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Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: Scrambled Egg Machine on 01 Mar 2009, 10:24
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I am going to Texas Tech University this coming year. It will be my first extended time away from home. I will be rooming with my cousin. He is helpful, but I could use some advice for dorm living, college skill, and other things, just college in general. Help?
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Don't be a slob and don't sleep through your alarm while it goes off forever. Both of these will cause people to hate you. Also, just because you don't technically have to go to class doesn't mean you don't have to go to class. Get too far behind and you will fail.
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I remember my cousin (who's a year older then me) came back from his first semester at college and said "you'll love college, you never have to go to class!" Later that month, we found out he had failed all but one of his classes.
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Don't be a slob and don't sleep through your alarm while it goes off forever. Both of these will cause people to hate you. Also, just because you don't technically have to go to class doesn't mean you don't have to go to class. Get too far behind and you will fail.
From personal experience, both of these are very much true. Different people have different opinions on how clean things should be but if you have any common spaces that you share with others make sure you clean up after yourself as then nobody can complain that it is you who is at fault.
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try pretty hard, go to class, stay on stuff but at the same time don't freak out too much about doing bad in some classes. most people experience a bit of a drop in grades from high school to college, but your grades for your last two years of college tend to be looked at more than your first two so it's okay.
buy used textbooks and sell them the next semester whenever you can, you will save a lot of money that way.
get to know people in your classes and talk to your professors. it is so much easier to stay of top of things when you are studying with other people, and your professor will explain stuff to you that you didn't understand in lecture so much better in person. ask everyone questions about everything all the time.
budget. BUDGET. lots of students can buy new clothes every week and go out drinking every other day because they are rich and their families pay for everything. that is fine, it is okay, but if you are not ridiculously rich and you assume right off the bat that since everyone else seems to be going out and spending money all the time you can too then you will find yourself out of money and in a bad place very quickly. keep a constant eye on your funds.
unless you are actually going to make the effort to have a somewhat healthy lifestyle and not drink constantly, expect to gain the freshman fifteen because nearly everyone does.
if you start to run out of money, cheap sources of protein include meat that expires the next day (usually sold at a discount and then you can just buy it and keep it in your freezer) and peanut butter.
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Reading this thread, I realise just how much UK and US colleges must differ. Although some of this stuff sounds really useful, like the budgeting thing. I really have to learn to do that before I start university.
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Thank you, all of you. What were your experiences in college like, I need all the data I can get!
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Reading this thread, I realise just how much UK and US colleges must differ. Although some of this stuff sounds really useful, like the budgeting thing. I really have to learn to do that before I start university.
Yeah, Americans use the word college like English use the word University. Note that the OP is going to Texas Tech University, and yet still says he's going to college.
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there are options sometimes for staying in residence when you are no longer a freshman, but i would recommend moving out into an apartment or house or something like that asap because that way you will learn all the million and million of tiny little important things you need to know how to do when living on your own that you wouldn't get from living in residence, like how to pay bills on time and cook for yourself and get along with your neighbors and check your mailbox on a regular basis and keep your kitchen clean and regularly have groceries in your fridge and basically how to be completely responsible for everything in your life.
some of it sounds pretty obvious and almost patronizing, but it really is all incredibly important stuff that at first is always so much more overwhelming than people think it will be, and then you figure out how to sort it all out and have time for it all and manage your life and really, the sooner you can figure it all out the better.
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While you are living in the dorm, learning to discipline your time can be difficult. It will never be easier to socialize in your life. You can literally step out of your room and be surrounded by people your age, many whom will share something in common with you. This is fun, but it can eat your time and you do have to make sure you find time to study. My strategy was always to study in the morning and afternoon so I could hang out at night. But I didn't drink much and I was pretty disciplined about it.
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I lived in Lubbock for 12 years, so first off if you have any questions about that town specifically I'm your man, man. Also I know a ton of people from there still and if you find yourself lost and alone or in the cold or something emergency help is within reach.
You're also lucky that Lubbock, TX, is a college town in the middle of northern Texas, so everything is pretty much dirt cheap. I have seen few places where you can get a relatively decent apartment for 400 bucks a month, or a cheap rental house for 600. So if nothing else your living expenses will be relatively low.
Edit: there is a slight concern about it being a dry town, however. Bars are closed Sunday and the only way to buy alcohol for personal use is to drive out to what they call "the Lubbock Strip", a row of liquor stores outside of city limits that can only be accessed by the freeway(which is forever under construction), lots of drunken driving and stuff down there...
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Oh, wow. Thanks man, that's really good to know. Why'd you leave there, then?
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Buy your textbooks online, even just using amazon.com used books you can save about 40-60% on books.
You will only have 14-20 hours of class a week, so make use of the free gym to avoid getting that freshmen 15 (i gained 80 lbs in college).
The friends you make in college will be the friends you will stick with the rest of your life... they'll be at your wedding, at your funeral, and everything in between.
Despite popular opinion, the greek system is worth checking out. If nothing else, living in a frat house with a meal plan can save you a lot of money over living in the dorms.
During the next 4 years you'll be constantly surrounded by people your age and that share your interests. Dating/making friends becomes much more difficult once you leave college for the working world.
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Yeah, I reinforce the "just because you don't have to go to class, you really should" statement. If you don't go, you don't learn. If you don't learn, well you will probably fail. Definitely make the effort to get up and go to class every day. If you really hate studying, I find that hand writing your notes from class and then typing them up at a later point really helps. It forces you to read everything again, making it sink in a little further. Then you have typed study notes for exams that will make it easier when you are freaking out.
Also, start your assignments when you get them. I know that sounds like I am nagging, but really. I learnt from my first year at uni and I am not going to do the same thing this year. Your work will end up a lot better and you will, in all likelihood actually finish it a week or two before the due date and you can not stress so much about it. Don't leave it until the last minute, you will be stressed to the max, not have time to eat or sleep and it will generally suck ass.
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The friends you make in college will be the friends you will stick with the rest of your life... they'll be at your wedding, at your funeral, and everything in between.
