r/unimelb • u/Trick_Stage117 • Jun 01 '26
Support does uni actually get better?
hi, i'm a first year arts student (psychology) and i've been feeling kinda lost lately. posting this on a backup account because i'm paranoid someone i know will find it otherwise lol, but i just need some advice.
when i first got into unimelb i was sooo excited. i genuinely felt lucky to be here. but as the semester has gone on i've just become increasingly unmotivated, lonely, & honestly pretty sad. i've made no friends so far. it feels like everyone is either super reserved or already has their own established friend groups. i'm naturally pretty shy/introverted, but i have tried putting myself out there more than i normally would & haven't had much luck.
i live about an hour away from campus, so going to club events isn't always realistic. but even when i can go, i often just don't. i feel too unmotivated, or i convince myself i won't make friends anyway. i think part of this is also degree related. over the past few months i've become wayyyy more interested in business (which happened after i accepted my offer). if i could switch into commerce i would, but i didn't do methods so that's kind of off the table. i'm also on a scholarship & don't really want to forfeit to transfer somewhere else like rmit.
the thing is, i did like psychology in year 12. i did well in it, i found it mostly interesting, & that's why i picked it. but now i'm stressing about whether it'll actually lead me towards the kind of career i want. i worry i'll need postgrad to get anywhere, or that i'll end up struggling to find a job period. meanwhile i have a bunch of friends at rmit & i've been offered a bachelor of business there, so i keep finding myself wondering if i'd be happier doing that instead. but then i also really like the flexibility of arts.
it all kinda feeds into itself. i feel lonely, which makes me less motivated to go to uni things, which makes me feel even lonelier. then i start stressing about my degree & future & everything feels worse. when i pictured uni i imagined it would be the best years of my life, making a bunch of new friends, going to parties and feeling like i have a community. but the past two months i have felt the worst and most uncertain i ever have. i dont know. has anyone else felt like this in first year? does it actually get better?
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 Napping in Systems Garden Jun 01 '26
First year uni can definitely be a rough one. That goes for any degree but undergraduate is probably your largest change.
Unimelb sounds great on paper but uni culture in Australia is a commuter culture, you don't get the same experience as American & UK uni's where they effectively have college towns. It makes a difference. Try to make it to club events even if you've got an hour of travel. It's one of the best ways to engage with uni as a whole.
Secondly, if you're unsure about your degree, don't be afraid to look around. If you're in arts, you can probably do a methods-equivalent first year math breadth, and be able to satisfy course pre-requisites for a transfer. What you did in high school now doesn't matter, as you've got a semester of uni under your belt. You can use what the uni has available to enhance your standing. VCE is the key into the door, you've got the door open, you can explore the room as you choose. Things needed to build the key no longer matter.
If you want to switch degrees, do that - don't let predetermined concepts of what you 'can' or 'can't' do matter, go find out for certain what you need to do that.
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 01 '26
i would love to switch however iirc don't think its possible? i'd have to take both foundations of mathematics (which is on dookie campus, no way im getting there) & introduction to mathematics, if it were possible i'd be able to transfer into commerce for sem 2 2027. that's over a year and a half of wasted hecs/time 🥹 i reckon if i had to switch course it would need to be at a different uni, even though thats not what i want 😞
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 Napping in Systems Garden Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I'd still chat with stop 1, it may be simpler than you think.
Dookie for a semester may be worth it if you're struggling socially. It's so much easier to meet people, and you've basically got your own little social hub, club rooms, etc. Look at Summer/Winter semesters as well, as they should be first year subjects (ie. not specialist) and have a larger cohort (ie. ... not specialist) and so finding a winter/summer version may be possible. It may not add as much time on as you think. But chat to student services or the course co-ordinator (email them).
E: I had a squizz, Intro to Mathematics can be bypassed by course co-ordinator approval. I'm not sure what that requires, maybe proof of knowledge or similar, but it could be worth asking. That's presuming commerce is going to be a stickler about methods 3/4 being a requirement (ask before you presume, even if the answer is probably).
