Advice/WhatToDo/WhatNot for 1st year UNI ppl

[Grey]

As the title suggests, what should you do as a first year university student?

Join clubs?
Be social?
Be quiet?
Study hard?
Study when you feel like it?
Dress formal?
Dress casual?
Dress smart-casual?
Be cool?
Be smart?

[IntoTheNewWorld]

Be smart?

Easier said than done

[chops_07]

Can't wait to start, it will be a new environment!

[jejak]

[Be smart]
Easier said than done...

Haha, don't I know it1 I've devoted much of my life towards achieving that goal, with dismal results. Oh well.

[*ryan777*]

[Be smart]
Easier said than done...

Haha, don't I know it1 I've devoted much of my life towards achieving that goal, with dismal results. Oh well.

99.65....dismal result?

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Uni sounds really scary

[jejak]

99.65....dismal result?

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Don't get me wrong, I was quite pleased with my score. It isn't much comfort to me though when I know people that are truly intelligent, y'know? In the earth-shattering, maybe-Nobel-winning sense. It's hard for me to convey in words, but as I write this, I have one close friend in mind who is a genius in the natural sciences. We're just not on the same level.

Plus, I'm really dumb in daily life. Yesterday at Flinders Station I had a mental blank and tried to walk up the "down" escalator. It took a while for me to realise what was going wrong.

Uni sounds really scary

I know!! I'm terrified. Not so much the academic side, but more how to conduct yourself in academic and social situations. And what kinds of standards and formats you're expected to maintain.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Same. I'm not really looking forward to making an absolute fool of myself

Gosh I did that so many times at Flinders! It's because you're so used to that particular escalator going a certain direction, it takes time to realise what's happening.

[jejak]

Same. I'm not really looking forward to making an absolute fool of myself

Exactly, exactly. With high school I knew exactly what was required, how to do reasonably well academically, and how to keep myself inconspicuous, for lack of another word. This seriously took me quite a while to master. With uni, I'm just being thrown in the deep end.

Gosh I did that so many times at Flinders! It's because you're so used to that particular escalator going a certain direction, it takes time to realise what's happening.

LOL, glad I'm not the only one!

[Be smart]
Easier said than done...

Totally irrelevant (is there an "offtopic" tag?), but throughout year 12 I had the following quote on the inside of my school diary.

On peut être plus fin qu'un autre, mais non pas plus fin que tous les autres

My own crappy English translation: You can be smarter than another, but not smarter than all others.
I hope that explains what I meant above.

[jejak]

Actually, on a very superficial point: if someone could weigh in on the dress code, that would be awesome. I'm assuming it's just casual, not smart-casual (whatever that means). But I need info, info!

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Same here. I need info. I was mainly inconspicuous at school too. Had a few close friends and spent lunch times with them.

I understood the French phrase. I did 1/2 French

[*ryan777*]

Same. I'm not really looking forward to making an absolute fool of myself

Gosh I did that so many times at Flinders! It's because you're so used to that particular escalator going a certain direction, it takes time to realise what's happening.

im like this, but at mc lol

[ninwa]

Actually, on a very superficial point: if someone could weigh in on the dress code, that would be awesome. I'm assuming it's just casual, not smart-casual (whatever that means). But I need info, info!

Seriously... wear whatever you want. Nobody cares (just don't rock up in a tuxedo unless you don't mind getting stared at). However if you are going to Monash and are a girl (or a Scottish guy...), do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever EVER wear a dress or a skirt unless it's long and heavy.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

[ninwa]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Don't get me wrong, I was quite pleased with my score. It isn't much comfort to me though when I know people that are truly intelligent, y'know? In the earth-shattering, maybe-Nobel-winning sense. It's hard for me to convey in words, but as I write this, I have one close friend in mind who is a genius in the natural sciences. We're just not on the same level.

Best advice I can give re: this - there will always be someone, most likely a lot of people, who will be smarter than you at uni. Don't let it discourage you. Marks aren't the be all end all.

Also, university standards are a lot higher than high school. For example, a 76 is a very very good score (upper end of Distinction) while in high school it probably would only have been a B or something. So don't compare your uni marks with your high school standards.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

Also, university standards are a lot higher than high school. For example, a 76 is a very very good score (upper end of Distinction) while in high school it probably would only have been a B or something. So don't compare your uni marks with your high school standards.

In year 10 they started calling a B, Distinction at my school D:

sounded so much better than B. Too bad it resetted for VCE >_>