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Uni social life advice?

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kittie
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14 Aug 2011, 6:59 pm

I have about another year and a half before I apply to Uni (I know that looks weird as I'm only 15, but I'm the youngest in my year group and I'm 16 in a few days).

But I've been thinking a whole lot about living arrangements. I can either live at home and be perfectly asocial and happy with my rats, or move into student housing or whatever.
I'm confused as heck and wanted to ask your advice or experiences. In a way, I sort of want to experience the 'Uni lifestyle' because apparently it's so great and I'd be missing out bla bla bla (and in a way I would like to go clubbing once every few months or whatever), but on the other hand I'm perfectly happy just spending time with my obsessions and keeping to myself which living at home would give me...

Thoughts? Sorry if that was a bit jumbled... xD



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14 Aug 2011, 7:31 pm

I advised my kids to stay at home until they began their junior years. This way, they would have gotten used to college routine without the distractions of college social issues. Of course, they didn't listen. Their grades were adversely affected from the almost constant partying, and it was only after most of the "rowdy crowd" of their peers had dropped out were they able to get back on track. By the time they were seniors, they had worked their GPAs to over 3.5, when if they had listened to me, they would have had 4.0 GPAs.

Stay away from college social life until your junior year, study hard, and you will graduate at or near the top of your class.


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SammichEater
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14 Aug 2011, 7:50 pm

Fnord wrote:
I advised my kids to stay at home until they began their junior years. This way, they would have gotten used to college routine without the distractions of college social issues. Of course, they didn't listen. Their grades were adversely affected from the almost constant partying, and it was only after most of the "rowdy crowd" of their peers had dropped out were they able to get back on track. By the time they were seniors, they had worked their GPAs to over 3.5, when if they had listened to me, they would have had 4.0 GPAs.

Stay away from college social life until your junior year, study hard, and you will graduate at or near the top of your class.


Well, that is exactly what I plan on doing. :)


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Peko
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14 Aug 2011, 8:01 pm

I went to uni and lived in a private suite right away. You can live on campus if your school work is your #1 priority. I have a pretty high GPA (never went below a 3.5 so far). I also only started taking leadership positions now as a junior so I'm used to things.


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15 Aug 2011, 1:32 am

Find out if the dorms are separated by year or between "noisy" and "quiet". If you can find a dorm with a stereotype of being stricter about noise or of having studiers insteadif partiers, that might be worth looking into. And some dorm buildings have single rooms, if that's what you're looking for.



MadnessMaddened
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17 Aug 2011, 11:52 am

Don't stay home!

If you want to be social, and get to know people best to start off there. In the first year, you end up spending far more time with people who live with your rather than those you study with.

You WILL miss out if you stay home, you will only know the few people with whom you study...
When everyone is new and doesn't know anyone else there... It's a little awkward for everyone, which makes it easier for aspies to fit in, too.

Edit: If you don't like it, you can always go home... But if you miss it you will never know!



kittie
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17 Aug 2011, 11:54 am

MadnessMaddened wrote:
Don't stay home!

If you want to be social, and get to know people best to start off there. In the first year, you end up spending far more time with people who live with your rather than those you study with.

You WILL miss out if you stay home, you will only know the few people with whom you study...
When everyone is new and doesn't know anyone else there... It's a little awkward for everyone, which makes it easier for aspies to fit in, too.

Edit: If you don't like it, you can always go home... But if you miss it you will never know!


That's the point - I'm not sure I care about being social. I'm not especially social right now and I'm perfectly happy being alone with my obsessions. :P But apparently I should be social otherwise I'll miss out? =S



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17 Aug 2011, 12:03 pm

Fnord wrote:
I advised my kids to stay at home until they began their junior years. This way, they would have gotten used to college routine without the distractions of college social issues. Of course, they didn't listen. Their grades were adversely affected from the almost constant partying, and it was only after most of the "rowdy crowd" of their peers had dropped out were they able to get back on track. By the time they were seniors, they had worked their GPAs to over 3.5, when if they had listened to me, they would have had 4.0 GPAs.

