Hi all… I am a beginner knitter and am very discouraged over my first row. It is not neat - looks loose. It doesnt matter if I tighten my cast on row or loosen it im not knitting the row overly loose or too tight - the stitches slip smoothly- I have no idea what I am doing wrong but the first row always looks terrible. Any suggestions?
It’s going to look that way at first. I’m pretty sure it’s just your tension. Over time your tension will improve, and it won’t look at loose. Good luck! 
Getting good tension takes practice. When you’re learning it’s best to concentrate on learning to make the stitches correctly and teach your fingers and brain a new skill. Just keep going and don’t rip it out. 
Often the first couple of rows look loose and a little sloppy but as you add more rows it will tighten up and look better. Jan is right, keep going and concentrate on the sts.
I don’t know which cast on you’re using but next time you might consider a different cast on. Take a look at Casting On in the Free Videos at the top of this page. Good luck with the knitting and enjoy!
The first row is usually pretty loose, it needs more rows done before it tightens up, so just keep going. If you use the backward loop CO, that will make a really loose and loopy edge though, maybe that’s what you mean. So switch to a knit or cable CO and see if that helps, but don’t do those very tight to try and compensate.
Thank you to everyone who replied. I realised that my cast on was not correct. I watched a video on how to do the long tail cast on and am so happy now!! Have baby pants and booties under way. Thanks again!!
I agree with suzeeq- when I changed my cast on style I had less problems with it being to loose and uneven.
Do those initial lessons on some yarn just for practice. Then when you start your first piece, you will have learned the basics already