Heart thudding against your chest, your excitement rising despite yourself as you frantically refresh the UCAS homepage. Each time it loads you look away in fear of what you might see.
It can only mean one thing. A-level results day.
Trust me, I know the feeling! I found out my grades 3 years ago. I had come straight from the airport after my summer holiday. I was jet lagged, feeling sick with nerves and in need of a large vat of tea.
If you're finding out your A-level grades today, I hope that you get the results you wanted. If you didn't, take a deep breath and stay calm.
I thought that I would use this week's blog to give impending Freshers' some tips and share parts of my first year experience with you. (It honestly feels like it happened yesterday - where does the time go?)
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| Arty 'new direction' photo. It's going to be a wordy post! |
Before:
1. Clearing?
Definitely check out The Student Room because they have a large section dedicated to Clearing. Although your school/college should also offer you support and advice, the forum should stop you feeling so lost or alienated. There plenty of people to talk to who will be going through the same thing as you, which a school advisor just can't match.
The Student Room also offers individual forums for each university, where you can find out about the nightlife, meet friends and find people studying the same course as you.
2. Have you got a place to stay?
If you haven't heard back from your university accommodation office or if you've gone through Clearing, the thought of having nowhere to stay can be the scariest prospect of all.
Most importantly: do NOT panic.
Firstly, call the university accommodation office to see if there are still rooms available. It may seem unlikely, but it should be your first port of call. Even if there is no room at the inn, they should be able to give you a list of landlords or estate agents to contact which should narrow down the property search considerably.
Next, look up the area on Google Maps. This will let you know how far away your potential accommodation is from university/town/bus routes.
Before I stated uni I searched on Facebook as I wanted to know one person before I began. There were hundreds of groups for each different university accommodation, where people were posting their flat/house number and which area it was on campus. This is where I found my room mate and made my first friend at university (hello Lauren!)It was such a relief to have someone to share my excitement with and I definitely recommend having a gander to see if you can find a buddy on there.
For those without a house or room mate. In second year, I needed to find a room mate last minute and I regularly posted adverts on my university's student Facebook page. I also saw lots of posts from people looking for others to team up with and look for a house.
I didn't at the time, but I would definitely utilise Twitter as well. Check if your uni has an account and then tweet them, saying you looking for accommodation.
No matter what - you will find somewhere! Just be persistent and email/tweet/message until you find a place to stay.
Packing:
1. Where to begin?
Before you fling everything out of your wardrobe, make sure you check your university accommodation guidelines. This will give you a heads up about what to bring and what is verboten.
What? Why?
- Generally it is electrical appliances that are discouraged; mini fridges, rice cookers, coffee machines etc. if you have room inspections and are found to have something from the banned list, it can get you in trouble and a trip to the Dean's office *gulp*
- It could save you money. Some universities will provide duvets/pillows and most will have a kettle (essential for the cup of tea you will want to make once your family leave.)
However, this will all depend on your university so double check!
2.Where do you go?
Tesco, Asda, Ikea, Argos and Wilkinson's offer lots of easy-on-the-budget solutions for packing.
For kitchen supplies I chose to go to Tesco. At the time they were doing a Clubcard Exchange (which they have apparently renamed Clubcard Boost) this meant that we could use my mum's £5 voucher and double it. This only works for certain departments but as it works for the Homeware section it's all good!
You only need the basics - plates, cereal bowls, glasses, mugs, cutlery (knives, forks, spoons and teaspoons), saucepans, frying pan, medium baking tray, a sharp knife for cutting up vegetables and a wooden spoon.
Additional extras - cheese grater, potato masher, sieve/colander, cake tin, wine glasses (ohh fancy!), casserole dish and toaster.
If you have been able to find your room mates then I recommend asking them about what they plan to bring and if they would like to divide certain items between you all. It isn't essential but one kitchen can easily end up with five cheese graters and three kettles. I wouldn't recommend having communal plates or cutlery because washing up (or lack thereof) can cause many a passive aggressive note.
If ready meals are the extent of your culinary repertoire then ask mum (or whoever is the resident chef in your family) to write down a couple of recipes that will be easy for you to make on your own.
Go on, I'll give you one to start you off.
Basic Pasta Sauce - tin of chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, onion (I buy the bag of frozen chopped onions from Tesco) in a frying pan fry the onions with oil, add the tomatoes and season to taste - easiest thing ever!
Cheaper than the pre-made stuff, healthier and can be used on pizzas, bolognese, lasagna, chili con carne, add bell peppers, mushrooms... the list goes on and on!
3. Clothes
Try and only bring clothes that will suit the season during that term. You won't need to bring your bikini for the winter term and thick woolly jumpers can come home during the Easter break.
Bring a small selection of fancy dress items.
You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a Nerds/Geeks/School party. So bring those 3D cinema glasses and your old school tie.
I would take this opportunity to have a good spring clean of your wardrobe. Things that you no longer wear but still in good condition can be sold on eBay. I believe there is a Free Listing day today (you can start the bidding at over 99p with zero insertion fees) but even if you miss it they seem to have them every other weekend. If you make a bit of money, save it for your Freshers week or use it to buy an outfit for your first night out!
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Ok... I have so much more to add! I think this will have to be a 2 parter (part 2 here). Next up: first week at uni, room decor, room mate etiquette and other pearls of wisdom!
Until then - find me here either tweeting or instagramming.
