For some the start of college is only days away, for others it's still a few weeks off, for everyone it's going to come faster than you think.

No matter how many snazzy pens and ring binders you've bought or how many advisory leaflets you've read, you will never be fully prepared for college. This shouldn't be cause for despair: people will expect you to have even less of a clue than you actually do and, in general, colleges are very good at anticipating your needs as a fresher.

The students union will do its bit to make sure the first few weeks of college are fun. Some go by the theory that the best way to get you to relax and join in is to embarrass you beyond belief. The bulk of this occurs in freshers week. Mostly, colleges will put on fairly innocuous events such as free gigs and films, but there are also the iron-stomach competitions, the hypnotist's shows and the beer promotions, all of which can lead to you doing hideously embarrassing things.

Although afterwards you may feel like emigrating, these things all get forgotten about - or else they become the stuff of urban myth that no one believes anyway. I know a girl who threw up over several people in the row in front of her and pebbled-dashed a few more as she scrambled for the exit during her first English lecture (a bad kidney bean, she says) and she still made friends, though probably not with those particular people.

Another thing to watch out for in freshers week is the clubs and societies day. Most colleges will have a day when they allow the clubs and socs to set up stands and solicit new members. It's done at this time of year to get you involved as early as possible and because the organisers know you still have money. Membership is generally cheap, £2 or £3 in most cases, but you'll still find you're completely broke by the end of the day. This is because you'll have joined about 10 clubs, at least eight of which you'll never go near again and five that you didn't even realise you'd joined. Don't be too hard on yourself if you find you're down about £30 - the veteran clubs and societies officers are well versed in the hard sell. Telling them you have no money will work sometimes, but beware of spinning this line to the likes of the ag soc, who will turn you upside down and shake you just to make sure you don't have any pennies you might have forgotten about.

Digs are a big issue for first-years. Few people like them and you'll find people on your course or in your club or society are in a similar situation so you could get together and look for a place during Christmas break. The first few months of living with people are the make-or-break times, so it often happens that people don't get on and move out at Christmas.

By Keeping a close eye on college notice boards, you might get a room someone else has vacated. However, do your best to find out the real reason the last person left - you don't want to end up moving out yourself in a couple of months because the room is damp or your flatmates are messy/mean/obnoxious or, in some other way, socially unviable. Even if you have to stay in digs for a year, it isn't the tragedy it might seem. A year goes by very quickly and the bulk of your day will be spent in college anyway. You might even get to like digs and find it's easier to get work done.

One of the main reasons people hate digs is the food. A lot of people just give up eating in the house and spend all their money on college food. However, this is something you probably didn't factor into your original budget, so you could up fairly broke. Generally, it's not that the food in digs is actually bad, it might just not be what you're used to at home. Having a talk with your landlady could sort this out.

If you're getting very nervous about starting, remember that colleges generally go out of their way to help students settle in. NUI Galway is starting a mentoring programme this year.

As it's the first year, the programme will only be available to the students in the D·nβras residence.