Things I wish I had known before going to University

Not everyone will find going to a fantastic university a great experience. In fact, as I have found out, parts of it can be downright miserable. I studied at Oxbridge in the UK, and here’s some information you might find useful if you’re about to go there or apply soon:

Don’t expect it to be easy.
Chances are, if you have got into an elite university, you might have found work at school relatively easy. You could, in a straight-forward manner and not with a massive amount of work, get the highest grade in the class and do quite well. Well, expect to be the dumb kid. You’ve gone up a weight class, and the fights are going to be far tougher and the winners far less clearly defined.

What I’ve found out is that, even though there is this ethic of ‘effortless superiority’ present at elite institutions, in order to do well you have to do a hell of a lot of work. On your own. With no fixed structure, location, mark scheme, reading list or essay topic. And depending on the mark scheme of your university, you might get the same mark band if you work really hard as if you don’t do much work at all. This is often a massive change in how you experienced things at school, with timetables, fixed syllabi (allowing an incredibly structured approach to revision) providing a base for excellence.

The subject you did at school will be very different at university.
Liked your subject at school? You might not like the same subject/major at university, because it might be very very different. Unpleasantly so.

Not everyone will be nice.
Get used to people blanking you. They will do. Don’t feel hard about this – it just happens. If you really want to overcome this, make sure they have no chance of blanking you. Grab their hand and shake it. Befriend their friends and get them to ensure you are made welcome wherever you go.

Small towns and small networks can induce a social claustrophobia – plan releases accordingly.
Did you come from a big city? Used to be able to walk the streets anonymously, disappear and find somewhere to think? Don’t expect that at university. Here, nearly everyone you meet will be connected to you in some way. Anonymity is a hard-to-find commodity. As a remedy, plan to have an escape. Make friends with locals instead of students. Become a CouchSurfer and receive a refreshing injection of alternative thought and experience into your life on a regular basis by hosting travellers in your room. Go away at the weekend and see your friends at other universities.

The other thing is, unless you are prepared to make social mistakes, repeatedly, do not expect university to be your “awakening experience”, whether it’s in terms of your confidence, sexuality, whatever. Go find some place else to get that before you get there. And making these mistakes and learning from them can take a very, very long time indeed.

Expect things to get in the way of your goals.
Elite universities are full of ambitious people who are yet to have a major failure in their life. If you haven’t had a failure yet, chances are you will find it difficult to be humble. They will trample – and maybe you will trample too – on the dreams, goals and ambitions of others. The only way to stop this from happening, is to push on regardless in the face of narcissistic egomaniacs, and at the same time build large supplies of social and cultural capital to make you stand out from the competition.

Likewise your course will get in the way. Wanted to go to that party? Oh shit, you have an essay. Wanted to go away for the weekend? Oh that’s right, you have to do research at the library. Learn how to cope with this early on.

Money makes a difference.
The days of the poor student are gone. Everyone has money, and the people who don’t have it miss out. Sure, you can do student living on a budget – but do you want it to limit your experience? My advice is get as much money as you can from other routes – parents, gap year job, summer employment/internship etc.

Things I had wished I had known

• Know your end goal, and plan your university career with that in mind – so if you want to be a high-ranking politician in the US, chances are you will go to Yale or become a Rhodes Scholar. If you want to get into politics in the UK, go to Oxford at an old college, read PPE and join the political societies.
  
• Network, network, network – read Keith Ferrazi’s Never Eat Alone before you go to university.
  
• Do not get angry or rude with academic staff – even if they appear irrational, lazy, or completely incompetent. They write your references later on, and should be part of your network.
  
• Create a firm structure with your daily habits – and stick to it.
  
• Do not care too much about what people think or say about you. They really care more about what people think or say about them.
  
• Do not do drugs or excessive amounts of caffeine to improve your academic performance – your body will get used to it, and without it you will feel awful.
  
• If you get depressed, be honest with yourself, and don’t expect to be able to sort it out alone – go get counselling early, and if you find you don’t need it you can always drop it.
  

My conclusion
Do your research before you go to University if you want it to work for you. After all, it’s three years of your short life you’ll be there at a minimum. If necessary, take a year out to have a good think and plan for what you want to happen to you. Or really - do you need to go to university at all?