Making the most out of university

[shelob]

Hello forum,

I'd like your wisdom on how to optimally use the three years of an undergraduate degree, if you'd be willing to share.
What did you do, or see others doing, that worked well? What would you do differently in hindsight?

I'm also interested in general discussion, but here are my specifics:
Place: UK, uni with international name recognition
Subject: PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) - I plan to take more E than PP classes
Money: scholarship, no need to work unless it fulfills some other purpose (might conflict with my visa anyway)

I've read the relevant books by Cal Newport (and “How to survive your Freshman year”, but that wasn’t useful.)

Extracurriculars: I’m currently doing too many, with an emphasis on those I probably won’t have the opportunity for again after graduation. I’m rotating the non-sport activities quickly at the moment, and could incorporate suggestions in following terms. (Also founded a society two weeks ago, or rather, reinstated a thing that went defunct during covid.)

Looking forward to responses!

[7Wannabe5]

Well, you've already covered my first suggestion which would be to not work too much while also taking classes. I crash-burned hard on that a couple times. Hopefully, you will also be able to not make my second "mistake" which was getting knocked up before I graduated Although, I would note that taking classes simultaneous to caring for a baby was actually a pretty good combination for me, because very different "energy" demands.

[Scott 2]

What does a good life look like to you, after university?

Maximizing income might look different than exploring Europe or building deep friendships or a establishing a powerful network or...

I'd start there and work backwards. If you don't know, it's a good place to start asking that question.

[Henry]

(1) Don't drop acid;

(2) Don't inhale any controlled substances made by PHD chemistry students when they break into the labs during the weekend;

(3) Before you head off, spend a brief amount of time researching the history of the university from its development in the Medieval period through its transformation in to what it is now, whatever that is. Remember that the the word university derives from the word universe. Well, I think it does. There's a chance I just thought that up when I was tripping on acid. Anyways, my point is that if possible drink deeply from the cross pollination of general learning before you are squeezed into the intellectual prison cell of whatever task you will spend the rest of your life doing.

(4) Don't waste your time with whatever bullshit activism is sweeping the campus during your time there. Unless a chick well beyond your league approaches you and you're relatively certain you'll at least get to second base. Trust me, those memories will be important later in life. In that case, carry whatever idiotic sign she hands you. Remember, this is the last time in your life that it will be socially acceptable to try to have sex with people under the age of 21.

[chenda]

How did you get a full scholarship? Scholarships weren't even a thing in my day. My memories of undergraduate life were dull and depressing, I didn't even bother to attend my graduation.

I have nothing really to add other than to reiterate all of Henry's points. And don't try and have sex in the library. No one wants to see that when looking for the Kelly's directories.

And if in doubt just guess the page number in your footnote referencing. No one ever checks. Ever.

And don't ever watch Brideshead Revisited, it will leave you nostalgic for a world you never knew. Possibly watch The Graduate but I've never seen it.

[ducknald_don]

Possibly watch The Graduate but I've never seen it.

It's on iPlayer at the moment if you want to watch it.

[chenda]

It's on iPlayer at the moment if you want to watch it.

Thank you I just might : )

[Henry]

Possibly watch The Graduate but I've never seen it.

The Graduate calls. Spanking The Monkey raises.

[suomalainen]

I think uni these days is mostly about the credential, so the value proposition is iffier than it ever has been. If you're a learner, you don't need uni to learn. Just pick up a book. That said, if you're going for free, more power to you. If you see uni as "start of a career path", then focus on preparing for that - do the major, do the clubs, find part time jobs that point in that direction. If you see uni as "an experience", then look at it as one long vacation. Have fun, do all the social things, but stay out of jail and always wear a raincoat!

[macg]

The most important thing I got out of going to college was life-long friends.

[AxelHeyst]

I'd have joined a project-based club as a first-year so that by the time I graduated I had solid relationships and practical experience actually Doing Something (i.e. human powered vehicle, solar decathlon, hybrid car team, etc). This might not translate to your path (I was a mech engineer, and too many engineers get graduated without any people skills or hands-on skills; the clubs were one way of addressing that deficiency).

I'd have studied How to Study and put in place efficient systems. I got good grades but I just brute-forced studying, and I now know it didn't have to be such a sufferfest.

I'd have sought mental health counseling.

I'd have looked into study abroad... it never even occurred to me.

I'd have put more effort into developing my social skills faster. (The mental health counseling would have been a prereq for me.)

[jacob]

If you want to make the most out of university, it's best to know what you want. At least in my time (1994 Denmark) the majority just went because it's what one did if one had the required GPA from HS. I agree with @sou that people go for three reasons, namely either to learn, to start a career, or for the experience (=> mostly "social life").

Looking back, it was clear which path people were on even if they didn't realize it at the time. Also these paths really did out up with different outcomes. None of them bad, just different. Ultimately, I think people just became what they innately were. What's unique about university is that it allows you to be what/who you really are or want to be. Not many places allows this.

To make it interesting, Bartle's taxonomy describes it well.

The Explorers were there to learn. They studied whatever was interesting them. Changing major. Had hobbies. Their plans after graduation was in effect an afterthought. Most ended up in teaching or as specialists.

The Achievers were there to check off the degree box in order to start a career. They finished everything on time. Studied whatever had the highest expected GPA per effort. Quickly forgot everything they learned and went on to become responsible middle managers in various corporations and businesses.

The Socializers were there to meet new people and "socialize" with them. They went over time, in several cases years, eventually studying whatever would result in a pity-pass. Went on to sales jobs. By far had the best stories and still maintains the best contacts with the crowd.

