My story -second year: 50 final year: 76 final degree: 2.1
My story of how I increased marks from second year borderline third class to a first class in my final year of university to graduate with a 2.1 degree.
*p.s: When I first created the thread name I rushed in excitement afterwards I couldn't change it lol FYI the final year mark 76 was my estimate at the time and not the actual figure of my final year first class mark. I have renamed it as per the header above.
*Because many of you have asked for extra help, detail and support I have decided to create a short motivational and practical e-book for final year University students to basically inspire you to believe that your graduation dream is possible and share simple practical tested steps to help you achieve the first class marks you desire. You can visit the amazon page for the book which can be found by hovering your mouse over my username and then click "visit mijo's homepage."
*I have also edited the original post to make it more concise as some people have commented it was too long, I was just excited to share my story
Enjoy
Hey guys I just joined the forum to share my story of my incredible journey and my achievement of significantly increasing my marks over to my final year of university to graduate with a good 2.1 degree. I achieved this at one of the best universities in the country(not mentioned for confidentiality) in a difficult degree in economics( 3 year course).
First of all I would like to thank those of you on the forum offering quality advice on succeeding in university; you were an inspiration for me over last year summer and encouraged me to believe this was possible. I remember last year after getting my second year results at university I was devastated to find out I had two retakes (capped at 40 marks) and on average after passing my retakes my mark was 50!
I faced a lot of pressure on me from my parents to perform well academically generally and this time I felt intense pressure to perform in my final year. I needed FIRST class marks in final year to graduate with a 2.1 degree i.e 60+ marks( many of you searching for jobs understand the pressure to achieve a 2.1).
My aim throughout this message is to provide advice where I can be useful, but most importantly to inspire any of you in a similar position where odds are against you and everyone tells you something like this isn’t possible. IT IS POSSIBLE! Please also keep in mind throughout this story that these are principles that worked for me and factors I felt were significant, in no way does this necessarily apply to every single student; but I hope I can add some value.
It’s a long and detailed story here folks I will go into specifics of a lot things but feel free to skim through it.
So lets rewind: why did I achieve 50 marks(lower second class) in my second year? Essentially, I would like to quickly go over what I did and didn’t do that contributed to this mark so that you guys can perhaps pick out what NOT to do. In addition, there are 4 significant quadrants I would like to focus on Spiritual, Social, Health, and Academic.
Academically: I only attended lectures and tutorials that I FELT like, about 50% attendance( Ironic huh lol 50%- 50 marks). I didn’t pay attention in lectures and did not put in full effort into tutorial AND even worse a crime was that I did not attempt to ask questions when I did not understand concepts. My notes were not organized and I did not have a structured way of keeping my files, lecture notes and tutorials for EACH module. I did not attend office hours to speak to lecturers for help nor did I speak to any other students for help.
Approaching examinations in June I did not finish my overview of the curriculum before the end of Easter break. As a matter of fact I started learning new material days before my EXAM. In addition, I did not prepare well for the exams i.e time management, exam technique, attending revision lectures etc. My focus of revision was mainly lecture notes and dabbled into one core textbook; I didn’t even know there was a reading list.
On the actual exam period, I got more serious as I did not want to fail. I managed to finish most of exams on time, BUT this was highly deceitful. I am sure many of you have experienced this. You come out of the exam confident, finished on time etc. Results come out.. You failed!! This happened to me in two exams.
Majority of my focus was more social, going out, having fun and dating women, joining university societies: ANYTHING BUT academics. Health wise I was great as I spent a lot of time taking care of myself and looking good. In addition, I was in the gym lifting weights, exercising and building my physique 6 days a week 2 hours+ each time. You can begin to see a lot of my energy and focus went in the wrong direction.
Finally, concerning my spiritual life I was born a Christian, however over time in university I found myself distant from God and more interested in other things. I did not attend church or take my spiritual life seriously at all; I read the bible occasionally but that was it. I will come back to the impact I believe had on me( note: I understand some of you reading are not spiritual and I’m definitely not trying to stir a debate, however I will be doing a great injustice to this story if I did not share one of the factors I FELT was extremely important to my success.)
Now that you may have possibly spotted out a few things that I may have done wrong in my second year, you may have also noted that my quadrant balance was not healthy. My academic and Spiritual side were low, however my social and health were very high.
When I started my final year I knew I was against the odds. I knew that I needed first class marks to graduate with a good degree. And this time I WANTED IT BADLY. I was willing to do whatever it took to make this happen.
Final year adjustments:
As far as the academic quadrant my first point of reference was my University tutor. Just like many other students I never spoke to him during the other years, now I needed help. “Sir” I said… “How can I achieve a first class average this year,” after a quick glance at my previous years marks he quickly noted I had never even had a SINGLE first class mark in any module. He told me it was a feat he felt was very unlikely and he can’t remember last time such happened.
After speaking to him, I spoke to other lecturers and tutors who would be teaching my modules , my core questions were “What do you expect from me as a student”, “What would it take to get a first in X module.” General consensus: Go through all books and documents on reading outline / list (on the electronic blackboard), come to office hours to ask questions, focus on understanding not rote memorisation, work daily on material and then they said something very interesting.
(1) THE BASIC TEXTBOOK AND LECTURE NOTES ARE GENERALLY NOT ENOUGH TO GET A FIRST. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IS WHERE IT’S AT. What?!! Yes you herd me brah.
If you master only lecture notes you’d probably range about 40 marks, If you do add basic textbook material you can range 40-69 marks, however to break that 69 mark barrier you need to have done something extra. This slightly, varies module to module.
