Various gadgets and online tools can be extremely useful for students. As for tablets, laptops, and netbooks, they can help a lot, especially in the library. But do not forget that writing with a pen activates the processes of memorization in the brain. Remember about the teachers who need to take a handwritten abstract. While gadgets make student life way easier, some College courses may still be very challenging. For me, English assignments were the hardest, so whenever I needed to submit an essay, I just had to pay someone to write my paper cheap online.
Find out where the libraries and reading rooms are located. Sign up and learn how to work with the catalog. Unfortunately, not all the materials that you will need are available on the Internet yet.
Write down the schedule, remember the location of buildings and classrooms. You can just follow your group, but it’s better to be independent. It is also worth recording the opening hours of libraries, gyms, laboratories, and other places that you will visit.
Collect information about teachers and take into account their characteristics. Write down and remember the full name of the teachers. There is nothing more stupid than getting to know a teacher on an exam. Find out about the character and habits of everyone (undergraduates will help with this).
Read about the principles of time management. Learn to allocate time so that it is enough for university attendance, independent training, and rest.
Don’t get on the last row. This is a place for those who want to do their own business, not study.
Many teachers treat the last rows with prejudice. In addition, it is usually hard to hear what the teacher says from there. It is better to record lectures sitting at the first line or in the middle of the audience.
Do not hesitate to ask questions to the teacher. If something is unclear, ask boldly. Teachers love active students. But don’t overdo it, the imitation of interest will create an image of a sycophant for you. Or even worse – the image of a stupid sycophant.
If the teacher doesn’t care, and no one writes his lectures, you should write them down. Why?
Because then you’ll get them from someone! Keep in mind that the teacher’s indifferent attitude to visits and recordings of his lectures can turn into a tough guy on the exam. Some teachers are selective: they believe that the student should not be forced to study, it is his business to study or not to study.
Are you afraid to speak in front of an audience? Paradoxical advice: speak as often as possible. The skill of public speaking will come in handy in life (not to mention the fact that it will be easier to pass the exams).
Practical, laboratory and control tests must be taken on time. Don’t skip them, hand in all the assignments timely. You’ll have to take it anyway. Gradually, it is easier to do this than to deal with a pile of work-outs before the exams themselves.
Start writing term papers and essays as early as possible. If you’re going to order them from freelancers, don’t delay either.
Before you hand over the ordered or downloaded work, read it! Don’t give the teacher a reason to give you a low grade – calculate your grade first. This will help you determine whether it’s worth asking for a refund or not.
If your classmates are driving a fool, don’t look up to them. You don’t want to get into that 20% of idlers that will fly out after the first exams, do you?
Why does a first-year student need social, cultural, and scientific activities?
Tips from students on scientific and cultural activities
Social activity is not only interesting but also useful. Activity in social and cultural projects increases the chance to receive a personal scholarship.
If you have a penchant for scientific activity, do not restrain yourself. Participate in university and international conferences, enroll in the student scientific society. This is useful for the credit and opens the way to graduate school. Or even to delicious grants.
International exchange, foreign conferences, and participation in international student projects are a chance to go abroad for free. Learn languages and be more active!
If the faculty holds Olympiads, quizzes, contests – participate. The prize can be automatic machines in all subjects in the test, a nominal scholarship, a one-time monetary incentive… In general, all sorts of nice things plus the respect of teachers.
Participation in youth political projects is also useful. This is where your path into politics can begin – if, of course, you are interested in it. But keep in mind that not all policies are useful for the student. Choose projects approved by the university.
If you are a born administrator, make a career in the trade union committee. The path is not for everyone, but if it’s yours, go for it. A sense of power, money and other little things attached.
It makes sense for a student with a journalistic streak to go to the editorial office of a student newspaper already in the first year. You can start yourself or together with like-minded people an alternative blog, website, or set up the publication of a faculty newspaper.
Take part in amateur performances. Firstly, it is unbelievably fun. Secondly, if you apply for a personal scholarship, this activity will also be counted. Thirdly, valuable creative personnel can count on indulgences from the dean’s office in case of problems with the session. But within reasonable limits, of course.
It makes sense for artists, poets, writers, and other very creative people to participate in competitions, enroll in student profile communities. Sometimes students’ creativity is published by university newspapers. Well, there is plenty of space on the Internet for self-presentation in general.
These talents are also in great demand in the preparation of all kinds of events.
Participate in sports competitions. Volleyball, basketball, and even chess tournaments are not only a way of self-realization, but also a chance to get a professional in physical education. Monetary incentives are possible.
Think about the future. Already from the first year, it is worth thinking about how you will build your career after graduation. Will you work in your specialty? Are you going to do a Masters’s program as well? Are you interested in postgraduate studies? Do you need a foreign language for your career? Are you going to look for a job in your specialty while studying at a university? The more specific your plans are, the more likely it is that you will approach graduation with an accurate knowledge of where you will work and, perhaps, even with offers from employers.