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The 'I got a third (3rd class) degree but I'm still successful' thread
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Original post by Incubator
Why are you quoting me... I'm not the one that said it.
It was meant for the other guy. x
Original post by anniethedoc
Hi everyone, I just saw a thread about people with 2:2s so I thought I would post about the minority 3rd..
In a world of 1sts and 2:1s the going gets tough..
What is your success story? How did you make it?
In a world of 1sts and 2:1s the going gets tough..
What is your success story? How did you make it?
Ask Carol Vorderman (apparently she got got a third class degree in Engineering).
I graduated with a 2.2 in 2014 from an ex polytechnic and it took me 4 months to get a job.
(edited 8 years ago)
People who get 3rd can still be successful but they end up going down the same route as non graduates.
ie start off as a office clerk or something and be promoted to manager or something. Your essentially writing your degree off and starting again
You will be doing non graduate work in the short term
ie start off as a office clerk or something and be promoted to manager or something. Your essentially writing your degree off and starting again
You will be doing non graduate work in the short term
Original post by Boreism
Ask Carol Vorderman (apparently she got got a third class degree in Engineering).
I graduated with a 2.2 in 2014 from an ex polytechnic and it took me 4 months to get a job.
I graduated with a 2.2 in 2014 from an ex polytechnic and it took me 4 months to get a job.
in what degree may I ask?
Original post by richpanda
in what degree may I ask?
Health and Social Care.
Original post by Boreism
Health and Social Care.
Exactly- it's vocational (leads straight in to a job) in which there is a shortage of qualified people.
Original post by anniethedoc
Hi everyone, I just saw a thread about people with 2:2s so I thought I would post about the minority 3rd..
In a world of 1sts and 2:1s the going gets tough..
What is your success story? How did you make it?
In a world of 1sts and 2:1s the going gets tough..
What is your success story? How did you make it?
**** you
Original post by richpanda
Exactly- it's vocational (leads straight in to a job) in which there is a shortage of qualified people.
But its not in the Health and Social Care field though. But I guess its a job and most importantly paying bills and tax, because sitting at home complaining and moaning staring at 4 walls all day can help with that.
Original post by Boreism
But its not in the Health and Social Care field though. But I guess its a job and most importantly paying bills and tax, because sitting at home complaining and moaning staring at 4 walls all day can help with that.
what is the field
Original post by richpanda
what is the field
Publishing doing office work (Administrator) with over average decent pay.
My maths teacher got a 3rd from Oxford in maths. Now he's a lowly teacher at a mediocre grammar school.
I didnt get any degree and Im still successful..ha!
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Brianb123
I got a third in maths and currently build actuarial calculations for one of the biggest pension providers in the UK. You might have to work harder and not go through the regular graduate programs but it only holds you back as much as you let it
how did you achieve this?
I got a third. I struggle with depression and anxiety. Could I have got extra help for that because I pretty much just muddled through.
Seriously getting a 3rd is a nightmare!
For some, such a result would be a result of partying, too much social media, not studying etc, but for my friend I can attest it was none of those things. Before her second year exams at uni, which is 100 % exams she had an unfortunate situation to deal with, she had time ( 2 months) off but missed out on some lectures. In such cases its best to wait / postpone but she wanted to plough ahead... trying her utmost best.(BA in Marketing)
In her 3rd year of uni both she had serious financial issues.
Now i know what you all are going to say....claim mitigating circumstances , she did in her 3rd year, it was denied as the stipulated threshold was not met. It should be something that was unforeseen, you know like ET physically blocking your path to UNi, holding you hostage and of course ringing them up to demand a ransom.....and the police being deployed... you know unforeseen...
Anyways, she was depressed and thought her life was over but I felt differently and I let her weep for a while then told her a few things, which i will be sharing here NOW.
1. In this job market, a 3rd class is BAD, there is no sugar coating it. Do not do a Masters to say ..look I have done a bit better here. It makes no sense. However, I leave leeway for those that studied LAB subjects , Bio medical or if you went to OXFORD
etc. But, for the SOCIAL SCIENCES subjects NO!! unless you already have a job in a company you want to stay in.
2. Your 3rd class is NOT a life sentence, this is not added to your birth certificate or passport , that you have to declare it. It is not engraved in your forehead.
You do not have to spend your whole life applying for jobs and concealing it and feeling embarrassed about your performance when you were in your 20's, ( most people will)
3. Admit to yourself that you messed up for whatever reason. You wasted some time but LIFE GOES ON
4. Going back to uni is expensive , one may not be able to afford it. Fair enough. You know what you are capable of achieving. DO not give up.
