Undergraduate Modus Operandi:

“University is massive highs, and fucking terrible lows.” JN, 2020

Every adult you ever speak to, especially recent graduates, say that your time at university goes by too quickly and you should ‘enjoy every second’ of it. Every undergraduate student takes no notice of this. Then you’re three years down the line, submitted your dissertation and wondering where the fuck it all went.

I am at that stage now, thank G-d I’ve got another year. From a shockingly bad Y1:T1 [Year 1, Term 1], to 2 years of chat, rugby and booze, I feel I am quite well versed to dish out some unwanted and soon-to-be ignored advice to university undergraduates who are joining in September.

I’ll split this up into rough sections: University Selection, Freshers, 2nd & 3rd Year Academia and Social. Not all of it is going to be relevant to you; and in traditional social scientist-style, you must recognise my positionality in this report. I’m a straight, white, tall male: my experience of university is going to be very different to people of different intersectionalities. Additionally, everyone’s university experience is relational, wholly dependent on a combination of personal, contextual, sociological and topographical factors. If you don’t understand what these words mean yet, that’s what first year is for.

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University Selection:

Everyone thinks their university is the best. The thing is I can say, with evidence, that Exeter is (probably) the best university in the world.

Plenty of other universities are good too. In my case, friends that have gone to Bristol, Nottingham, Durham, Cambridge and Edinburgh have all had amazing times; that’s not to say that any others not on this list are any worse off. Recognise that no matter where you go, both happiness and sadness will follow you around [see JN quote].

Course is key. You want to find somewhere which firstly offers your prospective undergraduate program at reasonable grades and contains modules which are interesting to you. Don’t trust the university handouts, simply Google the department and university which you are interested in and read the list of modules from there. Rate my lecturer can be good too, but usually is full of guff from annoyed students who got a Desmond on a paper. If you love your course, it is easier to put up with the trials which university enforces you to go through.

Speaking of distrust, university open days are good but wholly superficial. Go on a random rainy Tuesday and you’ll find out what true university life is like. Use your links too, reach out to people who are/have attended your prospective university. Get an idea of accommodation, course content, difficulty and nightlife.

People always say ‘don’t just go where your school friends are going’. Ignore this. University life is a lot easier if you’ve got a few mates you can rely on, one of the main reasons I chose Exeter. And just remember that university isn’t all about nightlife and sport. Yes these factors play a huge role in your university experience; but when you look back on your time, you don’t want to wish you chose somewhere where you could have improved personally a bit more.

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Freshers:

Hello freshies, get used to the most nerve-wracking and entertaining year of your life. Use it as an opportunity to redefine yourself from who you were at school. These people don’t know you, be the person you want to be.

I cannot stress this enough: GET GOOD ACCOMMODATION. People, like myself, who had poor first year accommodation always struggle initially. You can move and the university will help you.

Don’t join the course/flat group chats before going to university. Everyone stalks them and you can get into trouble before you’ve even met them. I got removed from the Geography one for asking what colouring pencils everyone had brought, a harmless and potentially unfunny joke that warranted me a three-year ban. Also, I was banned from the Durham history group chat, so I don’t think that they’re that private.

Be nice to your flatmates. Living with similar-aged people for the first time is tough for everyone. Everyone has their own quirks. Get horrifically drunk with them in Freshers Week, but don’t over-do it. Reputations and nicknames last for years, don’t make them in the first week. Recognise that drinking is essential [unfortunately for some] to the bonding experience. There are groups for all individuals at university, but the majority of British students bond over lager and wine. For lager, drink Fosters; for wine, drink rose. Words to live by.

Have a reserve of money before you get to university. Post-COVID club tickets are a) expensive and b) resold online. Be prepared to pay above the asking price to go on a night out with your flatmates. Pay attention to the Facebook pages which you’ll inevitably join, and get as many tickets as possible. You don’t want to be the one left alone in the flat.

All other realistic university guides will talk about ‘flatcest’: sleeping with someone in the same flat as you. I have no experience in this so cannot offer any guidance. But it is quite funny.

