moving away for uni next year?

Question

hey everyone., Ive decided to move away for uni next year but im a bit nervous and I was just wondering would anyone share their stories with me eitehr over this or else they can send me a message through the yahoo mail thing! thnk you!

Answer 1

Going to university was the best experience of my life. So much, that I stayed an extra year to do a Masters. Then I decided to say to do a PhD. When I finally do leave university, I will have been here for over seven years. That's as many years as I was at secondary school. That's a long time. That's how much I love it.

I met my fiancée at university. She was in the queue outside a lecture room. As a physics student, there weren't many women in the class. I think we worked out that there were only 3% woman in our year. My parents had told me "don't go with someone on your coarse, you'll have to see them every day and it will get awkward if things don't work". Great advice, but I ignored it. I'm glad I did.

I asked her out in January and asked her to marry me in September. We are getting married this year (July). Yes, it's been a long engagement but we were both students so we were very poor!

I've just bought a house and I am studying for a PhD. My life is peachy. HOWEVER, I know friends of mine who haven't been so fortunate.

Be careful how much you spend. SERIOUSLY, be careful. I left university with £12,000 student loan and £3,500 overdrafts. The £12,000 I will pay off slowly until the day I die (it comes off my pay in the same way that tax does). The £3,500 I am still struggling to pay off, and soon it will start to accumulate interest. The crazy thing is, this is unnessesary debt. I was so despirate to make a good impression in my house that I kept buying crates of beer for the kitchen. I didn't run up £3,500 just on beer but it was a big factor.

Be careful what you spend and when you reach zero on your account, stop spending.

Also, it didn't work, and no-one in my house liked me. In fact, one guy threatened to gouge my eyes out with his spoon. I nearly had to move accomodation because the threats got so bad. Don't worry though, it was my fault. I like my music LOUD, and I annoyed a lot of people. Not a lot of people wanted to listen to Slayer at 3am before an exam. So my next piece of advice is "don't be a knob". Don't annoy people. Try to get on!

Study. Work hard. I actually found that my best results were obtained (in labs) when I had been drinking in excess. Writing up essays etc were much easier when you rewarded every sentance with a gulp of cheap lager. Find the method of study that works for you.

AVOID DRUGS. Okay, so now I sound like your mother, but I never took drugs (except alcohol) whilst I was at university. I've seen friends of mine really messed up by drugs and some of them didn't finish the course. You can have a good time and keep all your friends, just say no. Your friends will respect that.

Now, everyone says "join societies". I will say this, "DON'T join societies". It costs about £4 to join a society, but you get ripped off. In the first week you will be tempted to join every one you see, and you might use one of them if you are lucky. If you are a keen snowboarder, sure, join the snowboarding society. I am a fan of heavy-metal music, so I joined the Rock society. They showed us where all the best nightclubs in Manchester were, so they were worth the £4. I didn't sign up the next year though, because there was no point. All my friends were the same, so why waste another £4?

Phone home. Regularly. I am terrible at this, but it isn't just you ensuing a new experience, your parents and family is too! Every week just give them a ring to make sure they know you are okay. It will relax you too.

GET INSURANCE. Yes, most accomodation has this as a requirement but if you can't get into halls of residence, get insurance! It's worth the £20 per month, trust me.

If you can afford it, buy a house. If you can't, get some friends together and buy a house as a group. If you can't do that, get your parents to be guarantors and buy a house. You can rent the rooms to your friends and they effectively pay the mortgage. Make sure you go through a letting agency and make sure you keep in control. Accomodation is the biggest expense whilst you are at uni, but if you buy and let out rooms, it's free.

Eat well. Don't eat junk all the time. Healthy body, healthy mind.

Remember, eBay is your friend. If you need a computer, get a cheap one from eBay. So what if it can't play games, what do you need it for? Word processing and spreadsheets etc etc for report writing. That's it. I got a laptop for £140 and it was archaic when I bought it four years ago. I don't regret it, though, because I still use it. It's fine for my uses and runs faster than most new computers with Windows XP. Remember, faster computer just means less-efficient program writing and, at the end of the day, if all you want it for is going online or writing reports, why pay a fortune? You can even sell your computer at the end of your course (probably for the same amount you bought it for!)

Befriend the lecturers. In the second summer-break of uni I did some extra-curricular research for a lecturer at the university. I did some more the next summer, then I did some more the next summer for a different lecturer. That lecturer is now my PhD supervisor. It's not what you know, it's WHO you know. If the lecturers like you, you will go far.