Frankly, I don't think university is all that different from HS except you now have adult rights and no adult supervision + the average IQ has increased by 10-20 points.

In conclusion, it's not like people are 100% one and 0% the others. There's a distribution. I was 80% Explorer and 20% Socializer. In retrospect, it would have been helpful to have the Achiever component in there even if just being aware of it. For me, that stage of personal development came later in grad school and only lasted a brief while.

[Seppia]

I would really echo Henry’s recommendation of staying as broad as possible for as long as you can.
This because I disagree with some here in a way: at 18/19 it’s impossible to really know what you want to do with your life, so try avoiding pigeonholing yourself into a role.

I don’t know how it has evolved/changed since Brexit, but if still available I strongly encourage you to participate in the Erasmus exchange program.
If you are a “good student”, which I imagine you are if you are in a scholarship, the Erasmus year could be your “crazy college year” full of partying, bad decisions and sex, with the notable advantage that professors are usually more lenient with Erasmus people
So you can focus on fun for a year without paying the consequences.
I would strongly suggest, if you can, a country that has a useful second language and where life is good, which in essence means “just go to Spain”*.

*I did mine in France, obviously

[Sclass]

What does a good life look like to you, after university?

….I'd start there and work backwards. If you don't know, it's a good place to start asking that question.

YES! look at it backwards. Now.

I’ve told this story a lot here. When showing up for grad school and unloading my car I met a grad student in the grad housing parking lot loading up. He said he was me in four years. He said start thinking of what I’ll need in four years now. He regretted not doing this when he was unloading his car four years back.

I recall he went on to say he was scrambling in the midnight hour. This is what most university students do. I did. When I graduated I remembered the conversation .

I went to job interviews and I’d flub up subjects that I could have just taken a class on a few years earlier…but skipped. I’d be asked if I had any experience on a XYZ system and I’d answer “the university has one but…uh, I found a way around using those for my thesis.” While sitting in the job fair close to graduation I realized I could have easily picked up all the “skills” at my leisure two years ago but I didn’t. Now I had to find an employer willing to deal with my inexperience and train me. It severely restricted my choices. Big time regrets.

All of this could have been solved if I’d gone to the job fair as an incoming student and went to an interview. Even just asking the recruiters what they were looking for would have been huge with a four year head start.

And targets move so I’d hit the job fair every year. Read trade magazines and WSJ just to see where the outside world is moving to while you’re in the ivory tower. The capital leads the projects. Follow the money to find the well funded projects. You’ll find that stuff in the business school library.

[basuragomi]

Nthing the comment of staying as broad as possible. Over half of my first-year cohort didn't graduate in the program they started in. In my graduating class, over half of us left the field within five years or never worked in it. The odds are against you knowing exactly what you're going to want, though I admit an EREr is probably better off in this regard, so building transferable skills will likely be a better use of your time.

[Henry]

I would add two additional comments:

(1) My biggest undergraduate graduate academic regret is that I had the opportunity to take a class with Christopher Lasch and didn't take it. He was an asshole and is now a dead asshole but I missed the opportunity. So if there is a professor of renown on your campus, even if you are intimidated or not necessarily in love with the topic, take his/her course. Great minds should be listened to and great teachers can make any topic interesting. Seek out genius. Its humbling and inspiring;

(2) Learning how to learn is more important than what you learn. Teach a man how to fish thing. It's not so much that someone is not educated, it's that they don't know how to learn or think. Challenging oneself to sustained thinking is critical. Can you write a paper in your head? Can you carry out an equation in your head? Can you defend two opposing arguments on an issue without intimating what view you personally hold. Shit like that.

[macg]

(1) My biggest undergraduate graduate academic regret is that I had the opportunity to take a class with Christopher Lasch and didn't take it. He was an asshole and is now a dead asshole but I missed the opportunity. So if there is a professor of renown on your campus, even if you are intimidated or not necessarily in love with the topic, take his/her course. Great minds should be listened to and great teachers can make any topic interesting. Seek out genius. Its humbling and inspiring;

+1 on this. And not just professors, any visiting lecturer or event that you have access to, just because you are a student ... When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to attend a talk by Timothy Leary, and was roommates with the guy who organized the event, so was also able to meet & talk with him a bit outside of the event.

To quote @Henry again, it is worth seeing twice -

Great minds should be listened to and great teachers can make any topic interesting. Seek out genius. Its humbling and inspiring

[Henry]

When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to attend a talk by Timothy Leary, and was roommates with the guy who organized the event, so was also able to meet & talk with him a bit outside of the event.

What year? I heard him in 84-85 and he was completely acid fried. I remember he said question authority, got confused and I believe he sat down on the floor at one point. The worst was Coretta Scott King. I could see Martin waking up and saying "I had a dream my wife finally shut the fuck up" and the hooker he was with suggesting he should use the first part in his big speech that day.

[chenda]

I believe he sat down on the floor at one point.

He tuned in then dropped out.

Did you meet anyone else from that glorious generation ? I think I would have most liked to have met Alan Watts, although by all accounts he was a bit of alcoholic cheating hussy.

[Henry]

The only 60's icon I ever met was Marianne Faithful in the mid-90's when she was having her Island records career revival. I knew people who knew her. I was so intimidated I couldn't speak. Despite the drugs and the age you could still see why Mick Jagger ate a Mars bar out her holy of holies. She had just moved neighborhoods in NYC but was sending people out to get her food and dry cleaning in her old neighborhood while she sat there chain smoking so it was a little chaotic. Everyone was acting naturally but It was too much for me. I just stood there like an idiot but I don't think she noticed I was there. You realize these people live different lives. It's like we don't even live on the same planet. I shouldn't have gone there in the first place.