Pasta and cheese gets boring after day four.How quickly one gets old. Not only can you get your assignments finished faster but tutors are more inclined to mark typed essays more favourably, presumably because they can read them.How to surf the Internet A growing student pastime. Tucked away in a non-air-conditioned room in the darkest depths of campus, you can spend hours surfing a vast ocean of trivia - from the latest discoveries at NASA to what's on TV for the next nine days.How to cook. When the rosy haze has faded, you realise the Exotic Travel Society you've just joined is really just a bunch of train spotters.How to type.

I strongly recommend taking part in as much as you can while at university, never again will you got such a varied social life on your doorstep.How to say no nicely to all those societies in Freshers' Week who desperately want you to join. Joining the entertainments committee was a financial boost - I got into events free. How to be in 40 places at once to take advantage of all the opportunities university throws your way. Even after working in a bank for a year before university, I still found after the fourth week of term that my bank account wasn't going to stand another Friday night in the Students' Union. No matter how sparingly I packed, there was never enough room.

The big mystery is, even students whose parents have large cars (eg Mercedes) still cannot fit their possessions in How to grow money. It is worth bearing in mind that the hard work will be department-based and brilliant social facilities are not going to be adequate compensation for a crowded library and dreary lecture and seminar rooms.. How to fit the whole of my life into the back of my mother's Metro every time she drove me to Surrey University. Be sure to check that the specific facilities you need are available. It can be particularly useful to talk to a current student with a similar disability and get his or her first-hand experience.FIND OUTl if the university or college already has students with disabilities similar to your ownl if there are specific staff with responsibility for disabled studentsFinally, a word of caution: you are likely to encounter universities and colleges that you would really like to attend but on closer inspection you discover that the department offering the subject you fancy is not right for you; and conversely there could be great departments in universities or colleges that would not come top of your list (or somebody else's league table). Often it is the person with equal opportunity responsibility, but it may be a specialist within the admissions office. Finding somewhere decent to live and staying solvent are likely to be your biggest non-academic challenges during your time as a student, so be sure you are going to have easy access to people who can give advice and practical help when you need it.FIND OUTl how you get access to welfare servicesl whether there are arrangements to provide emergency short-term loansl how much accommodation is available locally and what the accommodation costsl what the Accommodation )ffice will do to help you find itFACILITIES FOR STUDENTS WITHDISABILITIESAll universities and colleges have procedures for dealing with inquiries from potential students with disabilities.

Key players are usually the Students' Union's welfare department, a counselling service, a medical centre, an accommodation office and often an equal opportunities officer. It is worth remembering that the use of these kind of facilities is seasonal, so there may appear to be lots of capacity in November, but there may not be a spare seat or terminal at times of dissertation writing or exam panic.FIND OUTl how much study space there is in the libraryl whether the sections relevant to your subjects are extensivel the arrangements for short-term loan of key course booksl what photocopying costs and how easy it is to do itl library and terminal room opening timesl numbers of terminals available to undergraduatesSTUDENT WELFAREEvery university and college has a slightly different way of providing welfare support. Many students find this a pleasant change and although it can be a crash course in budgeting, cleaning and cooking, outbreaks of cholera are rare.FIND OUTl what accommodation costsl what you get for your moneyl the terms of the leasel if you will have daily travel costsSTUDY FACILITIESMost universities and colleges have pretty impressive-looking libraries and will wax lyrical about their computing facilities. First, the great majority of students get into university or college-owned accommodation for their first year. This varies from the traditional study bedroom with no mod cons (except possibly a sink), to hotel-like en suite accommodation, or self-catering accommodation in a shared house.It is in the second year that you are more likely to be required to fend for yourself, and a preferred option is to share a house with friends. Usually award the degrees of a local partner university.OxbridgeStill in a category of their own but are now abandoning setting their own entrance exams You apply to colleges, not the university. Each has its own subject strengths and facilities, so you need to do careful research before applying.FEDERALSLondonAll 22 colleges have their own prospectuses and distinctive subject profiles.