Stop stressing, you don’t need a first!

Third year is hard enough without the added pressure of supposedly having to get a first class honours degree. Just to make your stress levels reach that extra manic level, word on the grapevine is that employers don’t appreciate 2:1’s anymore.

This definitely is not the case. There are more students than ever before so the amount of people applying for graduate jobs has increased, resulting in less job spaces. A first does not guarantee a job and a 2:1 should not be undervalued. We all know how hard it is to perfect the balance of uni work and a social life and the right balance is what uni is all about.

A 2:1 is good, chill out!

A 2:1 is not something which all students are guaranteed as soon as they enter the world of uni. You may have wasted your time in first year, or even second year, but third year students are faced with the harsh reality that you can’t simply ‘wing it’. It’s like GCSE’s where the top grades were reasonably achievable, then A-levels spun you into a world of disappointment; ‘oh so we actually have to work?’

Triple this amount of books for a dissertation

To get the top classification you need to do really well in practically every piece of assessed work. Obviously some people can achieve this but for us mere mortals who don’t want to spend every day in the library for three years, this is not an option.

This is not to say that all people who get firsts are all library hermits, pale and pasty from never leaving their study desk except to sleep and dream of getting a first. But people with 2:1’s have not spent all of their time drinking and eating takeaways, living the highlife of a student. Hard work goes into a 2:1 and it should be a respectable mark by anyone’s standards.

Some don’t have time to go to bed

I’m not saying people shouldn’t aspire to get a first, if that’s your aim go for it, live the dream. However, if you want to enjoy the uni experience in full or work really hard but still get a 2:1, don’t stress, it’s still really good!

A 2:1 is always desirable and something to aspire to – those who say otherwise don’t go to uni.