Essentially, throughout my University period I had thought I would be spoon-fed with the essential materials to do very well just like I was at A levels. I often glanced over the additional material that was mentioned or placed on the student blackboard, as they seemed irrelevant. In addition, I would only possibly look at one document from the entire reading list that I felt was full of irrelevant crap.(NOTE: additional material can be a textbook).
Now I began to understand what lecturers were looking for a first. They want to reward students who they believe have done some “extra” reading, research and pursued more understanding of content on deeper level than other students.
This will usually naturally show up in your written work. The reason why many of you may be working very hard and still remain with scores less than you feel you deserve is perhaps because you are focusing on the material they gave you (lecture notes etc and basic textbook material). The students who tend to do better usually have more curiosity or interest for topic taught and make more effort to learn more outside material provided.
Myself on the other hand was not necessarily very interested in my modules, rather I was willing to do whatever it took to finish the year well. I took this principle on board and first thing I did was to begin to go through reading list of every one of my seven modules for textbooks and “extra” reading. i.e online and library.
My goal was to quickly have an overview of available material, the depth of the module and the types of material available for it so I can come back for them around exam time. In addition I was looking for my “core” materials.
These are materials that I would refer to as my core source of knowledge and understanding – usually recommended choices by lecturer. Choose one that fits you, some like more technical material ,I prefer material that is a bit wordy but a lot of focus on understanding. And make sure to get to library first before other students snatch up material.
This was a tedious process . In addition, to the set reading list you may find that your lecturer releases new “reading” documents over time. Make sure to make notes and read the material to get key points and understanding. Which brings me to another key point.
(2) UNDERSTANDING MATERIAL IS CRUCIAL
I cant stress this enough. Your academic mindset should be centred around understanding as opposed to memorization or storing in short term memory. The more you understand the better you’ll see the bigger picture of the module and the less likely you’ll be tricked by strangely worded exam questions.
Understanding means material sticks longer in your long term memory and recall is much more precise. This can be crucial in an exam situation under exam pressure to answer a tricky question. Finally, It shows the markers even if you fail to complete the questions that you have some grasp on material and they may be lenient to give more marks.
This approach is so obvious and simple, however it is quickly overlooked by most. Everyone is always looking for the “magic-bullet”, the “best techniques, reading schedules, magic strategy.” The allure of this is the short-term solution and “avoidance” of that hard work. IT’S A LIE!!
I have news, in anything in life there is no shortcut, you have to work hard consistently to get there. And this applies to understanding your academic material. You have to decide at start of the year to make a conscious effort to try to understand the material. Its more about the mindset rather than specific actions. Try and chase up to ask questions from students/ lecturers about concepts and questions you had wrong or confused about, then go back into your private study time and use materials/ online to figure out what you don’t understand.
It’s a continuous process just like anything else. That’s why making mistakes and getting feedback is so important to developing your understanding development.
I made sure I attended as many lectures and tutorials I could (about 95%)- I wont lie it was hard especially morning times. But its important as often lecturers correct mistakes they make, give special tips for exam, helps with understanding and it helps develop your work ethic. I also made sure I put in my best effort into weekly tutorials and non graded essays etc. And followed up to find out what went wrong after it was marked. This was very important!! This feedback also served as great revision material for me later on.
From Day 1 I also made sure to keep my notes, books and documents for every module very organized in folders. This helped me greatly with finding resources for studying and especially with review work over exam period.
What about the social quadrant? Surely that doesn’t matter in final year. Well it kinda does but in a different way. Personally I stopped going out clubbing and completely dropped out of the “cool public” scene, which saved me a lot of hang overs and allowed me to sleep earlier and wake up for those annoying morning lecturers etc, but I found I had to
(3)STEP INTO ANOTHER “PUBLIC” SCENE.
These are the other students in your module that you may have recognised as the more “academically gifted” students or those who are always on top of their work. They usually move together or solo, sitting together in lectures, can often be found in office hours with lecturers or even in a specific section in library.
When I found myself stuck with concepts earlier on in the start of the year It didn’t make sense to wait for the office hour with lecturer to ask questions which was two days a week for half an hour. In addition, lecturers get very irritated when you ask them to explain something that is basic or they feel you didn’t cover the material before you came to see them. This is especially relevant if your course is built on fundamentals from previous years, which you may have not learnt.
So I began to boldly approach these top students after lectures, tutorials or whenever and say “hey sup how you doing, ive got a problem with this what you think “etc. I will admit if your someone who isnt socially savy it can be tricky, but most people are nice and want to do well in final year. The real task comes in identifying the students that make sense and most importantly willing to teach you concepts. Because you may come across students who would rather not share information or just prefer to work on their own to not be disturbed.
I luckily managed to make acquaintances with four people who were extremely patient with me throughout the year with my random basic questions and willing to help me for hours with misunderstandings I had. They knew that by teaching me they would also learn material better. I cant stress enough how important this was to me. Nothing replaces someone who is a student that mastered material and explains it to you in their words. You can relate to it much better and it clicks better than lecturer explaining.
Having said that though ,it is very important that these people you pair with have strong knowledge and understanding on what they speak of. This is because around the exam period a lot of students get frantic and usually form a much larger group to “help” each other. But what can usually happen is a wrong concept or wrong solution to an answer usually a past exam question or tutorial questions may spread amongst students. Don’t fall for this!! Make sure to do the extra prep work and have proper support.
As far as my health quadrant I made sure to keep on top of things as far as healthy eating, and living, good 7-8 hours sleep, dropped workouts from 5-6 times a week to 3-4 times and much shorter sessions. Usually a 40 mins of squash ,weight lifting session, running/ sprinting, swimming, footy or rugby. Make sure to keep active and healthy especially sleep. Your health is very important in your consistency of your academic work ethic.
