University is a challenging time and many students are turning to TikTok for university hacks. While some of these hacks can help a student out, Seren Andrews, an education expert from Immerse Education has warned that some of the trends are dangerous and can get you thrown out of university.
Seren has run through a few common hacks to explain why you shouldn't be using them.
The Wikipedia hack
If you use the internet to find out about a topic, eventually you are going to run into an article on that subject from Wikipedia. Wikipedia articles are thorough and often cover much more than you could ever need to know about a topic.
TikTok user @therelatablestudent says that Wikipedia articles can be long and there is a simpler way of understanding a topic. This is done by adding the words simple into your browser bar where the website address is. For example, if you were learning about chemistry the URL would look like the following:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry
To make the article simple, you need to replace the "en" with "simple". Which would make it look like this:
simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry
By doing so you get a simplified version of the article.
Seren said: "While this hack does work, a university student should not be using Wikipedia to learn about a topic or use it as a citable source. Wikipedia has a wealth of knowledge but it's a user-generated resource which relies on volunteers to run it."
"Wikipedia can be wrong, a work in progress or even vandalised at any time. If you are using it for university you should switch to more reputable sources."
Finding textbooks online
While the cost of living has affected us all, it has meant that some students are looking for ways to get their books online for free. The same TikTok user above has recommended using the name of the book along with the keyphrase "filetype:pdf" and searching on Google.
This search will then show you copies of that book online. With books costing upwards of £20 in university you can see why this would be a popular hack, but Seren warns against it.
"I can understand that students don't have a lot of money and spending on expensive books is something that they may not want to do but using this hack could get you thrown out of university as you are illegally downloading copyrighted material."
"By doing so you also open yourself up to a financial loss, as some sites that claim to have these files are set up to steal your data and infect your computer with nasty viruses."
Using AI to write your essays
Artificial intelligence is getting smarter and it won't be long before it's able to write entire essays for students. One TikTok user @studying_my has recommended inputting the title and the details of your essay into well-known AI tools and having the software write it for you.
As a student, you may be time-poor from a lack of planning or you may find certain subjects more difficult than others so you may be tempted by this hack.
"While having someone or a piece of software write your essay for you may seem like a good idea, ultimately you are cheating and you will get caught."
"Everyone has a writing style, and if yours suddenly changes, your tutors are going to suspect foul play and eventually you will get caught out which could lead to dismissal from university. Not only are you cheating the school and examing board but you are also cheating yourself as you aren't giving yourself the chance to learn and grow," said Seren.
Hacking your test for the answers
No one likes taking tests and TikTok user @studentlife101 has revealed a method of seeing what others in your class have answered on an exam if the exam is taken on Google Forms.
The user says that if you are doing an exam on Google Forms you need to go to the address bar at the top of the page and where the address has "/viewform" you need to change this to "/viewanalytics" this will then show you what every other student has answered and from there you can guess the right answers.
"Once again this is a hack that involves cheating so you are going to be penalised by the university if caught. It's also a useless hack in my opinion as most official exams won't be taken on Google Forms, so you could end up in trouble for nothing," said Seren.
What you should do instead
If you are finding university tough, your first thought shouldn't be about how to cheat. Instead talk to someone, whether this is your teacher, your friends or your family. By talking to others you can start to work on the problem, rather than using hacks that could get you thrown out of university.
