Tips and tricks for London freshers

Academic life.
Study: The most important rule of university life is to keep up with your lectures and materials right from the beginning of the year. Although it is tempting not to do your work for the first weeks of term since there are no weekly exams as there used to be in school, postponing studying can be dangerous and you will most certainly regret doing so. Make sure you stay up to date with all lectures do not forget to do your extra reading. 

Exams: This is an advice I wish I had been given at the beginning of my university years. There is a certain pattern in which essay questions come up in exams and since all past papers are available online, it is possible to work out which topics or questions or topics will come up. I did not know about this in my first year but once I found out, second year got suddenly so much easier. I would recommend everyone to look at past papers and try to answer all the available questions.

Study materials: In first year, students are expected to learn all information found in study materials and those mentioned in lectures. It is necessary to know everything that has been said, but also to have an opinion on all topics in order to get a good grade. For me, this was a new concept especially in science where in high school everything was purely factual. Later on in your studies, professors do not expect you to know everything that has been covered. In the contrary, they want you to choose only a few topics and do a lot of extra reading but only on these topics.

Modules: For some courses, students are expected to choose their own combination of modules. In first year it is acceptable to have wide range of topics and modules of different categories, however, later on in your studies make sure to choose those subjects that are closely related. For example, in biomedical sciences you must be careful, if you take five molecular biology modules and then one physics. You are expected to choose multiple modules on the same topics, therefore it could be challenging for you to get a good grade or even understand that one physics module.

Social life

The first week of university is also known as the freshers week where the union organises various events to help students familiarize themselves with the university life and help them find friends. However, students must bear in mind the fact that there are many people at UCL and therefore it is possible that you will meet lots of students that you will never see again in your life. I would recommend all freshers to attend only those events that are organised by a society and not just a general university event. By that you can prevent not having anything in common with fellow freshers and can also increase the likelihood of seeing them again if you keep on attending club socials.

Transport
Transport in London is reliable, however, it is also very expensive. Fortunately, there are some ways students can save money on transport if they manage to get the right student card. The most essential card is a student 18+ Oyster, which can be bought for 20 GBP. This card entitles you to a 30% discount on monthly travelcards for buses and tubes. The second type is a 16-25 Railcard which costs 30 GBP a year and saves you 1/3 of all train tickets which can be convenient if you go to the airport often. Furthermore, if you link your Railcard to your student oyster card you can get 1/3 off on all pay as you go journeys during off-peak times. The rule of thumb is that taking the bus is always cheaper than the tube, however if you really want to save money, you should get a bike and a helmet.

Accommodation
Students in London can choose whether they want to live in halls or in a flat. The university is obliged to provide first year students with a place in their halls. Unfortunately, students can not pick in which halls they would like to stay and get assigned one randomly. Halls in London are problematic as you can pay the same price for halls that look like a hotel with tennis courts and  a private cinema or for old halls far away from campus where various insects and rodents can be found. Therefore, choosing to live in halls can be a risk. All halls tend to be very social and offer a home like environment especially for us foreigners. Each halls have their own “halls representative” who want to make sure everyone feels welcome by organising various events.
In contrast, living in a flat is very calm but one can choose where and with whom they want to live. Finding a flat in London is quiet simple, if you spend the time researching housing websites you can find a nice flat within a week for sure. Landlords are used to renting their flat to students on 1 year contracts and since university can act as your guarantor you do not need to pay any rent upfront.
It is up to your own preferences if you want to live in halls or in a flat. From my experience, I would recommend everyone to stay in halls during their first year. London can seem really big and in halls it is so much easier to make friends and feel like home.

Last but not least, I would like to wish all freshers all the best for their upcoming academic year and tell them to enjoy freshers and the first term of uni as much as possible because you will never feel anything quiet like that ever again.