Robbie Dale offers some last-minute suggestions.

Some very odd things go on at university, really quite odd.

I'm not talking about students parading through the streets with traffic cones on their heads or all-night parties characterised by the unmistakable sounds usually reserved for sacrificial ritual.

No, these, unfortunately, are found in far too many places.

The strangeness I refer to is the unsettling feeling some people have when university doesn't live up to expectations.

One such oddity is the realisation that undergraduates make up a tiny proportion of anything the university gives a monkey's about; ironically, monkeys are probably better thought of.

Another is the fact that for some students, most of the last term of their last year is fairly defunct in that their degree finishes in the first couple of weeks. Bizarre. If you are in this situation, or just need to tear away from the library and get into the sun, here are a few things to get under your belt before you leave York's walls behind.

Talking of walls, have you ever walked round them? No! Then why not, while it's sunny you can pretend you're a giant staring down at the minions below, before you get a bit giddy at the lack of safety railings.

It's also an idea to check out the wonderful countryside around York; indeed, you can walk into green Yorkshire in less than half and hour. Sun, tried legs and mud; what more do you want?

And if that seems too much like hard work, now is the time to get yourself round all those tourist attractions you never cared about before. Jorvik, York Dungeon, York Minster; do these ring a bell?

Once you've amused yourself with all that, pop off to The Gallery night club and check out its million-pound renovation. The money has been well spent and the lavish surroundings provide the perfect backdrop for one last term of debauchery before the big, bad business world beckons.

Updated: 08:50 Friday, April 30, 2004