How To Get A 1st Class Degree
I graduated with a first class degree in biology from a top UK university. I think that a lot of people can achieve this too, so I’ve written a quick guide with five tips on how to get a first. Although the marking system can vary between different subjects, I think that they can apply to most fields. These tips will also assume that you’re studying full time, like I did, but there should be enough for part time students to learn from too (just ignore the first one).
1. Treat your course like a full-time job
This may be easier if you don’t also work, but I think it’s important to focus on your course as much as possible. It’s a cliche, but you get out what you put in. I usually studied around 40 hours per week, mostly by myself, although I think you could still get a first putting in less time than that. If you have a short commute, or no commute if you study at home, then you should still have plenty of time for socialising, sleep, hobbies, and chores. A good piece of advice I got at the start of my course was to not just let the course happen to you, you need to be engaged and take control. This means going to as many lectures as possible, going to seminars, taking notes and reviewing them, and importantly, reading outside of classes to find new information and points of view.
2. Look after yourself
We all know that it’s important to eat healthily, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, and exercise. This is especially true if you want to do well academically. I found this fairly easy to do because I like cooking and I’m a very boring person. Like I didn’t drink or go clubbing or anything. Of course, you don’t have to go that far, but it’s good to do things in moderation and do your best to keep up with sleep and exercise.
3. Find a passion
I was lucky, because I loved the subject I studied, biology, more than anything else. I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of the course. However, there will always be parts that you don’t enjoy as much (like groups projects), so you need something to motivate you to keep going. I recommend finding a particular topic that you love, and to keep focused on it when it gets tough. Or you might have a certain career in mind, and you can focus on how you’ll achieve it after you graduate.
4. Don’t sweat the small stuff
This can be hard to do at first, when you’re still learning about your chosen subject in broad terms, but it’s important not to spend too much time memorising little details. A lot of the time, you’ll be better off just learning the general ideas, and making sure you understand them as well as you can. The small stuff can then follow afterwards. The little details might be useful sometimes, but you might find that you’ve spent a lot of time memorising things that are never mentioned again. And this brings me onto my final, and most important, point:
5. Think outside the box
This is probably the most important point, so if you don’t remember any of the other tips here, at least try to remember this. At first, you should be able to get good marks just by memorising and repeating what your lecturers tell you. But as you progress, you need to be able to go and find your own information. This might be by reading journal articles or textbooks. You could just stop there, and you should still do quite well. But in order to get a first, you need to be able to come up with your own ideas, not just repeat other people’s ideas. You need to take what you’ve learned and try to put it together in an original way. Your ideas don’t need to be totally polished or even correct, you just need to have an original thought and attempt to back it up through the research you’ve done.
I won’t offer any advice on specific study methods, like note-taking, because I think that’s less important and down to personal preference. Having said that, I think the pomodoro technique is really helpful, and I used it for most of my degree. The way I used it is to study for 25 minutes, take a five minute break, and then take a longer break every couple of hours. I also tried to have two or three different tasks to do on any particular day, and I alternated between them every hour to stop myself from getting bored. I think it’s important to recognise when you’re bored or tired, because you won’t be able to study to be best of your ability, and you’d be better off taking a break than trying to continue.
Remember that in your first year, your marks usually don’t count towards your final degree classification, so use your time to settle in, make friends, and pick up good study habits. But if you didn’t do well in your first year, don’t worry, because I only got a 2:2. I did much better in the following years when I started to work on the advice given above. Good luck!
