No matter how in-depth and careful you are when choosing a university (and you should have been doing that by looking at today’s rankings, at least in part), there’s always a little flux involved that’s well worth considering when you’re choosing a place to study. Basically, although the university rankings today will help your generation choose what universities to apply to, the rankings of 2018 will help employers choose what students they want to invite to an interview, and which ones they want to leave behind.

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Employers will do their research when it comes to new graduates just leaving university and choosing a job. They’ll look at the university rankings, the average grades, the industrial reputation of universities, and many other criteria. They’ll then consult a crystal ball, pray to various deities, dance around a crop circle naked and generally puzzle over the vast pile of applications on their collective desk before making a decision. And that decision, at least in part, will be based around the rankings of 2018 – it will be the rankings of a university the year that most of you people reading this will graduate and start looking for a job.

Read more: University rankings vs reputation

This is something that you really, really need to be aware of. No matter how good the rankings of a particular university are looking this year, that doesn’t mean they’ll always look that good next year or the year after that until 2018. If – poor you – your university plummets in the ratings over the time you’re studying there (and if this does happen, we’re sure it has nothing to do with you, honest) then your CV won’t be looking as great as you may have first hoped. Sorry about that, but there are a few things you can do to try and ensure this doesn’t happen.

Try to choose a university that has stable rankings – one that’s gotten steadily better over the last 5 years, say – as opposed to one that has soared through the system last year and is now smugly sitting somewhere that looks, at second glance, to be a little precarious. That’s the trick to avoiding ending up somewhere that slowly gets sucked down the wormhole towards the lower end of the ranking tables as you watch on, horrified. Just look a little deeper and try to work out if a university really deserves to be where it is on the ranking table.

Read more: A Quick Look at University Rankings

Finally, we don’t want you to worry too much! Generally the ranking system is pretty accurate and it’s rare to chance upon a university that isn’t where it should be on the tables. And even if you do end up in one of these places, a degree is still a very valuable document and shouldn’t be underestimated just because it’s come from a lesser university. What will matter much, much more to employers than a university’s status is your place within the university – if you do well in your degree and engage in things like work experience and generally get involved, the employers won’t care what university you went to.

So, have another look at those ranking tables if you can, but the really important thing is to be the best you can be when you’re at university. Everything else, to be perfectly honest, is secondary.

You’ll get a few different responses from people if you ask them about relationships at university, ranging from “that’s cute” to “why?” to the even less charming “what?” All have a point, mostly (though as far as we can work out the “cute” option depends on the couple). Relationships are hard at the best of times (at least, in our experience) and relationships at university are no different and can be far more dramatic than you might expect.

Having said that, they may be just as dramatic as you’d like them to be. People are all different – that’s what makes relationships so exciting! So, here’s our ten cents on what to expect and how to make a relationship last at university, ranging from the obvious (don’t dump ‘em) to the subtle (dump ‘em). Take it or leave it.

Cross-University Relationships

Like all long-distance relationships, this is – and always will be – difficult. Sex is fun, and people often don’t realise how important it is to a relationship. With that in mind, cross-university relationships are hard, particularly when everybody around you starts shacking up and you’ve been waiting on a Skype call for three hours. Not that that’s ever happened to us. Honest.

Skype is good, as are train tickets booked well in advance. Or a car. But this is university, and you shouldn’t spend all of your time outside lectures trying desperately to stay in contact with someone who’s a hundred(ish) miles away. Both of you will have to be relaxed and comfortable with not talking to each other occasionally – it’s healthier that way. That doesn’t mean don’t see them – it just means make sure to remember to be relaxed about your relationship: its worst enemy is your paranoia.

Same-University Relationships

To some extent, the same rules as above apply here (then again, the rules above apply to almost all relationships). Make sure to keep it relaxed! University can be a very busy time, particularly in your later years when the degree starts heating up a little. The best thing to do is acknowledge that and make sure you don’t get too reliant and/or obsessed with each other – you’ll both have a lot of other stuff to do.

A relationship between two people at a university is more or less the same as a relationship between two people in the same place anywhere – there’s no real, special advice from us. Just make sure your degree is never sacrificed for anything – it’s what you’re there for, after all, and it pays to remember that. Do your work first, and stay on top of everything. Playtime comes after. Of course, most people will completely ignore this – it takes more than the faceless writer of an internet article to pull two people apart enough to realise they need to do some work. Most will work it out in their own time. For future reference: we told you so.

Home-University Relationships

This one’s arguably even more difficult than the cross-university relationships. Long distance is hard. It’s no secret. And it’s even harder when one person in the relationship is subjected to a new, fresh, and different environment that the other won’t really be able to associate with all too much. If the relationship’s strong enough and comfortable enough it shouldn’t matter too much where either people are in their lives. The important thing to remember is – as always – to relax and go with the flow. Too much excitement is bad for you, and if it’s meant to be then it shouldn’t be too difficult anyway.

Student-Lecturer Relationships

This is meant to be a bit of a “joke section”, but it is quite sweetly how the author of this article’s grandparents met. Granddad was a playa, it seems. The rules have presumably changed a little since they got together, and in general it’s probably quite a bad idea to date a lecturer; however clever and/or mature they are, you’ll risk your degree if anyone ever finds out. And trust us, somebody always finds out.