Finally, my spiritual quadrant. In this area I began to take my spiritual life with God much more seriously. Watching videos online, reading bible, attending church, living a more Christ based life i.e loving my neighbour, avoiding sexual stuff and generally resting my hope on God. This area of my life brought a lot of peace, comfort and joy when I found myself in difficult periods. In addition, it kept me extremely hopefully and greatly strengthened my belief that the first class would be possible. In hard times I would replay this scripture in my head Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The reasons I bring up these four quadrants: Spiritual, academic, social and health is because university is essentially a long marathon race requiring a lot of endurance, persistent and consistency. That’s all it is. Develop the right habits in these quadrants early on, stay consistent and put in a good work ethic. Consistency beats Intensity any day.
I believe that these habits help greatly with work ethic and endurance. For example, better sleeping habits will give you more energy to study, exercise, attend lectures and focus and retain information you learn. I understand many of you may disagree on the spiritual quadrant, which is fine, just try and make sense out of the general picture of things I am saying.
And….thats where it gets boring Im sorry
. You’ve seen or possibly participated in marathons, yeah there are a few exciting moments with approaching finish line (exam revision period) and the finish line winners(exam results). Apart from that its kind of monotonous and repetitive just constant running. I couldn’t describe university any better:
(4) THE ROUTINE
Everyday I usually woke up around 7.30 am, did my prayers, shower, eat and off to 9 am or 10 am lecture. After that I would go talk to “my top students” on concepts I didn’t get, office hours or Id go to some less busy room on campus close to my lecture room with a computer to study, work on some project or tutorial( I personally don’t like working in the library too many women :P its distracting).
This room became my “office” just like a full-time worker. From here I would go to lectures, lunch break, university gym and then return. When working I usually listen to music helps me concentrate, block out environment and zone in( I avoid rap, dubstep or loud music, I found loads of really good study music playlists on youtube lounge, ambient playlists).
Around 5.30 pm I leave university campus back to my flat; on the way I buy groceries. When Im back usually talk to friends, chill and eat dinner (removed ps3 fifa 13 was too distracting and didn’t watch tv either; so I was left with comedy videos on youtube).
If I have tutorial or essay to work on usually will work around 8-9.30 pm and about 10.45 pm I begin to wind down for bed and by 11.30 pm im in bed sleeping. On Saturday I would usually have a longer gym session and I would also get some work done and then possibly go out for some dinner or social party in evening and then Sundays I would relax, go to church and get ready for Monday.
That’s pretty much it; boring and repetitive, routine like lifestyle but really was the key for my success. Its basically similar to the lifestyle a busy full time worker would be doing in the 9-5 pm job routine. And yes I usually stayed on campus 9-5 I basically treated it like a full time job.
Everyday is different, but the routine is usually fairly consistent. You will also improve everyday on the way you handle many things, just allow yourself time to grow and be willing to experiment with different things i.e locations, study habits etc.
(5) THE EXAMS:
Usually there is a short break (Easter break) before exams begin in May/June; at least in my case all exams were in June, so didn’t have any in January. Prior to going on the Easter break I made sure to gather all the study material from library etc I needed to take with me as well as last minute solutions to key concepts.
Remember revision is really just reviewing the material, there is very little to no time to gain core understanding on material if you start working around this period which is why I began earlier on. The key goal is to gather all material and information together to get a clear big picture of the entire module “what is the point of this all?, what are the key points and “why are they important?” and be able to express this in your own words. For every idea or point you have you must be able to back it up with a reason ask yourself “so what?.” I was then later able to express myself this way in the exams and improved my marks greatly.
Because I had organised my material over time everything was all in one piece to overview. In addition, I had already had a picture from speaking to lecturers from each module what they wanted to see in exam answers. So every module is different. In my course there was a blend of quantitative and essay modules.
For the essay based ones my focus was more on gathering and reviewing those ‘extra readings” that I could use as references in the exam to support my argument. And in the more quantitative it more focus on the solutions from tutorials and practicing answers. The learning does not stop But like I mentioned most of the learning and understanding had already been done prior to this period.
By the time Easter break was over I had covered the first round review of my modules and was confident that had I taken the exams at that point I would have passed them all. But that wasn’t the aim. I wanted that first class.
The last leg
This is the toughest part of the entire year. You begin to approach the exam period for that first dreaded exam. Students begin to panic, lecturers begin to play games about what type of questions may come out in exam, students begin to spend ridiculous hours in the library, you begin to feel that what you’ve learned may not be enough etc. Reality begins to sink in; this is my last chance I cannot mess up now. Finals are here. This is the last leg of the marathon and it begins to get very tiring, you begin to pull out reserve energy ; how much more can you take?
I spent a lot of time reviewing my modules, asking lecturers questions on concepts I didn’t understand and building my exam technique and strategy. To build my Exam technique I made sure to know the layout of the exam for each module . All of mine were 3 hours of written work; some had essays and quant others were purely essay. So I had to plot on timing; how much to spend on section A then B, which topics to specialise that may pop out, smartly predicting the questions in the exam because there’s usually a pattern every year etc. I would also do timed practice exams and mark afterwards harshly. Remember although you have gained all this knowledge, you must now be able to express this under timed exam pressure.
Exam day finally came. The usual applies: sleep early, wake up early, review work, shower, eat and off to exam hall for 9 am or whenever exam was. I’d avoid people trying to discuss last minute revision because they can confuse you with new concepts. By the time I’m seated before the exams begin I usually discretely write down on question booklet some key points, references, solutions, formulas I may need to use later. In addition I begin to plot my time management with my watch i.e what time to finish each question or section, when exactly exam is ending etc.
