Top 5 Struggles For First-Year Uni Students & How To Solve Them
Worried about starting uni? We’ve got it covered.
Starting uni for the first time can be really nerve-wracking and you’re not alone if you’re already feeling a bit on edge. Luckily, most of your initial fears will probably disappear once you’ve settled in, however, if you’re feeling a bit apprehensive we’ve identified the top struggles that first-year students often have and how you can easily solve them.
Uni is the first time you’ll most likely be living away from home and doing things for yourself, so if you want some extra advice and help throughout your time at uni(as well as a great study resource), you’re in luck as you can get a student discount at The Times and Sunday Times and pay just £9.99 a year for 3 years!
With a subscription, you’ll have unlimited digital access to The Times & The Sunday Times so you can catch up on the latest student news and advice, as well as food, lifestyle and political content from award-winning journalists to keep you feeling up to date with what’s happening on campus and beyond. Plus, you’ll also get 6 months free access to the Perlego online library to help you with your studies and 2-for-1 Everyman cinema tickets on Wednesdays, so it’s well worth investing in.
Let’s dive into some of the common problems students face and how to go about solving them.
1. Learning how to cook
Does anyone go to uni knowing how to cook anything other than pasta? While you could technically live off beans and toast and pot noodles for a while, the novelty will probably wear off and you might start to feel jealous of the delicious meals your housemates seem to be able to whip up.
Learning how to cook is a skill you’ll need for the rest of your life, so it’s a good time to get started with learning some of the basics during freshers. Start with stocking up on kitchen cupboard staples like spices, cooking oils and sauces and buy frozen vegetables to keep your shopping costs low. Air fryers are having a bit of a moment right now and are a really efficient gadget to help you out in the kitchen, so it could be worth investing in one from Amazon for your uni kitchen.
Another way to make sure you’re eating enough fruit and vegetables while on a busy schedule and with minimal cooking skills is investing in a blender to help you whip up smoothies for breakfast or a snack with minimal effort involved.
The Times has some great articles on easy cooking, for example, the best budget smoothie makers or how to make healthy meals under 400 calories for just £1.
2. Budgeting for the first time
Sticking to a budget can be tricky, especially when you’ve never had to manage paying rent, doing your own food shop and maintaining a social life all at the same time.
The best way to try and manage a budget is to work out exactly how much money you’ll be receiving from your student loan or part-time job per term, how much your rent will cost and how much will be left over and go from there.
When it comes to food shopping a good tip is to buy in bulk, switch to own-brand items and batch-cook meals (once you’ve got the hang of cooking!) For clothes, try shopping second-hand on Vinted or Depop or checking out charity shops, rather than buying brand-new items before the start of term–– this is much more sustainable too.
There are also lots of budgeting tools and apps you can download to help you keep track of your money. Bank accounts like Monzo for example are good at categorising your payments and allocating set amounts of money to different things, such as entertainment, food, bills and so much more.
It can definitely be tricky at first, but the best way to budget successfully is to simply plan ahead of time and keep track of all of your outgoings so you can see where you could potentially make cutbacks if necessary. Trust us, the more you budget, the easier it will become.
For more advice on budgeting, check out this article from The Times on how to plan a student budget and manage your money at uni, with lots of practical tips such as cash stuffing and meal planning.
3. Learning how to balance drinking
Drinking is a huge part of uni culture, but more and more Gen-Z students are opting not to drink at all or to drink less. If you do choose to drink alcohol, it’s important to learn your limits early on, as it can be easy to go overboard pretty quickly.
While there’s nothing wrong with going to uni and wanting to enjoy a night out drinking, it’s also important to learn when to say no and to get the balance right. Drinking excessively is not only a drain on your bank account but can have a huge impact on your mental and physical health.
Drinking can be great fun, but you can also find fun in going out without getting blackout drunk every night and knowing when and how to turn down a night out drinking is an important part of going to uni.
Plus, if you don’t choose to drink for whatever reason, there’s no shame in that either and you definitely won’t be alone with more and more students choosing to do freshers sober than ever before.
For the latest news on how students see drinking, The Times has some great articles such as this one highlighting a new app that can help students cut down on unhealthy drinking and some insight into why so many students are saying ‘no’ to alcohol.
4. The cost of living crisis
The cost of living crisis has had a huge impact on students over the last few years. Of course, starting university during a time when prices are soaring isn’t ideal but it can be helpful to start thinking forward to the future from a practical angle.
Anxiety over money is completely normal, especially at a time when things seem so bleak but sometimes it can be helpful to think about what’s next, to give you time to prepare.
During your first year of uni, you’ll be learning how to budget, where to buy the cheapest food and will get used to managing your own money which is a great introduction to adult life.
While first-year students often live in halls, you’ll probably be moving into a privately rented house in your second year and your first few months of uni are a good time to work out your average spend per month, and how much you could afford to spend on rent when you’re living out of halls.
It can also help to try out new methods of money-saving and budgeting, so you know what works for you. This way when you move on to your second year, third year and eventually to graduating you’ll be a bit more equipped to tackle the world and the cost of living crisis head-on.
The Times has a great article about how the cost of living crisis is impacting students post-graduation and what they’re doing to cope with the ever-changing financial situation and how they’re managing to save money.
5. Learning to study independently
Getting used to the university workload and way of studying can be very different to sixth form or college. For one, university is a lot more independent, it’s really up to you to get your work done on time and your lecturers aren’t going to hold your hand!
It can take a while to settle into being independent when studying and not being able to ask your lecturers for help every step of the way, but as with anything, practice makes perfect.
The more uni assignments you do, the more comfortable you’ll feel with organising your own time and being independent in your research. Our biggest tip is to keep track of your deadlines by using a planner and setting out a timeline for each piece of work, what you need to do, how long it will take etc. so you’re not cramming it all into one day.
However, it’s even harder to get used to uni work thanks to the rise of AI such as ChatGPT which more and more students are turning to in order to cheat on their coursework and cut corners. If we can give you one piece of advice, it’s don’t do it. No matter how tempting it might be, the consequences can be serious and it’s not worth sacrificing your place in uni and your degree.
However, interestingly some unis do encourage the use of AI as a tool to help with organising or structuring your work, but there are still strict guidelines when it comes to plagiarism.
If you are considering using AI, The Times article AI and the dos and don’ts for students, has some great insights on how best to utilise it.
Hopefully, this has helped to calm some of your nerves and anxieties around starting uni! Don’t forget to grab a subscription to The Times & The Sunday Times before freshers starts, to get yourself up to speed with current affairs, how to tackle student life and get access to a wealth of study resources.
