So... Uni in a week...

[jive]

I go up on Saturday to start Fresher's Week, can't wait for it. Any useful tips? Anyone else going/gone this year for the first time?

 

[Queso]

Oh fresher's week. Have fun

Things may have changed since I was a lad, but I remember it being really awkward for a couple of days whilst everyone on my corridor sussed each other out, then we all started getting on and drinking together, then the first arguments appeared and by week four we'd split up into different social groups and hardly spoke to each other.

Which I think is pretty standard. Chill out and enjoy.

 

[Allotriophagy]

Tip 1 - Do not spend all your money in Freshers' Week.

 

[Kernow]

Tip 2 - don't try & impress people in Fresher's Week by drinking pints of red wine like a guy on my corridor did.

 

[Lau]

One thing I heard after I'd started uni, which I've found to be very true, is that the hard bit isn't making friends in the first week, it's spending the next few years trying to get rid of the friends you made in the first week.

I know I was so worried about not making friends, and in the end that part was fine. Definitely be friendly with everyone and anyone in the first few weeks, but there's no need to tie yourself down to anyone or a particular group until you suss everyone out a bit better.

As it happened, I met one of my best friends ever on the first day, but I also met a few folk who turned out to be idiots and/or unhinged on the first day too, who were decidedly hard to get rid of.

But being generally friendly and approachable to everyone, whether you think you'll like them or not is a good plan. In life, I find, not just the first week of uni.

edit: On the subject of impressing people, don't try to. You'll look like a tit. Just be yourself, and they will come, man.

 

[Chundles]

I go up on Saturday to start Fresher's Week, can't wait for it. Any useful tips? Anyone else going/gone this year for the first time?

Are you going to live in a college or on your own in an apartment. If you're in a college, get plenty of vit. C, vit. B and drink loads of fluids because you'll want to try and avoid as best as possible the "Fresher's Flu" (we don't call it "Fresher's Flu" here because we don't have that whole "freshman, sophomore malarkey they have elsewhere) oh, and fluids does = beer.

My first week was forgettable, not because it wasn't fun but because I can't remember a great deal of it. Had a blast, then that whole "Uni" thing started and yeah, college was so much better when Uni wasn't in session.

It was a very hot, humid early March day and I was on the third floor - very sweaty. My room was huge (not many shared rooms in my college) and quiet and I had it set up beautifully for the next 2.5 years until I got shunted to the worst room in college. Then I became tutor and got a massive room and my own bathroom and shower - now THAT was tops.

Take as little as you possibly can, remember to take one or two proper luxuries and just add to your stuff when you get there and see what the room requires. If you're sharing then figure out how you want to kit out your room. The greatest addition I made to my first, tiny, tutor room before I got the big room was a little two-seater couch and some christmas lights on the roof - it was a freaking babe-magnet. My ex-girlfriend and I used to spend ages in there drinking Baileys, sitting on the couch and just sharing the atmosphere. And it had atmosphere alright, tiny but with huge ceilings and the light was perfect. Sounds tacky but it just seemed to work.

Take power boards and bottles of water so that if you have a fridge you can fill some bottles and chill them down for when you get back from a big night. Smash a couple of the bottles and you'll be well on your way to avoiding the next day hangover that may have you running from an early morning Physics tutorial to spew loudly and violently in the bathrooms next to the classroom.

Always remember to turn your alarm off if you're going to be away for a few days.

EDIT - You'll make your best friends in the weeks after O-Week. That's when everything settles down and people turn back into how they really are.

 

[Queso]

As it happened, I met one of my best friends ever on the first day

I found that. Alistair, the guy two doors down from me in the Hall of Residence. I remember initially thinking he was a right wierdo, and he later told me that he took one look at me and thought I was a complete tw*t. However, we ended up as really close friends. We're still in touch now over 15 years later.

Always remember to turn your alarm off if you're going to be away for a few days.

Especially if like me you used your stereo as your alarm clock. Boy, was I unpopular that Monday

 

[Allotriophagy]

Tip 3 - Do not shag hundreds of different guys and then spend the rest of the year avoiding them and being unable to eat in the dining room because everyone KNOWS what you did

 

[Chundles]

Tip 3 - Do not shag hundreds of different guys and then spend the rest of the year avoiding them and being unable to eat in the dining room because everyone KNOWS what you did

Tip 4 - If there's a girl who's mysteriously disappeared from the dining hall recently due to some whispers, get a second plate and take some dinner up to her. She might put out....
Ooh I'm naughty....

 

[jive]

I'm in a flat of 8 (which I think is going to be single sex - s**t idea, it'll be like a bomb hit it after 2 days). My gf is going to the same Uni and is staying in the same halls but across the road and up a bit. I like the fact that she's going to be there, means I won't miss her (and end up spending £££ on phone calls...) - also, sex on tap <_<

 

[Allotriophagy]

Tip 4 - If there's a girl who's mysteriously disappeared from the dining hall recently due to some whispers, get a second plate and take some dinner up to her. She might put out....
Ooh I'm naughty....

Tip 5 - make sure it is a girl and not a guy.

Ahem.

