WHAT are the most important things to get done before leaving for university abroad?
Continue reading below for our top three tips...
We'd be happy to wager that you couldn't find anyone who likes to spend time speaking to immigration services, waiting in bank queues and registration lines for university.
So why allow any of these things to interrupt your fun when you first arrive at university, with all the things in in the first week of your new life seeming so much more important?
The simple solution is to make sure you've done as much as you possibly can to make sure you get through it all easily.
The first step is to get in touch with your university, who deal with these general enquiries ever single day and who will be happy to help.
Make a small folder with all of the documentation your university says you'll need for them, and follow their advice about what you'll need to open a bank account in your new home country.
When you arrive, you should be able to get everything out of the way in a single, if slightly boring and unpleasant, morning or afternoon.
A large number of universities recommend reading to their prospective students, so that they can begin to get a feel for their chosen subjects at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
And few universities will send an enormous reading list which turns out to be an arduaous task to get through.
So if your lecturers or seminar leaders send you something as a primer before you begin studying their courses, why not save yourself any extra stress later and get a general understanding of what you're about to embark on learning?
Much of the valued instruction and teaching you'll receive will depend on the kernels of knowledge individual academic staff can pass on to you, but if you don't have a general idea of the field then how can you know how to place those outstanding insights?
Having a rich social life is surely one of the greatest benefits of starting university, and you'll probably make some friends and acquaintances for life.
But trying too hard to keep up means you could look back and realise there are things you missed out over the course of your first term, which you had dearly wanted to do before you left for your country or city of choice.
This doesn't have to be a serious goal-setting exercise, but simply sketch out the things you're really excited about doing to explore a new culture or learn a new sport or skill.
When you're at a loss as to how to use your free time, take a quick look at this list and see whether you can find time to do the things which really excited you about your chosen university, new country and new culture.