Now open the exam paper. WAIT!! Don’t rush into it. Relax. Look carefully at the questions; which can you answer, do you want to answer now or leave for later, what is the actual question asking for and how many marks is it , how much time do I allocate to each etc. These are very important questions to ask yourself before you begin, but most importantly ANSWER THE QUESTION CAREFULLY!! Although you may heard “read the question carefully” I have a different take on this.
Essentially, you may actually have read the question carefully , but by simply answering the question directly you may not gain full marks. This is very strange and counterintuitive, but remember as I mentioned earlier markers are looking for that extra reference, evaluation, additional material etc to separate first class students from the others. This is where your hard work over time comes into play because really every question is intended to be a discussion and bring out the extra knowledge you have. By directly answering a question without expanding you may demonstrate to the marker you only have basic understanding and only stuck to lecture or basic textbook material. This is very important when answering exam questions.
With this approach I managed to finish all exams on time and left each exam knowing I put in my full effort. However, there were a couple I felt I got absolutely screwed.
(6) THE FINAL RESULTS;
On results day I logged on to the student blackboard to check on my “award status” my results. Wow!!I had achieved a first class average mark in my final year , even averaging over 80% in the hardest module. So my average with my 50 in second year put me comfortably graduating with a high 2.1 mark and a 2.1 degree. I was amazed but I wasn’t surprised. I had worked so hard and given it my all; I left university with no regrets.
If you look at my entire experience you begin to realize the main battle is in the mind. It was all a mental battle to believe it was possible and to be consistent over time with that belief. It was very difficult task and required a lot of heart, persistence and hunger for that degree, but it all started with that decision in my mind to give it my best shot.
There are many of you students out there right now possibly in the same situation I found myself in after second year with retakes this summer and in a difficult place before final year. Perhaps people are doubting you or have given up on your chances or maybe you just started university. No matter the case I’m here to tell you that IT IS POSSIBLE to graduate with a good degree if you put your mind to it. Go into university and leave with no regrets and give it your best shot.
I put a lot of time and effort into writing this long story because I really want to inspire people out there. I will hang around the forum to answer questions for a couple of months. Also, please spread this to other forums with students who need help.
Thank you for readingmijo
*Because many of you have asked for extra help, detail and support I have decided to create a short motivational and practical ebook for final year uni students to basically inspire you to believe that your graduation dream is possible and share simple practical tested steps to help you achieve the first class marks you desire. You can visit the amazon page for the book which can be found by hovering your mouse over my username and then click "visit mijo's homepage."
*p.s: When I first created the thread name I rushed in excitement afterwards I couldn't change it lol FYI the final year mark 76 was my estimate at the time and not the actual figure of my final year first class mark. I have renamed it as per the header above.
*Because many of you have asked for extra help, detail and support I have decided to create a short motivational and practical e-book for final year University students to basically inspire you to believe that your graduation dream is possible and share simple practical tested steps to help you achieve the first class marks you desire. You can visit the amazon page for the book which can be found by hovering your mouse over my username and then click "visit mijo's homepage."
*I have also edited the original post to make it more concise as some people have commented it was too long, I was just excited to share my story
EnjoyHey guys I just joined the forum to share my story of my incredible journey and my achievement of significantly increasing my marks over to my final year of university to graduate with a good 2.1 degree. I achieved this at one of the best universities in the country(not mentioned for confidentiality) in a difficult degree in economics( 3 year course).
First of all I would like to thank those of you on the forum offering quality advice on succeeding in university; you were an inspiration for me over last year summer and encouraged me to believe this was possible. I remember last year after getting my second year results at university I was devastated to find out I had two retakes (capped at 40 marks) and on average after passing my retakes my mark was 50!
I faced a lot of pressure on me from my parents to perform well academically generally and this time I felt intense pressure to perform in my final year. I needed FIRST class marks in final year to graduate with a 2.1 degree i.e 60+ marks( many of you searching for jobs understand the pressure to achieve a 2.1).
My aim throughout this message is to provide advice where I can be useful, but most importantly to inspire any of you in a similar position where odds are against you and everyone tells you something like this isn’t possible. IT IS POSSIBLE! Please also keep in mind throughout this story that these are principles that worked for me and factors I felt were significant, in no way does this necessarily apply to every single student; but I hope I can add some value.
It’s a long and detailed story here folks
I will go into specifics of a lot things but feel free to skim through it.So lets rewind: why did I achieve 50 marks(lower second class) in my second year? Essentially, I would like to quickly go over what I did and didn’t do that contributed to this mark so that you guys can perhaps pick out what NOT to do. In addition, there are 4 significant quadrants I would like to focus on Spiritual, Social, Health, and Academic.
Academically: I only attended lectures and tutorials that I FELT like, about 50% attendance( Ironic huh lol 50%- 50 marks). I didn’t pay attention in lectures and did not put in full effort into tutorial AND even worse a crime was that I did not attempt to ask questions when I did not understand concepts. My notes were not organized and I did not have a structured way of keeping my files, lecture notes and tutorials for EACH module. I did not attend office hours to speak to lecturers for help nor did I speak to any other students for help.
Approaching examinations in June I did not finish my overview of the curriculum before the end of Easter break. As a matter of fact I started learning new material days before my EXAM. In addition, I did not prepare well for the exams i.e time management, exam technique, attending revision lectures etc. My focus of revision was mainly lecture notes and dabbled into one core textbook; I didn’t even know there was a reading list.
On the actual exam period, I got more serious as I did not want to fail. I managed to finish most of exams on time, BUT this was highly deceitful. I am sure many of you have experienced this. You come out of the exam confident, finished on time etc. Results come out.. You failed!! This happened to me in two exams.