I'm going to go even further and say, the people that you meet in the first week of college (fresher's week or whatever) are most likely the people that you will be spending the most time with throughout your college career. First week is really important for socializing. It's when people meet other people, and you should really make an effort to get out and make friends. They'll be doing the same thing so it's okay.
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There was a thread about this a few months ago.
I'm not saying it to be a dick. The info in that thread is really good.
(I wrote down most things I know about college in that thread.)
And I didn't go to class much and didn't fail.
Also, the guys I met in my first week at school turned out to be dillweeds.
The important part is: While both these things MAY be true (or false) for you, they don't have to be. Don't rely on it.
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I'm going to go even further and say, the people that you meet in the first week of college (fresher's week or whatever) are most likely the people that you will be spending the most time with throughout your college career. First week is really important for socializing. It's when people meet other people, and you should really make an effort to get out and make friends. They'll be doing the same thing so it's okay.
This is very true. Meeting great friends in a class is actually not that common because there is not a whole lot of time for socializing. The orientation that the school does is the best time to socialize and make friends. Then once you have friends from that, you can expand your network through them.
Plus tests are everything in college. If you have a test in your second class of your day and not one in your first, skip the first class to study more for the upcoming test because it will be more important.
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We have this thread at least twice a year.
Don't try and reinvent yourself in college. It's A bit crass. Don't sleep with drunk girls, it's incredibly crass. Coming up with a new nickname is okay, as long as it's not a really dumb one.
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That's cool. I know I'll be a nerd forever, and I don't really have a nickname, except at work. There, they call me Ace.
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Also, the guys I met in my first week at school turned out to be dillweeds.
the guys i met in my first month in the dorms make up all but 1 of my groomsmen, and I am marrying a girl that I met during the first month of college.
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I am going to Texas Tech University this coming year. It will be my first extended time away from home. I will be rooming with my cousin. He is helpful, but I could use some advice for dorm living, college skill, and other things, just college in general. Help?
Get a job, hippy
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the guys i met in my first month in the dorms make up all but 1 of my groomsmen, and I am marrying a girl that I met during the first month of college.
Congrats man. But i will say that you are pretty lucky as i also found out that the people i met in the first week were a bunch of brainless morons and i now have a completely different group of friends instead.
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Thanks. I think both of our experiences are extremes and a normal experience is somewhere in between.
From experience, it also helps connecting to other 18 year old guys if you're into drinking shitty beer and playing madden or halo... or if you have a fake ID, then everyone will love you.
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Yeah I don't talk to really any of my friends from freshman year, its kind of depressing, I moved off campus after that and I commute from a pretty fair distance, and they all live really close. you'd think they could invite me to a party every now and then... And I lost 25 lbs freshman year, mostly because of the shitty campus food, and I've gained it all back by now but meh.
Anyway, Reason I don't live in Lubbock anymore is because my family moved to MD my senior year of High School. That said as the years progress I think this is just as good as anything else, Lubbock's a nice little town, a great place to go to college and a great campus, but there's not much to do there except drink or smoke pot, possibly do some meth and knock up a high school girl. Of my friends who still live there, five got married between the ages of 18 and 20. My advice is go for the schoolin', leave before the soul-sucking.
And try and meet up with my friend's Josh and Jason, they pretty much just sit around, talk about philosophy, smoke dirt weed and listen to Bob Dylan.
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Stay away from weed and video games. Don't go the route of buying beer instead of juice to keep in the flat, if there is only beer that is all you will drink. Get healthy easy to make food stuffs, if it's not easy to make you will either not eat or go out for fast food.
Pot/kettle etc.
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Anyway, Reason I don't live in Lubbock anymore is because it's fucking Lubbock.
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Get thee a wok.
Also consider alternative sources of light. My friend's place had christmas lights strung up to the ceiling, apparently it saved them some money.
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Christmas lights are simultaneously look cool in both style and lighting (especially the fake icicle ones), and make for awesome party lights, so it lessens decorating time.
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I don't like fun.
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Oh man I wish that I could give advice...but I chose to stay home for university because at this point in time, kids who live off student assistance end up paying back at least two and a half times what they borrow.
But seriously, do make friends first week (aka frosh?) - but also try and talk to people in your classes, they'll be helpful if you need help or distraction from lecture...
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Get thee a wok.
Best piece of advice in this thread.
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Agreed.
Stirfry is the easiest, tastiest thing.
A rice cooker is also a good idea.
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Get thee a wok.
Also, take advantage any kind of co-op/undergrad research/internship programs the school offers around your sophomore or junior year.
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I don't like fun.
No, I don't like that I got in 2 years of college what I should have got in 1... I stopped going to class and played video games/got drunk/did drugs/went out clubbing 6 nites a week/quit my job.
But fml, it was fun.
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I don't know if it's possible, but if you can, room in a corridor dorm instead of a suite. While the suite may offer more privacy and quiet time, my time in a corridor has definitely gotten me better socialized and made me a better person for it. Though this is not quite like high school, you will meet people that you have more in common with than back at home, and you will meet people that you dislike more than the most aggravating person you have ever met. The trick is that now you are more 'in the wild' you can spend more time with people that you genuinely enjoy spending time with.
Also, do not necessarily dismiss greek life out of hand. There are fraternities out there that are not just filled with hooting 'frat boys', and I can hardly imagine life on campus without my brothers.
Finally, buy a leatherman (http://www.leatherman.com/). I can hardly describe how useful it has been in my time here. You're not at home: things will break, you're going to have to fix them, and it helps to have real tools for things.
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Don't do that thing with that one girl
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unless its on the rec room pool table.
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Tips for how to behave in lectures.
Do Nots:
1. DO NOT be the tappy foot guy.
2. DO NOT be the clicky pen guy.
3. DO NOT be the twitchy leg guy.
4. DO NOT be the kicks the back of your chair guy.
5. Most importantly NEVER be the person that talks through the entire lecture. This is the most annoying thing, people go to University to learn and it would be nice if there wasn't incessant background chatter. There was a pair that talked through most of a lecture I had. I got so annoyed I got out of my seat, walked up to where the were sitting and asked them if they would mind shutting the fuck up please. I am not normally a person that does that sort of thing, but fucking hell people talking through lectures is annoying. People congratulated me afterwards, the pair didn't say a single word after.
