FIRST YEAR AT UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE? MY ADVICE!

From worldofpctures(dot)com

Hi y'all! Asalamu alaykum (peace be upon you)! 

The new school year has finally arrived! YAYYYY!!! So happy summer is finally over! 

JUST KIDDING! 

I'm sad summer is over but I gotta admit, I'm a little excited to be going back to university, mainly because it's my last year of undergraduate studies (yay me!).

Since the new school year is already here, here's my advice for newbies starting university/college! I've put together some of the things I've learned over the years.

ACADEMICS

1. Course credit exclusions*

When you enroll in courses be sure to look out for course credit exclusions. That information should be in the course description when you're choosing a course to take. For example, let's say you want to take a Social Science course. In the course description, it says that a certain Humanities course (they will be specific about which one) is a course credit exclusion. You wonder what the heck it means. It means that if you are currently enrolled in that Humanities course or have taken it previously, it will be replaced by the Social Science course you want to take. In other words, that Humanities course won't count and you'd have wasted money and time. They don't tell you this in information sessions. So don't get screwed over!

*I don't know if all post-secondary institutions use the term "course credit exclusions" but be on the lookout! 

2. Show you care! 

Show your professor or TA (whichever is your tutorial leader) that you care about the work and the class. Show that effort of hard work! Your tutorial leader is the one who marks your assignments. Come to class on time, do the readings before class, and participate in class discussions. In addition, ask questions! Especially if your tutorial leader is the professor (yes professors also hold tutorials sometimes!) because they love questions. However, don't be a suck up. This isn't high school, NO ONE likes a suck up.

Suck-ups ooze fakeness. They're just pathetic. Tutorial leaders do NOT like suck-ups and they'll see right through you in seconds. So don't be one. Even if you hate the class do some acting and show you're genuine. This doesn't guarantee that you will obtain good grades on your assignments. It just means that your tutorial leader may give you more help on your assignment(s) when you need it as compared to your fellow classmates. 

3. Don't slack off on the readings!

Oh my God I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT let yourself slack off on the required readings because it will be quite difficult to catch up. This is a reminder to myself first and foremost! The amount of pages you have to read in high school doesn't even come close to how much you'll have to read at a post-secondary institution. In university/college, students are assigned about 50+ pages per class. This is just my estimation of the average number of pages all students are required to read before coming to class (it all depends on the course you're taking and who your professor is). Now add that to all the readings you have to do for your other courses plus any assignments you may have to hand in. It's a lot. 

Plus! If you don't do your readings, you'll be unable to participate in the class. Sometimes tutorial leaders will ask each student to express his/her thoughts on the assigned reading. Sometimes they will divide everyone into groups to answer a question about a specific text and then present it. You don't want to look dumb in front of your peers and your tutorial leader. So do your readings!

4. Participate

I understand that as a first year you'll feel intimidated or shy to participate in tutorial discussions. You'll also feel nervous. But it's something that you should force yourself to do. You should not only participate to show your tutorial leader that you're prepared but use it as a means of boosting your grade - and saving your a**. Depending on the professor, participation is usually worth 10%-15%. You can get mostly C's on your assignments but if you're consistent in your participation and come to class on time you could probably get away with a B at the end of the course. Keep in mind that many of your classmates are also first years and don't know anyone in the class. So don't be intimidated or too shy to participate! I promise that you won't feel that way at all after your first year at most! You'll get used to it.

5. Don't be late!

Be on time! Especially on the first day. And especially to your lectures. There will be a hundred students in your class and it's VERY awkward coming in late. There will be a hundred students staring at you and you'll feel super uncomfortable standing there for like a minute or two looking for a place to sit. So come early. And sit in the first or second row. That's the best place to sit because you retain information better that way and if you're shy, you can easily ask questions without having to worry about fifty or a hundred students turning around to stare at you.

