newstudent.org

...IT? ~

Newstudent.org is a free website aimed at students who will be starting undergraduate courses at University in the coming September (although there are a few members who are in their second year at university and they are great for comforting terrified new students!) It is a way for students to find people who will be going to the same university as them, find people who will be on their course and chat to other new students ...
...going to university.
I read a review about the site and seeing as I am going to university in September and am absolutely petrified I thought it sounded like a great way to talk to people who were in the same boat!
The site provides various links and information on things like student finances, accommodation, gap years and all sorts of other useful things, which I will explain later.


~ JOINING ~

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~ WHATS IS IT? ~

Newstudent.org is a free website aimed at students who will be starting undergraduate courses at University in the coming September (although there are a few members who are in their second year at university and they are great for comforting terrified new students!) It is a way for students to find people who will be going to the same university as them, find people who will be on their course and chat to other new students about general topics and things like thoughts and feelings on going to university.
I read a review about the site and seeing as I am going to university in September and am absolutely petrified I thought it sounded like a great way to talk to people who were in the same boat!
The site provides various links and information on things like student finances, accommodation, gap years and all sorts of other useful things, which I will explain later.

~ JOINING ~

The site is nice and easy to join up to; there are about three different links on the home page which allows you to register and one is a massive button so its not a difficult process! You are then required to fill in a few details about yourself, including an email address and you are asked to create a screen name and password. You then go on to a page where you have to enter quite a few more details about you, where you live, when you start university and a few other things but it doesn't take too long as there are drop down menus and tick boxes which make it easier. Once you have entered all of the relevant email they send you an email where you have to click a link to confirm your account. I found that they sent the email within about 30 seconds so there was no need to hang around waiting! The email also contains links to the online help pages as well as an email address to get help if you have any difficulties. Once you have clicked the confirmation link you are given the option to alert friends about the site but fortunately this isn't necessary so don't think that you have to complete all the fields!
Once you have confirmed your account by clicking the link you can log in immediately using the member login fields.

~ LOGGING IN ~

The actual process of logging in is nice and simple and just a case of entering your email address and password into the boxes provided on the home page. The only disadvantage that I have noticed is that there is no option to leave it logged in to your account or no auto login facility, so everytime you visit the site you have to enter your email and password which can be a little irritating if you are lazy like me and want everything done for you!

~ WHERE TO START ~

The best thing to do first is to edit your profile, along the top of the page are various links, one is 'my profile' and unsurprisingly once you click the link you are taken to your profile! There is a link to 'edit my profile' and you can fill in information about yourself, include a picture (either from the pictures provided or by uploading your own which is an easy process) a link to your personal website, the subject area that you are planning to study and the University you will be going to. You can include up to six university as UCAS (the university and college admissions service) allow you to apply to a maximum of six universities. Your profile will be seen by all other members of the site so the more info you give, the more likely you are to hear from people similar to you or doing the same course etc. You can go back and edit your profile at any time and there are no requirements to fill in every single field.

~ WHAT YOU CAN DO ~

The site is broken up into various different sections which I will explain below:

MY FORUMS - here you have access to the 'general' forum where there are various threads which are explained briefly below:

- applying to university - which is basically where members can talk about things like personal statements, interviews, application forms, experiences and offer tips and advice. This is quite useful if you are still in the process of applying but seeing as I had already been offered a place when I joined the site it wasn't much use to me.

- Gap years - pretty much anything relating to taking gap years is talked about here, although obviously this area will only be relevant to certain people but it is still interesting to find out what other people are planning on doing.

- General chat - as the name suggests this is just an area for talking about pretty much anything! Most conversations are not university related in this area.

- Life at uni - this is quite a useful area for students who are a bit nervous about what to expect as you can talk to people who are feeling the same way but also talk about things you are looking forward to etc!

- Mature students - this is a area for mature students to chat to each other.

- Parents forum - this is a good one for parents of new students to go to so they can talk to other parents and talk about their feelings etc about their kid going off to uni!

- Review your home town - this seems to be aimed at people who live in a town or city with a university, they can review their town so that new students who will be moving to that area can read all about it.

- What to study - pretty much everything subject related is discussed here, it is particularly useful for students who haven't yet made up their mind on what exactly they want to study or the type of course they want to do.

- Where to go - similar to the 'what to study' area this is a good one to discuss the different universities and all things related to deciding on a university etc, this is useful for students who haven't yet made up their mind but also interesting to find people going to the same university as you.