Do's
1. DO try and attend most lectures. Recently I stopped going to a lot of my lectures because of hangovers/laziness. I've fallen behind far more than I thought I would, this leads to stress and worry which is not fun at all.
2. If people are talking/clicking pens or whatever, DO ask them to stop. The rest of the class will be grateful and it will make your lectures far more enjoyable. If you can't concentrate because of someone talking then you will not take in the lecture as well as you should.
Hope that's helpful
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Go out and get tanked.
Fuckin' lectures.
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Once, when my wife was lecturing, a student came in talking on her mobile phone, and continue to talk as she sat down. After a moment, my wife stopped her lecture and called out "as your conversation is so much more interesting than this lecture, could you please tell the rest of us about it?"
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Get used to eating a fuckload of rice. And probly noodles.
And yeah doing your dishes is a big one, cos if you dont do your share people will stop doing theirs and thats when you get mold growing in that pot/plate/cup you forgot about.
Go to as many extra study sessions you can not only will you learn more its a great way of making friends.
Get to be on good terms with your lecturer, it can help you in many ways.
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If you need to take or make a call, leave the room. This is much easier in lecture halls If you know you'll have to do either of those then sit at the end of your row and as near to the exit as possible.
Whether or not you're obligated to attend lecture is in part dependent upon the style of your instructor. I'm in a class right now that has no textbook. I absolutely have to show up, else I miss out on half of what I need to know (lecture powerpoints are put up, but important slides are intentionally left blank) whereas in my other class we're basically reading out of the book and watching documentaries, so I can afford to skip a class or two. But as a general rule yes, you should be showing up.
If you've got free time on your hands and you don't know many people consider volunteering with some sort of on-campus organization.
If you're getting into college straight out of high school, you'll probably be delighted by the amount of control you have over your time. Don't choose class periods because they're easy, choose them because they utilize your time most effectively. When I started college a few years back I could barely make a schedule if my classes started before 1 in the afternoon. Trouble was I didn't have much of a social life because I was only available for a few hours out of everyone else's day. They went to bed early for early classes, and I stayed up until 4 AM. Do what you can do, but train yourself for eventually seeing early mornings. It can be a really productive time of day for you. At this point I've been able to scale back and tackle anything that comes up after 9 AM.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erIs98Z5dn0
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Once, when my wife was lecturing, a student came in talking on her mobile phone, and continue to talk as she sat down. After a moment, my wife stopped her lecture and called out "as your conversation is so much more interesting than this lecture, could you please tell the rest of us about it?"
Instead of that, one of my teachers would take the phone and start talking to whoever was on the other side.
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- If you have any free time at all join up with a campus group that does something you like.
- Don't date the first person who attaches themselves to you. Consider the situation first. Don't be a substitute significant other.
- If you have any extra time to fill re-copy notes taken in class. (something that helped me anyways)
- Don't live in a rented house with a bunch of other people. It's just not worth the hassle.
- Spend as little time possible in your dorm room. Sleep there but find another nice place to study.
- Learn to live a frugal existence so if you do need some cash you will have it.
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- Don't date the first person who attaches themselves to you. Consider the situation first. Don't be a substitute significant other.
On college dating, in my experience, about half of all college students experience some variation on the following Freshman year:
- Show up completely in love with your SO from high school. Clearly, S/he is the best person in the world and you will spend the rest of your lives together.
- Break up over Thanksgiving break.
- get in to a short but passionate relationship with someone at school (probably from your dorm or a neighboring dorm).
- Break up 2 weeks later (sometimes, this relationship will last into winter break. This is a great way to add some drama for an extra zesty kick).
- Get back with your original SO during winter break.
- Get back to school and realize that you have nothing in common with your high school SO.
- Call your high school SO and announce that, instead of going home over Spring Break, you've decided to go to Florida/Go camping/Go on a service project with some friends from school.
- Start only dating college students.
If you find yourself in this kind of relationship, don't fear it. It's part of the process of letting go of your high school life.
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The friends you make in college will be the friends you will stick with the rest of your life... they'll be at your wedding, at your funeral, and everything in between.
I'm going to go even further and say, the people that you meet in the first week of college (fresher's week or whatever) are most likely the people that you will be spending the most time with throughout your college career. First week is really important for socializing. It's when people meet other people, and you should really make an effort to get out and make friends. They'll be doing the same thing so it's okay.
first week is important and all but...the whole meeting uber awesome people you'll hit it off with right away thing? no. no. god no. i was making an effort to be friendly and mingle during my first week. i hung out with a group of girls that i wouldn't have bothered talking to in high school for the sake of being open minded and because i was all lost and didn't know anyone at my new university and being with them was less scary than being on my own.
and no i am not whining and hating fun. basically it's the friend version of "don't date the first person that attaches themselves to you". don't be friends with people just because you live on the same floor of the same residence if you have nothing else in common whatsoever. go out and try to meet people that you will actually enjoy spending time with instead. i did the whole greek thing, and although i didn't end up joining a sorority in the end, it was good times. i also signed up for volleyball which could have been good times in theory but eventually i just ended up missing practice too often because time management is not my forte.
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Don't try and reinvent yourself in college.
And why not? I changed a lot from my first to last year of college, because I became more open to the idea of trying new things instead of just fitting into whatever nerd stereotype applied to me in high school. My only regret was that I didn't have this attitude sooner.
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He's not saying people should resist change at all costs, just don't be that guy who tries to reinvent themselves. The one who shows up at university with this new 'persona' he's decided is the new him, which is just obviously fake and fucking irritating.
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I sort of did that, but when I started college I pretty much became the person I was supposed to be, if that makes sense. High school was the shittiest time of my life and I spent most of it by myself and quite introverted. So when I started college I didn't have to care about what a certain group of people thought, and I got to become myself. If that makes sense.
Also I started going by Liz instead of Beth. That helped too I think.
