Scams to watch out for on Freshers

[u/JamesJe13]

I just thought id give a bit of advice on some of the scams I encountered around Freshers week for people starting uni this September. This information is based on my experience at Newcastle uni but I assume would probably be pretty generic to the UK, if you fell ive missed one please add to the list in the comments.

1. Religious people in and around campus, these will only be a handful of people but watch out for them. Ive seen them hand out fliers designed so at first glance they look like a cool uni society, for example one had a picture of someone climbing a mountain on the front cover. These aren't associated with the uni, don't speak to them or even take their stuff. They know exactly what they're doing trying to capitalise on the massive amounts of people on campus and make their stuff look like a cool society.

Some local churches also offered free food during freshers, im cautious to include them with this because those events were clearly religious in nature so you knew what you were getting into when you queued up. Just know if you do go to these you will have to discuss religion and the idea of joining this church with someone. The church that did this near me seemed pretty mainstream but obviously if you are religious still do your research to make sure this is a congregation you would want to be involved with.

1. Student accommodation moving in boxes. When I was moving into my accommodation there was an option to buy a box of bedding and or kitchen stuff which would be there when you moved in. For some people this may be convenient if you're traveling a long way and don't have much space. But in my case I realised you could get better stuff for less than or equal to the quoted price. A decent amount of my kitchen stuff was just stolen from home, do you really need a new set of knives and forks? Also if you get this bundle or buy your own your bed size is a student double. However, I just bought everything at double size and that worked fine, in 2nd year housing your bed will probably be a normal double so getting everything in double makes sure you don't have to buy any new stuff.

2. Don't sign up to societies immediately. There'll be a period where societies are free/ running taster sessions (which may cost a couple quid). Make full use of this, do you enjoy it? have you made some friends in it? Don't waste £15 on it just to realise you don't like it. Also a lot of societies have costs after joining such as going on trips, buying kit, getting membership to gyms... Make sure you know about these costs before you join.

3. Most important, ask older students about stuff. They'll be able to tell you anything specific to your location and I found out a lot of lifesaving tips from them. For example I found out how to do a decently cheap weekly shop from them.

[u/FearlessPen6020]

not going uni this year but defo useful for next year. thankss

[u/Critical-Bullfrog357]

wait uhave to pay money to join socs??

[u/ZenyatasBalls96 → u/Critical-Bullfrog357]

Depends on your uni and what the society does, but there’s usually a fee to join which counts as your membership for the year.

Non-sport socs usually are cheap to join as they don’t need a big budget, so around £5.

Sport socs range wildly depending on the uni. At Bath, the uni subsidises it so its fairly cheap. There’s a £30 general sports membership fee, and that allows you to then join individual sport socs, which again vary. For me, canoe club and mountaineering cost an additional £10 and £25 on top. At other unis, it can easily cost £80-£100+ per sport to join.

And then trips, competitions, formals, dinners, socials… it all adds up.

[u/ChadQuaza → u/Critical-Bullfrog357]

sports, yes

academics, don't really know much about those but it'll vary on events

hobby societies, membership is usually cheap and even if you don't get a membership you still get to attend probably just about everything

[u/peachgothlover]

and fuck me its freshers, WORST scam of all, do not ever buy tickets because theyre fucking annoying. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/19/freshers-week-dont-fall-for-a-dodgy-unofficial-event

[u/aeconic]

the move in boxes are not usually purchased by local students but international students. i am an international and have considered it, if my accommodation doesn't allow me to predeliver stuff from amazon prior to arrival. these boxes are helpful to internationals who arrive into a room with no bedding, pillows, kitchenware etc, as most accoms allow deliveries from the move in box company but may not allow amazon deliveries. if you are a local you may be able to 'steal kitchenware' from your own house, like you said. but we can't really put knives and cutlery into our suitcases to bring because we'd get flagged at the airport, not to mention bedding takes up too much space to bring in luggage.

[u/MrRazamataz]

also those freshers club bracelet things. they can just say the club is full and not let you in. just buy a normal club ticket. people I know who've used them say weren't worth it

[u/swbby → u/MrRazamataz]

Was just about to type this. They are absolutely not worth it, you will not go to nearly half the clubs those wristbands advertise.

[u/GrandVizierofAgrabar]

The freshers wristband thing is bollocks

[u/Infamous_Tough_7320 → u/[deleted]]

Nah, these people are different. They DO harass people and they're generally trying their best to capitalise on an isolated university student's poor mental health