What to expect – Undergraduate
As an undergraduate student, studying at university will probably be different from what you have experienced before.
Your study life
There is the expectation that you will take more of a lead in your own education. No one will tell you what to do or when to do it at university.
Actual ‘free time’ at university is more about realising how to use that time to support your studies whilst also developing a new sense of who you are.
Your module handbook will provide a list of recommended reading material and you may be tasked with additional pieces of reading and research as you go along.
Teaching will differ from that you have experienced before. Lectures are not designed to give you all there is to know on a given topic. They will be just a view into a topic area. It is up to you to read and learn more about that topic and realise its depth. A lecture gives you a flavour, but it remains your responsibility to expand on this by reading around the topic area.
Your personal life
You will possibly initially feel more alone than you were before and need to consider how to build new relationships.
It may not be easy to find other students like yourself initially, so be prepared to put some effort into social activities to get to know others and build friendships.
Whilst at school or college you may have developed close relationships with your teachers and classroom friends; however, this is not as easy to manage at university and you will likely notice this almost immediately. A university is a community, and you will meet a wide variety of people. Do not be surprised, therefore, if you find that new friendships emerge outside of your own programme of study as your classes may vary quite a bit in who will study them. Again, this is entirely normal.