Going to higher institution places you in a whole host of
new situations, and with them comes a load of new
academic and social skills you’ll need to acquire in
preparation.


You’ll develop these during your time at university, of
course; but it helps to have a foundation to work from so
that you can make the most of your time at university
from the day you arrive. After all, when you’re managing
the changes in workload and lifestyle that come with
going to university, you don’t want to be worrying about
the little things you could have figured out in advance.
In this article, we’ll take you through some of the essential
skills needed in order to thrive at university , both from
an academic point of view and socially.


Academic and practical skills



1. Written English

First and foremost, having a strong grasp of the ins and
outs of the English language (whether you’re a native
speaker or not) is essential. You’ll need to be able to
express yourself articulately in a number of written
contexts, such as essays, dissertations and examinations.
Academia is all about being able to argue a point, and to
do that, you need the appropriate language skills and a
vocabulary suited to the formal environment of academic
research. What’s more, you’ll need to make sure your
spelling and grammar are up to scratch; you can’t expect
your work to be taken seriously if it’s littered with
errors.



2. Essay writing


Following on from your abilities in English is the ability to
write good essays, the demands of which necessitate very
specific written English skills as well as other qualities,
such as clarity of thinking and persuasiveness. You should
already have developed good essay technique from school,
but university essays are altogether more challenging.
They’ll probably be longer, for a start; and they’ll require
a great deal more research, with a much higher standard
of academic exploration expected than any of the essays
you wrote for O'level. You’ll also have to get into the
habit of including footnotes and references whenever you
cite another academic work in your essays. You’ll develop
your essay skills as you go along, but you can get ahead by
referring to our previous posts on essay technique, such
as this one and this one.



3. Reading


You’re likely to have a large volume of reading material
thrown your way, and it may prove slightly overwhelming,
so you’ll need to develop your reading abilities as well as
your written skills. If you’re a slow reader, you may find
it useful to learn some speed reading techniques, as this
will help you get through your reading lists more quickly.
Here are some speed reading tips to help get you started.


4. Note-taking


A very useful skill to have when it comes to every kind of
teaching environment you’ll encounter at university is
note-taking . Whether it’s in a lecture or doing
independent research in the library, finding a way to
summarise the vast amount of information to which you
will be exposed is vital if you are to make any sense of it
and commit it to long-term memory. It’s no good if
you’ve produced a set of notes from a lecture that make
no sense when you go back and look at them later that
week, or when revision time comes around, so you’ll need
to develop a note-taking method that works for you.
Shorthand is one approach, but by no means the only one;
there are also other techniques to help you in certain
situations. Some students, for instance, take laptops into
lectures because they can type faster than they can
handwrite; others may prefer to take an audio recorder
to tape what’s being said so that they can play it back in
its entirety later on.


When it comes to note-taking from books, it can
sometimes feel that everything is important enough to
write down, so you end up simply copying out entire
passages of books. This is a waste of time; it’s far better
to try to summarise arguments and record only short
snippets of quotes for later use. You’ll find this much
easier to revise from, and it forces you to think about
and learn from your reading material rather than just
regurgitating it.


5. Independent learning


The ability to study independently, without that much
guidance from teaching staff, is essential at university.
You’ll need to be able to structure your time effectively,
find things out for yourself without being told to, and
learn how to make the most of the resources you’ve been
given on your reading list. Learn how to boost your own
productivity, so that you don’t end up sitting in the
library with so much to do that you don’t know where to
start.


There’s nothing worse than that feeling of being
overwhelmed when you have a looming deadline, so avoid
getting into this situation by preparing for essays with
lots of time to spare. We’ll come back to time
management skills again later in this article.



6. Research


One of the most important academic skills is research; it
is, after all, the foundation upon which the whole of
academia is based. It may not sound like a skill, but in
fact there’s an art to it that you’ll need to master. That
includes things like where and how to find the information
you need, spotting important information in footnotes and
following it up, and even getting used to the very formal
style of academic writing. As part of your course, you’ll
probably have to undertake a larger piece of research, a
dissertation, so your research skills will stand you in good
stead for this as well as for your normal essays.


7. Presentation skills


Most of us hate giving presentations, but they’re an
unfortunate fact of university life. You will almost
certainly have to give one at some point, if not regularly,
but there’s plenty you can do to prepare for this perhaps
worrying eventuality. First of all, you can learn how to
create an impressive presentation in PowerPoint or
Keynote, so you can wow your audience with something to
look at that isn’t you (this will take the pressure off you
a bit). Prepare a useful handout to accompany your
presentation so that they have even more to look at. You
can also practise speaking in public or even take classes
to help boost your confidence.