Majority of my focus was more social, going out, having fun and dating women, joining university societies: ANYTHING BUT academics. Health wise I was great as I spent a lot of time taking care of myself and looking good. In addition, I was in the gym lifting weights, exercising and building my physique 6 days a week 2 hours+ each time. You can begin to see a lot of my energy and focus went in the wrong direction.
Finally, concerning my spiritual life I was born a Christian, however over time in university I found myself distant from God and more interested in other things. I did not attend church or take my spiritual life seriously at all; I read the bible occasionally but that was it. I will come back to the impact I believe had on me( note: I understand some of you reading are not spiritual and I’m definitely not trying to stir a debate, however I will be doing a great injustice to this story if I did not share one of the factors I FELT was extremely important to my success.)
Now that you may have possibly spotted out a few things that I may have done wrong in my second year, you may have also noted that my quadrant balance was not healthy. My academic and Spiritual side were low, however my social and health were very high.
When I started my final year I knew I was against the odds. I knew that I needed first class marks to graduate with a good degree. And this time I WANTED IT BADLY. I was willing to do whatever it took to make this happen.
Final year adjustments:
As far as the academic quadrant my first point of reference was my University tutor. Just like many other students I never spoke to him during the other years, now I needed help. “Sir” I said… “How can I achieve a first class average this year,” after a quick glance at my previous years marks he quickly noted I had never even had a SINGLE first class mark in any module. He told me it was a feat he felt was very unlikely and he can’t remember last time such happened.
After speaking to him, I spoke to other lecturers and tutors who would be teaching my modules , my core questions were “What do you expect from me as a student”, “What would it take to get a first in X module.” General consensus: Go through all books and documents on reading outline / list (on the electronic blackboard), come to office hours to ask questions, focus on understanding not rote memorisation, work daily on material and then they said something very interesting.
(1) THE BASIC TEXTBOOK AND LECTURE NOTES ARE GENERALLY NOT ENOUGH TO GET A FIRST. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IS WHERE IT’S AT. What?!! Yes you herd me brah.
If you master only lecture notes you’d probably range about 40 marks, If you do add basic textbook material you can range 40-69 marks, however to break that 69 mark barrier you need to have done something extra. This slightly, varies module to module.
Essentially, throughout my University period I had thought I would be spoon-fed with the essential materials to do very well just like I was at A levels. I often glanced over the additional material that was mentioned or placed on the student blackboard, as they seemed irrelevant. In addition, I would only possibly look at one document from the entire reading list that I felt was full of irrelevant crap.(NOTE: additional material can be a textbook).
Now I began to understand what lecturers were looking for a first. They want to reward students who they believe have done some “extra” reading, research and pursued more understanding of content on deeper level than other students.
This will usually naturally show up in your written work. The reason why many of you may be working very hard and still remain with scores less than you feel you deserve is perhaps because you are focusing on the material they gave you (lecture notes etc and basic textbook material). The students who tend to do better usually have more curiosity or interest for topic taught and make more effort to learn more outside material provided.
Myself on the other hand was not necessarily very interested in my modules, rather I was willing to do whatever it took to finish the year well. I took this principle on board and first thing I did was to begin to go through reading list of every one of my seven modules for textbooks and “extra” reading. i.e online and library.
My goal was to quickly have an overview of available material, the depth of the module and the types of material available for it so I can come back for them around exam time. In addition I was looking for my “core” materials.
These are materials that I would refer to as my core source of knowledge and understanding – usually recommended choices by lecturer. Choose one that fits you, some like more technical material ,I prefer material that is a bit wordy but a lot of focus on understanding. And make sure to get to library first before other students snatch up material.
This was a tedious process . In addition, to the set reading list you may find that your lecturer releases new “reading” documents over time. Make sure to make notes and read the material to get key points and understanding. Which brings me to another key point.
(2) UNDERSTANDING MATERIAL IS CRUCIAL
I cant stress this enough. Your academic mindset should be centred around understanding as opposed to memorization or storing in short term memory. The more you understand the better you’ll see the bigger picture of the module and the less likely you’ll be tricked by strangely worded exam questions.
Understanding means material sticks longer in your long term memory and recall is much more precise. This can be crucial in an exam situation under exam pressure to answer a tricky question. Finally, It shows the markers even if you fail to complete the questions that you have some grasp on material and they may be lenient to give more marks.
This approach is so obvious and simple, however it is quickly overlooked by most. Everyone is always looking for the “magic-bullet”, the “best techniques, reading schedules, magic strategy.” The allure of this is the short-term solution and “avoidance” of that hard work. IT’S A LIE!!
I have news, in anything in life there is no shortcut, you have to work hard consistently to get there. And this applies to understanding your academic material. You have to decide at start of the year to make a conscious effort to try to understand the material. Its more about the mindset rather than specific actions. Try and chase up to ask questions from students/ lecturers about concepts and questions you had wrong or confused about, then go back into your private study time and use materials/ online to figure out what you don’t understand.
It’s a continuous process just like anything else. That’s why making mistakes and getting feedback is so important to developing your understanding development.
I made sure I attended as many lectures and tutorials I could (about 95%)- I wont lie it was hard especially morning times. But its important as often lecturers correct mistakes they make, give special tips for exam, helps with understanding and it helps develop your work ethic. I also made sure I put in my best effort into weekly tutorials and non graded essays etc. And followed up to find out what went wrong after it was marked. This was very important!! This feedback also served as great revision material for me later on.
From Day 1 I also made sure to keep my notes, books and documents for every module very organized in folders. This helped me greatly with finding resources for studying and especially with review work over exam period.