5. MY ADVICE - We have come leaps and bounds where technology is concerned , let technology assist you here. In the case of my friend - 2 months after she got her result, we went to graduation and she smiled and crossed the stage like the rest of us. At this point we had come up with a plan. She had already registered for a Higher National Diploma in Business ( the same qual being taught in uni full time) via distance learning which was costing her less than £4000 spread over 18 - 24 months. Equivalent to the first 2 years of UNI. She found a job ( not in her area ) but it paid okay and paid in installments for her diploma. Before we knew it , she was done in a 1 1/2 yrs - she completed her assignments around her work schedule, most of the topics she was already familiar with so it was not too difficult. So she didn't have to put her life on hold totally to go back to uni.
She is now completing her final year top up - BA in Marketing with a decent uni - online and goes in for a workshops occasionally.
She is my friend so I know that she is not thick, just had a rough time in UNI, but you don't have to carry this for the next 20 yrs hoping someone will notice your wonderful personality and your abilities but disregard your poor qualification. It is getting tougher out here even for 2:1 holders like myself.
We had a good few 2:2 in our year which is acceptable, however she will now be better placed for the job market than many of our peers. With a 2:1 and or 1st class !!!!!
Her initial failure , is so far working to her advantage , as the very company she works for wants 1, or 2:1's for their Grad scheme and she has work experience behind her as well.
BTW - My friend is on course for a 1st class degree if she keeps up her grades, 2:1 at worst.
You can explain away a few years on your CV if you were working part -time etc, don,t know if employers are interested in a sad story and your potential that you cant prove academically.Do not deny yourself the opportunity to apply for grad schemes etc. Yes its another 3 years of your life, try to fit it around your personal life.
You have 20 -30 plus years in the workplace, whether here or abroad, make sure you are doing something that you love.
For some this might be a wake up call to change path completely... why not ? It is allowed.
DOn't sweat it...just keep it moving.
For some, such a result would be a result of partying, too much social media, not studying etc, but for my friend I can attest it was none of those things. Before her second year exams at uni, which is 100 % exams she had an unfortunate situation to deal with, she had time ( 2 months) off but missed out on some lectures. In such cases its best to wait / postpone but she wanted to plough ahead... trying her utmost best.(BA in Marketing)
In her 3rd year of uni both she had serious financial issues.
Now i know what you all are going to say....claim mitigating circumstances , she did in her 3rd year, it was denied as the stipulated threshold was not met. It should be something that was unforeseen, you know like ET physically blocking your path to UNi, holding you hostage and of course ringing them up to demand a ransom.....and the police being deployed... you know unforeseen...
Anyways, she was depressed and thought her life was over but I felt differently and I let her weep for a while then told her a few things, which i will be sharing here NOW.
1. In this job market, a 3rd class is BAD, there is no sugar coating it. Do not do a Masters to say ..look I have done a bit better here. It makes no sense. However, I leave leeway for those that studied LAB subjects , Bio medical or if you went to OXFORD
etc. But, for the SOCIAL SCIENCES subjects NO!! unless you already have a job in a company you want to stay in.2. Your 3rd class is NOT a life sentence, this is not added to your birth certificate or passport , that you have to declare it. It is not engraved in your forehead.
You do not have to spend your whole life applying for jobs and concealing it and feeling embarrassed about your performance when you were in your 20's, ( most people will)
3. Admit to yourself that you messed up for whatever reason. You wasted some time but LIFE GOES ON
4. Going back to uni is expensive , one may not be able to afford it. Fair enough. You know what you are capable of achieving. DO not give up.
5. MY ADVICE - We have come leaps and bounds where technology is concerned , let technology assist you here. In the case of my friend - 2 months after she got her result, we went to graduation and she smiled and crossed the stage like the rest of us. At this point we had come up with a plan. She had already registered for a Higher National Diploma in Business ( the same qual being taught in uni full time) via distance learning which was costing her less than £4000 spread over 18 - 24 months. Equivalent to the first 2 years of UNI. She found a job ( not in her area ) but it paid okay and paid in installments for her diploma. Before we knew it , she was done in a 1 1/2 yrs - she completed her assignments around her work schedule, most of the topics she was already familiar with so it was not too difficult. So she didn't have to put her life on hold totally to go back to uni.
She is now completing her final year top up - BA in Marketing with a decent uni - online and goes in for a workshops occasionally.
She is my friend so I know that she is not thick, just had a rough time in UNI, but you don't have to carry this for the next 20 yrs hoping someone will notice your wonderful personality and your abilities but disregard your poor qualification. It is getting tougher out here even for 2:1 holders like myself.
We had a good few 2:2 in our year which is acceptable, however she will now be better placed for the job market than many of our peers. With a 2:1 and or 1st class !!!!!
