So, you’re about to start uni? Don’t lie to yourself, you’re damn scared…
I know I was!
I remember accepting my offer and then basically freezing. Like, I had no idea what uni even was, how it worked, where it was or what I needed to do next.
I was petrified, to say the least!
But, that’s why I’m here…
I’ve lived through that daunting first year, made all of the embarrassing mistakes (like walking into the wrong class, interrupting a tutorial because you were late, getting lost and asking for help, catching the wrong train, etc.) and even managed to get great marks despite all that.
So, dive into this post that’s all about helping you avoid those same mistakes so you can rock up and make uni your b*tch from day one!
If you’re still yet to choose your degree, or if you want to see whether the degree you’re about to start is right for you, start with Uncle Nathan’s ‘How to Choose the Uni Degree of Your Dreams”
Disclaimer: The following post is based on my experience at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). The majority of what I say is pretty universal (so it should make sense for all Aussie unis), but the specifics may change slightly if you’re going to a different uni so please make sure you check your uni’s website for any other information that I don’t cover!
Table of Contents
Uni Jargon Debunked
Undergrad vs. Postgrad
Undergraduate: This is the term used to describe a student who is studying their first degree. They have not yet graduated from any degree.
Postgraduate: This is the term used to describe a student who is studying a second degree following graduation from a previous degree. To be considered a postgrad student, you must have successfully completed at least one degree.
Lecture
A lecture is where the majority of course content is presented. Lectures usually cover a recap of textbook content, summarising the important details into a succinct presentation.
Typically, a lecturer and an associate lecturer will run through a PowerPoint with relevant notes. Students are expected to copy down important notes and follow along with the presentation.
Tutorial (Tute)
A tutorial or a tut (pronounced t-ew-t), is essentially like a class that follows a lecture.
This is where students interact with each other and a tutor (usually an academic) to discuss & assess lecture work and any homework.
Seminar
A seminar is basically a mix of a lecture and a tutorial. You’ll sit in a big room with a lecturer upfront and go through content.
Usually, the lecturer will stop every now and again, giving the class a chance to discuss and ask questions.
Dean
The dean of a university is basically like the principal. They are in charge of the day-to-day operations of the uni and they must answer to the board on behalf of the uni.
The dean is a rare species in uni life, you probably won’t even know his/her name until you graduate.
Academic
An academic is any teacher or scholar within a uni. Basically, all of your lecturers, tutors and subject coordinators are academics.
Lecturer
A lecturer is an academic that is in charge of presenting course content to students. They can also be the subject coordinator, however, this isn’t always the case.
Associate
An associate is kind of like an assistant. They are usually at the beginning of their academic career.
For example, an associate lecturer will usually present course content with the head lecturer as their assistant.
GPA
GPA stands for Grade Point Average and gives future employers a sense of how well you did throughout your degree.
Most unis across the world use a 7-point GPA scale. This means you’ll have a GPA between 0 and 7 when you graduate (7 being a perfect score).
WAM
Your WAM is similar to your GPA. WAM stands for Weighted-Average Mark and it’s basically the average of all your results across your degree, adjusted to the relative credit points.
For example, I finished my first year with 5 HDs, 3 Ds, a C and a P and that gave me a WAM of just above 80.
Referencing – APA, Harvard, etc.
Referencing is what we use to acknowledge the work of others when we use their findings in our own work.
Most unis have very specific rules surrounding referencing, as well as a specific system.
For UTS they have just switched from the Harvard system to the APA system. These are simply two referencing styles that have slight differences in their format.
Credit Points
Credit points are awarded for each subject that you complete. Typically, you’ll receive 6 credit points per subject in a regular degree.
This means you’ll receive 48 credit points per year under a full-time load and 144 credit points over a 3-year course.
In order to obtain the credit points, most subjects require at least a Pass mark.
Each uni degree specifies a minimum number of credit points required before you can graduate.
Units
Units are similar to credit points. Each subject will have a set number of units and the degree will require a specified minimum number of units before graduation.
Stream
The stream is a term used to describe the flow of your degree. Because many degrees differ greatly in the specific subjects students will undertake, unis will give you the choice of what stream to enrol in.
