-stick pans, as weird as that may sound I bought pans that stuck and although the food was still nice I'm definitely going to have to buy more pans for the second year :(

Don't blow all your student finance in one go, I know a few people who did this since you end up with about two grand in your account and it's odd for some people. Also, before you spend anything, just take the amount you get from student finance and minus your accommodation rent out of that. Then you'll know how much you have to budget over the 12 or so weeks you'll have there.

Be sociable. As obvious as this sounds, I can't think of anything worse than not being sociable at university, especially towards flat mates who you'll be living with all year, you really don't want to be on their bad side before the end of freshers week. They'll probably stress joining clubs and shit but I didn't join any and I still made shit loads of friends. Pretty much leave your door open the entire time during freshers week, then people will undoubtedly socialise and then come the end of the first week you'll find yourself leaving it open naturally.

Also, if you've got a PS3/360. Take it. There WILL be times you're bored throughout the year especially if everyone else has lectures or seminars and you've got bugger all else to do. It's a good sociable thing too if people come into your room, one of my female flatmates had never touched a console before and even she was intrigued when I was playing in. Dead Space/Dead Space 2 in the communal area in the dark at night made for some great banter :lew: Take a TV too which is probably obvious if you do the above lol.

:grin:
 
Don't do anything in lectures except write notes. Anyone who does any more than that is a cunt. Don't ask too many questions in tutorials either or people will think you're a cunt. Tutors and lectureres have office hours so go see them there if you have any more questions.
Learn how to reference, I don't suppose you have to do much referencing in Video Games stuff or in silly subjects like Anthropology or Woman's Studies, but it takes up a lot of time and it will take up even more if you don't know what you're doing. It generally takes me 2-3 hours just to reference a 1500 word essay and I have far too much practise.
 
As my good pal Hallybbz said, taking notes is actually quite important if you are in a lecture. Come exam time it is going to be your own notes that dictate how well you revise, so if you bother your ass taking them in lectures it will be much less stressful in the long run. What else are you going to there anyways? Sit and sleep, then why bother go to the lecture

As my almost as good pal Ryzer said, socialising is also very important. Do you know any other people going to college with you? If there are, stay away from them for a while. Otherwise you will form a clique and wont meet new people as easily. Also if you are by yourself there(as in there is no one else you know on your course) don't wear headphones at first. It isolates you and will make it difficult for people to talk to you and from friendships
 
I have a few general work-related tips...I'll leave the social side of things to everyone else. xD

Don't panic if you struggle a little. Your first year doesn't count towards your final degree; you only need to pass, and a pass is 40%. You can get that easily, even if you skip a ton of stuff. The pressure isn't on much until your second year, so have as much fun as you possibly can in your first. You're probably going to be treated to some wonderful scare tactics about how much harder University is than College, about how seriously you need to take it, etc etc. Trust me, University is easier than College. Much, much easier. Don't panic. You'll manage and, if you find yourself struggling, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Get to know your lecturers a little. It'll make lectures and seminars easier to attend, and chances are they'll be quite nice people, and you'll feel more comfortable talking to them if you have a question.

Go to everything, if you can. It's a slippery slope when you start skipping things: you'll quickly stop going entirely, and then you're probably fucked, because it'll carry over to your second year. Even if you get bored in lectures and seminars and don't really pay attention, still go to them. You might pick something up. This is more of a habit thing than it is anything else: I skipped a ton of lectures and still ended up with a 1st, after all. But I know people who skipped a ton of things and didn't get what they were hoping for. Best not to take the risk, unless you're absolutely confident that you can afford to. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it.

If you are ever required to reference for writing, it'll probably be the Harvard APA format you'll have to use. Use Microsoft Word for that (Manage Sources in the References tab, just select the type of material you're using and fill in the fields) and do it as you go. I'd suggest having a folder for any useful articles as well; you might need them later, and it's a pain in the arse trying to find them again. Any work on a computer, have it backed up THREE times - on the University computers, your own computer, and a memory stick - and save regularly. Get into the habit of checking your student e-mail, as well; I'd suggest having it as your primary e-mail address to make life easier.

If any workshops are on for writing academically or anything similar, go to them. They're extremely helpful. The leap between College and University essays isn't a huge one, but you'll need to up your game a little, and they'll give you a clear idea of how to do it it.