Get a part time job. Two days a week is all you need. I worked at McDonalds. Yep, a Physics Degree student working at McDonalds, but even though I only worked two days per week I got promoted three times to the position of Shift Manager (the highest position you can be without becoming a salaried manager). It looks good on your CV to show you worked whilst you studied, and it looks even better if you can show you have management experience too! McDonalds may not by heaven, but at least it isn't hell. You get a meal allowance, so if you work weekends you don't have to cook! I had a LOT of fun working at McDonalds, so go for it! If you don't like it, just quit.

I also recommend you learn an instrument. This is a bizarre suggestion but here's my reason: you will get bored of the monotony of study and drinking and working. Buy a cheap guitar (I got one for £20 from eBay, it was VERY cheap because it had a scratch on it, but I don't care about that). Learning an instrument will use a different part of your brain to study (unless you are studying music). It will give you something to talk about with your friends and you will even make new friends. It will also give you something to do when you can't sleep before an exam. It is good for you to play an instrument. Fact.

And I think that's all the advice I can offer. Above all, have fun. The next three years WILL BE THE BEST OF YOUR LIFE. Enjoy.

Answer 2

I am sure you will really enjoy it. I went away to uni and made loads of friends. Everyone there is in the same boat, you usually go into accommodation with other people in your situation and the all make real efforts to become a new mini family. There are usually loads of clubs and societies to meet people with similar interests to yourself (even if you are shy) and welfare/ student support staff to help if you are having any difficulties at all.

Don't worry, enjoy yourself! I think going away is much easier to gain the whole uni experience than staying at home as you miss half of the fun if you are at home while all of the others are joining in the student life without you.

There are some good books out there about going away to uni, you may find them useful. I can't remember any titles but if you go to your local library they should be able to help you.

Answer 3

It is really scary starting uni, everything is so different from what you knew. You have to acclimatise to living away from home, new style of lectures and meeting new people.

My advice is to try to be organised to cope with lectures and deadlines. As for new people, be open and talk to as many people as you can. If you're waiting for a lecture to stat then chat to te people iwth you. Be open to talking to people you may not have given a second glance before uni. This is a chance for you to reinvent yourself as the person you feel you could be without the stereotyping that you were subjected to at school/college.

Remember everyone else is just as nervous and they probably appriciate a smile or hello as much as you do. Also bare in mind, its not the school playground anymore. Try to be mature and don't tolerate bitchyness or clique-iness in other people or your self.

Good luck, and I'm sur eyou'll love it.

Answer 4

For your first year get into the Hall of Residence. Get there as early as possible so that you can get unpacked as soon as poss and start meeting people. Some friendships you make at uniwill stand the test of time, I met the man who is now my husband on my first night at uni! The people who are on your course all share a common interest with you so it shouldn't be too hard to make friends. It is a bit scary as it is all new but just relax and enjoy it!

Answer 5

Some tips:

Get into a hall of residence if you possibly can.

Arrive as early as you possibly can. Many long term groups of friends form on the very first night, so make sure you're there - and in the kitchen, chatting.

You don't really want to hear my stories as I would not want a young person to emulate my excesses, but have a great time. I'm sure you will. It's life's first great adventure :-)

Answer 6

Um...where do you live, and which university are you talking about, that they're 8 hours apart? It doesn't take that long to drive from the south coast to the Scottish border. In any case, surely you are applying to more than one university? None of this makes any sense. You and three friends are all moving to the same university city...and you haven't even applied yet? If you really want to go then you go. My dad didn't approve of several of the universities I applied to. Tough. My decision, not his.

Answer 7

i totally understand you because i've moved away for uni this year. At first it's really hard because you are in a city which you dont know at all and you have to deal with everything by yourself. But you get used to it and it gets better and better in time. you start to enjoy it and have fun. I think it's a great experience and you sholuldnt miss this chance...

Answer 8

I went to Manchester Uni for one year and it was the best year of my life. I was 18 when I was there. I'm now 20. Lived in a flat with two girls and lived off takeaways every day!No tells you when to wake up or go to sleep. Just 24 hour chilling. You'll love it!

Answer 9

once you nail down eating properly then its a breeze. Not that i remember as i spent uni in a drink fuelled daze.

Answer 10

The rooms are small as hell....just be yourself and you will make lots of new friends to hang out with.