What about the social quadrant? Surely that doesn’t matter in final year. Well it kinda does but in a different way. Personally I stopped going out clubbing and completely dropped out of the “cool public” scene, which saved me a lot of hang overs and allowed me to sleep earlier and wake up for those annoying morning lecturers etc, but I found I had to
(3)STEP INTO ANOTHER “PUBLIC” SCENE.
These are the other students in your module that you may have recognised as the more “academically gifted” students or those who are always on top of their work. They usually move together or solo, sitting together in lectures, can often be found in office hours with lecturers or even in a specific section in library.
When I found myself stuck with concepts earlier on in the start of the year It didn’t make sense to wait for the office hour with lecturer to ask questions which was two days a week for half an hour. In addition, lecturers get very irritated when you ask them to explain something that is basic or they feel you didn’t cover the material before you came to see them. This is especially relevant if your course is built on fundamentals from previous years, which you may have not learnt.
So I began to boldly approach these top students after lectures, tutorials or whenever and say “hey sup how you doing, ive got a problem with this what you think “etc. I will admit if your someone who isnt socially savy it can be tricky, but most people are nice and want to do well in final year. The real task comes in identifying the students that make sense and most importantly willing to teach you concepts. Because you may come across students who would rather not share information or just prefer to work on their own to not be disturbed.
I luckily managed to make acquaintances with four people who were extremely patient with me throughout the year with my random basic questions and willing to help me for hours with misunderstandings I had. They knew that by teaching me they would also learn material better. I cant stress enough how important this was to me. Nothing replaces someone who is a student that mastered material and explains it to you in their words. You can relate to it much better and it clicks better than lecturer explaining.
Having said that though ,it is very important that these people you pair with have strong knowledge and understanding on what they speak of. This is because around the exam period a lot of students get frantic and usually form a much larger group to “help” each other. But what can usually happen is a wrong concept or wrong solution to an answer usually a past exam question or tutorial questions may spread amongst students. Don’t fall for this!! Make sure to do the extra prep work and have proper support.
As far as my health quadrant I made sure to keep on top of things as far as healthy eating, and living, good 7-8 hours sleep, dropped workouts from 5-6 times a week to 3-4 times and much shorter sessions. Usually a 40 mins of squash ,weight lifting session, running/ sprinting, swimming, footy or rugby. Make sure to keep active and healthy especially sleep. Your health is very important in your consistency of your academic work ethic.
Finally, my spiritual quadrant. In this area I began to take my spiritual life with God much more seriously. Watching videos online, reading bible, attending church, living a more Christ based life i.e loving my neighbour, avoiding sexual stuff and generally resting my hope on God. This area of my life brought a lot of peace, comfort and joy when I found myself in difficult periods. In addition, it kept me extremely hopefully and greatly strengthened my belief that the first class would be possible. In hard times I would replay this scripture in my head Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The reasons I bring up these four quadrants: Spiritual, academic, social and health is because university is essentially a long marathon race requiring a lot of endurance, persistent and consistency. That’s all it is. Develop the right habits in these quadrants early on, stay consistent and put in a good work ethic. Consistency beats Intensity any day.
I believe that these habits help greatly with work ethic and endurance. For example, better sleeping habits will give you more energy to study, exercise, attend lectures and focus and retain information you learn. I understand many of you may disagree on the spiritual quadrant, which is fine, just try and make sense out of the general picture of things I am saying.
And….thats where it gets boring Im sorry
. You’ve seen or possibly participated in marathons, yeah there are a few exciting moments with approaching finish line (exam revision period) and the finish line winners(exam results). Apart from that its kind of monotonous and repetitive just constant running. I couldn’t describe university any better:(4) THE ROUTINE
Everyday I usually woke up around 7.30 am, did my prayers, shower, eat and off to 9 am or 10 am lecture. After that I would go talk to “my top students” on concepts I didn’t get, office hours or Id go to some less busy room on campus close to my lecture room with a computer to study, work on some project or tutorial( I personally don’t like working in the library too many women :P its distracting).
This room became my “office” just like a full-time worker. From here I would go to lectures, lunch break, university gym and then return. When working I usually listen to music helps me concentrate, block out environment and zone in( I avoid rap, dubstep or loud music, I found loads of really good study music playlists on youtube lounge, ambient playlists).
Around 5.30 pm I leave university campus back to my flat; on the way I buy groceries. When Im back usually talk to friends, chill and eat dinner (removed ps3 fifa 13 was too distracting and didn’t watch tv either; so I was left with comedy videos on youtube).
If I have tutorial or essay to work on usually will work around 8-9.30 pm and about 10.45 pm I begin to wind down for bed and by 11.30 pm im in bed sleeping. On Saturday I would usually have a longer gym session and I would also get some work done and then possibly go out for some dinner or social party in evening and then Sundays I would relax, go to church and get ready for Monday.
That’s pretty much it; boring and repetitive, routine like lifestyle but really was the key for my success. Its basically similar to the lifestyle a busy full time worker would be doing in the 9-5 pm job routine. And yes I usually stayed on campus 9-5 I basically treated it like a full time job.
Everyday is different, but the routine is usually fairly consistent. You will also improve everyday on the way you handle many things, just allow yourself time to grow and be willing to experiment with different things i.e locations, study habits etc.
(5) THE EXAMS:
Usually there is a short break (Easter break) before exams begin in May/June; at least in my case all exams were in June, so didn’t have any in January. Prior to going on the Easter break I made sure to gather all the study material from library etc I needed to take with me as well as last minute solutions to key concepts.
