University Economics First Class Degree

Hi guys,

Basically, I am in the middle of doing my economics finals in my 1st year, this year has been interesting. I didn't touch one iota of economics in Sixth Form because my school didn't offer it, so I felt like going into first year. This year has been a bit of a struggle, learning new concepts and learning a ton of new content, I really would like to achieve first class honours at the end of this . This year is worth 10 percent. I feel like I'm doing decently but not at the level of a first class degree. I was just wondering how realistic it is for me to get a first class degree and any tips for upcoming years of economics. I know I have to start getting my CV ready and applying, so any advice is much welcome, I just want to keep improving and get a better idea over the summer.

Revise as you learn, makes understanding new concepts and revising for your exams a hell of a lot easier. Over the summer after first year research jobs/careers create a CV & Cover Letter, means when you're applying for internships/placement years during second year your grades aren't affected.

I am a bit confused by that last bit, you could explain the 2nd year, your grades aren't affected bit ?

The vast majority of Econ students either apply for a summer internship which takes place in the summer between 2nd and 3rd year or an industrial placement year (what I've got) which is a year's experience being an economist/banker and that year makes your degree 4 years long and takes place between 2nd and 3rd year. These experiences are pretty essential because it makes getting on a grad scheme so much easier and you'll probably be offered a grad job from where you've interned.

The application deadlines for these tend to mostly be around October, November and December. So it can be difficult to do lots of research on which places you want to apply to, create a CV & cover letter, fill in all the applications, do all the tests they send you and prep for interviews while you've got all your uni work going on in first semester. Therefore what I did was did all the research on the firm's and institutions I want to apply to in the summer before 2nd year. Then at the start of 2nd year you can apply without it all being a rush and impacting your uni work. Currently averaging a strong 1st and have got my dream placement year so I'd definitely recommend doing this.

As a final tip I'd recommend start looking into the topic of econometrics because you'll have to do it in 2nd & 3rd year and most people find it the hardest part of a BSc Economics course so can't hurt to get ahead.

So are you 3rd year currently? Was 2nd year where you had to knuckle down, my 2nd year is worth 30 percent and my last year 60 percent.
Also which university do you go to?
Did you find year 2 and year 3 hard or was it because you did everything in the right manner so it worked out smoothly