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Don't try and reinvent yourself in college.
And why not? I changed a lot from my first to last year of college, because I became more open to the idea of trying new things instead of just fitting into whatever nerd stereotype applied to me in high school. My only regret was that I didn't have this attitude sooner.
I think what he was trying to say was "keep it real, bro".
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Also, in college, it is easier not to shower as often, still take the time every morning to shower before classes. Nobody wants to talk to the stanky kid.
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Oh man personal hygiene is the most annoying, time-consuming thing. I never thought finding time to take a shower or brush my teeth would be such a pain.
But it is important. Make sure you do it.
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Fun Fact: You can shower and brush your teeth simultaneously
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I am as a half saturated sponge, thirsty for more knowledge.
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Being clean is a biggie, but don't buy cheap shampoo/deoderant/cleansers/exfoliant/moisturiser/showergel/shaving stuff because you will smell cheap and they don't do the job as well. If it means eating one less meal a day to afford a £15 quid tube of aftershave balm then do it.
I showered twice a day in college or 3 times if I was gonna go clubbing, sometimes more when I was high and forgot if I had just showered, if only because I had a bathroom in my own room which is the best thing ever.
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I skip the shower every other day pretty regularly. It is called "deodorant" and "perfume."
(Plus I work at Bath and Body Works so generally speaking I am going to smell pretty goddamn good at all times.)
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Ladies can more easily get away with skipping showers here and there it seems. Although really, guys dont have to shower every day, but it definitely wont hurt.
Umm, let's see... Well, hope you dont get a douchebag of a roommate, but even if you do, really don't make it an issue. Just coexist and try not to get under each other's skin.
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You will hate your first two roommates.
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I still live with my second college roommate. And the first was a great guy. Really quiet, but a great guy.
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I'm probably going to the same school as one of my bandmates. perhaps the other one too. So I will not even hate my first roommate.
take that college
also by bandmates i also mean best friends.
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You just wait.
The both of you.
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okay
*taps foot*
game on
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Its rarely a good idea to flat with friends, especially if your both new to the whole thing. Wars can be made over the smallest things
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Though, oddly, I roomed with my friend from high school my Freshman year.
5 years and 4 dorm rooms/apartments/houses later, he's still my roommate.
It actually worked out alright.
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Rooming with close friends can be great, but you've got to remember that you're not necessarily going to be any more compatible just because your friends. The real trick is knowing how to prevent the wars. Which really isn't all that hard, but it's a skill like any other. The biggest thing is to resolve issues before they start. Know how clean the common areas need to be for everyone living there, when its acceptable to play music loudly, what is and isn't common property, who's going to do which chores, and most importantly, how you are going to resolve disputes that do arise. If you figure that out ahead of time, it's really not that difficult to live with someone. Also, be honest about it. If you hate cleaning, don't move in with someone who can't stand a mess, even if you are best friends. If you absolutely need to listen to heavy metal music through your favorite speakers at midnight, don't room with someone who likes to go to bed early.
I'm in my fourth year of living with the same 3 guys and I had roomed with two of them during college as well. Granted we are very compatible people in a number of ways, but I can count on one hand the number of times we've raised our voices to each other, much less gotten in to any sort of war.
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if you want to fall out with someone the best way to do it is to room with them. there are exceptions of course, but for the most part keep in mind it's going to result in you spending a LOT of time together and finding out absolutely everything about each other including terrible things they have done and excruciatingly annoying habits. i have had this experience a couple of times as well, it is not fun.
as a general rule, i would say it's best to start by rooming with an acquaintence(s) who you know is responsible and easy to get along with over your best friend, but if you are confident the latter will work out then make sure you spend enough time apart so that you don't get completely sick of each other, and DISCUSS EVERYTHING because even the slightest unresolved disagreement or hint of passive aggressiveness will snowball and get worse over time.
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i'll keep that in mind. thanks benji and tania.
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I guess I have just been really lucky then. I am rooming with my best friend that I've met during my college years and it is fabulous. We were really good friends before we got an apartment together and after nearly a year in a pretty small place, we are better friends than ever.
I guess I am doing it right?
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Avoid if you can being the sole person on a lease or tied to bills. Get everyones names on it. It doesnt always happen but people can screw you over horribly. If for whatever reason bills cant get paid if its all under your name you get stuck with it.
Also if your having trouble with anything like paying bills or even getting assignments in on time talk to the relevant people as soon as possible. Generally people are happy to help you out.
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it really just depends. i have three housemates; one i have lived with for two years now, she initially started off as someone i kind of knew through a previous roommate and now is one of my best friends and favourite people ever. mostly i am saying that people tend to fall out when they room together due to the fact that it is sort of an impulsive "this will be awesome!" decision and that it is probably more important to take into account less the fact that you are friends and more how compatible you think you will actually be as roommates. i love all of my friends dearly, but there are some i could definitely see myself falling out with were i to live with them for an extended period of time.
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Being a 2nd semester senior I can say this: Make sure you have fun. College will probably be more work than high school, but there are (nearly) no rules, so go out and have a good time. If you sit in your room and do work all day college will suck, so be irresponsible, but keep it within reason. Stay up late playing Mario Kart, go out on weekends (and weekdays, sometimes), go to Wendy's at 3am, make your room badass. You're pretty much on your own, and almost no one will know you, so be who you want, it's a clean slate, just don't be a dudeguy. No one likes dudeguys.
Some other important things I can think of:
Avoid being peer pressured too much. Be willing to try new things, but don't let others control you.
Do stupid things, you're in college, you're allowed to be crazy. That being said don't neglect schoolwork, it's still important.
Honestly, I don't want college to end, it's such a fun time. The work sucks, but I have enough fun that when I leave school I'll remember the parties and fun times more than the work. So, go out there and enjoy the next 4 years.
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College is the only time in your life when it is socially acceptable to have booze for breakfast. Enjoy this, but not too much, and not on school days.
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Clearly you have never been an old, old man.
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I have not. Does this apply to old, old women as well? I like to think I have something to look forward to in life.