8. Exam technique


A hefty percentage of your course is likely to be assessed
by exams, so to give yourself the very best chance of
success, it’s worth developing your exam technique to
account for the fact that university exams are tougher
than A-levels. You’re highly unlikely to have multiple-
choice questions at university level; rather, you’ll
probably have to answer a number of essays in a short
space of time, and within those essays, develop
sophisticated arguments and deploy a wide range of
knowledge to support them. Read our guide to exam
success to find out how to develop your exam technique.


Credit: oxford-royale


www.schoolparrot.com.ng/2017/03/13-things-you-should-know-how-to-do.html

ccc:lalasticlala

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Social skills


Now that we’ve covered the academic side of things, it’s time to look at that other all-important part of university life: social skills. In this section, as well as interpersonal skills, we’ve also included other personal skills and qualities you can develop that will help you succeed at university.

9. Conversational skills

You’re going to be meeting a lot of new people at university: students from all walks of life, staff who might be leaders in their field. You’ll find yourself in a variety of social situations with these people, in addition to the time you spend with them in an academic environment, so you’ll therefore need to go to university armed with excellent conversational skills. Master the art of smalltalk. If you’re not that confident in these sorts of situations, try reading up on some conversation starters to help break the ice and avoid those dreaded awkward silences. A good trick is to ask the other person about themselves; not only does it take the pressure off you, but you’ll show them that you’re interested in them and make them feel valued. Even simple questions such as “how are you finding the course so far?” are a good starting point. You’ll almost certainly have to introduce yourself at some point, so practise this beforehand and think about an interesting fact about yourself that you might want to talk about. Also, don’t be scared about talking to senior academics; they’re people too, and not nearly as intimidating as you might think! By the time you’re a confident third-year, you’ll probably be on first- name terms with them.

10. Cooking

Not really a social skill as such, but cooking is nevertheless an essential life skill for university – and if you’re good at it, you’ll be able to entertain your new friends with your culinary prowess. You’d be surprised how much you and your friends will appreciate a home- cooked meal when you’re away from home, and it’s important to eat healthily to nourish your brain ready for all that studying. If you’ve never cooked before, learn a few basic recipes before you go up to university (we don’t just mean baked beans on toast), and more importantly, learn the principles – such as how to cook chicken safely, different methods of cooking an egg, what foods go with what, how to make a sauce, and so on. A few staple recipes will stand you in good stead; spaghetti bolognese, chilli con carne, a basic chicken curry and a risotto of any kind are all great examples of recipes that are both delicious and easy to make, as well as sure to impress your friends.

11. Home skills

You won’t have your mum there to do your laundry and other such things for you, so take some time before you go to university to learn basic skills such as how to iron a shirt, if you don’t already know how to do this. There will definitely be occasions on which you’ll need a properly ironed shirt, so don’t think you can get away with wearing T-shirts all the time even if you relish the idea of being a scruffy student!

12. Self-motivation

It may not sound like it, but the ability to motivate yourself is a skill that you can develop, and one that will come in very handy when you’re faced with the choice between an afternoon off or an afternoon in the library. A lot of the time you spend at university will be unstructured, unlike at school when you had a detailed daily timetable laid out for you; it’s therefore important to be able to motivate yourself to make good use of your time. The students who enjoy the greatest success at university are those with a high level of self-motivation, and you can develop yours in a number of ways. Start out with a clear idea of what you want to achieve in the long-run; having this end goal in sight at all times will remind you of what you’re working towards. In the short- term, you can motivate yourself with the promise of small treats or breaks at regular intervals, to reward yourself for your hard work.

13. Time management

Following on from our point about self-motivation, effective time management skills will be essential at university if you’re to fit in all your social activities alongside a busy programme of study. With many demands on your time, it’s vital to be sensible about how you manage your schedule to avoid becoming stressed. Keep a calendar on your phone with all your appointments, so that you always have it to hand and can therefore avoid double booking, and maintain a ‘To Do’ list with all your tasks and deadlines. Tick them off as and when you complete each one, and break bigger tasks down into smaller ones to make them more manageable.


We hope you’ve found this a useful introduction to the kind of skills that will help you to succeed at university. This stage in your life is a learning curve, so don’t worry if all this seems too much to remember; you’ll pick up many of these skills without even realising it!


www.schoolparrot.com.ng/2017/03/13-things-you-should- know-how-to-do.html

ccc: lalasticlala

@OP... you're correct. dress sense is also a plus

SchoolParrotNg:


12. Self-motivation

...Start out
with a clear idea of what you want to achieve in the
long-run...


ccc: lalasticlala

Don't you think the first thing is to have a clear idea of where you're heading?