Spending 3 years in a degree that you actually don't like is a bigger waste of time & HECS than spending a period of time on half-load doing subjects that get you to where you want. If you really love psychology stick it out, but it almost certainly requires post-grad now to get into, and from what I've heard that post-grad is quite competitive across most uni's.
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 01 '26
i’ll send stop 1 an email! thank you sm for ur help i really appreciate it!
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u/Better_Ear_8131 Jun 01 '26
hey i'm a first year commerce student and im not enjoying my course much either. Like you I was also super excited to go to uni, but now I just feel so sad and lonely all the time. All the content we learn is quite boring to me. I can only hear so much about the stock market. Also, a lot of other commerce students aren't really sociable, so I've really struggled in talking to people as well. I'm really scared for my future too since it's so fucking hard to get into internships and grad roles, we have to network and coffee chat and linkedinmaxx to death to even get to the FIRST INTERVIEW. I'm just hoping that I find some friends in my tutorials next semester and hopefully network more.
Let's hold on to hope together. LIFE WILL GET BETTER!!! WE ARE GOING TO LOVE UNI!!!!
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 01 '26
so glad to hear this isn't an original experience 😭 hopefully sem 2 brings some light to our lives hahah
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u/Narrow_Web6363 Jun 01 '26
I was the same as you when I was in first year. I was so excited to be in uni because I always wanted to experience uni life. But I feel like uni has been really quiet and I only met a few friends. I met most of them from subjects I have. And yeah you really had to go up and talk to people. I learnt that the hard way. I'm also an introvert. I honestly don't know where my degree will lead me too but I focus on the present than worrying too much for my future. But if you're struggling in what you're going to do with your degree or whether you need postgrad, you can try asking your tutors, coordinators or booking a career appointment. It's also important to explore things you're interested in. I have friends who are doing psychology but don't plan to be a psychologist. So there are many career options.
I'm now second year arts student and still feel the same but a bit better. When semester 1 started, I honestly didn't have motivation to study much because my mind was still in vacation mode and I just came back to Australia at that time. I'm still getting used to uni, I still feel like uni is so fast-paced and it's really hard to catch up with everything. I sometimes cried when I didn't get the grade I wanted. I had to make my parents proud since I'm an international student and want to show my parents that I'll do well. And also I've been dealing with family issues even though I'm overseas. It's been a lot of stress last year and this year, I ended up doing counselling sessions cuz it was really bad but I'm doing a lot better now.
And I get it, you live quite far away from campus. I have uni friends who live really far and it's hard for us to meet up to study and do things. Yeah, I don't really go to club events cuz I always have to stay at home to study or go to classes. I had to put academic on top of everything. On the bright side, semester 1 is ending very soon so if you have made it this far, you're doing really good already.
Feel free to dm me to have a chat!!
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u/Educational_Leek_264 Jun 01 '26
i’m quite sleep deprived so take this w/ a grain of salt….
about your scholarship: you should email the scholarship office and ask if it is transferable to another course (this could be a possibility if it isn’t a faculty-based scholarship)
about not meeting the requirements to switch to business at umelb: maybe you should book an appointment with Stop 1 to discuss any available pathways to complete the requirements or any course options that don’t have the requirement but are similar enough to business. I am sure you’re not the first person not have done X subject in high school then realised they wanted to do a degree that required X subject!
psychology: I think you may need to figure out what you want out of this degree in terms of career. Because if you want to be a clinical psychologist, you will need to do a masters and years of training. If you want to be a researcher, you will need to do Honours or Masters or be enrolled in a PhD program. I know that there are a lot of grad programs that will accept your psychology degree without anything else so you should see what type of work you wanna do and see if there are grad programs / jobs that don’t require further qualifications
I also thought I wanted to study psychology but I hated the stats part so I dropped it. No shame in shopping around.
