{"id":143889,"date":"2025-11-07T10:20:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.society19.com\/uk\/?p=143889"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:20:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:20:20","slug":"everything-a-new-student-should-know-before-starting-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.society19.com\/uk\/everything-a-new-student-should-know-before-starting-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything A New Student Should Know Before Starting College"},"content":{"rendered":"

University is basically just a giant maze of assignments and internet outages, tech problems and course adjustments. As a new student, it can be an entirely daunting world to enter into. Even the most prepared can find themselves lost very quickly in uni life – but as a seasoned university student, I’m here to pass on the things I wish I’d known before starting my university life!<\/p>\n

1. Enrolment Can Be Tricky<\/h2>\n

The thing no one tells you about university enrolments? It’s hard AF.<\/p>\n

You might think an internationally renowned university might have a decent tech team, but often times enrolment websites can be badly formatted in and of themselves; then add to that technical glitches, classes not showing up when you search for them, and a maze of majors, minors and complete flexibility of your degree – it can get overwhelming quick.<\/p>\n

The most important thing to do is to read the handbook for your degree thoroughly – read it five times, if you have to – and definitely don’t be afraid to contact the student help desk! And if you get started on your enrolment earlier, rather than a few weeks before census, the more time you have to fix your mistakes.<\/p>\n

Ensuring you’re enrolled correctly can save you added months of study in order to fix those amateur mistakes you made as a newbie!<\/p>\n

\n

2. Check Your Due Dates<\/h2>\n

Lecturers – those cheeky bastards – have an unfortunate habit of timing all their assignments to be due at the same time. What does that mean, you ask?<\/p>\n

It means that one week, you’re cruising; no assignments, no looming exams, only a few pages of pre-readings. The next week? Four assignments, three quizzes, and a group project come at you the day after your Tuesday night drinking.<\/p>\n

I swear to you, no matter how organised you think you might be, this moment will happen to you. It’s a part of uni life, no matter if your a new student or a seasoned pro. So no matter how easy you think the first three weeks of university classes are, stay prepared and think ahead!<\/p>\n

Even if you only write a few hundred words a week earlier than the due date, it’s better that cramming for the entire assignment hours before it’s due!<\/p>\n

3. Living On Residence Ain’t All That<\/h2>\n

Excited to meet some new people? Looking forward to new experiences and gaining independence as you live out of home for the first time?<\/p>\n

Uh, you might wanna take a step back there.<\/p>\n

Sure, the good stuff does happen. But living with other people is still hard. Living with strangers is harder. Living on res is a pot full of mess, personalities, and cliques. You are never going to have the perfect housemates, especially when there are so many of you crammed onto campus together!<\/p>\n

Expect the mess, remember that not everyone there is going to be your BFFL, and try not to sweat the small stuff!<\/p>\n

Someone is going to pinch your milk, dishes are going to pile up, and the bathroom is gonna be a mess. The solution? Put a mini-fridge in your dorm room, buy your own dinnerware instead of sharing the dirty stuff, and keep your toiletries hidden away in your room!<\/p>\n

\n

4. Talk To Other Students<\/h2>\n

Make friends with people in your course. They will help you through the assignments, or at least cry about them with you.<\/p>\n

Don’t snub the second or third-year students you might end up living with!\u00a0 They (aside from this article) know the ins-and-outs of your uni and can give you life-saving tips! They’ll know where the classrooms are, or at least tell you to download the ‘Lost On Campus’ app so you can find your way around yourself!<\/p>\n

Some of these people will even turn out to be life-long friends, so kick that social anxiety in the butt and go introduce yourself!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Don’t Buy The Textbooks (Yet)<\/h2>\n

Wait a week – wait two, even. Like any big purchase, you want to be sure you’re making a wise decision before investing a couple hundred into those oh-so-necessary textbooks your lecturers want you to buy.<\/p>\n

There are many cases when the textbook they want you to splurge on isn’t essential to the course – perhaps the important readings from it are already online, or the textbook is something you can borrow from the library instead of purchasing yourself.<\/p>\n

Be smart with your money, because you’re gonna want some spare after you’ve finished your studies!<\/p>\n

6. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help<\/h2>\n

Assignment deadline not achievable? Email your lecturer about it.<\/p>\n

Is the stress getting to you? Your university has counsellors that can help.<\/p>\n

Writer’s block getting to you? Ask your friends for some advice.<\/p>\n

No one wants to see you fail. The university staff will always be there in a professional capacity to help, and your friends at uni will have your back!<\/p>\n

The thing about university is that no one really tells you what to do – which is cool, but also kind of awful. If a little guidance is what you need to get you on your feet, know that the support systems will be there for you. There’s no shame in asking for help – there’s not a single person who goes through university without it!<\/p>\n

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What do you wish you knew before you started uni? Tell us in the comments!<\/h3>\n

Featured Image Source: https:\/\/www.pinterest.com.au\/pin\/536491374357851052\/<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University is basically just a giant maze of assignments and internet outages, tech problems and course adjustments. As a new student, it can be an entirely daunting world to enter into. Even the most prepared can find themselves lost very quickly in uni life – but as a seasoned university student, I’m here to pass…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25289,"featured_media":143890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1793],"tags":[8610,8219,19753,15714,8705,8057,8170],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-143889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uni-life","tag-college","tag-first-year-student","tag-need-to-know","tag-new-student","tag-student-life","tag-university","tag-university-life"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEverything A New Student Should Know Before Starting College - Society19 UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University can be confusing as a new student! 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