How difficult is it to attain a 1st class for Aerospace Engineering?

I'm currently a first year student studying Aerospace Engineering. I attained 2 A*s and 2 A at A Level. The A* were in Mathematics and Further Mathematics. The A were in Physics and Chemistry. My university offer was A*AA.

I am just wondering how much harder it is to attain a 1st class compared to 2 A* and 2 A. I understand there is no easy way to compare the two since both are at different qualification levels. I would like to gauge how hard or how much harder I have to work in order to attain a 1st class.

Thanks.

How are you finding and performing on the course so far? It's quite individual - some people have to work harder than others to obtain good grades.

How hard are you working at the moment?

2nd year will be a bit harder and third/fourth year a bit harder than that so if you're getting 70%+ at the moment and you're not at maximum capacity then you'll be fine.

At the moment, the amount of time and effort I am putting is possibly equivalent to A*AA level (at A level). I haven't gone to full capacity yet but I certainly will for my summer exams. And I've been scoring 80%+ on in-class tests. But the scores are for small tests only, mind you. My results for January exams have not been released, so I can't really gauge how well I've done for these big tests/exams.

At the moment, the amount of time and effort I am putting is possibly equivalent to A*AA level (at A level). I haven't gone to full capacity yet but I certainly will for my summer exams. And I've been scoring 80%+ on in-class tests. But the scores are for small tests only, mind you. My results for January exams have not been released, so I can't really gauge how well I've done for these big tests/exams.

I'd say it's a very different ball game to getting A*s and As at A level. Working hard has much less to do with getting a good grade at uni, and you will benefit much more from working smart. Dare I say that in my cohort I've seen more hardworkers on the low and middle end of the grade scale than on the top end.

If I had to pick the best predictors for getting a 1st class they would be going on a year to North America or doing a Year in industry. Granted, these are somewhat self selecting groups, but I would say they're still valuable as predictors. This year I've seen a few people come back from these years and in particular for the year in North America group their grades have skyrocketed. They've developed a much more reliable and constant work ethic, which I would say most people find very difficult to do without being forced to.

I would also emphasise that getting a 1st won't make a whole lot of difference over getting a 2:1 unless you want to study a master's course at a particularly competitive university (e.g. Imperial/Oxbridge) or a PhD. Even then, for a PhD if you have good research experience then you can manage with a good 2:1. Otherwise your project and internship experience, alongside whether you're someone that people want to work with, will be much more valuable on your CV. To give examples, I've seen 3 people with grades of 85-90% struggle to get internships while others with ~65% have had offers thrown at them. 2 of those 3 people didn't have any experiences outside of the course, and one of those managed to get an internship in the end but it was at a company who gives everyone from our uni internships. The third person had some fantastic experience running large projects at uni, went on to get a summer internship, but despite wanting to move to another company for his YINI, was unable to and had to stay with the company he did his previous internship at. Another person who was on a first didn't get their YINI until late into the summer.

Basically, don't overvalue your grades. Make sure you get a 2:1 first and foremost, then make yourself someone who is good to work with, then get involved with good projects and activities (usually the more practical and competitive the better, e.g. Formula student will always look fantastic), and only after that should you worry about getting a first.

Thanks. The Aerospace Engineering course I am doing is 4 years long and leads to a Masters degree. I think it's called an Integrated Masters degree.

As far as I understand from your explanation:

If I want to pursue a PhD, a 1st is most certainly a must-have with a high 2.1 as a minimum. To go alongside this, getting some research internship/experience along the way would help me in applying for a PhD.

If I want to go into industry after earning my Masters, a 2.1 is a must-have. A 1st is a bonus. In addition, doing industrial internships/getting work experience during university years will be helpful for me when I start applying for jobs.

For both pursuits, I also should get involved with practical projects, activities and/or competitions.

Yes, though I would emphasise that the bonus that a 1st gives in industry is very small.

I'm in the 4th year of my Aerospace MEng and going on to do a PhD next year so feel free to ask me any other questions you have

What are you going to do your PhD in and what were the reasons in persuading you to do one?

Wind energy. I want to do it because I enjoy the freedom of research more and the life is more flexible with plenty of opportunity to travel around. There also isn't as much necessity to get into management in order to move up the ranks. Pay also isn't half bad either, most of the people at my uni are earning more than if they had gone into industry. Due to interesting circumstances to do with my funding I will also be on par with industry salary throughout my PhD and postdoc. I've done research placements, and my dissertation is essentially a part time research placement due to the amount of time I spend in the research group, so I know I like it first hand too.

I see, so you have ambitions to be a lecturer then?

Are you going to be doing it at Sheffield or have you chosen somewhere else?

What will your research be primarily looking at wrt Wind Energy. Turbine blades? Structural integrity? Optimisation?

Yes, a Professor.

I will be staying at Sheffield as they've given me the best offer and I already know my supervisor.

I'd rather not answer any more as it will make it very easy to identify me haha.

I know a little about you anyway

You dont have to say the very specifics of your PhD. I just wanted a brief overview of what kind of problem you'll be trying to solve within Wind Energy.

Unfortunately my topic is quite broad so giving a brief overview would give you most of the specifics of the proposal.

Hello, everyone. I recently received my January 2018 exam results.

Just as a reminder, I'm a 1st year aerospace engineering student.

I did 4 papers in January and I attained 92%, 87%, 83% and 82% in each of the 4 papers.

I would say I worked at A*AA level and didn't go to full capacity (which is A*A*AA level).

I am aware that this is still 1st year and the harder stuff are still yet to come. So, in your opinion, would you recommend me to maintain the level of hard work I am currently putting in now or to go to full capacity for each and every exam season in the future?

I have four 3-hour papers coming May. Hopefully, I do well in those as well.

Thank you.