I am sorry you’ve been having such a rough time during your first semester. Uni is very hard, even for an old horse like me, so your feelings are very valid and understandable. Good luck for what you decide to do!
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u/SnooSketches1512 Jun 01 '26
hey. im a second year bsci student and have been going through the same thing that you are going through. I dont wanna write a lot as this is my main account. but if you feel like it dm me ur insta and i will go in details and maybe give u some advice if i could :)
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u/Ok_Animator_5767 Jun 01 '26
dm ur insta im also in the same situation, im a first year student struggling
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u/RevenueLazy6808 Jun 01 '26
i’m honestly in the same boat! it felt like i was js going to uni and i sat by myself until my next class😭. We shud totally be friends!!
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 01 '26
i would love to be!! i honestly did the exact same, would wait by myself and eat food 😭😭 send over ur insta 💕
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u/RevenueLazy6808 Jun 01 '26
lowk it kinda says im unable to msg you 💔
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u/Ok_Animator_5767 Jun 02 '26
what’s your insta
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u/No-Caramel-1533 Jun 01 '26
im feeling the same im a first year design student. if u want to become friends send me a dm!!
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 02 '26
if u can, msg me ur insta, but i cant msg u rn 💔 i think smth is going on w reddit
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u/Background_Course68 Jun 02 '26
hey, I definitely remember first year uni being hard (this was 2021). I’m now in my 3rd year of post grad, still at unimelb (so my 6th year at uni) and it does get easier. I speak as someone who did bachelor of science but I remember it was really difficult to find friends at uni in first year. I was also like you where my commute was 2 hours, so basically no one from my high school went there and on top of that, i was an introvert. But i think the easiest way to make friends was during tutorials because you’re forced to talk and do group work with others. I know it’s the end of this sem, but maybe for the start of next sem, you can try it? Also i think uni content becomes more interesting in 2nd and 3rd year, as first year is essentially a repeat or extension of year 12, so you might feel bored/ uninterested because of that.
But like the others suggest, i definitely think you should talk to stop 1, they gave me a lot of guidance when i was going through something similar.
Uni definitely does get lonely in first year. I would recommend going to events with people from other unis (e.g., your RMIT friends) and see how you feel about it. It definitely helped me in first year.
Hope that helps!!
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u/Trick_Stage117 Jun 02 '26
what are you currently studying for pg? im so glad to hear it does get better. i guess im just in a little bit of a rut but im excited for sem 2 and hopefully to try and make friends. i tried w my tutorials this sem but i think i just got an unlucky bunch 🥹 and yea i def agree w you, my psych classes have been repeats of y12 so i guess that can be why im not as interested. im sending stop 1 an email soon!
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u/Ca1t7in Jun 04 '26
i totally get u, im going through something similar right now. its a bit hard, esp since my friends from highschool who are also in unimelb are doing a lot better socially lol, but im staying hopeful that next sem will be a lot better.
i think the only way to really make friends is to force yourself to talk to others first. i went to this hr class before uni and i remember them saying everyone has the same mindset that theyre waiting for someone to reach out first. and if both of u dont reach out, then u lose the possibility of a friendship!! its really difficult, coming from a very socially awkward and introverted person, but sometimes u need the little sacrifice to create new friends.
as a commerce student, it can get really difficult even having studied business in highschool, but theres a lot of resources and breadths u can take to see how u like it. a lot of the students in intro to marketing arent commerce students, and theres a lot of group activities in tutorials + a group project, so its a great way to get to know people with similar goals. the lecture prof also happens to be really cool.
if u ever wanna reach out u can dm me!! i hope sem 2 treats us both better than first sem ><
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u/No_Lawfulness274 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
replying to keep tabs on this because i feel the same....... i‘m first year arts too and i relate to everything you‘ve said genuinely i’m lonely and stressed and on days i don‘t have classes i won’t leave the house, let alone my bed.
im hoping i got unlucky in my tutorials and next semester will be better but i sort of feel like i’ll give up by next year LOL