tips Archívum | Diplomátszerzek

Five useful tips for new university students

1. Attend your classes!

Many people make the mistake of thinking that they can just attend their compulsory practical classes and skip the theory lectures.

Believe me: when the exam period comes, you’ll thank yourself for attending these classes instead of (or in addition to) partying or having fun until dawn, because not only will your knowledge be deepened, but you’ll also be more sympathetic to the exam teacher.

2. Don’t buy new textbooks!

It’s worth saving money where you can. Unless you’re studying a major where the curriculum can change from year to year – law, for example – it’s pointless wasting your money on buying the latest edition of every textbook in every subject.

The first thing you should do is to check whether the textbook you are looking for is available online in PDF format. If not, upper-year students will be happy to sell their own previous textbooks for much less.

3. Start preparing for the exams on time!

When beginning in September, many students think that the exam period starting in December is so far away that they simply don’t focus on it in time: they would rather spend their time partying or doing student work. Manage your time consciously, prepare continuously and it will be much easier to perform.

4. Pay more attention to your health!

You’ll have to give small lectures and presentations, as well as write assignments and final papers. Moreover, during the exam period, you will have to „take it all on the chin”.

But you shouldn’t let the increased pressure come at the cost of your health: for example, sleep deprivation, stress and caffeine overdose to characterize this period. Get enough rest and make sure you stay hydrated and eat quality, vitamin-rich foods.

5. Join clubs, workshops and vocational colleges.

If you join a school club outside of your compulsory classes, you will not only gain new skills, but you will also make new friends and contacts who may help you in later life, even in the job market, to find a career. These days, there are plenty of interesting programs to choose from at any university.

 

Picture:pixabay.com

The components of the perfect cover letter

Why is a cover letter so important?

Although it may sound a bit outdated, when you apply for a job, you should include a cover letter along with your CV. It may feel like a burden, but you can use it to your advantage. There are many skills and experiences that would be difficult to include in a CV, but highlighting them in a cover letter can add something extra to your CV that will make you stand out from the crowd. That way, if there are points in your CV that don’t seem very interesting or need explaining, you don’t have to worry that they’ll just look at it and make the wrong decision. Think of your cover letter as an explanation to your CV.

The form

Simple, clean editing and formatting is important. It’s fine if it’s not more than a few pages, and best if it’s under a page, according to Harvard experts. Indeed, someone who might have to read a hundred cover letters doesn’t have time for a novel that says the same thing as your CV. You certainly won’t go wrong by choosing a familiar font and size. It’s essential that you send it in PDF format.

Photo: Pexels.com

Make it relevant

Rather than including what’s in your CV in sentences, you’re better off responding to what’s in the job advert. Since you want to convince them why you are the best person for the position, write about the experiences and skills that the ad describes as expected or an advantage. It can also be an extra to start with the most important thing, i.e. why you are the perfect person for the job.

Pay attention to your style

It’s best if you know exactly who to address the letter to, but it’s also important to make sure your style is neither too casual nor too formal. Try to be more literate instead of formal.

Don’t overdo it

While it’s important to appear enthusiastic, don’t get carried away. You can write a line or two about why you want the job, so that you feel you know what the position is about and you’re looking forward to it.

4+1 tips for writing in style

1. Know your audience!

Always think about who you are writing for, who will be your potential readers. Equally important is the purpose of your text: are you preparing to submit an essay for your final exams, or writing a motivation letter for a prospective employer? Or do you just want to draw attention to an important issue you care about in an Insta story? Accordingly, you need to be careful with your vocabulary, sentence structure and phrasing.

2. Don’t try to be different from who you are!

Many people make the mistake of wanting to be much more sophisticated in their writing than they are in their everyday life, but they achieve the opposite effect. Their sentences end up littered with misused strange phrases, with constructions that are supposed to be more sophisticated but are in fact more ‘cluttered’, with words that are supposed to be more appropriate but are in fact grammatically incorrect.

The only thing you should keep in mind is to avoid casual, slangy phrases if they do not fit the type of your text, and to try to minimise word repetition (although this is not always possible).

szöveg-stílus

A clear layout makes a better impression (Photo: Pixabay)

3. Pay attention to the structure of your text and the logical flow of your thought!

Even in your everyday texts, make sure that your reader understands what you are trying to express. If your text is longer, be sure to break it down into logical units (paragraphs) and make sure your sentences and parts of sentences are well-connected to each other.

4. Pay attention to your writing and spelling!

It is important that your letters should be legible, even if they’re not particularly nice. A fine piece of writing without scribbles and with a clear layout will make a much better impression than if you cross out words and sentences a thousand times and scribble them all over the place. Spelling also helps to produce a quality text. If you are even a little unsure of the spelling of a word, use a rule book.  

+1. Read as much as you can!

Writing – whether formal or informal – is a practical activity, so you will improve yourself most by writing as much as you can, as consciously as possible, thinking through and checking for mistakes. The importance of reading is not negligible, either, as it affects your spelling, your vocabulary and your knowledge about the appropriate structure of the text.

How to prepare consciously for your thesis even at the beginning of university

Some people are so uncertain about how to get started that they postpone their submission, even if it means delaying it. Do you feel the same way? It’s not your fault that you haven’t learnt the mysteries of writing academic papers on your own, in addition to all the other subjects. However, if you still have a few semesters left, it’s worth thinking about a few things now so that you’re not taken by surprise by the novelty of the thesis assignment.

Keep your eyes open!

During your three to five years at university, you’ll complete a range of courses, including some optional ones that ideally give you the opportunity to orient yourself around what interests you. If you keep your eyes open during the first few semesters, and keep in mind during classes or studying that one of the questions in a course could even be a thesis, you can easily find interesting topics. And even better, if you fall in love with a topic so much that you do some research on it. 

