Chloe238
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Anyone who lives on campus, any tips, advices, experiences you would like to share 
Thank you!
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Living on Campus (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Chloe238
- Start date
ajdlinux
Mod: ANU, ATAR/HSC Marks
A few things I've learned, in no particular order:
- On-campus location is awesome
- Catered colleges have different food standards - some people cope with it fairly well, others hate it and can't wait to get their own kitchen
- Each residence has a different reputation and a different character - make sure you research this before you apply, some of my friends have made mistakes since they based decisions solely off experiences they had in summer schools
- Some colleges have problems of the criminal kind - be aware of this
- It is possible to be a non-drinking college resident (case in point being myself) - but whether or not this is difficult can depend on the culture within the college
- Living together with other students is great for finding academic assistance when you need it
- Rooms can be quite small, you'll want to make sure you don't have too much stuff
- You can get good neighbours, you can get bad neighbours - sometimes you do have to call the SR/RA to shut down their parties at 1am
- Try not to get other residents off-side... you do after all have to live with them for the rest of the year - I've been warned in particular about getting into relationships with other college residents, it can work very well, but the break-ups are pretty bad...
- You do have to build up friendships within college, otherwise you'll feel pretty isolated - I've seen this happen to a few people whose friendships were mostly outside college
- Basically, living on-campus is awesome, as long as you stay sensible and look out for yourself!
- On-campus location is awesome
- Catered colleges have different food standards - some people cope with it fairly well, others hate it and can't wait to get their own kitchen
- Each residence has a different reputation and a different character - make sure you research this before you apply, some of my friends have made mistakes since they based decisions solely off experiences they had in summer schools
- Some colleges have problems of the criminal kind - be aware of this
- It is possible to be a non-drinking college resident (case in point being myself) - but whether or not this is difficult can depend on the culture within the college
- Living together with other students is great for finding academic assistance when you need it
- Rooms can be quite small, you'll want to make sure you don't have too much stuff
- You can get good neighbours, you can get bad neighbours - sometimes you do have to call the SR/RA to shut down their parties at 1am
- Try not to get other residents off-side... you do after all have to live with them for the rest of the year - I've been warned in particular about getting into relationships with other college residents, it can work very well, but the break-ups are pretty bad...
- You do have to build up friendships within college, otherwise you'll feel pretty isolated - I've seen this happen to a few people whose friendships were mostly outside college
- Basically, living on-campus is awesome, as long as you stay sensible and look out for yourself!
Shadowdude
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I also heard studying is very difficult because people party lots.
Absolutezero
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That's true for all uni life; you're missing out if this is not the case.
ajdlinux
Mod: ANU, ATAR/HSC Marks
Depends on the college. Some do have a lot of parties, others are pretty quiet and nerdy (like mine).
Ok some tips to add (on my experiences in any case):
- Colleges are places to live but they are also a community - don't come to college to be a spook (ie stay in your room all the time, not get involved). Residents won't look that favourably towards you - get involved in college activities/hang out in the dining hall etc. This doesn't mean you have to go to every party and get trashed - I was never into partying very much, but making appearances or getting involved in sport/music/other college activities is a good way to make friends and get involved.
- It can be good to have other people in your course either in your year or olders years to get tips/notes/help from (including college tutorials if they are offered). However also note that it can lead to a very stressful environment sometimes if you have a group of people all doing the same assignment - you need to be able to disassociate yourself sometimes. For me this occurred in particular with my law studies - there were a good 10 or so law students in my year at college and sometimes you just couldn't go anyway (dining table) without talk of the latest assignment. Don't let it get to you!
- Whilst I say get involved in college and make friends, don't make it your entire life. I do dislike the way some colleges are so insulated from the rest of the world/uni - make an attempt to get involved in uni societies or activities and make non-college friends in classes.