For example, at UTS I could choose a standard stream (2 majors or 1 major + 2 sub-majors) or an extended stream (1 extended major + electives).
Major
A major is essentially like a specialty.
Say you are studying a Bachelor of Commerce, you could choose to major in Finance or Economics or Accounting etc.
A major is made up of 48 credit points (8 x 6 credit-point subjects).
Sub-Major
A sub-major is just a shorter version of a major. Instead of doing the full major, you can combine two majors as sub-majors, allowing you to cover different areas.
For example, my stream allows me to do a Finance Major + an Economics Sub-Major and a Management Consulting Sub-Major.
A sub-major is made up of 24 credit points (4 x 6 credit-point subjects).
Extended Major
An extended major is exactly as it sounds. Rather than simply doing a standard 2 majors or 1 major + 2 sub-majors, an extended major allows you to truly specialise in a certain area of study.
An extended major is made up of 72 credit points (12 x 6 credit-point subjects).
Elective
An elective is simply the option to undertake a single subject from any major.
This allows you to engage in study in an area that interests you a little, but one that you don’t want to do a full sub-major in.
StuVac
StuVac is short for Study Vacation. This is the term used to describe breaks in the uni year.
Most unis that follow a semester calendar (two compulsory annual sessions + an option for a summer session) will have 2 StuVacs per session (1 at midterm and 1 before exams) and then a long (optional) StuVac over the New Year.
Midsem
Midsem is simply the middle of a study session (middle of semester). Some subjects will have small exams at this point. It marks the halfway point of content for your subjects.
Session Load
A session load is basically how many units you take on each semester. Most people will choose between full-time (4 subjects per semester) or part-time (2 subjects per semester).
With part-time, you’ll take twice as long to finish your degree, but it allows you to work full-time throughout it.
You can easily change this throughout your course.
Census Date
The census date is basically the cut off for dropping out or changing courses each semester.
This is the day that your uni records which course you are studying and asks for payment.
Prerequisite
A prerequisite is a required unit of study before you can move forward with your degree.
Most uni courses are structured so that you complete certain subjects before other ones. Basically, any subject that you can’t complete at any time in your degree will have a few prerequisite subjects that you have to do first.
Bridging Course
A bridging course is basically a subject that allows you to get into the degree you want.
For example, if you want to study a mathematics degree but didn’t complete the mathematics prerequisite in your HSC, you would have to Pass a bridging mathematics course before you can start your degree.
These allow you to pretty much study whatever you want, regardless of your ATAR.
High Distinction
A High Distinction is any mark over 85. This is shortened to an HD in uni talk.
Distinction
A Distinction is a mark between 75 and 85. This is shortened to a D in uni talk.
Credit
A Credit is a mark between 65 and 75. This is shortened to a P in uni talk.
Pass
A Pass in a mark between 50 and 65. This is shortened to a P in uni talk.
Honours
Honours is an extension to a normal bachelors degree in which you undertake an extra year of study.
The extra year is purely research-based. At the end of it, you’ll submit a thesis on a research topic of your choosing.
Honours basically just looks better than a regular Bachelor’s Degree, but it’s not a must-have to get a job after uni.
How To Find Your Classes
You’ll learn pretty quickly that uni is huge. There are heaps of different buildings and levels and terminology around classes.
The first week will scare the crap out of you. You’ll get lost a few times, you’ll be late, you’ll probably miss classes by accident and you’ll definitely get off at the wrong train station/bus stop.
But, don’t worry…
Literally, everyone is in the same boat.
UTS has over 12 buildings in its Broadway campus. This makes life a little tricky if I have a class in Building 2 and then another one in building 10, 5 minutes later.
Because most unis are similar, they make it pretty easy to read the timetable if you know what to look for.
Your room location will probably look something like this:
This App Will Save Your Life
A little cheat code that I learnt early on is the Lost On Campus app, made by Student VIP. This app will literally save your life!
It shows you exactly where every room is and how to get there based on your current location.
Make sure you download it before your first week! It’ll save you a lot of time and effort from the get-go.
It has pretty much every Aussie Uni campus on there and also has links to the StudentVIP note-sharing platform (a place to buy and sell course notes).
