Aiming for a 1.1 ?

Timmy_d

So does it involve working your butt off to gain a 1.1 for your degree or from peoples experiences is it down to attendance,continuous assesment,fyp etc etc,obviously it depends on the type of degree your studying some are harder than others,my own degree is based on the final year but by no means have i been taking a back seat until the final year but i would be curious to know because it seems only 1 or 2 people from a certain course reach these grades and the rest fall into the 2.1 2.2 category,i have my final year comin up and would really like to think that getting this grade would increase my chances of getting a job or even an interview...any opinions?

Tom Dunne

Timmy_d wrote:

So does it involve working your butt off to gain a 1.1 for your degree or from peoples experiences is it down to attendance,continuous assesment,fyp etc etc,obviously it depends on the type of degree your studying some are harder than others,my own degree is based on the final year but by no means have i been taking a back seat until the final year but i would be curious to know because it seems only 1 or 2 people from a certain course reach these grades and the rest fall into the 2.1 2.2 category,i have my final year comin up and would really like to think that getting this grade would increase my chances of getting a job or even an interview...any opinions?

I got a 1.1 in my masters and TBH, not only was the masters a waste of time, but the 1.1 was irrelevant.

Yes, it is great, yes it does look good, but in the overall scheme of things, I don't think it is as important or held in high regard as it should be. I firmly believe employers only consider it as part of the overall picture they build up of a candidate.

I'm not bitter.

Timmy_d

ya true but "that part that they build up" could be the difference of you getting an interview or not...so did it require alot of work?

hunnymonster

I got a first as well. Yes it requires some work but you don't need to be a monk. I think it (unlike any other exam I ever took) needs some intelligence. Most exams can be passed with either work or intelligence. IMO the difference with a degree is that it takes a bit of both.


I also think it's right that only 1 or 2 people get it in each year (allowing for statisitcal differences between particular years). With the percentages of people getting A1's in LC having gone up so much, there needs to be some way to separate people who are good academically from those who are not. I believe the first class hoours degree still does that. Having said that, it doesn't demonstrate practical skills or how well trained you actually are for a job. I hated doing my PhD.

pretty*monster

I got a first in philosophy this summer.
I agree with the above poster, you will probably need inate intelligence or at least a flair for your subject to get 1.1.

Other than that it's just the obvious stuff:
Keep your attendance up your lecturer will be setting the exam, there's no substitute for knowing what s/he has focused on in class.
Don't lose out easy marks.
Get your essays/course work in on time, (I missed out of a 1.1 in English because of three late essays, that 3% didn't seem important at the time, it does no), if possible try to get your lecturers to mark drafts),
Get to know exactly what examiners want. I know people whose breath of knowledge was far better than mine, I outscored them because I had focused exclusivly on what I know was important for the exams (insidentally this makes them far better prepared for an MA than I am, but sin e).

But no, you don't need to work your butt off, I certainly didn't change my drinking habits all that much, you just have to be smart about it.

No idea about the real life value of a first, I'm only just finished my undergrad and would have qualified for the MA with a 2.1. All I can say is that it's quite nice to have a first.