Beginner’s guide to university
FREAKING out about starting university? From attendance and timetabling to course outlines and O-week, this is everything you need to know to nail your first year.
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WITH only weeks left of the summer holidays and semseter one looming, you might be starting to freak out about going back to school. Especially when going back to school means starting back at the bottom of the education food chain: being a first year university student.
The transition from VCE can be a bit of a shock to the system.
Everything is structured differently and you have to learn how to be the master of your own education.
Never fear.
Trust us, uni life isn’t as daunting as it seems and, once you’re settled in, you might even learn to love it.
So, to make the move to tertiary education less of a challenge, here’s our beginners guide to nailing first-year university.
ATTENDANCE
First things first; attendance at university is not compulsory. There isn’t going to be a role call when you rock up for your first day and, if you need to leave early, you don’t need to ask anybody’s permission.
For most of your classes, you’ll generally have lectures and tutes. Lectures are large, formal classes delivered by a university academic and offer little opportunity for discussion or questions. They tend to be pretty flexible and offer multiple timeslots due to the volume of students. Many are even uploaded online if you’d prefer to watch them when you’re on the train or while you’re cooking dinner.
Tutes, on the other hand, are smaller, more interactive classes where you consolidate on the knowledge presented during lectures. Unlike lectures, attendance at tutorials can count towards your final mark. Your unit co-ordinator will be able to tell you if you have any compulsory lectures or tutorials to attend.
CONTACT HOURS
How much time you need to spend studying or at university will depend on your chosen areas of study. Some degrees — such as science or medicine, or subjects that have a lab or practical component — may have more contact hours, while degrees in arts or law might have fewer contact hours but more required reading in preparation for tutes.
PICKING SUBJECTS
Every degree should have a course guide or handbook that will outline the subjects you will need to do to complete your degree. Most degrees have a mix of core units and electives, with the ratio of each depending on your chosen area of study. In some degrees (such as engineering), subject choice is limited as these courses are highly regulated to meet industry standards. In others, such as arts, business or science, there is often more flexibility.
THE ART OF THE TIMETABLE
Every student likes to plan their timetable differently. Some like to cram all of their classes into the first half of the week so they have free days at the end of the week to work or study, while others prefer to spread their classes out throughout the week. Timetabling, to some extent, depends on the degree you are completing and the number of contact hours required may dictate when and on which days you have classes. If you’re a morning person, you might prefer to schedule your classes early in the day, while night owls might benefit from selecting afternoon classes. Other tips include approaching university like you would a full-time job, organising classes and allowing time for study and assignments within the space of a regular nine-to-five day. This leaves evenings free for work, downtime or socialising. And remember: the early bird gets the worm so if you want your pick of the class slots, be sure to log in to your student portal as close to the timetable open dates as possible so you aren’t left with the dregs (trust us, tutes at 8am on a Friday are never fun).
CENSUS DATES
Thankfully, most universities have a try-before-you-buy policy: the Census date. The Census date changes every semester (you can check the date with your university) but generally falls after the first month of classes. Up until this point you are able to drop or change subjects without incurring the fee. After this date, however, if you drop a subject, you’ll still have to pay for it.
WHAT TO TAKE
If you’ve been to the open days and had a look around the facilities at your chosen tertiary provider, you’ve probably already deduced that your university campus is bigger than your high school. That means you’ll likely be covering decent ground walking between lectures and tutes (your pedometer will be proud). If you’re going to be carrying around a lot of text books — make sure you have a comfortable bag. If you’re on a budget, make sure you bring plenty of food, snacks and water to fuel you through the day. While ypu probably wouldn’t want to crack open a bag of chips during a lecture, it’s always good to have something on hand for when you’re running between classes and can’t make it to the campus cafes.
COURSE OUTLINES
Uni students, listen up: these are one of the most important/helpful resources so make sure you have a look at them when planning your semester as they contain all of the critical information about your chosen subjects. Course outlines detail everything from assessment information to course content and contact details for your lecturers or tutors.
DEGREES V MAJORS
This might seem like an obvious one, but sometimes when we are trying to decide on what degree to study we forget that employers don’t necessarily care about the degree title as much as they do the subjects in which you majored. Think of it this way: students who have majored in journalism or law will both come out with arts degrees. But their respective employability is particular to specific fields. When choosing a degree, always think about your end goal and pick a degree that offers a major that is most likely to steer you in that direction. If you want to major in finance, for example, check whether this falls under the school of business or commerce as this should inform which course you select.
HECS-HELP OR PAY UPFRONT?
While it’s cheaper to pay upfront, realistically, most students won’t be in a position to fork over that kind of cash. If you want to go the HECS-HELP option (an interest-free loan that enables you to defer payment of your fees), remember a tax file number will be required so if you haven’t already got one, make sure you get that sorted before you enrol. HECS-HELP is available to students who receive a Commonwealth Supported Place (so you have to be an Aussie citizen or a New Zealand Special Category Visa holder who meets the long-term residency requirements). You will only start making repayments once you earn over the minimum threshold set by the government.
O-WEEK
Orientation Week might seem a bit dorky or lame, but it’s offers a great opportunity to get a feel for the university, meet people and get involved with clubs or societies. It’s basically one big party week that helps you set you up and makes you feel connected and comfortable to move into proper university life.
MAKING FRIENDS
One of the greatest things about university (other than the kick-arse career you’ll have at the end of it) is the people you meet along the way. While it might all seem a bit overwhelming and intimidating at first, bear in mind that you’re not alone. Chances are — everyone else is feeling the same way. You’re all first years so, unless you and all of your best mates from high school somehow decided to study the exact same course at the exact same university (which is highly unlikely) making friends is easy as striking up a conversation in the coffee queue or choosing to take a seat next to someone in a lecture rather than looking for a seat on your own. Be friendly. Ask questions. And away you go. Simples.
PLAGIARISM
There are some times in life where the Nike slogan just doesn’t apply. This is one of them. The more accurate slogan should be Plagiarism: just don’t do it. These days, all assignments are uploaded through some pretty fancy technology that scans your work and can pinpoint any areas where you have plagiarised from other sources.
It’s not worth risking a big fat zero for your work or, in extreme cases, having to plead your case in front of a panel where you’ll have to beg not to be booted out.
If you do end up finding useful, non-Wikipedia based information (ie: information that can actually be referenced) feel free to chop it up and paraphrase. Just don’t forget to reference it.
REFERENCING
This one is easy. Learn how to do it early as you’ll be doing a LOT of it throughout your degree. In layman’s terms — if you didn’t come up with an idea but you’re writing about it in an assessment, you’ll need to reference whoever did. This applies to everything from quotes to paraphrasing. Credit where due, right? And in case it hasn’t already been drilled into you, Wikipedia is not a source so don’t reference it. Ever. If it helps to simplify a concept for you — great, but find an academic paper to cite if you want your research/assignment to have any credibility.
IF YOU NEED HELP
If you feel like you’re struggling or just need a little help adjusting to uni life — you might benefit from seeking counselling. Sometimes you don’t want to talk to family or friends and most universities offer free, confidential Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS). No issue is too big or small so if you need some perspective or advice, this is a great place to start. If your issues are more around workload or course content, it might also be worth speaking to your lecturers or tutors to help you better manage your deadlines and assignment due dates.
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