After all, no matter how clean a car's tyres are and how skillful the driver is, it doesn't really matter if the car is on the WRONG road...

Waoh..... Very comprehensive.... I love this post!

OP something very important is missing in your list
In this 21st century, one must be computer literate before going to a higher institution.

FIRST THING YOU HAVE TO DO AFTER MAKING A DECISION IS FIND CORRECR JAMB UTME 2017 Correct Subjects Combination For All Courses

http://www.9jaedu.com/jamb-utme-2017-correct-subjects-combination-for-all-courses/

STEP 2
HOW TO GO ABOUT REGISTRATION.. JAMB 2017/18 New Regularization Procedures/Guidelines HELP !
....
http://www.9jaedu.com/jamb-201718-new-regularization-proceduresguidelines-help/
..
...

op u forgot proper procrastination

doing a project 1hr b4 its due

K

k

most things on list on nairaland are rubbish

Buy cute cloths too.

Nice one.


Are you a student? The link below might be of interest to you.


https://www.nairaland.com/3657298/low-start-up-capital-business

You should also know how to develop the spirit of 'never give up' just like FC Barcelona did against PSG.
You might want to give up after your Year1 first semester result comes out. (some can relate to what i mean). I call it foundation point. But you still have a lotta exams to cover up.
Talking from experience..
.

Develop a really thick skin and learn to overlook stuffs as there are always jerks who wouldn't let you be..

Always be optimistic

Learn a trade (Very important)

And the most important, PRAY!


Pray like you haven't read anything, read like you don't need God to pass -culled

Money, money, money...
It is very important to be able to balance one's spending against availability.

As a guy, are you going to wash down every meal with beer/wine and take your babe out to expensive restaurants when your resources are lean?

Or as a lady, do you think you need that designer handbag for lectures or that expensive wristwatch?

You do not have to run back home asking for more money earlier than expected.

CRAMMING Skills. Mighty UNIBEN

Learn how to get close to lecturers so u can get lower sorting prices..most of ur courses will b passed by sorting

How i wish i saw this post 5 years ago, now i'm about graduating self, didn't enjoy school atall.

op u forgot ENDURANCE,it was in UNIBEN i learnt d true meaning of ENDURANCE,mostly in d hands of those cult boys.

in UNIBEN u most learn that intimidation is nothing,if strong men intimidate u,na then u go know say na part of life dere.

facts to behold

15. BLEEPING SKILLS
Ehance your bleeping skills also. Your bleeping skills can actually save you during hard times...you may fall into the hands of a richman's daughter; and she will madly favour you with gifts and money...you may even bleep ur way to her father's office. No talent should be left unused...if u sabi bleep, bros use that talent wella. It can fetch you connections you never imagined if you're smart

Op, dont forget to add "cooking" to the list.
Before i got admission ,i only knew how to boil water with kettle to make garri but today......#exhales# i am a damn good chef.....probably the best.

I discovered i love being in the kitchen.
Thank u,ma for writing down the procedures for making soups and stews for me the day before i left for school

Please help fill this questionnaire, its part of my GIS MSc thesis on "Integration of Geospatial data and Social media data for Emergency Management." Thanks in anticipation. One love!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUrkmVbnNp6J40H8pu76n6Mm0VRxfZQJ9mpvUkOUq7lFNW0w/viewform?usp=sf_link

@ SchoolParrotNg: Very nice write-up and good points until I got to point 10. I'm glad you didn't start with that point 10, if so, I would not have taken you serious. I would have taken you for one of those "African Experts" but thanks to the remaining sound 12 points.

alignacademy:


Don't you think the first thing is to have a clear idea of where you're heading?

After all, no matter how clean a car's tyres are and how skillful the driver is, it doesn't really matter if the car is on the WRONG road...

80% of youths going into higher institutions today are only going to gain admission nd get a degree so they'll be called graduates in the end. Just a few have real motives of learning. Or why do you think most youths you see in higher institutions are too fast in joining different cult groups, chasing after men/women, fashion craze and so on?

No clear ambition!

the major keys of survival, you no mention any....anyways,let me help.



1. adopting the skills of an "akanapa"...you have to be very stingy in school.
2. stop telling your friends "come and eat" dem node do this one for school...cos that pot of rice can last you a day.