Remember revision is really just reviewing the material, there is very little to no time to gain core understanding on material if you start working around this period which is why I began earlier on. The key goal is to gather all material and information together to get a clear big picture of the entire module “what is the point of this all?, what are the key points and “why are they important?” and be able to express this in your own words. For every idea or point you have you must be able to back it up with a reason ask yourself “so what?.” I was then later able to express myself this way in the exams and improved my marks greatly.
Because I had organised my material over time everything was all in one piece to overview. In addition, I had already had a picture from speaking to lecturers from each module what they wanted to see in exam answers. So every module is different. In my course there was a blend of quantitative and essay modules.
For the essay based ones my focus was more on gathering and reviewing those ‘extra readings” that I could use as references in the exam to support my argument. And in the more quantitative it more focus on the solutions from tutorials and practicing answers. The learning does not stop But like I mentioned most of the learning and understanding had already been done prior to this period.
By the time Easter break was over I had covered the first round review of my modules and was confident that had I taken the exams at that point I would have passed them all. But that wasn’t the aim. I wanted that first class.
The last leg
This is the toughest part of the entire year. You begin to approach the exam period for that first dreaded exam. Students begin to panic, lecturers begin to play games about what type of questions may come out in exam, students begin to spend ridiculous hours in the library, you begin to feel that what you’ve learned may not be enough etc. Reality begins to sink in; this is my last chance I cannot mess up now. Finals are here. This is the last leg of the marathon and it begins to get very tiring, you begin to pull out reserve energy ; how much more can you take?
I spent a lot of time reviewing my modules, asking lecturers questions on concepts I didn’t understand and building my exam technique and strategy. To build my Exam technique I made sure to know the layout of the exam for each module . All of mine were 3 hours of written work; some had essays and quant others were purely essay. So I had to plot on timing; how much to spend on section A then B, which topics to specialise that may pop out, smartly predicting the questions in the exam because there’s usually a pattern every year etc. I would also do timed practice exams and mark afterwards harshly. Remember although you have gained all this knowledge, you must now be able to express this under timed exam pressure.
Exam day finally came. The usual applies: sleep early, wake up early, review work, shower, eat and off to exam hall for 9 am or whenever exam was. I’d avoid people trying to discuss last minute revision because they can confuse you with new concepts. By the time I’m seated before the exams begin I usually discretely write down on question booklet some key points, references, solutions, formulas I may need to use later. In addition I begin to plot my time management with my watch i.e what time to finish each question or section, when exactly exam is ending etc.
Now open the exam paper. WAIT!! Don’t rush into it. Relax. Look carefully at the questions; which can you answer, do you want to answer now or leave for later, what is the actual question asking for and how many marks is it , how much time do I allocate to each etc. These are very important questions to ask yourself before you begin, but most importantly ANSWER THE QUESTION CAREFULLY!! Although you may heard “read the question carefully” I have a different take on this.
Essentially, you may actually have read the question carefully , but by simply answering the question directly you may not gain full marks. This is very strange and counterintuitive, but remember as I mentioned earlier markers are looking for that extra reference, evaluation, additional material etc to separate first class students from the others. This is where your hard work over time comes into play because really every question is intended to be a discussion and bring out the extra knowledge you have. By directly answering a question without expanding you may demonstrate to the marker you only have basic understanding and only stuck to lecture or basic textbook material. This is very important when answering exam questions.
With this approach I managed to finish all exams on time and left each exam knowing I put in my full effort. However, there were a couple I felt I got absolutely screwed.
(6) THE FINAL RESULTS;
On results day I logged on to the student blackboard to check on my “award status” my results. Wow!!I had achieved a first class average mark in my final year , even averaging over 80% in the hardest module. So my average with my 50 in second year put me comfortably graduating with a high 2.1 mark and a 2.1 degree. I was amazed but I wasn’t surprised. I had worked so hard and given it my all; I left university with no regrets.
If you look at my entire experience you begin to realize the main battle is in the mind. It was all a mental battle to believe it was possible and to be consistent over time with that belief. It was very difficult task and required a lot of heart, persistence and hunger for that degree, but it all started with that decision in my mind to give it my best shot.
There are many of you students out there right now possibly in the same situation I found myself in after second year with retakes this summer and in a difficult place before final year. Perhaps people are doubting you or have given up on your chances or maybe you just started university. No matter the case I’m here to tell you that IT IS POSSIBLE to graduate with a good degree if you put your mind to it. Go into university and leave with no regrets and give it your best shot.
I put a lot of time and effort into writing this long story because I really want to inspire people out there. I will hang around the forum to answer questions for a couple of months. Also, please spread this to other forums with students who need help.
Thank you for reading
mijo*Because many of you have asked for extra help, detail and support I have decided to create a short motivational and practical ebook for final year uni students to basically inspire you to believe that your graduation dream is possible and share simple practical tested steps to help you achieve the first class marks you desire. You can visit the amazon page for the book which can be found by hovering your mouse over my username and then click "visit mijo's homepage."
(edited 8 years ago)
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Can't say I read all of this (wow you really went to town with your story didn't you...), but well done man, seems like you put a lot of effort in the end and I'm glad to see it pay off! Working hard and working smart (e.g. approaching students instead of busy lecturers like you say in your post) are probably the 2 most important qualities you need to be successful in life.
How did you manage to keep yourself motivated for such an extended period of time? I struggle with this a lot. I mean, when push to comes to shove, I get in the zone and work extremely hard, but it's pretty difficult to work consistently hard, no? I don't mean in terms of attending lecturers/classes, I think that's easy, every school children does this. I mean working independently.