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Oh man flatmates, bang some and leave others. The ones you leave might then get a boyfriend who becomes your new dealer too. And again about only having beer drinking nothing but beer for 2 weeks is not good, but it is better than drinking nothing but coke in my experience.
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Stay at the same college. If you absolutely have to change colleges, try to stay in the same state.
I've been to three colleges in three states. I wish circumstances had let me just stay at the first one. Also, don't take a break from college for a few years. Again, I wish circumstances had let me just keep going to college. I spent a couple years working and trying to get back into school, in a different state, and the application process can take forever (and you really need to have all your i's dotted and t's crossed on your app).
Get enough sleep.
Away from home, keeping your own schedule, you may be tempted to do things like stay up all night a lot. Or even just until 3 or 4 am. And then getting up in the morning to go to class is much, much harder, and so maybe you don't. This is bad. And even if you make it to class on zero or little sleep, you will be a zombie and not learn. This, too, is bad.
Take care to maintain good personal hygiene and housekeeping habits.
Others have said this, too.
I did not take this excellent advice. I suck at it. Not so much the hygiene part as the housekeeping part. I am a slob. Do not be me.
Lock your dorm/room/apartment/whatever door when you leave (and at night), make sure your roommate does too.
Dorms, and student-dominated apartments, are terrible for theft. People will steal anything not nailed down if they get a chance.
Whether you eat healthy or not, try to eat some good-for-you stuff, too. Also, consider vitamin supplements.
Again, I didn't practice what I preach. I'm an awful cook. It has probably made me drag ass a lot more than I should, not getting all the nutrients I need, which I'm pretty sure that beer and pizza don't provide. Seriously, you don't want to get scurvy or something...
People you know can teach you things. And I don't mean professors.
Assuming you still have both your parents, or even one parent, or just somebody older than you who cares, take the time to learn from them. I wish to hell I'd asked my parents about a couple thousand things when I had the chance. "Hey Dad, teach my about that tool-stuff you make look so freaking easy." With that sentence, I could have been a much more capable individual than I am. "Hey Dad, teach me how to do taxes and stuff." With that sentence, I might not have such a seething hatred of the IRS. College is more than classes, it's learning to be an adult, and they don't have classes about some of the most important stuff.
Yeah, it's cool to be a self-made man. I brag about it all the time (not really, no one cares), while inside I wish I had been smart enough to avoid it.
If you really don't have anyone to turn to for advice, then (dare I say it?) invoke the magic words to summon the mightiest and most schizophrenic repository of information (and lies, and porn) in history: Consult Teh Internets! There are places to learn about taxes and tools and bill paying, and places to ask for more specific advice. Do so.
Knowledge may or may not be Power, but it can definitely save you some trouble, and maybe save your ass.
There is no such thing as "The Typical College Experience" in real life. Or at least, not everyone gets it.
It's different for everyone. Some people have the time of their lives. They make friends, go to parties, and generally have a kickass time. Some even manage to get decent grades while doing so. Not everyone, however, has such a carefree and awesome time at college. Maybe you don't make tons of friends, maybe you don't go to parties, maybe you don't have that much fun.
It's okay. Don't get depressed if it isn't everything Animal House and Van Wilder and [insert movie about college life here] said it would be. You're ultimately there to get an education. Or, should you harbor cynical-type doubts about the quality of the education, you're there to obtain a piece of paper proclaiming you as officially Edumicated, and thus, Employable. It's still good to try and make friends and have fun, but getting through college and into the Outer World successfully is the important part.
Don't stress out! Seriously, man, calm down. CALM DOWN!
That's better. Don't get freaked out by college, either by how hard it may be, or getting a bad grade in a class, or living on your own, or any lack of social success, or any social setbacks you may encounter, or whatever. It's cool. Just stay calm, and remember that it's just college, and life goes on. You may (will) make some mistakes. That's cool too, it's part of the experience. The part that everyone does get. Try to learn from that stuff, and don't let the bastards get you down.
Sorry I rambled so long.
That is all.
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man yeah i am seconding the vitamin supplements, or at the very least try to eat an orange or drink some juice once in a while. i actually knew a girl who got scurvy while in uni and apparently it isn't really all that uncommon among students.
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Stay at the same college. If you absolutely have to change colleges, try to stay in the same state.
I've been to three colleges in three states. I wish circumstances had let me just stay at the first one. Also, don't take a break from college for a few years. Again, I wish circumstances had let me just keep going to college. I spent a couple years working and trying to get back into school, in a different state, and the application process can take forever (and you really need to have all your i's dotted and t's crossed on your app).
This is not necessarily good advice, at all. I hated my first school, was depressed, overworked/stressed, and horribly unhappy in general. I dropped out, took a year off, and reapplied elsewhere. I'm going to school in a different state now, and things are much, much better.
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Yeah, my friend Tom went up north to NAU and had a terrible time, like, he would come back down (about a 2 hour drive) every single weekend because there were only 3 types of people there: stoners, hardcore christian religious nuts, and marching band kids. He was none of these, and really disliked his roommate. He's now back in town, and feeling a bit better, but still seems down.
I think the advice I can give is to have a job or something. Something that will help you be independent. I'm not in college, but I have enough friends in college to know that being tethered to your parents because they are paying for you sucks.
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check your mailbox on a regular basis
If this were important, I'd be pretty screwed.
Yeah, I reinforce the "just because you don't have to go to class, you really should" statement. If you don't go, you don't learn. If you don't learn, well you will probably fail.
Speaking from the faculty perspective, I would like to reinforce this point yet again by also saying that you should not count on anyone forcing you to do the work. The only person in your life who will force you to work is your mother, and she's not at college. There are plenty of students who just dick around until actually forced to do any work, and while I'll occasionally prod people if it seems they need it, beyond that I am perfectly content to just let people fail.
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hey i still get my electricity and phone bills through the mail, dangit
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Speaking from the faculty perspective, I would like to reinforce this point yet again by also saying that you should not count on anyone forcing you to do the work. The only person in your life who will force you to work is your mother, and she's not at college. There are plenty of students who just dick around until actually forced to do any work, and while I'll occasionally prod people if it seems they need it, beyond that I am perfectly content to just let people fail.
