LukeGeraghty.com

Getting a first-class honours degree is something every British university student wants at one stage, particularly if you’ve been used to achieving A or A* grades up ’til now. But any student reading this will realise that achieving 70% or more in uni modules is a difficult feat and one hard to replicate consistently.

My tips are going to be tailored towards essay and scientific report-based degrees but there are many pieces of advice here that are applicable to anyone, regardless of what you are studying.

References, references, references

Any essay or report is going to need them and you are going to have to get used to searching for relevant references to support your arguments. Yet, you go to the library to search for a book you know to be vital for your work and you can’t find it; it’s gone, snatched up by some savvier student.

No problem whatsoever. In fact, leave the dusty, out-of-date tomes in the musty crypt where they belong. The year is 2010 and we are in the throes of a Google golden age. What is one useful component of Google? Google Scholar. Gone are the days when you needed to be cooped up in a library, a pile of books around you and some Crypt Keeper-like librarian peering over your shoulder. Google Scholar is great for academic journals and current information, both of which are often trickier to find in a library. Learn to use it and use it well.

Additional source: Google Books is also great for finding older information. You have the problem of having a limited amount of viewable pages, but if you know what you’re looking for and your search is accurate you can often find the page that you want. Remember to screenshot the page, paste it into an application such as Paint and save the image file. There is no PDF you can save (unlike journals) and therefore it’s easy to lose a potential reference.

Play to your strengths

If you know that you achieve better grades in coursework, choose modules weighted towards this. If closed exams are your strength, do the opposite. It’s no use getting a First in a piece of coursework that will only contribute 20% to the final mark if you know that you can’t achieve the same in an exam that’s worth 80%.

I was much better at coursework, primarily because there was less of a time constraint. As soon as I was able, I chose coursework-heavy modules. It meant I had fewer exams in Week 1 (hence more time to revise) and more work to hand in throughout the term. When I had no hand-ins and just one exam at the start of the following term, I would often bury my head into the sand and not come up until holiday revision time. With term-time hand-ins, I couldn’t do this. Those of you that cannot choose your modules are obviously in a weaker position but you can still pay attention to weightings and put the effort in where it will count the most.

As Roosevelt said: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.

Be proactive

A major difference between university and college or high school is that nobody is going to be on your back if you don’t show up to class or fall behind (though I know many departments are now taking attendance registers). You need to take responsibility for yourself more than ever before and be proactive with your learning.

Don’t understand a topic that was discussed in a lecture? Go talk to your lecturer after class. Don’t understand the work you were set to complete for a seminar? E-mail the lecturer or tutor and ask them to explain it a little better. One lecturer will differ from the next in teaching style, comprehensibility and enthusiasm, but it is their job to ensure that you understand the material prior to assessment. Make them earn their salary! After all, you are paying for it.

Furthermore, talk to your fellow students about assignments. Maybe you have a plan in mind for how you’re going to structure a piece of work? Don’t be afraid to discuss the basics of it with someone else. You never know when they may open your mind to other points of view or save you from committing a mistake that would cost you marks.

Style is everything

I have heard many times that content is king. Well, content may be king but sitting right next to him on the throne is a classy little lady called style. And nobody should ever underestimate her importance.

If you want to get a First, you must develop a clear and concise style with excellent spelling and grammar. Your style will be impersonal and unique; it will develop the more you write and the more comfortable you get with working within the confines of the university degree system, which is full of archaic rules on style of language.

The key thing here is to draft, re-write and keep “tuning up” your work.

Other tips

• Know your work-related routine: If you work better at night, do work then. Need coffee to work? Make sure you have some nearby when you began your latest essay. I did my best work at home and always needed a clean working space before I could get started.
  
• Eat and drink right: Your mind is going to be full of cotton wool if you’ve been on the lash last night or keep feeding it with kebabs.
  
• Make social sacrifices: Nobody ever said it was going to be easy getting a First. You can’t always go out for that movie or that night on the town. And don’t feel guilty over staying in, either!