How did you manage to keep yourself motivated for such an extended period of time? I struggle with this a lot. I mean, when push to comes to shove, I get in the zone and work extremely hard, but it's pretty difficult to work consistently hard, no? I don't mean in terms of attending lecturers/classes, I think that's easy, every school children does this. I mean working independently.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by mijo
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I'm out of thumbs, but this is a really good story. I was a bit wary it would be spam trying to sell me something but it's not and it is very motivational.
Original post by mijo
x
x
Well done on your success!
I really appreciate you going out of your way to write your story and I'm sure many others are too! How you separated uni life into main quadrants was just spot on I could not agree more! One question, did you feel isolated or alone having to work so much more and spend less time out because I'm sure that must have meant spending less with friends. Did you still keep with your same friend group? because that's a concern of mine when wanting to do what you have done at uniOriginal post by Deadsea
Hey I just wanted to ask: what was the weighting in second year and third year?
Also, which uni?
Also, which uni?
Hey Deadsea thanks for reading, the weighting in my uni was about 40% second year 60% final year or something of that sort. Im not 100% sure but I needed first class to graduate with 2.1.
Also at beginning of story I mentioned I wont say my university for confidentiality reason. However, I will hint that it is russell group, prestigious and internationally recognised and I also required 3 As in a level to enter the course :P
Original post by Swayum
Can't say I read all of this (wow you really went to town with your story didn't you...), but well done man, seems like you put a lot of effort in the end and I'm glad to see it pay off! Working hard and working smart (e.g. approaching students instead of busy lecturers like you say in your post) are probably the 2 most important qualities you need to be successful in life.
How did you manage to keep yourself motivated for such an extended period of time? I struggle with this a lot. I mean, when push to comes to shove, I get in the zone and work extremely hard, but it's pretty difficult to work consistently hard, no? I don't mean in terms of attending lecturers/classes, I think that's easy, every school children does this. I mean working independently.
How did you manage to keep yourself motivated for such an extended period of time? I struggle with this a lot. I mean, when push to comes to shove, I get in the zone and work extremely hard, but it's pretty difficult to work consistently hard, no? I don't mean in terms of attending lecturers/classes, I think that's easy, every school children does this. I mean working independently.
Hey Swayum,
Yeh I did make the story long and detailed
I guess I just wanted people to realise that there is a lot more to success that meets the eye , so I was trying to paint a picture of what it took and the habits required to get there. But thanks for having a look through.As far as the motivation for an extended period of time I agree with you its very difficult to sustain. Just like most people when the year first started I had so much buzz and motivation but then the high begins to plateau.
I guess the key for me was building "sustainable" habits that would keep me in line with my goal like I mentioned .
But by far I believe it all begins in the mind.
Once I had a foothold of my thoughts and my mindset process I convinced myself to continue what I was doing. Often I would visualise the end goal while listening to emotional music really seeing myself on the graduation podium making my parents proud and celebrating. I really felt the emotions as if they were real and I saw the vision clearly. In addition, my thoughts were reinforcing positive beliefs that I was improving and I would achieve the final goal. People who believe in "law of attraction" may find this interesting, but personally ive done this with every aspect of my life from a young age with goals I set i.e gym, sports, academics etc. which has kept me going.
Hope this helps
Original post by Castiel'
Well done on your success! I really appreciate you going out of your way to write your story and I'm sure many others are too! How you separated uni life into main quadrants was just spot on I could not agree more! One question, did you feel isolated or alone having to work so much more and spend less time out because I'm sure that must have meant spending less with friends. Did you still keep with your same friend group? because that's a concern of mine when wanting to do what you have done at uni
I really appreciate you going out of your way to write your story and I'm sure many others are too! How you separated uni life into main quadrants was just spot on I could not agree more! One question, did you feel isolated or alone having to work so much more and spend less time out because I'm sure that must have meant spending less with friends. Did you still keep with your same friend group? because that's a concern of mine when wanting to do what you have done at uniHey Castiel',
Cheers
and happy you can relate. I would have felt much more isolated had I kept to myself and studied indoors all the time. But like I mentioned I remained on campus 9-5 everyday, so I was always surrounded by people especially other final year students who were working hard so I was feeding off their work vibe. I was also interacting with students either to ask for help, banter during a work break or playing sports with my friends during breaks as well, so I kept a decent balance.
The bad news is you will lose friends throughout the university process, its just the way it is when you change your priorities;the good news is that your true friends will stay by you no matter what. The friends I drifted away from were those who invested majority of their time into chasing the social scene, women or anything my value system was no longer aligned anymore with, as far I was concerned nothing was going to stop me achieving my goal so that didnt bother me too much.
Fortunately ,a handful of loyal friends with similar values stood by me and I would usually hang out with them during breaks after lectures or over the weekend for a dinner, cinema, birthday etc. nothing crazy.
Congratulations you deserve it
you deserve it Congrats btw, You're my inspiration. can you be my TSR mentor please? CURRENTLY in my 2nd year going to 3rd year pharmacy - HAD 60% overall but felt I could do better.
(edited 10 years ago)
longest post in TSR history, possibly in internet history
Original post by singleandrich
Congrats btw, You're my inspiration. can you be my TSR mentor please? CURRENTLY in my 2nd year going to 3rd year pharmacy - HAD 60% overall but felt I could do better.
Hey singleandrich,
I just joined the forum when i posted the message, so i have no clue what a TSR mentor is
, but If I can help you out why not haha. Inbox me on how I can do this.Original post by Supes
I have a similar story to tell but I'll keep it short. My first and second year results required me to retake quite a number of exams/coursework. I'm lucky enough that I can either get my degree classification based of 220 credits from year2+3 or 100 credits from year3
Hey man congrats, why dont you post your story as well?
Original post by mijo
Hey man congrats, why dont you post your story as well?
Well done
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