I think this also gets back to having a good rapport with your instructors. If your profs think you're generally a good student and notices you're behind on your work, they are much more likely to ask what's up or remind you that it was due. If they don't know who you are and have no reason to believe you're not just screwing around, they'll probably assume that you are. I remember that I once accidentally handed in only half of a take-home exam. Because I knew the professor and he knew me, he assumed that it was an accident, let me know that half the test was missing, and let me submit it late without penalty.
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I think the advice I can give is to have a job or something. Something that will help you be independent. I'm not in college, but I have enough friends in college to know that being tethered to your parents because they are paying for you sucks.
I'm going to disagree with this one. If your parents are willing to pay for all or part of your living expenses in college, why not take them up on it? Sure, it's nice being independent and all that, but college is a time when you get to be free in a way that you don't otherwise. Free to simply laze around the odd day and not have to worry about anything. Of course, getting a job during the summer is probably a good idea, cos it will take some of the load of your folks and maybe allow you to save up for something fun, like that Spring Break you kids always talk about.
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Stay at the same college. If you absolutely have to change colleges, try to stay in the same state.
Get enough sleep.
Consult Teh Internets!
Don't stress out! Seriously, man, calm down. CALM DOWN!
Each of these is a fallacious piece of advice.
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having a part-time job is a pretty good idea if you can manage to fit it into your schedule. for the last three years i've spent about 10-15 hours a week either working or volunteering and it works out a-ok for me, i have stuff to do and people to see every week that aren't related to school and it gives me some good experience for my resume. DON'T work during school, however, if you don't need to and you feel like you really don't have the time to balance between the two and it's causing you huge amounts of stress, that won't end well.
your best bet is to look for a job on campus, as a lot of campus jobs tend to hire exclusively students, are usually pretty good about letting you work pretty minimal hours and will care enough to try to work around your class schedule.
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Maybe it's just isolated to my friend, but he is 19 and has a curfew still, mostly because of the fact that his parents are paying for his college. Because his parents have paid for his stuff, he has never had a job before. Ever.
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I work two part time jobs and go to school full time as well. It would be nice to not have to, but when your parents can't afford to help you out, you gotta make it on your own. And that is what I am doing. It sucks. It really doesn't cause much stress, just when I have to work the night before a test, or when I'm working towards the end of the semester when all the projects and papers and final exams are starting. sometimes it works as a nice little vacation from school, to just be able to go to work and concentrate on something else for a while.
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See, it's really a case by case thing. If you're going to school far away, for example, it's hard for parents to attach strings to your life whether or not they're paying, and you will gain plenty of independence simply from not having your parents to turn to when there's a problem. Also, it depends on your parents. My parents had the attitude that once I was 18 my life was my own and they would advise me whenever I needed it, but it was no longer their job to make rules. I paid for college with money from my parents, loans, and a few scholarships. I do not regret this even a little. If I had paid for it myself, that probably would have meant being limited to going to school in state and living at home, or at least coming home every weekend, which certainly wouldn't have made me as independent as moving half way across the country and living on my own did.
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it does depend on the person. i am pretty lucky in that my parents paid for my degree, but personally i am the type of person who get really burned out if i spend too much time on school and it's really stabilizing to have other things to do for a few hours every week. i've had a full courseload every semester i've been in school, but my grades actually went up significantly the last two years when i started taking on more non-school work because it gave me a lot of breaks from school and made the time i did spend studyng that much more effective. some people are the type of people who need to spend a lot of time studying and revising, though, so working in school doesn't work out for everyone and if you do feel like you are getting stressed out, it's probably better to just cut down on your hours or quit the job altogether rather than try to force it to work cos, again, that's probably going to end really badly.
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Stay at the same college. If you absolutely have to change colleges, try to stay in the same state.
I've been to three colleges in three states. I wish circumstances had let me just stay at the first one. Also, don't take a break from college for a few years. Again, I wish circumstances had let me just keep going to college. I spent a couple years working and trying to get back into school, in a different state, and the application process can take forever (and you really need to have all your i's dotted and t's crossed on your app).
This is not necessarily good advice, at all. I hated my first school, was depressed, overworked/stressed, and horribly unhappy in general. I dropped out, took a year off, and reapplied elsewhere. I'm going to school in a different state now, and things are much, much better.
Sometimes it's not possible, because the school you're at isn't working. I was just saying that it makes things a lot easier and faster. I switched schools because my last one sucked, but it was expensive and complicated to do so, and I wish it hadn't been necessary. But it was, if I was going to get an education worth what I was paying.
Stay at the same college. If you absolutely have to change colleges, try to stay in the same state.
Get enough sleep.
Consult Teh Internets!
Don't stress out! Seriously, man, calm down. CALM DOWN!
Each of these is a fallacious piece of advice.
Sorry to disappoint you, but "fallacious" doesn't mean "awesome and incredibly useful". It's okay, there's no need to apologize.
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Best advice is this:
Don't compromise who you are to be popular. This is College, not High School, and "popularity" is so subjective (especially on large campuses) that its better to have a few friends than a million acquaintances.
Seriously a former friend of mine did just that and now has no friends and spends all day in his room because no one will hang out with him anymore.
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If you want a job, try and get a work-study job if you're eligible. I'm not eligible, and am extremely jealous of my friend who gets paid to sit in a room and surf the internet for 4 hours a week.
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absolutely everything about each other
Things I have learned about my roommate
A poignant coming-of-age tale about love lost
By Amper H Sandwitch
My roommate:
- Is completely and inexplicably racist against Belgians
- Loves lolcats and loves to send them to me
- Loves badly written sitcoms with laughtracks and loves to listen to them loudly
- Often spills things on her computer
- Has a UTI that she likes to talk about
- Thinks I should 'get out more' but doesn't tell me and instead keeps it as a passive aggressive little gem of pity
- Categorizes a party in a frat's-nest to still be a good party even after she is pelted by a beer can
- Broke up with her boyfriend over the phone
- Cannot understand why it is inappropriate for said boyfriend to lounge around the room in his underwear at 1.00 the night before a big test the next morning at 8.35
- MBates in her sleep
the end
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Yeah I guess I should get out more
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Oh man, she broke up with him?
