This is some advice we wish we were given! We've compiled it for you so that you have a little bit of an advantage going into 1st year.

- Uni work starts week 1, day 1. Don't think that you don't have to do work until your first assessments due in week 3-4.

- From week 1 you will know exactly when your assignments, tests and reports are due, always plan ahead and dedicate time according to the weighting of the assessment. Time management is the key to getting through uni!

- Keep on top of your work with regular revision and make sure you're up to date with tutorial questions. Come prepared to tutorials, this is most important!

- Unlike high school, lecturers don't worry about other assignments that you may have on in a particular week, it's up to you to keep yourself on top of things.

- Your lecturers and tutors are there to help you, so try not to be intimidated by them. If you approach them for help you may well find that they are often willing to help you as much as they can. Asking students in the years above you can be very helpful too!!

- Don't let the amount of maths, physics and chemistry get you down, remember you have to do the (sometimes) boring stuff before it gets interesting. These common subjects will form the basis for later subjects.

- When buying textbooks, it's a great idea to buy them second hand. This will save you $$$ and second hand books are often in great condition anyway! Check out the second hand book store on campus and book sales held at Roundhouse throughout the year.

- When doing group work assignments, pull your weight. If you or someone else doesn't, there is no reason why you or they should be allocated the same mark as the rest of the group. Talk about issues regarding the workload with the other students. It is usual practice for a peer assessment on contribution, so your lack of commitment to the group assignment could come back and bite you.

- Get into the habit of checking your unimail account regularly as lecturers will use this to communicate with students quite frequently (and often at very short notice).

- Don't leave assignments until the last day for printing and binding. Computers are usually overcrowded on days when assignments are due and printers and networks have a habit of breaking down on these days! Get in early to avoid the rush and stress.

- Try to find the past papers on your own as lecturers don't usually give them to you. Most subjects have past exam papers available on the library website - go to http://lrd.library.unsw.edu.au/ and type in your course code (eg. CVEN1300) into the search in the MyCourse Database. The structure of courses has changed significantly in the past three years so papers may exist under different course numbers, check with your course coordinators.

- The key to university is the ability to learn on ones own devices. Being able to learn and solve uni problems will be just like the workforce in that there won't be someone there to spoon feed you!

- Work as a team. We have learned over the years that studying together in a group is the best way to learn and reaffirm course materials in a quick and concise manner. Just like the workplace sharing and using information collectively is for the common good!

- Get involved and have fun!! Introduce yourself to people in your classes and you'll soon find yourself a group of friends. Joining sports teams and social clubs outside class can also help you meet people with common interests. It's up to you how much or how little you get involved outside your classes but we've found it's really a case of "you get out what you put in"! Uni is a great time for trying new things so don't be afraid to dive in head first.

*** Remember there are many dedicated teams at UNSW to help you ease into uni life. If you are having any problems beyond the scope of this list, we recommend having a chat with the counselling service (www.counselling.unsw.edu.au) as they will be happy to help and can direct you to peer mentoring programs or anything else which they may find of use.