of your university experience 101
It may feel like universities are holding all the cards when it comes to your future career and opportunities - but you actually have far more power and control than you thought. By signing up for your degree course, you made a huge financial investment in your career. Essentially, you've become a paying customer - and the truth is that, as with any business, they need you as much as you need them.
So the £30,000+ question: How do you get to flex some of that control to make sure you get value for money from your university degree?
It’s easier than you think. And you don’t have to wait until things go wrong. Here are six things you can do right now to start taking control of your education.
And not just to plan your social life. Keeping track of how things are going is one of the quickest and easiest ways you can start to take control of your student life. Imagine getting to the end of term, exams looming, and you realise you’re missing chunks of knowledge from those few weeks when your lecturer was sick. You want to apply for some mitigation but you can’t for the life of you remember the dates. Or maybe you just want to keep track of how many lectures you made it to after the AU socials the night before. Keeping even a basic diary will be a huge benefit.
Sounds obvious. Of course you’re out there making friends with your hockey teammates and your flatmates and the folks from your part-time job. But don’t forget those people doing the exact same course as you! Maybe you want to trade notes, maybe you want to know if they’re struggling with this same formula, or maybe you want to compare the feedback you got on your last essay. Having some people in the same boat as you will make things much easier for you as you go through your studies - even if it’s just to know you’re not the only one.
If things aren’t going to plan. Whether it’s a lecture issue, an accommodation problem, you’re falling behind or you’re not sure you chose the right course, get ahead of the stress by making a note of your help routes before you need them. Most universities have course reps to talk to about study issues, a students’ union that supports everything from mental health to housing, and the university will have complaints procedures in place, too. You don’t need to know all of the detail but finding out how to flag an issue before you have one will make life a lot easier later on.
I know I know. Contracts are boring. But they’re also important. And often they have some hidden nasties or - treats - that are well worth knowing. If, for example, your university has strict rules about bringing the organisation into disrepute via social media, you want to know this *before* venting your spleen on Twitter. Equally, the contracts should lay out what happens when things go wrong, and who’s responsible for making them right.
Screenshot the pages of the website related to your course when you sign up, and keep any printed materials. There will almost certainly be a disclaimer along the lines of ‘this course may change’. But if something really important changes that is not easy to gloss over, then knowing what it was you signed up for will help you get the university to come up with a fair alternative. And if nothing else, you can enjoy the nostalgia as you’re getting ready to graduate.
If you do nothing else, talk! If something’s wrong, talking is the first step towards taking action and making it right. It can be to a course mate, a lecturer, a student advisor, an accommodation officer, someone back home, a flatmate or even some random down the pub. But whoever it is, just saying things out loud can help you feel in control and work out what to do next. Combine it with any of the tactics above and you’ll be in the driving seat and ready to go.
So there you have it, six quick starting points to help you feel empowered and in control of your
university experience.
What else do you do that helps you feel in control of your studies? Have you tried any of these ideas?
We’d love to hear your experience and your tips.
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