Topic: I'm getting ready to go to uni, what will I need?

[Liam]

Apart from all the obvious stuff like clothes etc, how should i prepare myself? What should I bring? What should I prepare myself for?

[Kerou 犠牲]

after what we've been talking about on IRC, yeah, you might want to get a laptop or something =P
I mean, doing it all by hand in lectures is very much possible but its a lot easier with a laptop

plus, this may seem a bit weird but a lot of bottles of water, it's a life saver for first year Uni ^^;
prepare yourself for freshers week which can be very heavy and more importantly Freshers Flu; you probably will get it and it's very annoying so take some anti-cold stuff haha

you may suffer initial homesickness too so keep in touch with family, your girlfriend and stuff so it helps you settle in better =]
also some stuff that you associate with home or growing up, I kinda wish I took some more stuff like that because it would have made adjusting easier

don't get too nervous with first going too, everyone else is in the same boat so whilst it's all ~new~ it'll all be good fun

err I'm probably missing some more stuff so I might edit this post but yeah, best of luck buddy!

[Kpyna]

I'm heading off, so I'll be following this topic as well. I made myself a first aid kit, you're going to want that. Because if you end up bleeding somehow, you're either going to need to walk all the way to the nurse for a band aid, bleeding everywhere along the way, or you can just open up a package, take a band aid, and get back to what you're doing. Apparently laptops are a good idea, but my brother says there's typically only like one weird kid that uses a laptop in class. Might be worth keeping in a bag or something. Flash drives, extra storage... people tend to overpack more often than not though, so I wouldn't go too nuts.

Also, I'm not sure if you've heard about this, plenty of my friends haven't so I guess it's worth mentioning, but don't buy/rent your books just yet. You don't wanna drop $600+ for books, and then $300 worth of your professors flat out say they don't use the book, and then $100 worth of your professors tells you they want to use a different book entirely, so you should probably buy that one instead. Potentially saving a few hundred bucks is a pretty big deal.

[Shaymin]

get your books second hand - it's always worth it. i got a big fat geology book for about £30 last year and it would have been a few hundred new
laptop is good - but don't let it distract you. there's always someone sat in the back on their laptop playing games instead of listening to the lecture.
first aid kit - medicine, plasters, etc. you'll need hangover relief and diarrhea relief - you're probably gonna drink like an alcoholic the first week there and you'll eat some dodgy food too.
lots of pens, pencils, notebooks
printer is useful so you don't have to lug yourself to the library to print your work
not really useful for uni per se but your room is gonna be bare and really crappy so some posters to put up
also in the first few weeks if you sleep in the nude i would advise you do not as they like having drills at 4am. get out like fast or you'll have to do it over and over (my building had to do it like 4 times it was ridiculous)
also cause you're a big boy and likely to meet some people you'll want in your bed, condoms. but that's obvious
if you haven't already got your student account, i advise going to santander - free rail cards are the bomb (not that i've... ever used mine but w/e) (also 1500 worth of overdraft ain't half bad either.)
uh apart from that i have nothing else. join a few clubs and make friends and if you like sleep say bye bye to it in the first few weeks cause everyone's flatmates want to party cause yeaaah no parents

ps nine am classes will be the death of u

[Milsap]

I took only bare essentials for when I moved to Walsall. Don't feel that you have to take EVERYTHING you own, because you just won't have enough room for everything. Took clothes (didn't even take all of them), two of everything kitchen-wise, my computer, my laptop, my guitars and a tool kit. You never know how many mates you'll make by knowing how to use a screwdriver. Oh, took a printer as well and charged people to use it. So I had a bit of pub money to spend.

Also- BUDGET. You'll be surprised how many people get to October and moan they've got no student loan left. I managed to get away with £15 a week going on food and then have money for everything else. I wasn't much of a clubber so I saved a lot anyway. Depends how your accommodation fees have been sorted. I was very lucky in that my parents were able to pay my halls fees leaving my loan to go on food/equipment (Seeing as I did a music tech degree). Best advice is- Don't let that money go to your head. Too many people spend it on Apple products or designer clothes and have nothing left by the end of the first month.

there's always someone sat in the back on their laptop playing games instead of listening to the lecture.

That's because winning the FA Cup with Luton Town on Football Manager is a big deal.

also in the first few weeks if you sleep in the nude i would advise you do not as they like having drills at 4am. get out like fast or you'll have to do it over and over (my building had to do it like 4 times it was ridiculous)

We had them go off several times in one night, then they started really clamping down on the people deliberately setting it off. But for them it's for 'the bantz'.

if you like sleep say bye bye to it in the first few weeks cause everyone's flatmates want to party cause yeaaah no parents

Then you get the ones who think uni is just one big party and don't stop partying.