If you have to date a lecturer though (weird course), make sure to a) tell no-one, b) never, ever, let it affect your degree either negatively or positively and c) DON’T DATE A LECTURER. That’s really all the advice we can give you. Good luck with that one and try not to bring anyone else down with you. Although, if you make it depraved enough you could probably sell the story to The Sun or some other tabloid. “CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR AND STUDENT IN LAB-ORGY HORROR” might sell a few copies.

To Sum-Up

Don’t date lecturers. That’s what we’ve taken from this article. Oh, and also keep it very relaxed and try not to worry about it too much. It’s a cliché, but clichés tend to be clichés for a reason – French people like bread, Americans are loud, and it’s almost always a good move to be relaxed about a relationship, particularly when it first starts. It’ll set a much more comfortable scene for later on in life if the relationship lasts.

What we mean by this is that we’ve seen too many relationships – both in, out, and around university – that are so exciting and fresh at first that any change from that, even if it is just a more relaxed vibe, will seem like a negative, “losing steam” thing. Don’t get put in that situation – it’s not an enjoyable rut to be stuck in for either of you.

So, there we have it – some advice for relationships at university. Remember, the most important thing is that if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be; and if it ends, they probably weren’t worth it anyway. Again, cliché. Again, we don’t care. Good luck!

Clearing is an immensely stressful time and can get the better of many potential students – the pain of not getting the grades you’d hoped for, coupled with the mad and desperate dash to the phone, and call after call not going through can frustrate anyone; and that’s where most people get clearing wrong. The important thing to do when going through the process is to make sure you stay calm! Not just so you don’t sound like a raving lunatic on the phone but also so you can have everything you need in front of you and seem prepared.

First Steps

The first thing you’re going to need to do in clearing is decide where (and what) to apply to. There are loads of ways to get all of the clearing data and to find out what places have the right spots, but by far the best (and the traditional) way of getting the information is to buy the Telegraph; it’ll have all of the spaces and courses that will be open to clearing students in the UK. Buy it as soon as you get up in the morning! You can also find up to date clearing information on the UCAS website.

What You Should Have In Front Of You

The clearing system is far from perfect, and can be very informal at times. This means that the person on the other end of the phone may be asking some questions that you honestly aren’t too sure about – things like your GCSE grades, for example.

Try to itemise every accolade, exam result and qualification you’ve ever had into a list and keep that in front of you when you pick up the phone. It’ll help immensely and save you the embarrassment of rifling through old draws and asking your mum to find a long-forgotten document whilst you’re on the phone.

If it helps, your school or college will have all of this data on you already so it may be sensible to just ask them to produce a list of all your qualifications instead of trying to find everything. Remember to ask for this well in advance – it won’t be their priority and the summer holidays aren’t the best time to ask a school for something.

Also remember to have a pen and paper in front of you. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people end up having to muck around finding one whilst the person on the other end (who ultimately decides whether you deserve to be at university, remember) sighs and loses interest. Make sure to have it to hand before you need it! The same goes for your UCAS information such as the UCAS tracking number.

Where you are is just as important as what’s in front of you. Set up an office somewhere for a day and make sure it’s as quiet as it can be. And if someone “needs” to hoover, they’ll just have to wait until you get into university. You’re almost certainly going to need internet access, too, so make sure that’s all ready before you start making phone calls.

After you’ve sorted out all of the above you need to choose what you want to do and pick up the phone. That, frankly, was the easy bit. This phone call is an important one, so take a moment to calm down and make sure you don’t gabble on the phone. Nobody likes a “gabbler”.

The Call

The best advice anyone can give you here is to relax, take a deep breath, and ease yourself into a conversation – listen to what the person on the other end is saying and try to make it sound like you know what you’re talking about. Often it helps to smile whilst you’re on the phone; people can hear it in your voice and it always makes every phone conversation go a little better. Well, almost every time. It’s probably not the best idea when you’re delivering bad news. But that’s beside the point.

The first call when you’re contacting a university about clearing isn’t an official application – you’re just letting them know you’re interested in a place and after they talk to you for a while they’ll decide whether or not to accept your application. This doesn’t mean the phone call isn’t important – it is, and you should treat it with due respect.

The person on the other end will ask questions generally along the lines of “so, why do you want to study here?”. This can be a painful one, as being in clearing means you actually wanted to study elsewhere and are now going for second best. Whatever you do, don’t tell them that! It’s best to have a quick Google of the university department and look into what research it’s done recently. Be quick and to the point, but you’ll be doing better than most if you sound like you know what you’re talking about.

Other questions will be about your grades (you should have them in front of you), and your extra-curricular studies (think back to your personal statement and use that as a basis). Try not to go into too much detail or it’ll sound like you’re waffling, and make sure to sound relaxed throughout the phone call. The call-taker will have been listening to stressed out students all morning, and they really will appreciate someone who’s been a bit more prepared.

Finally, you’ll get a chance to ask some questions of your own. Don’t have nothing – this is a great chance to express your interest in the course properly and prove that you deserve to be studying there. Ask about your course (is there a Masters option, are there industrial placements available, etc.) and about the university – this is your moment to get across your genuine interest in the university and will stick with the person on the other end.

Finally – and this is so important we’re going to say it again – stay calm and relax! It’s the best advice anyone can give you. Good luck!