Try to keep everything organized; keep folders for lectures notes and seminar answers, write things up neatly, etc. You'd be surprised by how messy things will get if you don't constantly keep watch over them, and that will make revision an absolute nightmare.

Recommended reading, if you've got it, is likely going to be long and boring; academic textbooks almost always are. I'd suggest taking notes from the textbook so you don't have to read it again. Lecture notes will always be sufficient to get you a pass grade, but if you want more, get the textbooks and take notes from them, so you only have to read them once, and you've got the main points from the chapter written down.

Find the best way you work. Are you the kind of person who likes to leave everything to the last minute because they work well under pressure, or are you the sort of person who can't pull all-nighters? Find a way of working that you're comfortable with and stick to it, regardless of what everyone else is doing. That applies to revision as well: I'd suggest starting revision at least a month before your exams. Everyone has their own preferred way of working, make sure you know what yours is, otherwise you'll struggle with things.
 
My Manic said:
'I have an assignment tomorrow' is not an excuse to not go on a night out, merely an exciting and challenging handicap
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And if you find that this handicap has become too great, you can always corrupt your word documents by opening them in notepad, deleting a few lines of text, saving it as something else, and sending the corrupted one to your teacher. By the time she reads it, you should have enough time to complete the essay you could not finish.

Or you can just use this: http://neddyy.net/docs/

You are very welcome.
 
My Manic said:
Never ask a question in a lecture, EVER! Mature students do it all the time, and everyone just thinks 'prick'
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You know what's funny? This applies in pretty much all avenues of life (unless it is super important and the information was never addressed). When I was student teaching, before school started and we were sitting through all the in-school meetings, the teacher I was working with said never to raise your hand to ask a question. There were never any questions that could not be asked in private. He had a good point. The meetings went on pretty long because some pricks kept raising their hands to ask stupid questions.

It's the same in school for the kids.
 
I too am going to uni next year, so this is great stuff for me as well.

Keep it coming! I want to survive!

Also, how good are my social opportunities if I want to live a fairly drug-free lifestyle? (drugs including alcohol).
 
without the alcohol, kinda limited because fresher's week is undoubtedly the best time to meet and get to know people. you could always go out anyway but not drink
 
The Dоctor;951157 said:
without the alcohol, kinda limited because fresher's week is undoubtedly the best time to meet and get to know people. you could always go out anyway but not drink
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Well I'm not unwilling to be in an alcohol filled environment; I just don't want to partake in it myself, and am curious as to the doors that would close for me.
 
Stevie Wonder said:
Sooo im starting uni in september and i was just wondering if u guys had any tips for me before i start in september :D ohhh btw im going into game design at university of essex
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Enjoy the first year, but enjoy it wisely. Make friends, stay happy, eat well, and get to know the University. Do make sure you work; given your subject, it would be a good idea to attend lectures to ensure that you will have a good grounding for next year.

Be prepared to work hard during the second and third year.

I've just finished University, so if you'd like any advise whilst there, PM me your msn address and I'll add you. :)



One-Winged Moogle said:
Also, how good are my social opportunities if I want to live a fairly drug-free lifestyle? (drugs including alcohol).
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It depends on the kind of social activity you enjoy. Most Universities have a large number of societies, such as Anime Society, Roleplay Society, Photography Society, and various sports societies. The quality of these will no doubt vary from Uni to Uni; at mine, the anime society revolved around watching the most obscure animes possible, so it was difficult to talk and get to know people.

Drinking is a large part of Uni, but that doesn't mean you NEED to drink (I didn't). You just need to work harder to socialise; you almost need to make the social opportunities. :/

Which Uni are you going to? Again, feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk about Uni further. :)
 
I think you should try it for yourself before following my advice, but in my experience, whenever I bring my laptop to uni, I end up not listening to lectures. I play games, edit or use the uni's wifi. :wacky: it came to a point where I didn't realize I'd been doing it for half the sem and I crammed during midterms. I was a sophomore taking GE courses then, so it wasn't that bad, but it was undue stress. :rage:

Since then, I only bring it when I have presentations. Everyday I just bring a pad and pen for notes. :mokken:
 
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