Very early on in my degree I allowed another student to read some of my work. It quickly became apparent they were planning to plagiarise it. I warned them not to and nothing came of it, but it was a valuable lesson:

• Only work with people who share your commitment and ethics
• Never give anyone else your work, or leave work unattended

Plagiarism is taken very seriously by universities, if someone copies your work, you will also be penalised.

Freeloaders come in many guises, using a mixture of humour, charm, flirtation and sympathy as emotional levers. Failing this more unpleasant forms of guile and pressure are applied.

Never the less, freeloaders are usually easy to identify as:

• You will not see them at university lectures
• You will not see them in the university library
• When you do see them at university they will be messing around
• They will ultimately try and manipulate you into helping them with their own degree assignments

A proactive approach is often helpful in countering attempts at manipulation:

• Suggest they start their degree assignments
• Advise them to turn up to university lectures
• Advise them to seek help from university lecturers if they are struggling
• Make it clear that they are heading toward failure (as opposed to being bailed out by you)

If they take your advice they will not need to ask for your work.
If they do not take your advice then you have already put the onus back on them and implied you are not going to bail them out, thus making it harder for them to ask for work, and easier for you to say no.

I guarantee, if you start giving work to freeloaders on your degree course they will keep taking all the way through your degree and give nothing of value back in return.

That said, you should help others on your degree where you can, it’s a good thing to do, and at some point you will need help and advice from other students in return. If you see someone working hard to help themselves, but struggling with particular topics on your degree course then there is no reason not to help them.

What I am saying is set your boundaries and don’t let anyone take advantage of you.

A cheap loader will present themselves as being overtly helpful during the early stages of your degree course, offering assistance to other students, for instance sharing useful sources of information, revision notes etc.

There is nothing wrong with this in itself, most students cooperate in this way, however, the Cheap Loader is slightly different.

A Cheap Loader is a social engineer of sorts who seeks to trade low value resources and assistance for high value assistance and resources.

By offering lots of students low level assistance, they aim to create a sense of obligation in others, allowing them to recruit a smaller number of students to provide more valuable information such as access to degree assignments.

These people are almost impossible to identify until they ‘pop the question’ and ask for your work.

As with any working relationship on your degree course, ensure that:

• There is balance
• Everyone contributes equally
• You never participate in plagiarism
• You set your boundaries

If someone tries to manipulate you in this way be firm, offer similar information in return, but don’t give them access to your degree coursework, or worse still, end up doing degree work for them.

University Lecturers will respond positively to degree students who take a genuine interest in the module, and show some appreciation for the effort that has been put into it:

• Always turn up on time to university lectures
• Attend every university lecture
• Research the degree subject properly using the recommended texts and other resources

Doing these three things will show your university lecturer you are a serious degree student, it will also put you in a position to ask more advanced questions, again demonstrating your commitment and allowing you to glean additional knowledge from the lecturer.

Lecturers are busy people, if you are perceived as a serious student they are more likely to make time for you when you need it.

In my degree experience students with a poor attendance record approaching university lecturers in a panic close to deadlines are not viewed favourably. This coupled with time constraints means badly organised degree students do not get the same level of support as those who work ahead.

When asking university lecturers for advice on a topic, tell them that you are aiming for a first class degree. This will again demonstrate your commitment, and will lead them to give you the higher level information you are looking for. The advice I got from university lecturers after asking “what do I need to do to get a first class degree” was very different to that given to students asking “what do I need to do to pass my degree”.

If you engage with university lecturers properly you can take your learning well beyond the scope of your degree, you have an opportunity to acquire knowledge you may never have otherwise learned, and have some enjoyable debates in the process.