Download it here:
O’Day: A Day of Free Stuff
O’Day stands for Orientation day. It’s probably the first time since finishing school that you’ll step foot into uni and it’s a daunting experience for most.
It really is a day of firsts…
- First time getting public transport to uni
- Meeting too many people to count
- Signing up for societies just so you can drink
- Learning that uni is huge and no one really cares about you all that much
It’s damn confronting!
But, if you go to O’Day with the right mindset, it’ll probably turn into one of the most memorable days of your first-year uni experience.
The beauty of O’Day is the abundance of free stuff just waiting to be looted. The problem is, you need to know where to look!
Unis love to give stuff away. It keeps students happy, it makes businesses happy and it gets people on campus.
Here’s how you can make the most of it:
- Bring a large bag/backpack
- DON’T get there early
- Try to get there around midday. This gives the pop-ups time to get organised and stock up, and most giveaways are announced at around 1 pm.
- Search every floor!
- There’s literally stuff going on everywhere at O’Day, make sure you walk up and down the corridors and find tents with decent lines.
- A long line usually means the best free stuff. I know this sucks but if you wait for the line to die down, you’ll probably miss out on the best things.
- Everyone takes more than their fair share, so why shouldn’t you? Double dip, just do it…
- Stash it all at home and enjoy a year of free gum, portable chargers, reusable coffee mugs, diaries, lollies, deodorant, razors and more.
Another tip for O’Day is to find some school friends that are also going to the same uni and go together. It’s a lot easier to make new friends when you’re with current ones.
Look around campus with them as well. Go find your classrooms, explore the library and sus out nice lunch spots.
Look around, introduce yourself to people, have a chat, collect lots of free stuff and sign up to as many societies as you can!
HECS Explained
HECS stands for Higher Education Contribution Scheme and is usually what most students use to help pay for their uni degree.
The government essentially loans you the cost of your degree, asking you to pay it back once you start working full-time.
The loan is interest-free (indexed to inflation) and is paid back from your before-tax earnings (meaning you never really see the money anyway.
Basically, you get to go to uni as a broke teenager and then pay it back as a wealthy young professional.
HECS can be a bit confusing at first. I definitely had no idea how it worked when I started uni and that was stressing me out because I sure as hell didn’t have $5k to throw at my first semester.
HECS is now termed HECS-HELP when you apply for it through the government. Most unis will tell you how to do this but it’s important that you do it before the census date!
Unis also have other fees that you may be able to subsidise through the government. These are called amenities fees for UTS students and are required to be paid before you can see your results.
Your uni should provide you with the relevant HECS-HELP forms through your student portal.
After you have submitted and received your acceptance email, you don’t have to do anything! The government will be sent your invoices each semester and they will pay them for you. You’ll also be sent the invoice, but you don’t have to act on them.
I’m gonna say it again because it’s damn important…
Make sure you submit your application well before the census date!
For further reading, we have another post dedicated to HECS and how it works.
Finding Accommodation
My main tip for accommodation if you’re going to be living on campus is to get in and apply early!
The sooner you apply, the safer you’ll be and the more chance of getting the accommodation you want.
Now I must confess that I’ve never lived on campus. My uni is just over an hour away so I live at home and then travel in on public transport for classes.
I do, however, have many friends that live on campus at other unis and at UTS.
My top accommodation tips are:
- Figure out how much you’re willing to pay
- Accom is expensive. Especially when you’re a broke uni student! So make sure you can afford the accommodation you want.
- Another tip here is to explore the different options. Like yeah, a shared room with 5 people is cheap, but would you rather pay a little more for a quieter place?
- Pick a spot close to campus but not on campus
- It’s important that you don’t drown yourself in uni work. Staying close to, but not on campus will give you the space to live a little on your days off. It’ll let you unwind and forget about uni work for a few hours with no reminders of the assessment due next week.
- Pack light
- There’s no need to bring your whole life with you. Chances are you’ll move around a little anyway. Pack the essentials and make moving in a minimalistic experience.
- Clean up after yourself
- Don’t let your room get messy. It’s so much easier to study and be productive when your room is tidy. Clean up every Sunday and then enjoy a clean room for the week!
- Keep meals cheap
- You gotta save money! Cook for yourself, go halves with your roommate, just be realistic here. Don’t go spending your money on takeaway every night!