Her initial failure , is so far working to her advantage , as the very company she works for wants 1, or 2:1's for their Grad scheme and she has work experience behind her as well.
BTW - My friend is on course for a 1st class degree if she keeps up her grades, 2:1 at worst.
You can explain away a few years on your CV if you were working part -time etc, don,t know if employers are interested in a sad story and your potential that you cant prove academically.Do not deny yourself the opportunity to apply for grad schemes etc. Yes its another 3 years of your life, try to fit it around your personal life.
You have 20 -30 plus years in the workplace, whether here or abroad, make sure you are doing something that you love.
For some this might be a wake up call to change path completely... why not ? It is allowed.
DOn't sweat it...just keep it moving.
(edited 7 years ago)
This thread should be called "reasons to avoid getting a third".
What percentage of students generally get a 2:2 or below?
it was 36% of people on my course this year which i found odd
it was 36% of people on my course this year which i found odd
Here goes....
I graduated with a bloody outrageous "gentleman's degree" (read: Third Class Honours). There, I said it, it has taken many years to say it so publicly, but there it is, in all its glory.
I want to start by saying to those graduating or recently graduated with the same disappointment, DO NOT DESPAIR. As others have alluded, it genuinely is not the end of the world, despite the lack of sympathy and incredibly obnoxious attitude held by many on these forums; the majority of which, have no life experience/professional career to their name or work in an elitist environment such as finance or law.
I have a very successful career, directly in the scientific field related to my study. I am ahead of the curve (or at least on par) with the rest of my cohort who did get their boring 2:1s or genuinely inspirational firsts along with most of my colleagues. None of them hold me in any less regard. Your classification really is only a filter at the start of your career and does not define your life, professional or personal, despite what others would have you believe on these forums.
What you do following graduation is incredibly important. One of the most important things to remember is that the problem is not your third class degree, but if you have a third class brain. You need to genuinely reflect on why you got a third and learn from it. If you get nowhere with graduate schemes, try elsewhere for related experience, take control of your own development. You will only be behind your fellow graduates in the field for the short-term, you will soon catch up career-wise in the mid and long-term once you have a baseline of relevant experience. Your situation is NOT permanent.
Following graduation, I applied for two reputable graduate schemes (10,000+ employees, blue chip). I received invitations for both, one HR department was more efficient than the other and gave me a job offer long before I could meet with the other company. I took it up without hesitation (obviously). The second company continued to have multiple departments try and convince me to attend interview, despite being armed with my undesirable grades.
How did I come by this situation? Fraud? Nepotism? Bribery?
NO. Although it was humiliating, I detailed my grades and transcripts honestly. I did spend a lot of time tailoring my application to showcase my other skills, experience and passion. At interview, I had the opportunity to honestly reflect on my grades, they didn't bring it up, so I did. Perhaps this honesty helped me; I did my best to explain the "cause", what remedial action I put in place and what I learned from the experience. I should also probably state that I may have been helped by attending a good University and pursuing a genuinely hard subject (NO, not all degrees are equal).
A third only holds you back as long as you let it. It will always be a gremlin in your wardrobe, I'm not saying you need to be proud of it, but you need to accept it and learn from it.
I have received unconditional offers for each MSc course I have applied for, some were happy with my paper work, others needed reassurance through interview. None-the-less, I was still accepted, although it required effort on my part. Some were related fields, others were advanced study in the same subject; the institutions were a mix of top 10, mid-league and lower-rated establishments. Ironically, it was the lower-rated Universities that insisted on interview.
A third is NOT game over, I cant emphasise this enough.
As for my career, I work on some of the most advanced Engineering projects in the world, I have been deployed abroad and I currently have significant responsibility. I have the pleasure of overseeing quite a few first-class junior employees and I have realised that they are just human too. Some are genuinely intelligent, some border-line unemployable and others who just worked their darned socks off. The inconsistency is really unbelievable and serves as demonstration as to why degree classification is not a single measurement for employability (although having a first does no harm!). Most ironic of all is that I now occasionally deliver specialist university lectures to a mix of Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. Lets hope I don't infect them with my third....!
Money! What about the money?
I am going to be coy here. They say, in my field, to be "average", you should earn a salary equivalent to £1500 for every year you've been on this earth. Lets just say my total remuneration when I was 25 was just under £98,000, which may not be a lot in some careers, but I think its a reflection of relative success.
What about my employer?
Sure, they took a massive gamble on me following University. In return, they have an incredibly hard-working and blindly loyal employee. A third class graduate has to work harder and smarter than their contemporaries. Who wins really? Is your degree class a tangible asset to the company in the long-run? NO, your work and contribution to their success is. Your embossed certificate isn't going to do them any good, nor any harm in the long run, particularly when there are professional accreditations and registrations in your field, that are far more valuable.
