17 Micro Hacks That’ll Put You Ahead Of Everyone Else In College

1. Wear sports bras/bralettes to lectures instead of the ones with a buckle at the back. They tend to poke and prod your back after a while if you’re leaning back. Sports bras don’t.

2. Set your timetable as your phone background for the first few weeks. Use this method for no. 6 too if you can be bothered.

3. Lay a towel on your bed a few days before your period is due. If you leak on a towel you can just wash it or throw it away. Easier than washing and changing the sheets.

4. When you’re in a lecture taking notes on a laptop remember to turn down the brightness on your screen, especially if the lecturer has dimmed the lights. Otherwise you’ll annoy others and drain your battery.

5. Save your recordings at every given break instead of making one continuous one through pausing. Sometimes files are too large to save and you don’t want to risk losing the entire lecture recording. Save as you go along.

6. If you need to remember something (e.g. a library book, USB, locker key..) write it on a post-it note and stick it on your shoes before you sleep. Make sure they’re the shoes you intend to wear the next day!

7. Don’t shoot me: if you have left an assignment really late, stay up as long as you can completing it (yes, that means an all-nighter may be needed). Sleep as soon as you’ve handed it in.

8. If you use tech in a lecture e.g. phone for recording or electronic note-taking on your laptop, then mess around with it before uni begins. Know what buttons to press and when, otherwise you’ll mess up your notes and annoy others, with your excessive clicking.

9. Always, always, ALWAYS carry a plastic bag/carrier bag. You might need to make a trip to the library, drink may spill in your bag so you’ll need an alternative or you may not be able to dispose of a pad/tampon until you get back home. Seriously, just carry one.

10. Find out where coursework/assignment are submitted within your first week on campus. Ask admin how the procedure works and make sure you know it inside out.

11. Spend a day wondering around campus (before timetabled lectures start). Find out where the library is, talk to the librarians and ask them how to borrow/return books and also how to reserve!

12. When you get your timetable be sure to visit the lecture halls and seminar rooms a few days before the term starts so you know where to go. Find out where the toilets are in those buildings too.

13. Find out where your lecturers offices are. Know the building and floor that they’re on (they’re usually all in the same place).

14. Carry cereal bars and other non perishable foods that take up little room. Sometimes your tummy rumbles really loud in a lecture, give it some love.

15. Volunteer in your first year of university, these is the least hectic year (usually!). You want something to put on that CV and those post grad applications!

16. In the UK the first year generally doesn’t count toward the final degree classification but those grades WILL show up on your transcript. Make sure they look decent. When you apply for post grad courses, if you don’t have the certificate yet (because you’re still completing the course) the university/institution will ask for your grade transcript. First year grades come up first!

17. A huge part of your degree classification/GPA comes from the final year thesis. Talk to as many older students as you can and ask them what topics they picked and how they went about it. A great thesis/dissertation will literally move you from a 2:1 to a 1st.