Going to college.

Envy

OK, to avoid talking about the results, I've started this.

Beginning college is a fairly big deal, so does anyone -- who has already been to college, or who has elder siblings who have already been through it -- have any advice for those of us who are (hopefully) about to start?

(The first person to say, "Attend lectures" gets a flaying.)

Champ

Hi;
Ah seems like another life time since i did the Leaving Cert.
I'm a fourth year Comp Sys student at UL; or will be.... even managed to pull off a few As in the last semester (2'nd of 3'rd Year) .:)

Beginning college is a fairly big deal

Definetly.

Well; it's certainly going to be quite a bit different from what you've already experienced from the education system; bearing in mind i'm speaking from a UL perspective.

The onus is 99% on you to manage your studies. A lot of the lecturers basically provide you with material through one method or another and leave you to the work. Apart from assignments; projects; and exams they basically leave you alone for the most part. That being said; most of them are open to individual consultation if you need it. Still having no daily homework is a nice change

I highly recommend going to the tutorials. They're basically a small designated group; of students say 20 - 30 (small in the sense that a lecturer can have up to 250+ students to deal with) having a small session with one of the lecturer's teaching assistants. It's where assignments are evaluated; specific problem material is covered and where you can ask specific questions. I do think its possible sometimes to just get through a module with the tutorials alone;); but they're notable exceptions... Try to go to all lectures; tutorials and labs; and do all assignments or you may find yourself in very deep water come exam time; once again there are exceptions...

When the main exams hit you; as with the Leaving Cert past exam papers are your best friend. Do not underestimate them; coupled with tutorials they can save your hide in the most desperate of situations or make getting a high grade moderately easy.

With study it definetly helps to have someone to do it with. Save reinforcement / research for home. The modules really can have some very diverse and compliated material... again there are some exceptions.:) Gone are my entirely solo days of second level:rolleyes:

Get use to campus fast; you won't believe some of the distances between lectures i had to under 5 mins. Certainly helped to know all the short cuts.:)

Finally... manage your financies well; especially if your living on campus. Some of the books you might have to get may be extremely expensive like 60 euros +.... and getting broke during the middle of a semester won't be good... So.. don't get drunk and blow all your cash in one night of pure fun / madness;)

It will be tough a good many times; i can almost guarantee that... in my course anyway:rolleyes: ; but as long as you put in your best effort you'll get through it and hardly notice the semesters go by.

As you probably guessed by now; i'm the traditional, orthodox, diligent student.:D

simu

I know it's a pain but read the paperwork - I've seen lots of students get worse results than they should because they didn't submit essays on time or they didn't know that there were marks going for work handed up at tutorials etc.

Don't be afraid to ask your tutors questions - it makes you stand out from the crowd and tutors are a good source of information.

Make sure you have at least one person in each module that you can get info off if you miss a lecture/tutorial.

rainbow kirby

Don't do anything stupid like having to repeat your exams! I was a complete and utter bum this year, skipped lectures and tutorials left right and centre. Don't do that. Also keep up with your assignments and labs, particularly if you have a part time job.

Moonbeam

Try go in as often as u can:)
100% attendance is not gonig to always be possible, but dont start missing all lectures in one subject cause u dont like it or all mornings etc
College life is great fun especially if ur moving away from home.

Other advice I can give is if early on u decide its not for u dont stay there doing something u dont like or have no interest in there is no ponit.
Speak to ur guidance counciller and u may be able to switch to another course early in the year or leave owrk for the year reapply and go back and do something that u really enjoy.

I know to many people that just finished the course they started with no interest in what they were doing and now a few years on are either going back to study or working out other ways to escape from it!

the_syco

Go to class. From someone who got into a habit of late morning's; it bites back. I'm now repeating a repeat:mad: of networking.

Also, ask questions. Unlike school, they don't care if you don't hand up stuff, don't do well, and if you drop off the face of the earth, they'll only notice when you dont sit your exams!