{"id":7607,"date":"2021-01-26T21:14:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T21:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/?p=7607"},"modified":"2021-09-20T13:54:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T12:54:44","slug":"transitioning-from-school-or-college-to-university-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/2021\/01\/26\/transitioning-from-school-or-college-to-university-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Transitioning from school or college to university study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The move from school, sixth form or college to university is one that brings so many changes, and a lot of the time they can be quite scary. From living by yourself to making friends, it can all feel a bit daunting. One of the things I was most concerned about was how studying was going to change when I got to university. I\u2019d heard a lot about independent study and writing academic essays. But didn\u2019t fully understand what it all meant for me, and what the change would be like from my current qualifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re in that position too, keep reading! I\u2019m going to explain a little bit about what studying is like for me (though it is worth mentioning that I study History and that we have a lot more independent study, essay writing, and reading than some other courses can have, so you might experience something different!) and hopefully, give you a few tips and tricks along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is university different from school?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Transitioning
Just a few of the books I’m reading for my dissertation\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Personally, the biggest change that I experienced was definitely the independence. I don\u2019t have many classes each week, but I\u2019m expected to do a lot of reading outside of those classes, instead. It\u2019s very different from school and college where most of your education is based in classes! You\u2019re not just expected to plan your time a lot more, but you\u2019re often expected to come up with your own ideas about the material you\u2019ve read, too- especially if you\u2019re studying a subject like History.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another big change I experienced at university was the way we were asked to provide our own opinions or feedback about the ideas discussed in lectures or the reading. At school we had a teacher telling us the things we needed to know, whereas at university it\u2019s much more of a discussion between the class and the tutor. It was very strange for a start and I think we all felt a bit out of our depth, but now by third year it feels so much more natural!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do you study at university?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The truest answer is that everyone studies a little differently! There\u2019s no \u2018right\u2019 way to study, and you might have to try a few different things before you find what works for you. I\u2019m going to tell you a bit about how I like to study, but there are plenty of people who do it completely differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tend to leave myself a few days before my classes to do the set reading, which is usually given by tutors as a good starting point for our class discussion or to let us know about some of the themes we\u2019ll be looking at. We often get given questions to think about as we read, which helps!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to keep a note of which book or article I\u2019m reading in case I want to use it in an essay later, and then make notes about the key points or things I\u2019ve found interesting within the reading. When I\u2019ve not got classes or something else on, I try to break up my studying into half an hour blocks, so I remind myself to take breaks. I also set myself a time in the evening where I\u2019ll stop studying and watch TV, play something with my housemates, or do some artwork- something to wind down after the day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I prepare myself?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Transitioning
My most important tools for making notes!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The most important thing is to be aware of what you\u2019re going to be doing and how you\u2019re going to be expected to study, which this blog has hopefully helped you with! I\u2019d also suggest thinking about the way you work best- I handwrite all of my notes, but a lot of people prefer to use a laptop- it\u2019s whatever works best for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re going to be studying an essay-heavy subject like me, you might want to read up on your department\u2019s essay citation system <\/a>and get a head start- I still get stuck with citations and I\u2019ve been doing them for three years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, try not to stress!<\/strong> It might seem like university will be a huge move from school or college but everyone is in the same boat and there\u2019s loads of support at university if you\u2019re struggling with essays or other academic writing. You can go and have a look at the university\u2019s study skills page<\/a> to see what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that this has been useful and that you\u2019re feeling a little more informed about what studying at university is like! Best of luck with your current studies and I hope you\u2019ll soon join us here at York!<\/p>\n\n\n\n