The great 'what I wish I'd known before I was a student' hunt

Skyhigh

As someone said, one of the most important things to do is join an Athletic club or a Society.

Well, starting Uni is scary, and joining a group of people you've never met before is scary - but you'll find that most people in the club are 1st / 2nd years as they have more time anyhow.

But Why?

The obvious "making friends", "socialising" and "getting out" are all there but the main reason is to bulk up your CV.

Example, I did Computer Science - not the most 'socially' known of courses.
When interviewing, they spent maybe 20% of their time asking about skills and experience...and 80% of the time asking about team working, and asking for examples of:
"How you've worked with a team to over come a problem"
"How you've lead a team to a 'victory'", etc, etc, etc.

And they'll accept any type of answer, they just want to know how well you can work in a team-based environment and that you have good social skills.

It really can give you a good, solid footing for examples, rather than things such as:
"While out climbing at Stanage last year, a group member had an accident, so we had to organise...."
is better than
"Well, my friends and I wanted to pain my room at Uni so...."

This is especially true if you can get yourself into a position within a club such as secretary, finance officer, social sec, gear sec, vice pres or president.

It really shows commitment to things aside from your studies and is a 'base' that everyone can understand (people who interview you) as many people that will be interviewing you went to Uni and joined a few clubs/socs.


If you like, pick something funky too which people pick up on.
I joined the climbing club in my first year because a friend wanted to, they lasted a few weeks....I lasted three years, having been president for two years, passed several health and safety courses, becoming a qualified instructor and gaining a Millennium Volunteers award in the process.
...and people always pick up on the 'climbing' point on my CV

Skyhigh

Possibly money saving, but more effort saving.

If you're going to buy a lot of heavy items (tinned items, potatoes, bags of rice, etc) just order it online since you don't have to drag it all back on the bus or down the street - where some bags will always split/break.

[Plus with tinned items, its very hard for the supermarket order pickers to get bad dates, as they usually have quite a few years on them, unlike fresh produce]

Since you've bought most of your heavy/reliable items via online delivery, you only need to buy your fresh stuff, which is usually available locally, so this also cuts down on travel costs.
For fresh produce, if possible go to your local high street and support local businesses, you'll tend to find that the produce is not only fresher, but cheaper - and as other people said, going at the end of the day means you can really pick up some great bargains - many more than you would at a normal supermarket.
[Especially true if you can get to know a veg stall/store owner quite well and they'll hold things back for you, or knock even more off!]

A.Jones

My advise is also books ... don't buy them. I'm a university lecturer and we have to give out recommended booklists because of a deal between the University and Blackwells. We know that some books on the list contain maybe one chapter out of 20 that are of interest for one course. Yet it has to go on the list. If you are thinking of buying a text book, wait until the course has started and see what the notes are like. You are not going to miss out by not buying the test in the first week or so. Some of mine are like text books anyway, and it's not necessary to buy a textbook to use them. Not only that, virtually all (science) courses will only examine material you learn in lectures. If it is not in a course (lecture, tutorial, practical), it will not be in an exam.



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sexymouse

Try to learn a few basic recipes before you go if you don't already know how to cook. Even if you're in catered halls when you first start uni, if you move into a student house in your 2nd year, you'll be glad you did. I seemed to be the only one who knew how to make a white sauce, which I used in lasagnes and other pasta dishes. A really cheap pasta dish is pasta, tinned tuna and cheese sauce. In our student house, luckily there were a few of us who could cook, so some weeks we would take it in turns to cook the dinner.

Also, if you're not taking a car, and someone in your house is, arrange a time to go shopping as a house, so that you can buy bulkier items, and then go through the shopping list at the end. One of my housemates was working in Tesco and he got staff discount, so we got him to pay, and then we paid him back.

TrickyDicky

If you live with others, try and organise a cooking rota. 4 of us shared a house for 2 years and took it in turns to cook a meal for 4. This way you can bulk buy everything to make it as cheap as possible.

Bulk buy any BOGOFs you know you're going to use a lot of.

Try and find your local pound shop. Most of it is tat but the one we had in durham often sold a lot of food things. I remember getting 4 packets of jaffa cake bars for £1 (they would normally be about £1 each in supermarket), as well as other exciting bicuits and sweets.

Pick the student bank account with the offer that works out best for you. Someone always has a 4 year railcard available, which saves you about £75 on the card straight away, plus all the savings on train tickets.

Dont be afraid of 10 mins of extra walking. When I was at Durham (graduated 3 years ago), rental prices ranged from £45-70/week. Often the only difference was the distance from the university sites. 15 mins extra walking saved you £20/week.

Dont go out at the weekend, unless it's to student bars. You'll end up paying jacked up drink prices. Clubs in student towns often have really good deals on during the week to entice people in.

If you're in a society, try and get on the committee. It looks good on your CV. If you do join the committee, please be active in your role.

At our university, the psycology department had experiments running every now and again that required students to be test subjects. They would pay £5-10 for an hour or 2 of your time.

punkypickle

I did a foundation course and then a degree at an art college. Luckily for me I still lived at home (pretty much rent free) and drove 20 mins to get to college.

My advice is...

1)The art college will send you a list of everything you need. I stupidly bought it all, some art shops local to the uni would give you a discount and throw in a few extras, but I reckon if you searched on the internet and get it all a lot cheaper. But more importantly, I wished that instead I just bought things when I needed it, as many things never got used, and the college shop was a lot cheaper!

2) Do your research and see if you are eligible for any financial help towards your fees. I'm sure things have changed a little bit since I left, but I was the first year to pay £1000 a year in fees...but because my parents earnt less than a certain amount (can't remember so I won't guess) I only had to pay £70 the first year and a reduced amount in the following years.