If those two crazy kids can't make it, what hope do the rest of us have?
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She's now seeing someone who she also pities, but he has a dick, so it's a-okay
She comes home disheveled on the early bus, wakes me up, and laughingly recounts how he awkwardly articulated 'Your body is beautiful' and complains about what a nerd he is for being a compsci major
:-D
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Ozy you know that isn't what you wanted to ask about.
/
:-D
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On the getting a job in college debate:
This really depends on what course you're taking. This isn't meant to come off as offensive, but some of the more social science/humanities directions are a lot less work than some of the science classes.
I spend entire days in the labs actually doing work. We were actually advised at the beginning of this year that if we got a part time job, we would probably not be able to balance our work load.
Then again, the education system here in edinburgh is very much based on exams, so you can get by without doing anything until exams come around if you're that type of student.
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Oh man, you haven't seen the work load Kat gets for literary analysis in her English major. That shit is intense.
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On the getting a job in college debate:
This really depends on what course you're taking. This isn't meant to come off as offensive, but some of the more social science/humanities directions are a lot less work than some of the science classes.
I spend entire days in the labs actually doing work. We were actually advised at the beginning of this year that if we got a part time job, we would probably not be able to balance our work load.
Then again, the education system here in edinburgh is very much based on exams, so you can get by without doing anything until exams come around if you're that type of student.
It also depends on how involved you want to get on campus. Sports/clubs/activities take up a good amount of time and could make having a job a lot more difficult. Spending money is nice, but so is free time.
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exam based science classes are the norm here in the US too and labs certainly take a huge chunk of your time. I didn't have a job until my 3rd year at college (uni for you silly Europeans) and I'm glad I waited until then. Even in my 3rd year I probably wouldn't have had a job if it wasn't a lab job that helped me get into grad school. On the flip side, once I'm done with school I will be so buried in student loans that I will be quite poor.
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ROAD TRIP!!! :-D
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No.
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I read your sig and thought you secretly agreed with me.
Road Trip it is, eh?
I'm thinking Tijuana, after a stop in Albuquerque.
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Don't get shot (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3028.html). Or kidnapped.
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Thread Necromancy, as I have made the visit to the campus, and have gotten my housing assignment and a good meal plan. Any further advice, stuff I should bring, etc?
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I'm planning on basing my packing list off of this one (http://acatnamedollie.livejournal.com/391.html).
(assuming I go)
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I stand very firmly by my earlier recommendation of a multi-tool of some sort (I like leatherman). It's up there with the Sewing Kit on the "things that kids should have, but never do" list.
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That's a pretty good list. I would definitely like to point out that flip flops are very important for the shower or if you need to go to the bathroom late at night/early in the morning. Your school should send you a list of things that they will supply (trash cans, desks, etc.) and most dorms will have at least some cleaning supplies available (mine had a vacuum cleaner, windex, paper towels, etc). Lysol wipes are good to bring for small messes. Your school book store will probably have supplies like printer cartridges, paper, anything you need for class, but it will most likely be marked up a fair amount. You might want to buy those supplies before you head to school if you don't want to pay their mark up. I would always just fill one suitcase with as much of my clothing as I could. You won't have a lot of room, so unless you're planning on breaking them down after you move boxes aren't the best way to move your stuff.
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Develop a relationship with your Ramen Noodles.
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Credit card offers=bad. Talk to a counselor if you really feel you need plastic in your wallet. Online banking is the most spectacular thing ever, especially on a campus without much transport.
Get the names and numbers (and probably emails) of at least three people in each class. Make many copies of these, your professors' numbers and office hours/locations, library hours, and campus security info. Tape one copy to the side of your desk, one in a filing system, one in your bookbag, and one saved onto your computer. Infinitely useful. Seriously.
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I realised with a jolt this morning that there's a major gap in my Necessary Grown-Up Knowledge (tm).
I do not fully understand what a credit card is, how it operates and why one might require one (or not).
Now that I'm a paid up member of the adult crew, my bank says I need to ditch my My First Bank Account and get a real grown-up money box. And I have genuinely got no clue at all what all the different options are and what they mean and which one might be best for me. I have a long term savings account (it has a cheque book and a cash card but no debit card) and then my My First Bank Account (it's actually a 16-18 year old debit card account which I am no longer entitled to use). I'm thinking of opening a student bank account but I actually don't know what one of those is. What's an overdraft? Why is it useful?
Man I don't know shit about being an adult.
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You're UK as I recall, like me - I'll send you a PM with the basics of what you need to know, possibly late tonight or tomorrow, but maybe Monday, as I have a concert tomorrow which will keep me occupied most of the day (I sing, am choir librarian, record the show, and have just finished writing and printing the programs).
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pwhodges will probably give you a much more accurate and correct answer than I will right now, but here's what I have in my wallet:
A student card. You get an overdraft. An overdraft means that you're allowed to withdraw x amount of moneys more than you actually own, as long as you pay it back within a certain amount of time after you stop being a student (I think it's one year). This means that you can owe the bank about a thousand pounds, depending on the size of your overdraft, and not have to pay any interest on it. It's an excellent deal, and it stops a lot of worrying about money. Don't use it all the time because you will have to pay it back at some point. Best to keep your card above 0. It's useful because presumably, you're a student, and have no money. For example, if my rent is due, but I don't have the money to pay it back right now, but I will have it in a week or two, I can pay the rent without having to collect massive interest rates for using more money than I own. I try to keep my balance swinging happily on the more above zero than below zero side. I was a lot better at this in first year than I am now.
Don't get a credit card. If you have a debit card, and it has visa/mastercard on it, there is absolutely no point as long as you have the cash. A credit card is spending money you don't have, and if you still don't have it at the end of the month, the bank starts charging you. If your currently a student, a student card full fills this wonderfully without the interest thing.
Also, usually people who work in banks are really nice and informative. Don't listen to them when they say you need a credit card though.