Join a sports club or society. The majority of men at university make friends through their team. It’s a great way to keep fit and meet new people, and the socials are quite fun too. If you’re not sporty, join a social club like drama, some form of music or even gin society. They’re good, trust me.

If you can, go to socials. For rugby, learn a song off by heart and have a confession or funny story ready. You have to go through the shit in the first year to get to the real fun in third year. It is worth it, I promise.

Do some work. Do enough to get by, but definitely prioritise your social life. Just learn how to write an essay to university standards and read academic literature… you don’t actually need to get good marks just yet though. Use OneNote for note taking. Keep a notebook for each module, I use both the front and back halves for different ones to keep cost down.

If you don’t like your course or modules, change. It isn’t going to get better.

And for fucks sake, don’t bring a kettle or toaster.

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2nd & 3rd Year Academia:

Here’s where you decide if you want a 1st or a 2:1, this will define your university experience. A 1st offers nothing, no job will look more favourably on it [outside of academia] and requires a hell of a lot more work. It does look good on the self-assessment though, everybody wants to walk through the graduate door with a first class degree. A 2:1 means you can go out more, play more sport and be less stressed. But it’s not a first. You decide, there is no right answer.

As much as the drinking, gambling and smoking of university is fun, you’re there to work. This is costing you more than £9500 a year. Don’t piss it all away for a couple of cans of luke-warm Fosters. As much as you think you do, you don’t work hard. You have it so easy. If you need reminding of this factor, speak to one of your employed parents to see what time they got up, how much work they did, and how many beers they had before 16:00.

Play the essay game. Haraway in her 1988/1991 exploration of situated knowledges dispelled the myth of objectivity, even in scientific research. No matter how much university tries to maintain a facade of objectivity, the tutors know who you are before they’ve finished. Use their literature correctly, recount lecture arguments and be nice to them in person. Arrange meetings if need-be, just not too often though.

Play the module game. Most courses outside of STEM allow for 30 credits to be undertaken in other subjects. Utilise this fully. Take business school and language modules and get fucking good marks. Excel in these, and you’ve got a buffer for the inevitable mistakes later on. If you’re in STEM, take coding.

Read around the subject. Book reviews are good for this. Most academic journals have a book review section where other professors highlight the strengths and weaknesses of recent publications; a quasi-post-publishing peer review process. These are gold dust. As are key thinkers books and ‘Key Essays In…’ books.

Go to lectures often, seminars can bore off. This is course dependent, but nothing really ever gets done in them as 90% of people haven’t done the work.

Dissertations are tough but that’s a whole other article. Watch this space.

Don’t cheat irresponsibly, don’t plagiarise, don’t fail any modules.

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Social & Exeter City:

Whilst at school, you may have found different cliques and distinctly separated groups of people as the norm. In my experience, this is not the same at university. Partially due to the randomisation of Y1 flats, I would argue that friendship circles are more diverse and – on the whole – inclusive.

That isn’t to say that you are guaranteed a close friendship group from the start. I have spoken about this previously, but I cannot stress it enough. University is a journey and you will pick people up along the way. If you can leave after x many years and know that you have a good circle behind you, then you’ve been successful.

Whilst both myself and my friendship group always steered clear of trouble, recognise that combining a load of students and alcohol will eventually lead to some trouble [each letter underlined links to a different article]. Stay as far away from this as possible.

Get to know whatever city you’re in. Not just the local clubs, but the surrounding area, day trips and local spots. You don’t want to spent cumulatively tens of thousands of pounds in rent to only remember what the toilet bowls looked like in the local discotheque. I’ll list some of my favourites in Exeter below, for your eyes only though.

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Concluding Remarks:

Relax, you’re going to be fine. Everyone goes through the same pre-university angst that you do. I promise it will all work out in the end. But if you take anything away from this, understand that your university experience is not handed to you on a plate. You have to work for it. Don’t expect anything to be done for you, go out there and make your own path. As always, please use the contact form if you need any more advice. Good luck.