6. Keep track of your degree!

You have to keep track of it yourself cuz ain't nobody gonna tell you what courses to take each year and when you're gonna graduate! That's all on you. You're an adult now and it's up to you to take the right courses and apply for graduation. Did I just say you have to apply for graduation? Yes I did. YOU decide when you're ready to graduate.

Every student should receive a book/booklet that contains information on their program. If your institution doesn't give/have one, look on your program's webpage. It'll definitely be there. There should be a chart that tells you what mandatory courses you have to take, how many courses of a certain level you have to take (for example, you may be required to take four third year courses), and how many non-major courses you have to take. It also tells you how much credits a course should be worth. Make sure you fill in that chart every year.

I also want to point out that you must make sure you know exactly what your degree is. For example, are you completing a regular degree? Or an Honours degree? It matters that you know what you're doing because each degree type has different requirements to fulfill.

SOCIAL LIFE

1. Join a club!

You should join one club at least! Why? Because you get to meet new people and make new friends. It's also a way for you to have some fun at university/college. Your life should not only be about studying and homework. It's not healthy. A human being deserves a break from hard work every now and then. In addition, your resumes will be more interesting when you apply for a job during your studies or after you graduate. Employers will not only be impressed by your grades or your degree. They want to see that you've done other things!

2. "You meet your real friends at university"

I've heard this saying a gazillion times as a twelfth grade student. It's not really true. Unless you didn't have any friends in high school, or none of your friends go to the same university/college as you do. You'll still have your bffs from high school. If you end up going to the same post-secondary institution, you'll find that you'll be closer than ever. If you end up going to different schools after graduation you'll drift apart a little because you'll rarely see each other! Sad but true. You should try to talk to each other as much as possible and update each other on what's going on in your lives. But sometimes you just drift apart and that's it.

I'd say it's a little difficult to make a true close friend from your class at university/college. Usually, people will be friends and hang out during the time you have a class together and then drift apart after that. Out of all the classes I've taken at uni, I've only made 2 very close friends that I always talk to.

MONEY

1. Bring your own food as often as possible!

I won't even deny it. It can be very tempting to buy your meals at school. I mean there's so many amazing restaurants on campus (depends on which institution you attend!). Plus, probably the fact that you're lazy or just so busy with homework and assignments. 

What I do is make my lunch/dinner the night before and put it in the fridge. Then I heat my food in the microwave on campus. The lineups for the microwave are really long sometimes so make sure you hunt around for microwaves in non-frequented places that not many people know about!

2. Your tuition 

One thing to look out for is a dental/medical insurance charge to your account. If you already have insurance, you most likely have the ability to opt out of it and get that charge removed from your tuition. If you don't, keep it. There are medical and dental clinics on campus and you may need to go to one sometime.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that government student loans shouldn't be relied on! If your student loans come late, the school will charge you interest despite either knowing that the government hasn't released funds to students yet, or, that you cannot pay your tuition on time. BOO!!

3. Getting textbooks 

DO NOT BUY TEXTBOOKS FROM THE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE! 

Seriously. 

Unless you have to because the book you need just isn't available elsewhere. These books are expensive as heck and you won't even need them again after the school year is over. Sometimes you won't even need to use the book that much and you paid hundreds for it. Why bother?

So what to do?

One thing you can do is buy books from other students! This way, the prices are reasonable, plus you can negotiate. Look for these student-sold books on your school's bookstore’s webpage and/or Facebook (there are pages where students post books for sale, many institutions have this). Another thing you can do is borrow from the public library or your institution’s library. And constantly renew as much as you can until someone puts a hold on it and you can’t renew it anymore. In that case, you'll have to wait for a bit before you can get the book again. Make sure you put a hold on it as soon as you return it! If you aren't a cheapskate like me, you can actually pay a fee to keep the book for the entire year.

So that’s it! My last words are to work hard and have fun whenever you can. And NEVER forget who you are outside of the classroom.

If anyone has any other tips to share, please do so below!