Just to help I've dragged Al into helping me with this one! Feel free to share your own thoughts as well!
Missing family and friends back home
Al says: I could not wait to get away to be honest. But when I got to Uni there were times when I did miss home comforts and family. The best thing to do is keep yourself occupied. Whether that be getting a part time job or joining societies ( I would recommend the latter for 1st semester if not 1st year). There is so much more to Uni than lecturers so grab every opportunity and really chuck yourself in. If you fill your time you won't have time to miss family! Just remember though they are only ever a phone call away
Laura says: Homesickness can be really hard, for me I was fine until week six which was reading week and everyone in my flat had gone home so I was on my own, it hit me really hard but luckily I had some really good friends who could see I was in a bit of trouble and were more than happy to help me out in the form of cookies and ice cream. Make sure you keep in contact with family back home, skype is great, surround yourself with good friends and keep yourself busy, just don't go all of freshers without sending a text home or your parents might get a little worried. See my post about home sickness here.
Forgetting something important
Laura says: Make yourself a list nice and early on, I shall you sharing my list with you all soon. Get your parents to help you pack. If it comes to it and you do forget something really important it can always be posted to you.
Budgeting
Al says: Once you have found out how much your loan is worth I would sit down with your family to work out how much you can realistically spend. Take everything into consideration! I would recommend working weekly Deduct your accommodation. Expected food budget bills (save receipts after shopping to give you a better idea when you get to uni) 1st. Think about nights out bad how much you wanna spend (only take cash out so your not tempted to withdraw more) If you have savings include those. Think outside the box e.g. Don't forget top ups or phone contracts. Try and have spare money each week in case you need to fork out for text books, paper etc.
Most importantly budget for freshers week on its own (it's an amazing week whichever uni your at and you wanna make the most of it.
Try and under spend as much as possible. Only shop in sales. Learn to say no to non-essentials. Get this all sorted before you go, it will give you something to do over the long summer. Most importantly stick to your budget
Laura says: If you're really worried about your budgeting get your parents to sit down with you and look through your finances with you they will be able to suggest realistic amounts of money that you would be spending on food and such. Set yourself an amount and stick to it. I did a cheeky post about my budget here
What to do if you aren't happy with your accommodation
Al says: The University or accommodation company will have steps in place for people not happy with accommodation for whatever reason. It's really easy to do. You just pop down to the halls office (or similarly named) and tell them the problem . You will then fill out a form and they will find an available room for you
What to do if you aren't happy with your course
Al says: Explain that you are not happy with your course to your personal tutor. If it is the same school them it is really easy as most lecturers know each other and degree schemes have similar modules/content so you will not need to do as much catching up as if it is a completely different course. If it is a a completely different course follow the same steps, it may take a bit longer to do the transfer and you will have work to catch up on (but if that's what you want to do defiantly do it!)
Remember if you want to change do it early things are much simpler early on as you will not have missed much
I don't drink and I'm worried I will be left out of some activities
Al says: If you don't drink for whatever reason that is fine. If you are honest with people from the start they will respect your choice (do not try to be something your not). I do drink myself but honestly there are so many things to do that don't involve alcohol. Societies run day trips to places such as Chester, London, Manchester etc. Certain societies do not have anything to do with alcohol for example at Bangor there are gardening societies which are purely based on getting experience for environmental degrees. Consider joining a sport society. If none of the former take your fancy just invite your mates round to your flat, order pizza and watch a film. You don't always need alcohol to have a good time
Laura says: University can be scary for someone who doesn't drink and there is quite a lot of pressure to drink as a student, however most of this pressure comes from outside the university and from public perception of student life. Just be yourself and be honest with people and say I don't drink and most will respect your choice. Some universities have societies for people who are T-total but you won't be the only person who doesn't drink.
I really hope this has helped some of those pre-freshers worries, if anyone has anymore feel free to comment, or if you have any other general advice please do share!
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