Here are nine things every Lancs fresher should do before uni starts this year

The Freshers’ Facebook groups are honestly lifesavers x

3 months ago

Results day has been and gone and all of you future Lancs students are no doubt scrolling through uni packing lists on TikTok and adding all of your room decorations to your Amazon baskets.

With Lancaster’s Michaelmas term starting later than most universities, there’s plenty of time to get prepped for one of the most talked-about weeks of the uni calendar: Freshers’ Week.

Aside from the handy packing lists you can find online, there’s a lot of more simple stuff that will help you get prepped for life as a Lancs student. We’ve compiled a list of all of our top tips to get you through the month-long wait until your degree begins.

1. Join the freshers’ Facebook groups

These things are literal lifesavers for future Lancs students in that awkward gap between summer and the start of October when all of your high school friends have already gone off to uni. You’re almost guaranteed to find people from your course and accommodation on there and it’s an easy way to get comfortable chatting to new people before you move away from home.

Just stick a quick introduction on the page and reach out to any course mates or people in your college, and group chats will start forming quickly enough. You can plan some meet-ups in those awkward first weeks of uni when you have to start introductions, and being on these group chats is a lifesaver in deadline season when you and your mates can’t remember whether the bibliography is included in the word count and need some last minute help from your course-mates.

2. Check out the uni jobs board

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If you think you might need a part-time job at uni, it’s best to at least a quick look at what’s on offer before you arrive, because having some potential work lined up will be such a weight off your shoulders. You can check out our guide on finding part-time work at Lancs here.

3. Get all of your fancy dress outfits together

You will never see as much fancy dress costumes as you do on Wednesday nights in Lancaster, so no matter how random those Halloween costumes from year 10 are, just chuck them in your bag. You’ll be glad when your society does “dress as the first letter of your name” night in two months.

4. Invest in a thick coat!

And maybe a scarf or two.

Lancaster gets so cold pretty much year-round, so make sure you’re not still planning your outfits on summer weather because you’ll be shivering in the Greggs queue come October.

5. Plan some quick and easy meals

If you’ve never cooked a meal in your life, you should probably start asking your family how to cook some basic meals, because trying to figure out what you need to buy in that first big shop of the year is a literal nightmare when you don’t have a plan.

6. Figure out a rough budget

Everyone’s budget is completely forgotten in Freshers’ Week when all of the events start piling up, but having at least some kind of plan of how much money you’ve got and how you need to spend it can be a lifesaver as the term carries on. If you can, it might be a good idea to try and save a little bit before you arrive, too.

7. Plan some room decorations, but don’t go too crazy

It’s always a good idea to bring some home comforts to uni so you can be a bit more comfortable, but we’d honestly recommend ordering all the extra fairy lights and desk organisers once you arrive. Trying to fit them all in your car will be so stressful, and you might end up not having enough room for everything once you arrive, so just figure out what you need when you get there and have some nice decorations in your Amazon basket ready.

8. Check your college Freshers’ Week timetable

Our rundown of the Freshers’ Week timetables can be found here, so take a quick look at your colleges’ if you want to start thinking about outfits, or if you just like knowing what’s going on.

9. Spend time with your friends and family

They might be driving you insane, but you’re going to miss them when you’re all moved into campus, so soak up those last moments before you’re officially in the adult world.

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