3) WORK!!!! I worked the weekends and a night during the week, it was invaluable to me and it meant I got into a lot less debt than some of my non working friends, and it also means you have a bit more money to make good use of your Student ID! Also I worked at Sainsbury's which offer a staff discount, which is invaluable if you are living in student accommodation buying your own food. BUT remember every student at your college will be trying to get a part time job in that area, the early bird gets the worm, so as soon as you know which Uni/college you are going to, call up or write and send your CV to all the local supermarkets or bars as soon as possible!

4) Student ID...no matter where you are and what you do, don't leave it at home, always keep it with you, and no matter what shop you are in, or what you are buying, always ask if they do a student discount!

5)Open a graduate account....compare different banks to see what they offer, some offer free cash, others nice gadgets, or free overdrafts, shop around and don't be afraid not to haggle a bit, you might get a bit more thrown in!

6) Student loans. If you need a student loan, make sure you use it WISELY! In my first term, a friend of mine blew a £1000 just on clothes! I didn't get one during my Foundation course as I felt I didn't need to, but during my degree years, lack of equipment at college meant that I needed my own computer. After a lot of careful thought, I decided to get a second hand car and a camcorder so I was set up to work freelance from home if I didn't find a job straight away. I ended up with about £8000 of student loan, and what I didn't use I put in a high interest savings account. BUT I was lucky I lived at home, obviously if you move into student accommodation you have rent and food and bills to think about instead....just be careful and don't ask for more than you need. Just think, I left over 7 years ago and I've only just paid mine off with a lot of hard work and determination....

SimonJP_2

Try to avoid getting into the takeaway habit. Even the after-drinks kebab can be pricey if you're not careful. If you're a pizza-fan (like me) Buy some herbs (herbs de Provence are my favourite), a value block of strong cheese (that way you can use less) and some tomato pur!e and you can make pizza toast at home under the grill for pennies a slice!

rickfick

I agree that it is unnecessary to buy all of the books on the reading list. As the demand for academic is often relatively small, these books are expensive.

Those that you do need to buy, shop around rather than going straight to the University bookshop (These are rarely the cheapest) and check notice boards/past students for second hand copies.

Two books I would certainly reccomend are:

The Art of Photoreading by Paul Scheele
The Mindmap Book by Tony Buzan

With the information in these books you will learn to read even the most lengthy book with lightning speed and take notes in a brain-friendly format. This will not only save money as books can be borrowed from the library (or even read in the library) but will save time that can be wasted by 'reading' in the traditional format.

Easter

I didn't learn money tricks until I'd run out. It's hard to budget when you think you've got money - but believe me - it runs out quick! A few things me and my pals learnt:

1) only go out on weeknights to 'student' places - cheaper. Weekends are for locals and cost more.

2) eat veg. lots of veg. but but at a market - v.often it lasts longer than supermarket bought stuff.

3) when going out - take only what money you can afford (we used to go out with a tenner each - but that was some time ago! - it's probably £20 now) then DONT take any cards with you - you'll get drunk and take money out. Also - you have to make sure that you have enough left to get home! it also meant that we didn't (always) get so blind drunk and we didn't waste money on drinks that we dropped/ left around etc.!

4) dont' buy books unless you REALLY REALLY have to. most of the time - you don't need them. You can always get most of them second-hand anyway. It's publishers who want you to buy lots of new books. you don't need them.

5) use univ. facilities when you can. join the sports club/ gym and spend time there (it's cheaper than the cinema/ going out). Use the computers - it's their electricity not yours! also spend time in library etc. rather than have your heating on all the time at home. we always tried to make sure we turned everything off we could during the day and didn't just slope around the house using the heater/ tv/ computer etc.

6) join a DVD club over the internet - cheap entertainment for an evening or two.

7) ALWAYS check your gas/ elec bills! check that the meter reading is accurate. Me and mates moved into house that had been lived in by single person before us so estimated bills were nice and low. then we had to find hundreds of pounds - that none of us had - at the end of the year when we/ gas co. realised that we'd used tonnes more than we'd paid for! sore lesson.

there's loads more lessons (don't bother with a car - use public transport/ bike/ bus/ train - everyone else does - my mate had a car and was just used by lots of people then her gear box went and no-one else would help her pay for it of course! She was then broke). I'm sure that there are more bargains to be had than in my day so just look out for them and remember that any debt you get now - you WILL have to pay off and you'll hate yourself in a few years time when you need new shoes for your new job and you can't afford them!

Also - think about what sort of job to get while at uni. nearly everyone works - but avoid min. wage jobs (unless you can socialise while you're doing it). Jobs in call centres can pay quite well - and if you do night shifts like I did - you can sometimes take in your notes with you and work at the same time! Do make sure though that you don't get some !!!!!! shop job then spend all your time there and end up with a crappy degree - this is defn. a false economy as you'll end up working in the !!!!!! shop forever! I've seen many a student do it!

JAD1985

One of the best things I did and still do is if you've got access to internet banking, open up an isa or high interest savings account and fill out an R85 form so that if you earn under the set taxable amount (which many students i'm guessing do) you'll be paid the gross amount of interest.

Additionally, I always tried to save some of my student loan and any money that I got for temping work but would miss a large chunk of money going out into my savings account each month, to get around this I used to round up my current account after making purchases and transfer the money into my isa, it maybe small amounts but they soon add up.

Eg.If you have £245.09 -transfer the £0.91 into the isa, that way you've got a nice rounded figure of £246.00 and the starting of some savings. You have much greater control over how much you have in your current account and its quite a nice feeling to see your nest egg build up!