Photo: Pexels

Get to know each other!

If you’re writing a thesis, you’ll also need a consultant or topic leader. You will work with this tutor for a relatively long period of time one-on-one, and if things go right, you will have several meetings. For this reason, it is a good idea to start with someone who you have a good relationship with. In a small course or conference you may have the opportunity to talk to your tutors, and ask questions if you have any. It’s the perfect opportunity to decide if they deal with topics that interest you. You’ll soon find out how engaged you are with your students.

Be active!

It does not hurt, if you have some previous experience in writing a piece of work that needs to include references to literature and has specific formal requirements. Entering academic competitions during your years of higher education is quite useful in many ways. You can gain a lot of experience, and you don’t even need to have achieved a ranking. A huge advantage is to try your skills in competitions where you have to write a longer text, possibly an essay. If you know how to get started, you’ll be able to get down to writing a thesis in the real world. What’s more, you can even use an essay written for a scientific student group conference as a thesis.

Talk to others!

What is unknown is always scary, because you don’t know what to expect, you can’t make a plan and you lack a sense of being in control. We advise you to talk to friends and acquaintances from your senior year who have experience in writing a thesis, and as many as possible, to get a fair idea of the reality. Whatever you hear, it is worth keeping in mind, just like regarding all academic gossip, that statements which are either too bad or too good are likely to be exaggerated.

This is what every thesis writer fears: we show you the solution

A thesis or dissertation is one of the biggest tasks you have to face during our university years. Although in retrospect it may not seem like such a challenge for many of us, it can cause a lot of headaches before and during. However, these fears can easily be overcome by clarifying some frequently asked questions.

What happens if I can’t write it?

In short: nothing. It’s not the end of the world. In all academic and study matters, the best advice we can give you is to read the rules and ask the study department.

Generally, if you don’t get a signature for the consultancy subjects, you will have to take them again like any other subject. If the consultation was successful, but you have not completed the final version by the deadline, you will also be late with the final version, but you can still submit it at any time, within a specific timeframe.

Photo: Unsplash

What happens if I choose the wrong topic?

At some universities you have almost no say in your thesis topic, because you are kind of assigned to someone and then given a topic. In that case, you can only hope and try to make the most of the topic you are given, with the minimum room for maneuver. After all, even a fixed topic can be written in many different ways. However, if you are one of those people who are given complete freedom to choose the topic, with the topic leader only guiding you through the process, we recommend you think carefully about what you are doing.

When choosing a topic, choose a question that is interesting but also well researched and will lead to a successful submission, feel free to ask your topic leader, who has all the right questions in the field. What’s more, they also know what a student can write well.

What happens if my consultant disappears?

I’m sure you’ve heard some horror stories about unresponsive, unhelpful, passive consultants. You may be looking for a subject tutor who will let you create on your own, but if you want help and tips, it’s better to approach a tutor who doesn’t have a reputation for reading emails once a month. If, however, you’re in trouble and you have questions but feel like you’re being ignored, it’s best to approach them in person and ask for help. If everything else fails, you should be aware that under certain conditions you may be able to change consultants.

How to choose electives at university?

Most importantly: it should be interesting

Browse through the list of available subjects, read the course descriptions, and choose the ones that offer lectures that you’d happily attend on a regular basis.

Help with a tricky mandatory course

Sometimes, you can find electives that are overlapping with your main subjects to some extent. It is useful to go for these, since they will help you understand the more difficult stuff that will inevitably be the subject of one of your exams. In addition, these are often taught by the same lecturers, and if they can remember your name from the small group of students taking the elective, that might be handy when you meet them at the big exam.

Mind the (time) gap

As a student, you will be mainly responsible for working out your schedule, so try to make sure you have no gaps. University lessons last 90 minutes, rather than 45, and with a 10-minute break before and after the lesson, if there is a gap in your schedule, that might mean at least 110 minutes lost from your life. If you see a nice little elective you like which fits that gap, don’t think twice, grab it. You will end up with more credits and no time lost.

Make sure it is not an impossible ask

Check closely the course syllabus and requirements before you sign up. Some electives let you bag up to four credits in exchange for the equivalent of a school presentation, while many others make you work harder than a mandatory course to earn just two credits.

Tick them off as soon as you can

Writing your degree dissertation is the single most difficult element of earning your diploma. Be careful and avoid having to deal with courses that are not strictly mandatory in your last year. Calculate how you are going to achieve the credits in the first two years, so that you do not need to worry about that in your final year.

Tips for finding your place in your first job

Do:

  1. Be friendly

Even if office chat is not your thing (you are not the only one!), it does make sense in the long run to have a friendly relationship with the others you keep bumping into in the kitchen or by the coffee machine. This might include sharing snacks occasionally, wishing them a happy birthday, or helping them with a task, just because you are a nice person.

  1. Arrive early

Believe us, you will not be seen as an eager beaver if you arrive ten minutes early. On the contrary, it helps to start your day in calm, giving you the time to think over the tasks ahead. Not only will you look more focused to your colleagues, you probably will be.

  1. Be open and flexible

Whether you need to do something that is normally not your task, or start work earlier, it does help if you keep a flexible approach. It certainly will be to your credit if colleagues see that you are hard working.  

Don’t:

  1. Open up from day one

Having friends at work and enjoying the company is fine, but don’t attract undue attention by dishing out your private life in the office.

  1. Be a nuisance

When you are at your desk, don’t use the phone for private matters. It distracts others from their work, and nobody is interested to know when you are going for that check-up.

  1. Spam

If you hit ‘Reply all’ on an email addressed to hundreds of people, instead of just ‘Replying’ to the sender, that in itself is no big deal. When thirty people make the same mistake, it becomes a real nuisance. Try to be among those who can tell the difference between the two buttons.

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