UNISA for Beginners – the information that every UNISA student was told when they were considering studying at UNISA for the first time!
First You Need to Apply to Study at UNISA
There is only 2 application periods every year, and you cannot study at UNISA unless you follow the UNISA application guidelines exactly.
If you forget to submit a single document, or use the wrong size file, or any other small mistake you will immediately be disregarded and you will not be allowed to study.
So please be sure to follow every single step that UNISA requires, and don’t skip ANYTHING.
Here is a great tutorial on how to apply to study at UNISA.
Next You Register Your Subjects With UNISA
If you are one of the lucky few that are accepted to study at UNISA you will need to register your subjects in the next application period.
This is very important!
If you don’t register your subjects immediately you will lose your place, and you will have to apply to study all over again. So keep an eye on the UNISA registration dates!
UNISA Registration Tips
It is not as difficult a process to register the your subjects with UNISA as it is to apply to study. If you are unsure you can follow this UNISA registration tutorial.
What is more complicate is figuring out how many subjects you should study each term.
I suggest that in your first semester you take no more than 3 subjects if you are working at the same time. It is a lot of work!
I advise that you plan for an hour per day per subject as a guideline. Look at your life, see how you could find this time, and this will guide knowing how many subjects you should take.
My second tip here is register early! On the first day if possible. The longer you leave it the more other students are joining in the Registration Race. If you leave it late you will find the following disadvantages:
- Your queries to the Registration email will take longer and longer to get a response.
- UNISA will crash more and more as everyone tries to get online and register.
- Your books will take longer and longer to reach you.
Be smart and register early!
UNISA for Beginners
Here are my top UNISA tips for new students:
- Read every tutorial letter cover to cover. These give you vital information and submission dates.
- Be organised! Keep all your documents and revision notes in a way you can find and read them easily.
- Create a calendar for your studies, that includes your submission dates for your assignments. This way you can see exactly how much you have to study every week to be able to complete all the work in time.
- Keep your tutorial letters open next to you as you go through the study material. It helps you to get to the correct answer more easily. Also the tutorial letters show you what the areas that are important to know for your final exam. So keeping the questions in mind helps you to know what to remember!
- Always submit your assignments answers on MyUNISA. It is safe, cheap and easy. That being said ALWAYS submit a few days early, as the website can go down when there are alot of assignments due and you don’t want to miss your submission date!
- If for some reason you do miss your submission date immediately contact your lecturers and ask if you can still submit. I have managed to save myself twice in this way! Though only when you have a good reason. You will find your lecturers contact details in your tutorial letters.
- Buy your textbooks as early as you can. Try for second hand books! You can buy them on the TWP Classifieds.
- Make excellent notes as you can make money from this next term! How? Sell your study notes for free on the TWP Classifieds!
Learn To Be Patient
If you want to study at UNISA you need to learn patience. Getting angry about late marks, or not getting feedback from UNISA is pointless. It does not get you any results, and you the only one who will be frustrated.
PLAN from the start for delays, and don’t let them phase you.
If you get so frustrated that you drop out of your degree you are the only one that will suffer! So keep focused, and stop sweating the small stuff.
Keep Motivated
The biggest killer to UNISA student dreams is loss over motivation. It takes an average of 10 years to get your degree. Over time you start to forget why you ever thought this was a good idea. You have given up your social life and your spare time for so long you just want to pack it all in….
So how do you stay motivated?
A good way to remember is to write your reasons for studying onto a nice big page and stick it above the area that you study. You can read it every day, and remember exactly why you are doing this.
For this to work they will have to be very good reasons though! If you are not feeling 100% sure on day one don’t start. Find an different qualification that will also help you with your career, but is not so long and difficult.
You can also join a Together We Pass study group so that you do not feel so isolated and alone – which also helps a lot in the long run!
Good Luck!
All of us at Together We Pass wish you the best of luck, and are here to support you for the whole of your journey. You can use our free and paid services any time to improve your UNISA student life.
Last updated: August 29, 201