But, like I said, pwhodges will probably be more correct.
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Yeah, my friend Tom went up north to NAU and had a terrible time, like, he would come back down (about a 2 hour drive) every single weekend because there were only 3 types of people there: stoners, hardcore christian religious nuts, and marching band kids. He was none of these, and really disliked his roommate. He's now back in town, and feeling a bit better, but still seems down.
I think the advice I can give is to have a job or something. Something that will help you be independent. I'm not in college, but I have enough friends in college to know that being tethered to your parents because they are paying for you sucks.
the marching band kids are the sanest of them all~
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I'm only a freshman in high school but I'll ask this: When you're being assigned a roommate, do they have some sort of way of sorting you according to interests or anything?
Just wondering.
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At WSU you filled out an online survey and filled out your preference on smoking, drinking, keeping the room clean, stuff like that. However, based on some of the matches I don't think they really paid very close attention to it.
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Yeah, once you're accepted to uni-owned housing these days you'll usually fill out some sort of survey that deals with study habits, loud music/no loud music, smoking/drinking, opposite gender partners, same gender partners... all the important stuff. I'm extremely happy with my roommate, but I feel terrible for the guy down the hall who got matched up with our local drug dealer.
Also, once you move in you'll probably have to go over with your roommate and sign some kind of contract basically saying you will not kill each other without discussing the situation with an RA first.
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A guy I knew in high school had a theory that schools intentionally place students with roommates who are nothing like them. In an attempt to get a "normal" (his words) roommate, he filled out his survey with interests like anarchy, satanism, and death metal. His theory turned out to be dead wrong, and he spent the rest of the semester wearing earplugs. He transferred after that, if I remember correctly.
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Yeah, I don't know how the roommate-matching thing really works.
I had nothing in common with my dorm roommate... in fact, in was almost like some bullshit "Odd Couple" remake; I'm a slob, he was neat, I was introverted, he was gregarious as hell, we had different tastes in music and movies and everything. About the only thing we both liked was watching Simpsons reruns (times have changed; it would probably be Family Guy now). We were even polar opposites physically; he was a tiny, too-handsome, vaguely effeminate dude, and I'm a fat hulking ugly bastard. And he was a sophomore, while I was a freshman. Fortunately, we were both pretty easy-going. Then he changed rooms and bunked with a friend down the hall, and I had a double room to myself for the whole second semester, which was awesome.
You never know who you'll get along with as a roommate. Years later I shared a house with my best friend and his girlfriend. It should have been awesome, but it really sucked. We could never get a schedule of chores worked out, and his girlfriend would end up bitching at me for not doing things I didn't know I was supposed to do. Meanwhile I was pissed because I was paying half the rent on the expectation of using half the space, but they wanted my shit crammed into my rooms unless it was display-worthy. We all moved out by mutual agreement after the six-month lease was up, and it's a damn good thing it wasn't a yearly lease because we were at each others' throats as it was. We're all friends again now, but I'm never living with another person again if I can help it. As long as I can afford to live alone, I will.
I realised with a jolt this morning that there's a major gap in my Necessary Grown-Up Knowledge (tm).
My Necessary Grown-Up Knowledge (tm) basically has more holes in it than a sponge, but without the ability to soak things up well. I've learned the hard way to find people who know things, and ask them as many questions as they will tolerate. While the question of credit cards and bank accounts has by now probably been answered, what I would suggest for someone who wants information is to go to a bank and sit down with a personal banker to discuss it. Explain your situation, and they will suggest an appropriate solution. Not much money going in, likely to have a very low balance at month's end? Get a checking account with no minimum balance and some overdraft protection if possible. That sort of thing. As for credit cards, I agree that debit/atm cards are much more useful and less dangerous, generally, but it can be nice to have a credit card with, say, about $1000 or so limit in case of emergencies. Also, they're useful for building credit; buy something on the card, not too big, and pay the balance down over time instead of just paying it off when you have the cash (which would seem sensible). Paying down a (reasonable and manageable) credit card balance will help you establish a good credit rating starting out.
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Roommate matching systems = total crapshoot. Sometimes it works brilliantly, sometimes you get stuck with complete douchebags who have nothing in common with you (guess which one I got).
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Going back to the job thing there's something I've always been curious about the American college system. With no social security for students as far as I can tell, how is getting a job an optional thing? I get that living on campus, your rent is probably rolled in with your tuition and therefore part of your student loans, but how do you eat? How do you buy textbooks and stationary and all that? Do you take out loans for all that as well? How many hours would the average student (arts student+hard sciences student/2) spend in lectures and studying a week in order to make a job unworkable?
I'm just curious because I'm in an English lit major and probably spend about 12 hours a week in actual classes and then another 20 or so hours a week studying/doing assignments on average, and I still manage to work 30 hours a week and have a social life and I'm just wondering how batshit insane your workloads must be in the US.
I mean English lit is not as intensive as some science courses but it is pretty common for people in the sciences here to be at least holding down a 10 hour a week job while collecting centrelink to make ends meet.
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There are two main ways that you can avoid having a job in college. My grandmother had decided that she would help out all of her grandchildren, so for the first few years I was in college I essentially received a monthly allowance for rent/bills/food. The town I lived in was ridiculously cheap (4 of us in a 3 bedroom house worked out to be about $120/month rent + $100 in utilities) so I was able to live off very little. For most students it's actually parents who pay for their living expenses. When you get student loans living expenses are figured into it, so if you decide to take out all the loans the government will allow you get an "overflow" which is usually around $5000 that you have to stretch throughout the semester (Sadly, even as a grad student I am living off this this semester since my research duties keep me in lab more than 40 hours/week and the only jobs that I could have worked told me I am overqualified). A lot of students will have a balance, where they work just a handful of hours at some campus job for food/drinking money and use their overflow or parent's money for rent and utilities.
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Speaking personally, I leech off my parents.
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Most universities have at least one dining hall too, so you can buy a meal plan for each semester along with tuition and housing etc and have a certain number of meals per week that you can eat on campus. Or, yeah, leech off your parents.