Originally Posted by SyrianFiona

Are those found anywhere online, or is there a specific website?

Search for torrents, or wait till you are on campus and search DC++.

i wish i knew not to buy the meal plan :|
overpriced and 'meh' food

Just because you got lucky in your first year with MUGSI, doesn't mean you'll get lucky in your second year.

Hmm...definitely don't underestimate the importance of your first year. It could weigh down your average if you don't do very well. Also GET INVOLVED EARLY! Extracurricular activities are IMPORTANT in graduate/professional schools applications.

If I could do it over, I would never live on campus first year.

1) its more expensive

2)forced to buy shitty meal plan

3) imo the biggest connection in terms of friendship (true friendship that will last, not casual friends)you can make is the person you live with. You only have the 1 or 2 roommates living on res, compare that to the 5-6 roommates you will have living off campus, gives more of an oppurtunity to make life-long friends, especially if you unluckily get saddled with a douche as your roomate on campus.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

First year is truly no harder than any other year of your education. As with every new year, you will have challenges: new textbooks with a richer vocabulary, profs who speak faster, more homework, more hours spent reading more pages faster, having to make less notes and make more efficient notes, spending less time memorizing and more time understanding things like the derivations of formulas and being able to process things in a variety of different ways. You'll learn to be able to see derivations, prove derivations and explain them in words. You won't be asked to draw pictures in your multiple choice first year exams but learning from first year means being able to take those steps on your own.

This is what I wished I knew:

• Sleep. You should treasure every moment of sleep ESPECIALLY if you commute or if you're prone to getting sick.
• Eat well and stay hydrated. Fruits and vegetables and protein are your friends. Multivitamins are your best friends.
• Commuting is never as easy as everybody states. Especially if you're in science or engineering. It may be easier with a major like English simply because reading a novel on the bus is much easier than reading a mathematical proof while trying to balance your calculator, a pencil and your clipboard and trying to work through some other algebra to make it make sense. Sure, it's just one hour on the GO max, but you have to wait for the buses and wait for a ride home, unless you take city transit which can be a lot more painful. The next time somebody suggests commuting, suggest that they try it first.
• Do readings before class. Not because everybody says you should but because this way, lectures will be like review sessions instead of hearing the material being rushed through in 50 minutes.
• Plan things in advance. If you're nearing exam time and you find the profs still have a lot to cover, start covering it yourself.
• Start planning for exams 1 month in advance. 6 weeks if you can. You just want this material to be second nature to you. You have the time, might as well make use of it.
• Go to office hours. Get to know your profs and TA's better.
• Do the homework problems.
• Make notes in class; don't just wait for the full notes.
• If you're falling asleep in class, you might as well be flushing your money down the toilet. Find a time slot that works better for you.
• Fruit juice > Coffee.
• Never EVER mix coffee and Advil Cold and Sinus. Both are stimulants. You don't want your hands shaking during an exam.
• Ask questions. Don't interrupt too much of class time to do it but ask questions. Professors are there to help and they are usually quite approachable.
• Please do not stand and ask professors a million questions while a line forms behind you. That's just insensitive.
• Always eat before an exam and eat on time. It'll keep you sharp.
• Stock up on glucose right before an exam. (Psych 1XX3 tip)
• If you manage your time, you can still have a ton left to volunteer, watch movies, catch up with friends and go out but you have to take the effort to organize things
• Study tables are your friends - Kajjura.
• Do your laundry on time
• It's better to lose a bit of money and keep your textbooks as references for a few years or so, than waste your times making carbon copies of the books. This isn't high school; you can keep the book instead of everything in it written in your own handwriting
• Save time for your friends and just hanging out. If you budget your time, you should be able to make some of the best friendships of your life here

This is a very useful list and a lot of them may not seem important to a first year such as "fruit juice > coffee", however, from experience I can say that point is definitely very useful and you should take it into consideration haha

Make review notes for test and midterms. They will help you for the final exam

To LifeSci students:
Don't get depressed if your grades are crummy, you will likely see a steady improvement in further years (despite the work-load increading)

Hey,

Something you should know is that when studying for mid terms do not study straight facts. Most test are based on CONCEPTS not facts.

Be outgoing! Join clubs! Get to know your profs; they're pretty cool people

Originally Posted by SyrianFiona

Are those found anywhere online, or is there a specific website?

There's a lot of torrents and websites you can use for free. Just start by doing a google search

interesting thanks

I wish I knew that the meal plans are huge! I got the smallest one and I could still get a lot of food with it. Trust me, you don't need a huge meal plan unless you're an athlete on a varsity team.

my best advice, do all practice tests/midterms/exams. dont underestimate test reviews! and of course go to lecture. 3 things that could easily save your marks

Despite the fact that I've posted in this thread (numerous times in fact..), I think the best thing is to:

Ignore all of the specific ideas in this thread and try to figure out what works for you. You have a few weeks of freedom but the work actually piles up so take advantage of that time and try to develop a way of getting through school that works for you. It doesn't have to be unique, nor does it have to be appealing to anyone else. It just has to work for you and you alone.

Or you can ignore what I said (I guess technically you'd be listening to me by ignoring me) and listen to all this advice. Just make sure that if you don't feel comfortable with any of it, you change your habits to suit your own personality.