- There will be noise. Invest in ear plugs or some speakers to play your own 'happy' music if trying to sleep/study. Noise is generally acceptable until 10pm and potentially later on well regarded party nights (in usyd colleges this is wednesday nights, in which case midnight is generally when you can start to call RA/SRs to get them to shut down parties). If you do have issues with music or noise, I always think its best (if you are confident enough) to ask your neighbour to turn it down yourself before contacting RA/SR - they generally will. (Of course there are instances where they won't, in which case feel free to call whoever is allocated). Sometimes the noise won't even be coming from your college - eg. if you happen to get a room overlooking the next door college's pub. This means its generally out of your control.
In summation: You don't need to drink if you don't want to (try to find a college that isn't so heavily focused on drinking). You can study and do well at uni while at college. It's lots of fun and you meet great people who you will be friends with past college. It is also a good way to develop networks. I would definitely recommend it!
ps. I wasn't intending on bringing out the negative aspects of college, but after 4 years there are definitely people who get on well at college, and people who don't like it/don't do well with the atmosphere. Of course the culture of the colleges are definitely different - I would recommend doing research, talking to people, taking tours. I went to an all girls college (which i really enjoyed/wouldn't change), which I think meant there was definitely different cultures to co-ed ones.
- Colleges are places to live but they are also a community - don't come to college to be a spook (ie stay in your room all the time, not get involved). Residents won't look that favourably towards you - get involved in college activities/hang out in the dining hall etc. This doesn't mean you have to go to every party and get trashed - I was never into partying very much, but making appearances or getting involved in sport/music/other college activities is a good way to make friends and get involved.
- It can be good to have other people in your course either in your year or olders years to get tips/notes/help from (including college tutorials if they are offered). However also note that it can lead to a very stressful environment sometimes if you have a group of people all doing the same assignment - you need to be able to disassociate yourself sometimes. For me this occurred in particular with my law studies - there were a good 10 or so law students in my year at college and sometimes you just couldn't go anyway (dining table) without talk of the latest assignment. Don't let it get to you!
- Whilst I say get involved in college and make friends, don't make it your entire life. I do dislike the way some colleges are so insulated from the rest of the world/uni - make an attempt to get involved in uni societies or activities and make non-college friends in classes.
- There will be noise. Invest in ear plugs or some speakers to play your own 'happy' music if trying to sleep/study. Noise is generally acceptable until 10pm and potentially later on well regarded party nights (in usyd colleges this is wednesday nights, in which case midnight is generally when you can start to call RA/SRs to get them to shut down parties). If you do have issues with music or noise, I always think its best (if you are confident enough) to ask your neighbour to turn it down yourself before contacting RA/SR - they generally will. (Of course there are instances where they won't, in which case feel free to call whoever is allocated). Sometimes the noise won't even be coming from your college - eg. if you happen to get a room overlooking the next door college's pub. This means its generally out of your control.
In summation: You don't need to drink if you don't want to (try to find a college that isn't so heavily focused on drinking). You can study and do well at uni while at college. It's lots of fun and you meet great people who you will be friends with past college. It is also a good way to develop networks. I would definitely recommend it!
ps. I wasn't intending on bringing out the negative aspects of college, but after 4 years there are definitely people who get on well at college, and people who don't like it/don't do well with the atmosphere. Of course the culture of the colleges are definitely different - I would recommend doing research, talking to people, taking tours. I went to an all girls college (which i really enjoyed/wouldn't change), which I think meant there was definitely different cultures to co-ed ones.
Just curious - what college was this at what uni?
Just curious - what college and uni were you at?
Atlas
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I was mainly after the specific collegeANU, if the profile isn't a lie
Atlas
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hahaha right, that makes more sense... they have awesome names for their colleges down at ANU, my personal favourite Toad Hall: http://www.anu.edu.au/res/I was mainly after the specific college
ajdlinux
Mod: ANU, ATAR/HSC Marks
And the adjacent sports field is called Willows Oval.
Ursula Hall.I was mainly after the specific college
Chloe238
Member
thank you for the posts so far, there so helpful I intend at studying at UC as well lol
I intend at studying at UC as well lol