A Guide to Public Transport
Quick disclaimer: This section will definitely favour UTS students, but you should learn something valuable if you go to any nearby uni as well! (sorry everyone else…)
Public transport was easily the scariest part of uni for me. I’d never even been on a train before I started uni (apart from this one time when I was drunk and somehow ended up in Roseville!?).
Anyway, point is that public transport into uni is confusing and I guarantee you’ll stuff it up at least once.
Sure, you could drive in every day. The problem with that is parking. It’s so hard to find parking in the city, and when you do, you’ll probably be spending at least $15 for the day.
Compare that to a concession ticket on public transport ($3 each trip). I’d choose the latter in most cases.
Personally, I spend $12 on public transport each uni day ($3 x 2 busses and $3 x 2 trains). It adds about 30 mins onto the trip, but I think it’s worth it considering the fuel saved and the benefit of completing work on the bus/train.
In order to nail public transport, the best thing to do is to practice the route during O’Week.
Spend that O’Week going into uni each day and timing yourself. Note which bus and train routes take you where you need to go and study the area around your uni.
For UTS, I take any express bus to Wynyard and then any train from platform 3 (Wynyard Station). This drops me to Central Station where I walk underneath the station and pop up just next to Harris Street.
The tunnel beneath the station connects to The Goods Line which will take you straight to any classes in the Powerhouse Museum.
The trip takes me 1 hour 25 minutes at peak hour and about 15 minutes less during the middle of the day or late at night.
My tip for you is to learn how to get to Central Station and then walk (for UTS students).
Tips That’ll Make You Look Like a Pro
Timetable
The elusive timetable. Haunting first-year students for years!
You’ll listen to your older siblings who are at uni tell you that they go in once or twice a week. You then go to create a timetable and realise that you have to go in 4 days a week at disgusting times.
Yep, welcome to first-year! The subjects you do in first-year often have the most students, so classes fill up quickly.
To nail a good timetable, log on as soon as you accept your offer and enrol in subjects. Find the subjects that you have to take for that first semester and add whatever works best to your timetable.
Then, 1 or 2 weeks before the census date (you will have already been to a few classes) log back onto the timetable and choose one that works better for you.
Many people will have dropped out by this point so heaps more classes will be available and you can choose better timeslots.
Making your timetable can be really confusing at first. My tip is to understand what subjects you have to take and when (find this using the course planner that your uni provides), then find the corresponding subject on your timetable and choose 1 lecture session and 1 tutorial session.
Lunch on a budget
Eating at uni is a real pain. It’s expensive and hard to find good food in a short amount of time.
The main thing I’ve found is that Asian food is cheaper than anything else!
Most Thai places do a lunch special for less than $10. That’s your best bet other than a nice Kebab on the off day.
Thai is perfect. It has lots of vegetables, yummy carbs and good proteins. Just make sure you ask for the lunch special!
The other option is a premade salad from Woolies or Coles. You can’t go wrong with these! Cheap, healthy and tasty.
Bring some snacks for class as well…
Breakout rooms
Most unis will have areas where you can study on your own. These are called breakout rooms.
At UTS we have lots of breakout rooms available at any time of day. You can tell if they’re free by checking the electronic sign on the door.
If it’s taken it’ll have the name of the class on the door, if not it’ll say “available to students” or something similar.
Societies
Societies are sick! You pay like $5 for a year of fun.
Basically, for first-year students, societies are an excuse to make new friends, drink lots of alcohol and party hard.
Most core degrees will have their core society, but there are plenty of others related to sport, leisure, gaming, academics, languages, religion, hobbies, basically, anything you can imagine!
Sign up, be frequent on their socials and attend their events, you won’t regret it.
Welcome to your first year of uni. Hopefully, by now you’ll be well equipped to tackle those first few weeks with confidence.
The key to having a good first year is to throw yourself into anything and everything. You just never know what opportunities will come knocking.
Don’t be nervous, everyone is in the same boat. Everyone wants to act like they have it all figured out but really they are just as lost as you (actually more lost because you’ve now read this).
Embrace the experience and laugh at the mistakes, you’ll make plenty!
Always,
Uncle N.