My tips for freshers moving to university [part 2] – Student Blog

Continuing on the theme of tips for moving to university, here are some more of my key tips. Remember that preparation is key to a smooth transition to university.

The most important skill that you can build on before moving to university is your ability to cook. Cooking is such an important skill to have when you leave home and is a vital skill for any student. You do not want to end up spending most of your student finance allowance on getting food delivered or ready-made meals. Learning to cook is a much healthier and cheaper option. Try and have at least five meals that you can cook written down and perfected before you move out. This will really help you. Learn to cook recipes that you enjoy eating as this will make it more fun. Get that favourite recipe from your parents that you love and learn to cook it!

Another key tip is meal preparation and planning. Planning your meals out is such an important skill to have and will ensure that you don’t open your fridge and have nothing for dinner. A great way of meal planning is to make a shopping list before your weekly shop and utilize all the ingredients you buy. This skill comes with practice and can be useful when trying to stick to a weekly budget whilst at university. But don’t worry, you will learn to do this over time.

My final tip of this blog relates directly to Scotland and weather. It is so important to research what the weather is typically like throughout the year at the city your university is based in. I underestimated just how cold a Scottish winter would be when I moved up from England to Scotland for university. So, make sure you bring a very warm winter coat and plenty of layers for those colder days, as Dundee will be viciously cold. In my first year of university, the winter jacket I had brought up was not warm enough and my dad drove all the way back up from England with a brand-new jacket to keep me warm in the winter. So make sure that you pack enough winter clothes as if you were moving to the North Pole itself!