New Student

Legacy_user

Im a new student on my way to Uni in september!

the problem is that i dont know the first thing on how to

survive and look after my self there!! I dont even have

a bank account! Im hopefully going to Nottingham Trent

and i would really appreciate any tips or suggestions

that would help me when i get there!!

Thanx a lot!!

jb84344

I left Uni after 18 months because I couldn't afford it anymore - plan ahead and this won't happen to you!
Shop around for bank accounts - some offer cash and special deals for students - but read the small print - they're only after your money at the end of the day!

try and get into halls of residence (if they have them) and then after the first term/year you'll have made loads of new mates and you can find a cheap place to rent with them...

Get a job! - it pays for time down the student union bar unlike your grant cheque (if you're lucky enough to get one) which'll only just about cover basic cost of living.

Always keep on the good side of Mum and Dad so you can scrounge off them when needed. :P

Also, learn to cook fast - cooking your own food will save you a fortune!

Your course will have a book list of all the books you need to buy - get down to a second hand shop (or the student union may arrange something) and buy from there - there's no point having new books as they're only going to be covered in beer by the end of the first term! ;D

fragster

hi there mate, i know what ya feel like, i've just finished my first year and the start was pretty nerve racking but its good stuff

I go to Nottingham Uni bit of a coincidence hehe, advice on the bank account you will need one set up for your student loan to be paid into, it might already be a bit late for this though but i assume you must have some arrangement

as for getting an account in freshers fayre there are loads of banks there wanting you to open an account with them, at mine we had HSBC, RBoS and Natwest, i already had a hsbc student account and they gave me a free 5 year young persons railcard worth £90, i also signed up for RBoS and Natwest, both offered £40 but only natwest actually paid me, RBoS moaned about me not paying my student loan in there and it took 6 months and 10 phone calls plus 2 branch visits before they finally told me they weren't going to pay me so I wouldnt recommend them.
what i did with these accounts was to take nearly all the interest free overdraft out of them and stick it in a mini cash ISA and its making me around £130ish a year, free money good
saying this though apparently lots of student accounts doesnt do your credit rating any good, I think i must have a fairly good one anyway though as i've got a couple of mobile contracts and credit cards which I always pay off. If you are working at the moment and you think you might need a credit card at uni i would suggest applying now while you have income as they will give you a higher limit than a student CC, personally i dont ever leave a balance on it so I just have a Barclaycard which i use instead of debit for purchases so I get free nectar points. apparently there are better ones out there with better cashback but right now I dont think i'd get approved since i have no job.
anyway let me know any questions and i will do my best to answer em for ya ;D

System

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/

http://www.slc.co.uk/frames/lr/fset.html

https://www.dfes.gov.uk/aimhigher/

System

Hey thanx for help! im slowly starting to organise myself!

ive decided to use hsbc as my bank although i havent sent me student loan form of yet!

i think im going to have to sort out a weekly expenses table...

are there any other useful tips??

i really appreciate all the help!

fragster

a tip would be send off your student loan application ASAP, i think the deadline may have already passed now, i know it has for mine which means you may well get your student loan late, shouldnt make too much diff as you can live on the 0% overdraft, but you still want it sorted quickly
other tips from experience is dont blow your loan on clothes and luxuries as soon as you get there, try not to sign up to too many societies in freshers week only ones that you will actually go to, they try and screw you for money in general because they know you have it from loan, and everyone ends up signing up to way too many things that they dont end up going to.
One thing that is worth doing is signing up to Rileys if you are gonna play snooker/pool as they do student membership for £1 per year at freshers fayre, i signed up to this and my mates all had to pay £6 when they signed up at rileys.
one of my housemates managed to spend £7k in her first year, excluding housing expenses and tuition fees, i managed it on about £4k but it definitely could have been a lot less if i'd been a member here at the start
anyway good luck, uni's a lot of fun ;D

System

are you serious, you havent sent your form off yet?????

they had to be in BEFORE July 2nd!

i know as i am starting in september too and obly just got my forms in on time, and you needed a bank account before sending off the form

im sorry to panic you but you best ring the student finance, and quick to see if they will still accept you for a loan!

you can email me if you have any questions, i will try and help

System

as you havent got it in on time you wont get your loan for the beginning of the year, im also not sure if you will qualify for the £1000 grant that you dont have to pay back, but im not sure about htis

System

ok i am starting to worry now! i still havent sent it off! ive been really busy! it takes ages to fill in! hopefully im going to send it off again! im going to give them a call today too!!

the tip about the socities was a cool one thanx! i didnt even know abt that kind of stuff!

i seriously am clueless!

thanx!!

fragster

stop the scaremongering tracy!

you will still get your loan and it will still be whatever amount that you are entitled to, it just may not arrive right at the start. chances are it still will though, they just dont guarantee it if its late, you dont have anything to worry about, the overdraft is fine to live on to begin with. also try not to spend any of the overdraft before u start, u will most likely need it there and u dont wanna go there with unneccesary debt.
freshers week will be by far the most expensive week there in terms of living costs. I managed to spend about 350ish in it, but that could range from about 150 if you are very very conservative to 600+, i've seen people do it and you will regret it, i had a totally awesome week on 350 and some of that was a bit gratuitous as well but ya gotta have fun

David_Brent

I still haven't applied for my student loan yet either! , I applied late last year too around mid July and still got it in time, so chill out and don't stress. I hope your filling the application in online via the web site beucase it saves time.