Close
Tips for success from other students looking back over their 2nd year at 皇家华人.
Tips from UCL students:
The second year of university should听feel a lot less daunting in comparison to year 1. By now you will have started to familiarize yourself with what is expected of you, how to work through readings, homework and coursework and you will likely have experienced your first exams as well. Year 2, however, brings its own unique set of both challenges and opportunities and it鈥檚 a good idea to be prepared for this.Katie Davies, BA History, Politics & Economics, and Robin-James Zenker, BSc Psychology & Language Sciences,听shares their听top听tips for success in your second year:
1. Understand what worked well for you in first year
You will likely already have developed a solid set of study skills, but it鈥檚 still definitely worth the time to reflect on what worked well for you in year 1 and where you still see room for improvement. In your second year, a greater level of academic independence will be expected for you, therefore it鈥檚 good to be prepared that things will get a bit harder and see where you need to develop or work on your skills and seek support.
2. Utilise UCL resources
UCL鈥檚 resources have truly been game-changing for my studies. For any essay-based subject,听 see what the Writing Lab听has to offer. It听is听a free service running workshops, tutorials and support sessions to enhance your academic writing. For each essay, Katie听tended to book in at least one session to go through a first draft with a tutor. Their advice is invaluable in helping you clarify your ideas, assisting with structures and ultimately, pushing you into higher grade boundaries.
3. Block out time to work
With the level of work increasing, I found blocking out time to study was great in boosting my productivity. With COVID-19 causing the library service to require bookings, I used this to my advantage, planning when I would study and adding a level of accountability to my work. Further, trying out different libraries can make studying more exciting. For example, UCL students have access to Senate House which is an amazing space to work in.
4. Organise your time to maximise learning and make space for extra-curricular opportunities
It is useful to organize a sustainable working schedule that works well for you. Especially with the emergence of pre-recorded lectures and materials for independent study, I found managing my time well to be a key to a successful and as-least-stressful-as-possible second year.
Proper time management should also leave you with enough time to start looking for opportunities for development outside the classroom. Whereas in your听first year you might听decide听not to take on too many extra responsibilities just to make sure I鈥檇 have enough time and energy to adapt to university work,听the second year could prove听to be the perfect time to start looking for extracurricular forms of engagement. There are plenty of opportunities at 皇家华人hich are personally rewarding and can also look good on your CV if that鈥檚 something that you鈥檙e looking for. You might want to take a committee role in of . Another extremely rewarding thing to do some , UCL offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities across London, but you could also decide to start a . If you are looking for a way to earn a bit of extra money alongside your studies, there are plenty of part-time internships and projects to work on at 皇家华人, many of which can be find via .听
If you are looking to make changes to your Education, you could partner up with a member of staff and get funding for a ChangeMakers project, or earn 拢150 being a 听to听provide听a student perspective on a range of education-related enhancements from programem and assessment design through to observing a member of staff's teaching or reviewing the curriculum to ensure it is inspiring and inclusive for all.听
4. Pre-study activity
Going from watching Netflix straight into focused work can be challenging. Katie recommends听doing a short warm-up activity to听get you in the zone to study. For example, completing a Sudoku puzzle, watching a short , or reading a news article. Although it may sound trivial, it really does help make starting studying less daunting, as well as building your commercial awareness.
5. Consider study abroad
Robin suggests second year is the time to start seriously thinking about and planning a year abroad:
"If you think you鈥檇 be interested in spending a term or more abroad, this is the prime time to think about it more seriously. As a 3rd year student currently on a term abroad in Copenhagen, I couldn鈥檛 be happier with my decision to apply to study abroad. If you鈥檙e unsure, whether this would be for you, there is plenty of information about studying abroad on UCL鈥檚 website, as well as UCL鈥檚 Go Abroad Week in November!"
6. Go easy on yourself
Don't听be too hard on yourself in your 2nd year. At time it can seem a bit confusing 鈥� the novelty of the 1st year has passed but you鈥檙e not yet a 3rd or 4th year student looking towards the 鈥渘ext chapter鈥�. It鈥檚 perfectly okay and normal not to have everything figured out at this point. So try and grab every opportunity that sounds interesting, take care of your wellbeing and enjoy the experience!
听
听