Stay away from college social life until your junior year, study hard, and you will graduate at or near the top of your class.


But is a social life and more importantly new life lessons and skills more important than one's grade??
And also, do your kids actually regret it and would do it differently if they had the chance again?



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17 Aug 2011, 12:10 pm

kittie wrote:
That's the point - I'm not sure I care about being social. I'm not especially social right now and I'm perfectly happy being alone with my obsessions. :P But apparently I should be social otherwise I'll miss out? =S


The only question is, do you want to be alone with your obsessions for the foreseeable future?
If you think there is even a small chance you could enjoy the change go for it.


Rats or people, your choice.

(Of course... you smuggle the rats in with you... :p)



kittie
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17 Aug 2011, 12:15 pm

MadnessMaddened wrote:
kittie wrote:
That's the point - I'm not sure I care about being social. I'm not especially social right now and I'm perfectly happy being alone with my obsessions. :P But apparently I should be social otherwise I'll miss out? =S


The only question is, do you want to be alone with your obsessions for the foreseeable future?
If you think there is even a small chance you could enjoy the change go for it.


Rats or people, your choice.

(Of course... you smuggle the rats in with you... :p)


It's like you read my mind! One of my biggest worries is leaving the ratties behind... And I don't know, honestly. I spent a lot of time trying to be social because I felt I 'should', I became very stressed and depressed. As soon as I learnt to accept it and chill, I realised I was pretty happy being alone because my interests made me happy and excited enough, but I don't know if I'd want that to change or not.

But yeah. After my three-year degree I plan to go onto a postgraduate four-year medical degree where I'll have to move out of home because there's no med schools near me.



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17 Aug 2011, 12:29 pm

kittie wrote:
It's like you read my mind! One of my biggest worries is leaving the ratties behind... And I don't know, honestly. I spent a lot of time trying to be social because I felt I 'should', I became very stressed and depressed. As soon as I learnt to accept it and chill, I realised I was pretty happy being alone because my interests made me happy and excited enough, but I don't know if I'd want that to change or not.

But yeah. After my three-year degree I plan to go onto a postgraduate four-year medical degree where I'll have to move out of home because there's no med schools near me.


Socializing\life will not get easier if you are 21-ish without friends and life experience... Going out of town and living by yourself with, what I assume would be, a stressful programme, would be especially harder if you have never lived independently before.



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17 Aug 2011, 9:29 pm

MadnessMaddened wrote:
kittie wrote:
It's like you read my mind! One of my biggest worries is leaving the ratties behind... And I don't know, honestly. I spent a lot of time trying to be social because I felt I 'should', I became very stressed and depressed. As soon as I learnt to accept it and chill, I realised I was pretty happy being alone because my interests made me happy and excited enough, but I don't know if I'd want that to change or not.

But yeah. After my three-year degree I plan to go onto a postgraduate four-year medical degree where I'll have to move out of home because there's no med schools near me.


Socializing\life will not get easier if you are 21-ish without friends and life experience... Going out of town and living by yourself with, what I assume would be, a stressful programme, would be especially harder if you have never lived independently before.


Are you sure about that? I don't plan on moving out until I'm at least 20. If I were to move out before that, I don't think I would be ready.


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18 Aug 2011, 12:09 pm

SammichEater wrote:
Are you sure about that?

Yes. Things do not get easier with age, they get easier with experience only.
You can fit into society much better as an awkward teenager than as an awkward adult - and while this is generally not true for school, it is usually true for tertiary institutions.

SammichEater wrote:
I don't plan on moving out until I'm at least 20. If I were to move out before that, I don't think I would be ready.

If you don't think you are ready, that's different. Only you know what you are and aren't capable of, and there is no point moving out if you feel you aren't mature (for lack of a better word, no offence intended) enough to look out for yourself, et cetera; you should go with your instinct.