Back to School: 14 fantastic tips for students

We want to extend a warm welcome to all of our new and returning students—September is such an exciting, energetic time of year, when we renew old friendships, make new ones, enrich our lives through education and take important steps towards an exciting and rewarding career in engineering.

To help you succeed at school, we offer this list of tips for all of our students. Take advantage of all the services and opportunities available to you!

You can add to this list on our facebook page www.facebook.com/UofAEngineer. What advice would you share with new students?

1) Apps Apps Apps. U of A Apps can help you find your way around campus, get public transit information or look up course directories. They’re good to have! Visit the U of A Apps website.

2) Enjoy all that student life has to offer! Join a project, find a club, run for first-year club president—find something to get involved in during your first year and your university experience will be more meaningful.

3) Join some fellow students and set up a study group. You are going to hear this one a lot, because it is virtually impossible to reach your full academic potential on your own. Engineering is not an individual sport, neither is an engineering education.

4) Apply for scholarships! Every year, more than $1.5 million is available to you through Faculty of Engineering student scholarships. Your finances, and educational experience, will be enhanced by this major source of student support.

5) Sign up online to receive emergency notifications on your mobile device. This is a campus-wide system that will alert you through your mobile phone should an emergency incident happen on campus. It also provides information updates to keep you informed until the incident is resolved. These emergency events might include severe and imminent weather events such as tornadoes, “man-made” disasters such as fires or chemical releases or acts of violence.

6) The Faculty of Engineering has two amazing librarians dedicated to helping engineering students and professors with assignments and research. This is an invaluable resource that you must take advantage of. Find the Engineering Librarians online.

7) Struggling through your classes? Get help! Visit the Math and Applied Sciences Centre and the Centre for Writers for academic support.

8) Feeling sluggish? Make time to take part in sports or to hit the gym. It helps keep you in shape physically, mentally and emotionally. Check out the Campus Rec website for more information.

9) University can be overwhelming—it’s a completely new world and sometimes you need someone to talk to Student Counselling Services is there for you when you need help.

10) Go to ALL of your classes.

11) Pace yourself—university is a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t do everything in one semester but you can burn yourself out in one semester

12) Don’t be afraid to go to events even if you won’t know anyone there. Half the people are in the same boat as you are—meet new friends by getting involved. Start by taking in these fun Week of Welcome events!

13) Get your calculator sticker now—if you wait until 10 minutes before your first mid-term exam to get your sticker, don’t even try to calculate the odds of actually getting in to write your first mid-term exam. Do this now and avoid getting stressed out later.

14) Start working on your resume now—visit the Engineering Employment Centre today for all kinds of help in writing a winning resume, learning how to find jobs, and finding quality job postings.