University Advice

This blogpost is for those who are thinking of or are heading to University this year or in the future. I'm writing this because I wish I would have read something like this before setting off for uni. I'm going to give you guys some tips to survive your first year and hopefully help you get the most out of it. I'm going to talk about a few main topics which involve uni life.

Money

I would definitely 100% advise saving. I went to uni with hardly any savings and I definitely regret that. I would also recommend (with caution) for you to open some sort of student account that has an overdraft. I and a lot of my friends have the Santander account, you get an overdraft of £1,500 and you have a year after you graduate to pay it off. Although, I don't recommend going to far into & use it only if you really have no other option because once you're in it, you'll find it hard to get out. Another good thing about the Santander account is that you get a free railcard for 3 years which is really useful especially if you're going to be travelling home during term time. 

Jobs

This is obviously linked with money but I would suggest that you look for jobs in whatever city you're moving to before the term starts. Around the beginning of term or just before, there's going to be lots of jobs going as students have left to go to uni etc. A job really is a life saver! If you have a job now where you can transfer that's great, I'm jealous of you.

Freshers Week

Number one rule: GO OUT EVERY NIGHT and just make the most of it. This week is amazing and you get to meet so many new people who are all going to be friendly and who will all be in the same position. Most of the people you meet will be very sociable and probably going out of their way to talk to you so you should have no problem there. But I will repeat, just make the most of it.

Housemates

For your first year you will probably be living in a shared accommodation. If you get there at first and only get on with a few housemates, or maybe even one or none, don't panic. You will meet new people! You have your course friends and you will also make friends from different parties that people will have during and after freshers week. If you don't get on with some of your flatmates, it's important to remember that you're only living there for a year and you will most likely find friends who you're going to live with next year who are not your housemates. Another tip - choose your house for the following year before Christmas because after all the good ones will go.

Food

One of the biggest mistakes I made this year is probably wasting money on loads of meals. I was lucky enough that my parents gave me money weekly on food but I would suggest doing a big shop every two weeks or something and try your hardest not to eat it and trust me - it's hard!! 

I think I've covered the basics. Moral of the story is: take care of your money and just enjoy it. Keep up with your work but also go out and socialise as much as you can. It'll be the best decision you've ever made. 

If any of you have anymore questions or worries about Uni, you're welcome to tweet me or comment below.

Anastasiya X