Keep your chin up, have confidence and be honest. You will get where you want to be if you really want it to happen.
True Story Bro.
I graduated with a bloody outrageous "gentleman's degree" (read: Third Class Honours). There, I said it, it has taken many years to say it so publicly, but there it is, in all its glory.
I want to start by saying to those graduating or recently graduated with the same disappointment, DO NOT DESPAIR. As others have alluded, it genuinely is not the end of the world, despite the lack of sympathy and incredibly obnoxious attitude held by many on these forums; the majority of which, have no life experience/professional career to their name or work in an elitist environment such as finance or law.
I have a very successful career, directly in the scientific field related to my study. I am ahead of the curve (or at least on par) with the rest of my cohort who did get their boring 2:1s or genuinely inspirational firsts along with most of my colleagues. None of them hold me in any less regard. Your classification really is only a filter at the start of your career and does not define your life, professional or personal, despite what others would have you believe on these forums.
What you do following graduation is incredibly important. One of the most important things to remember is that the problem is not your third class degree, but if you have a third class brain. You need to genuinely reflect on why you got a third and learn from it. If you get nowhere with graduate schemes, try elsewhere for related experience, take control of your own development. You will only be behind your fellow graduates in the field for the short-term, you will soon catch up career-wise in the mid and long-term once you have a baseline of relevant experience. Your situation is NOT permanent.
Following graduation, I applied for two reputable graduate schemes (10,000+ employees, blue chip). I received invitations for both, one HR department was more efficient than the other and gave me a job offer long before I could meet with the other company. I took it up without hesitation (obviously). The second company continued to have multiple departments try and convince me to attend interview, despite being armed with my undesirable grades.
How did I come by this situation? Fraud? Nepotism? Bribery?
NO. Although it was humiliating, I detailed my grades and transcripts honestly. I did spend a lot of time tailoring my application to showcase my other skills, experience and passion. At interview, I had the opportunity to honestly reflect on my grades, they didn't bring it up, so I did. Perhaps this honesty helped me; I did my best to explain the "cause", what remedial action I put in place and what I learned from the experience. I should also probably state that I may have been helped by attending a good University and pursuing a genuinely hard subject (NO, not all degrees are equal).
A third only holds you back as long as you let it. It will always be a gremlin in your wardrobe, I'm not saying you need to be proud of it, but you need to accept it and learn from it.
I have received unconditional offers for each MSc course I have applied for, some were happy with my paper work, others needed reassurance through interview. None-the-less, I was still accepted, although it required effort on my part. Some were related fields, others were advanced study in the same subject; the institutions were a mix of top 10, mid-league and lower-rated establishments. Ironically, it was the lower-rated Universities that insisted on interview.
A third is NOT game over, I cant emphasise this enough.
As for my career, I work on some of the most advanced Engineering projects in the world, I have been deployed abroad and I currently have significant responsibility. I have the pleasure of overseeing quite a few first-class junior employees and I have realised that they are just human too. Some are genuinely intelligent, some border-line unemployable and others who just worked their darned socks off. The inconsistency is really unbelievable and serves as demonstration as to why degree classification is not a single measurement for employability (although having a first does no harm!). Most ironic of all is that I now occasionally deliver specialist university lectures to a mix of Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. Lets hope I don't infect them with my third....!
Money! What about the money?
I am going to be coy here. They say, in my field, to be "average", you should earn a salary equivalent to £1500 for every year you've been on this earth. Lets just say my total remuneration when I was 25 was just under £98,000, which may not be a lot in some careers, but I think its a reflection of relative success.
What about my employer?
Sure, they took a massive gamble on me following University. In return, they have an incredibly hard-working and blindly loyal employee. A third class graduate has to work harder and smarter than their contemporaries. Who wins really? Is your degree class a tangible asset to the company in the long-run? NO, your work and contribution to their success is. Your embossed certificate isn't going to do them any good, nor any harm in the long run, particularly when there are professional accreditations and registrations in your field, that are far more valuable.
Keep your chin up, have confidence and be honest. You will get where you want to be if you really want it to happen.
True Story Bro.
(edited 7 years ago)
I Just found out I got a third today with the OU. I'm a carer for grandad and being dyspraxic, I struggled to get through my dissertation as I couldn't get enough time to knuckle down. On the plus side, I got onto an MSc (PartTime) from the Uni I got my BSc in. Just got to work, when I get my PGCert, I can get Royal Society of Chemistry accreditation! Whoop whoop! Been struggling to get that for years.
I'm campus based now, so I can seperatemy caring commitments to my academics, write assignments at uni.
I'm campus based now, so I can seperatemy caring commitments to my academics, write assignments at uni.
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