FILM
National Lampoon’s Animal House
Your primer for the campus experience... Stuffy deans, side partings and John Belushi might be things of the past but the spirit of college party life is captured here in one of the funniest films of all time. The blueprint for every campus comedy that has come along since, the original is still the best. Your mantra for the next few years? TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!

Dig!
The brilliance of our generation’s This Is Spinal Tap is that it’s not supposed to be a comedy at all. It doesn’t stop a documentary detailing the rivalry between the sometimes brilliant, generally deluded and always trashed Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols being one of the most quotable flicks of recent times. Multi-instrumentalist man-child with a cool fringe Anton Newcombe is the undisputed star – just don’t mess with his sitar. 

Rushmore
Opinions are often split on Wes Anderson, with some seeing him as a quirky, intelligent auteur extraordinaire and others as a overly stylised oddity. Rushmore is the film that made his name. It also brought about a renaissance in Bill Murray appreciation, which is no bad thing.
Cinema Paradiso
This giant of the Italian silver screen makes the case for the power of film to improve your life. Morricone’s score is wonderful and the final scene is incredibly affecting. Plus film students love this shit. 

Old School
Animal House 30-something years on. Or Animal House in your 30s. Either way, this 2003 yuckfest from Todd Phillips (of Hangover fame) will split your sides whilst reminding you of one important fact – you’re never too old to dive into college life. Heck, you don’t even have to be in college.

Withnail & I
Perhaps the only film in history you shouldn’t attempt a drinking game whilst watching. Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann stumble around London and the countryside inebriated and hilarious. One-liners to die for in a true cult flick. 

The Big Lebowski
If you can meet someone even half as cool as The Dude over the course of your degree, you’re in luck. The chap’s more of a draw than Ross and Chandler’s mate Gandalf, the party wizard. Plus, it’s one of Jeff Bridges’ greatest roles, which is really saying something. Never has a thriller been so laid back. Great if you’re in the... right frame of mind. Cough cough. 

MUSIC
Sound Of Silver
- LCD Soundsystem
The second album from LCD Soundsystem Sound Of Silver fulfills James Murphy’s early promise, with anthemic paeans to the passage of time (‘All My Friends’) and shimmering, tearful synth monuments to loss (‘Someone Great’).

Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
If you’re not going to get into the man with the voice of the devil as a curious student, you never will. Rain Dogs is the jewel in Tom’s lop-sided crown, so get onboard. Plus, it’s proven that fans of his are generally articulate, witty and tigers in the sack.

The College Dropout - Kanye West
To show there’s life after failing a module or two. Mr. West has certainly scaled greater heights since his refreshing solo debut but he’s never been more playful and goddamn likeable than on The College Dropout. The prime example of his ‘gangsta-free rhymes over sped-up soul samples’ raison d’être, it’s primary coloured, youthful and perfect for a party.

The Queen Is Dead
- The Smiths
By the time you hit campus you should be a moppy apostle to Morrissey already but in case you missed His Royal Sadness in mid-teenagedom, take the opportunity to cement your indie credentials. Their most famous work, it should be owned by every self-respecting arts student and is one of the finest exhibitions of the talents of The Greatest Rhythm Guitarist of All Time (sorry Keef), Mr. Johnny Marr.

Grace - Jeff Buckley
If this isn’t on your CD shelf (c’mon, they still exist... fine, iTunes library) in the crammed sleeping quarters of your student digs, you’re not at college. An ultimate cliche, put all that aside and just marvel at that voice and that glistening Telecaster. The dimmer switch was made for albums like this.

Since I Left You
- The Avalanches
Such an achievement that the Australian duo are still working on the follow-up 12 years later, Since I Left You was the spiritual heir to albums such as Paul’s Boutique, showing the true art in inventive sampling. All drawn from old vinyl, you’re listening to over 3000 samples here. Plus, it’s a feel-good dance record from beginning to end. Just hit play then, as the man says, “Get a drink, have a good time... Welcome to paradise.”

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
Released in 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel’s final work is now seen as a modern masterpiece, rubbing shoulders with the greats of any era. So indie it hurts, In The Aeroplane... is based on the life of Anne Frank, features lyrics that deal with reincarnation and two-headed boys, and manages to breathe grandeur into lo-fi aesthetics. Flawless.

BOOKS
Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
Drawing inspiration from the famous Lennon song, Norwegian Wood became a huge student favourite in Japan when it was published in 1987, making its author Haruki Murakami a superstar at home. It soon became a worldwide smash. Norwegian Wood deals with nostalgia, the struggles of college life, relationships, and burgeoning sexuality. All the good stuff. 

The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis
The enfant terrible of the literary world’s take on the limbo before university. His first novel, penned at the age of 24, it establishes all the key Amis characteristics that he would spend the next four decades cultivating – dry wit and a fascination with the darker, uglier side of life among them. 

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Dark, witty and written in Nadsat, A Clockwork Orange has been prescribed reading for lovers of great fiction since its release in 1962. Stanley Kubrick made a fine fist of adapting it with his film version a decade later, but the literary classic just shades the cinematic one. Plus, if you’ve only seen the movie, brace yourself for an alternative end...

Stoner -
John Williams
An underground pick you should definitely dig up. Concise, unassuming, perfectly penned and incredibly affecting, John Williams’ Stoner tells the tale of an English professor’s less than eventful life. For fans of the likes of Revolutionary Road and The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, a must read. 

A Short History Of Nearly Everything
- Bill Bryson
The blagger’s guide to the universe? Pretty much. Over-awing science in engaging layman’s terms, it deals with everything from the Big Bang to the evolution of man. Plus, quantum mechanics is the new sexy – just look at Professor Brian Cox.