MY MESSAGES - this is a facility which enables you to send messages to other members, they are private messages (ie other members don't see them) so its useful if you want to chat in a bit more detail to someone who for example is going to be doing your course. It is really easy to use and is very similar to an email service as you have your inbox, sent messages, drafts and trash folders.

MY UNIVERSITIES - here you can either look up the university you have included in your profile and meet and talk to other people who are going there. You can view the forum for the university you are going to and that includes all sorts of areas to chat in, including threads about accommodation, courses, social life, feelings about going, and various other things. It is a really great way to get to know people who are going to be doing the same course as you and just generally chat to people who will be going to that particular university at the same time as you.

SHOP - this area is specifically aimed at new students and gives links where you can shop for laptops (new, rented and reconditioned), insurance, internet access, mobiles and holidays. The only thing with this area is that it seems to still be under development and a few of the links say 'coming soon' but once it is completed I would think it could be really useful and a great way of finding deals for new students.

TIPS & ADVICE - unfortunately this area of the site hasn't actually been created yet, although by the looks of the notices on there it should be done soon and will provide tips and advice for new students on a wide range of issues.

LINKS - this area contains a list of useful links to other sites on things such as health, student finance, jobs and other things. I have used a few of the links relating to student finance and they seem to have been well selected as all of the links were very relevant and well selected.

TECH SUPPORT - I was impressed at the useful technical support given in this section on all areas of the site, there is also an email address to request help if the articles don't answer your questions.

~ LAYOUT & NAVIGATION~

The layout of the site is very student orientated, it uses attractive fonts, colours and general layouts. Most of the site is done in a blue colour with purple bits and white or black text. To me the site seems pretty easy on the eyes although someone with colour blindness problems may have difficulties. The layout does however make the site rather funky to look at! Most information or links are inside borders, which stops it looking too cluttered and makes it easy to find what you are looking for. All of the main links to the areas of the site are across the top of the page and are displayed on every page so it is very easy to navigate around the site. The pages seem to be laid out in an intuitive way so once you have looked around the site a couple of times it is very instinctive to use.
All links and buttons are appropriately placed and in terms of ease of navigation I cannot fault the site. The colour scheme is the only thing I would assume might present a problem to some viewers but all in all the layout and navigation is excellent.

~ SEARCH FACILITIES ~

The search facilities on the site seem to be really good, you can search for people doing the same course as you or enter other search criteria to find various people, such as people with the same interests as you or going to the same university. The results from a search have always been very accurate and relevant to what I have searched for and the actual process of searching for a member or searching for groups of people is really simple.

~ EVALUATION~

The site is aimed at a specific group and it has been really well designed for that. There are so many new students who are members of the site and it makes it easy to find people doing similar if not the same course as you. Chatting to other members is really easy, whether it is using the forums or by sending private messages. You can add members to your list of friends so that you can access their profiles easily and send them private messages easily. The site provides details on every UK institution and I have found it really useful for finding things out about where I am going such as things about the area, accommodation, the university itself, courses etc.

There are areas of the site, which haven't yet been completed, but judging by the quality and usefulness of the rest of the site they should be pretty good! The site is only 397 days old and has potential to grow and grow as more people become aware of it and new features are added. During the evening the site can be a bit slower than usual as this is obviously the time where most people are logged in, although I haven't really had any major problems with the speed of the site and have always been able to log in ok.

I think that it's a great way to help new students calm their nerves about going to university as it makes you realise that everyone else feels pretty much the same and you can get to know people before you even get there! The site itself is very well thought out with just a few minor exceptions such as not being able to auto login.

There is no obligation to give out personal details to other members and you can choose everything that will be included in your profile so as long as you are sensible and dont broadcast personal details then you should be safe from weirdos. Although you log in with an email address, your account is displayed to other members by your user name so they do not see your email address. The facility to send messages also means that there is never really a need to give out your email address or any other details.

Another advantage of the site is that you can request email alerts for when members have sent you a private message or when people have added you to their friends. You can also set up a list of 'your watched threads' where they will send you email updates when new messages are posted in the treads of interest for you, for example the different areas of the university that you will be going to. Other than these emails alerting you of things you want to know, there are no bulk of junk emails sent out by the site which is a nice change from most sites!

~ SO WHO DO I RECOMMEND IT FOR? ~

Obviously I would completely recommend this site for students who will be starting university in the next year or so, especially those who are a little bit apprehensive about going. The areas designed for parents are also very good so I would also recommend the site for parents of students going off to university as often they will have their own worries about their child going away and it gives them a place to speak to other parents in the same situation. Although the site is aimed primarily at new students, I would also recommend it for students who are already at university as their input into the forums can be incredibly useful for new students.  

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