[RocketMember002]

When my mum started putting pain killers, throat lozenges, tissues etc. into my bags when I was getting ready to leave I thought she was being paranoid, they proved to be very needed though. Do that.
There were usually around 5 or so people out of 200 in my lectures using laptops, I wouldn't put it as a high priority myself. Basic kitchen stuff is likely to be sold out in shops when you get there as all the other students are rushing out to buy it - buy that stuff at home and bring it with you.
Prepare yourself to meet plenty of people you'll probably never see again. You'll just fall in with a group regardless of how much you have in common, don't worry about making long term friends in that week. Go to societies for that.

[Delicious_Scout]

Important: Be prepared for first-day antics. If you are swole, it will not be a major problem, though.

You must assume you will need a lot of energy to focus in either (both) studying or (and) partying, therefore, having a gargantuan breakfast is highly advisable.

[Kerou 犠牲]

A lot of the time you don't even need to buy the books; your Uni library should provide a number of copies (but you have to get there quick if you want to risk it)

Agreed on the don't spend it all at once idea too; I ended up spending it all by November (worth it though haha) so  don't go too crazy with spending, be somewhat sensible with it ^^;

[Shaymin]

Then you get the ones who think uni is just one big party and don't stop partying.

be aware of these people they will find you complaining on facebook about parties til 11am :l

[Liam]

I'll probably be the one partyi.g until 11am so no problem there Loz xD

cheers for the replies guys i'll get my first aid kit sorted

[Lord Raven]

get your books second hand - it's always worth it. i got a big fat geology book for about £30 last year and it would have been a few hundred new

I can't emphasize this enough.  I'd like to add that international editions are not a bad idea either; I'm not sure why they cost significantly less but they are cheap for the same content.  In general I've found that they just have problems in different positions, but that's something you could easily double-check with someone who owns the original copy.

[Wrath of Zuruggu]

laptop is good - but don't let it distract you. there's always someone sat in the back on their laptop playing games instead of listening to the lecture.

Or at the front... uhh... >_> <_< >_>

I know everyone is saying laptop but I went a month without (just because I wanted a macbook but was waiting for the pro retinas to be launched) and found life a lot easier with it. It's really just a convenience but the internet access on demand, the being able to type notes and the fact that you've always got your hard drive full of data with you permanently is just really handy.

Definitely budget tightly - the reduced section at 9pm in ASDA will now be a shrine you visit daily.

Oh, and make sure you know/ ask your [mum/dad/gran/aunt/school tutor] how to work a washing machine/ oven/ microwave oven/ etc. The amount of students genuinely baffled by household technology is saddening :[

[MOP]

Make sure you buy plenty of loo paper because I can assure you no one else in the flat will remember!

[That Girl in the 'Roo Suit]

I actually found it easier to write notes by hand than to type, because I write faster...

Definitely stock up on plasters, savlon, pain killers etc, because you never know. Also, plates, cutlery and saucepans etc... And don't let anyone else get them! Because you will never see them again. Guaranteed.

budgeting is always a good thing, even if it means foregoing a night out. (I rarely went out and was still skint because loans, but it taught me the hard way) If it's a choice between a night out and food for a week, food always comes first. Also, if you're buying veg from the supermarket, buy it loose if you can, because getting what you need is much cheaper than getting  large bag and then throwing half of it away.

As for books, definitely hold on for now. By all means, if there's a book that you feel will be useful, go for it. But have a look in discount shops or second hand. Asking on a course facebook page will also be useful, because someone might just be selling or lending a copy of something you need! Also, the "buy used" options on Amazon are usually pretty cheap. You should be able to get a lot of online journal access too, so no worries about that.

Also remember, you can check books out of the library. I know it sounds dumb, but there are so many people who don't think that way, and end up asking around at the last minute. (On that note, I have OCD about notes, so not only do I currently have about 20 books stacked up by my desk, I also have colour coded notes on most of them)

If you have any questions though, just ask around. I'll be happy to answer anything as well as I can~

[Milsap]

Definitely budget tightly - the reduced section at 9pm in ASDA will now be a shrine you visit daily.

On that subject- Top food tips I discovered whilst living in halls:

Buy bread as it's about to go out of date (9/10pm at the local 24hr Asda/Tesco will usually put them in their reduced to clear shelves), put two to four slices into many different freezer bags and freeze them so you defrost as you need it.

Nominate one person every week/two weeks to buy the biggest bottle of milk you can get your mitts on. Do the same with butter. Then your fridge isn't full of milk bottles and butter tubs that are just going to go off after a week. Or- last person to use milk buys the next one when it runs out.

Frozen veg at the local Farmfoods comes in handy if you can get away with it. That can be shared too.

If it can be frozen, freeze it. Mince beef springs to mind, you can make anything with it.

While Super Noodles might be a stereotyical student nosh, you will get bored of them mighty quickly. That said, if you have night lectures a Super Noodle sandwich washed down with a can of lager is quite a delicious thing.

And finally- Half empty cans of Carling and left over pizzas do not consitute a healthy nutritious breakfast.