NO ONE is better placed to give advice to students going to university for the first time than the people who did it last year.

Sowetan talked to a few students who did their first year at an institution of higher education in 2011.

Tshepang Makhetha, 19, who is studying dentistry at Medunsa, said: "Going to university was a big transition. The first three months were frustrating and even my results showed it.

"Initially, I wanted to study at the University of Pretoria, because they focus on netball. Somehow, I am grateful because netball would have interfered with my studies."

Bontle Selomane, 18, agrees that it took time to adjust. The bachelor of science student said the first three months were hard.

"In high school we had more time and the teachers knew everyone. In university, you have to study ahead of your lectures," Selomane said.

Nomalungelo Nzimande, 19, a first-year student in public relations and communication at the University of Johannesburg, comes from Roodepoort and lives in a flat in Braamfontein.

"It was very tough at the beginning of the year. Luckily, I could go home every weekend because school is close to my home," she said.

Nzimande admitted that it was not easy living with strangers.

"We have different habits and backgrounds, rules and values, we are not raised in the same way."

Dealing with school work was not the only difficult thing. Independence and living away from home for the first time was also hard.