 

[Queso]

I'm in a flat of 8 (which I think is going to be single sex - s**t idea, it'll be like a bomb hit it after 2 days). My gf is going to the same Uni and is staying in the same halls but across the road and up a bit. I like the fact that she's going to be there, means I won't miss her (and end up spending £££ on phone calls...) - also, sex on tap <_<

It also means you're not guaranteed to split up by week five

 

[Chundles]

I like the fact that she's going to be there, means I won't miss her (and end up spending £££ on phone calls...)

That's probably the most perfect situation. Close enough to maintain intimacy, far apart to maintain independence. Both my college relationships felt like five years crammed into one because we were always around each other.

also, sex on tap <_<

'Ken oath!

 

[jive]

Yup. All my friends who were going out with each other (last year) all ended up splitting up. Quite rubbish.


However, my sister and her boyfriend (who just graduated) have been together all the way through which makes me think it's possible to manage it.

 

[dcv]

Just enjoy yourself These are the best years of your life! Away from home, away from your folks, meeting new people from different areas, making new friends, learning new stuff, not having to worry about work etc for another 3-4 years... take it all in and have fun! You'll meet a lot of people during Freshers' Week and the coming months... some of them will be twunts but some will be friends for life. Go to the parties but still remember to turn up for any orientation-type things you may have for your course.


God, it's13years since I started uni


have a drink (or twenty) on me

 

[dalvin200]

Tip 1 - Do not spend all your money in Freshers' Week.

LOL!! Wish I'd known THAT tip when I was on 1st year at uni!! lol.. my dad gave me a bid wad of cash, which I thought was "per month".. only to find out it was "per term" lol..

But I spent most of it during the first 2 weeks.. needless to say I got a major b0ll0cking and a cut in spending money!

 

[dalvin200]

my tip: this is where you really understand how life works - living away from home.

i couldn't believe how spoon fed i was until uni..

 

[jive]

I have one orientation course. That lasts an hour. And starts at 1pm. That'd it. For a whole week I have one hour planned - I'm loving it.



But I did just insure my iMac for £2000 - hopefully I won't need it...

 

[Lau]

I found that. Alistair, the guy two doors down from me in the Hall of Residence. I remember initially thinking he was a right wierdo, and he later told me that he took one look at me and thought I was a complete tw*t. However, we ended up as really close friends. We're still in touch now over 15 years later.

I didn't have that so much as some of the people who I chatted to in the first week ending up having the prefix of weird– or crazy– added to their names, as in "Weird Dave" or "Crazy Lizzie", and, as is always the way, ended up attaching themselves to me, and I was too polite to tell them to piss off.

jive, if your girlfriend is coming to uni with you, make sure you make your own friends, not just as a couple, and do your own thing as well. My brother went to uni with his girlfriend and spent all the time with her and if they went out it would be together. They both basically missed out on the whole fun part of uni, and they're not together now. I'm incredibly glad that when I went to uni I went by myself, to a city a long way away, and had to get on with it and socialise with people. Best thing I ever did. Having said that, I was single at the time (sort of ) and didn't have the dilemma of a partner that you have, and I know it's not easy to go off with your friends when she's there. But it's very important to do that, I think.

 

[Chundles]

my tip: this is where you really understand how life works - living away from home.

i couldn't believe how spoon fed i was until uni..

Heh, I couldn't believe how spoon-fed I was at Uni when I took my year off. Now that I've graduated I miss having every hour planned for the day and studying at night. Nights are really boring now that all my mates are still at Uni - I'm the only one in my group not doing undergrad or postgrad work.

 

[R.Youden]

Back off to uni

Well I am back off to uni after a year working. I have just got a place to do a Masters in Electronic Engineering after a year of working for a Formula One team. I suppose when I got into the job there was a lot that I found I needed to improve on before I could achieve my final job that I wanted and when the oportunity came along I just had to take it. I am going back under different circumstances though, I am getting a flat of my own with all my own furniture and I am living well away from the campus so I wont be your typical student I suppose. Also hopefully my girlfriend will be moving in with me so that will save some money!

Anyway hope you have a great time at uni, but remember, there is still work that needs to be done. I nearly screwed myself over by not working as hard as I should have in my first two years but I managed to pull it around thankfully.

 

[Osarkon]

i'm also starting, but a week friday. 4 year course, Computer Science, woo.

 

[macOSX-tastic]

i'm going back to loughborough in about 3 weeks. this time, i'm not in halls, im in a house with 3 good mates from my hall last year. this means we're gonna miss freshers' week this time round. fresher's week is a chance for you to " wipe the social slate clean" as it were (i dont mean forget your old friends)

but you can be yourself and and people will respond to that. just have fun, join some clubs, go out some nights, leave your door open when unpacking....and dont be afraid to just jump in there and roam the corridors, saying "hi" to people. your imac may also invite some interest

you'll have a great week.

S

 

[Black&Tan]

The walls have ears....

'nuff said.

 

[jive]

Should I take any CDs? ALL my music is in iTunes and so are all my DVDs.


Also, I'm taking my camera, ipod and my extrnal hd - but not my printer and scanner, good idea?