The Student Room Group

How can I achieve a First Class in my Degree?

Any tips? I am yet to start my Biomedical Science degree in September and I am aiming for a First all throughout, does anybody have any tips on how to get there? Yes, I realise the amount of effort and hard work I am going to have to commit to!
I haven't done a Biomed degree, so I don't know the specifics.

The general tips I can offer to get a first include:

Focus on critical thinking and strong analysis

Lead with theory, then work on application and testing

Make everything as clear as possible

Focus on reading research papers after you have done the mandatory reading. The mandatory reamding will give you the foundational understanding, but what will really give you the marks is the further reading, especially the research papers

Look at your unit outline often, as it not only gives you the recommended reading required, but also what you need to do to score the high marks (albiet it being really vague).

If your mandatory text sucks, look for alternative texts or other recommended books on the same subject. Just because it's mandatory reading or the author is a big name, doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

Try to write in a similar style and structure to how the research papers present themselves. Of course, just because it's an important or famous paper, doesn't necessarily mean it's well written.



For biology/chemistry in general:

Watch YouTube videos on experiment techniques relevant to what you will be studying

Read the material required for your lecture immediately after the lecture is over. Biomed is one of those subjects where I am guessing there's a lot of facts to remember, and it doesn't help recall if you leave it for a long time.

Keep your notes very organised and clear

Learn to write and summarise material in a very concise way. There's a lot of material but every few words you're allowed to use

Time management is key, especially with the amount of material you will be covering



Resources I recommend looking into:

Brush up on Excel and Word - you will likely to use them often. I'd recommend Microsoft's MOS qualifications, but it's overdoing it a bit

Read Peter Levin's How to write great essays

Learn to touch type, as it will help you save a lot of time (not necessarily improve your grades, but hours and days of your life). It takes 10 hours to learn, and it's a life long skill

Original post by DiamondDia
Any tips? I am yet to start my Biomedical Science degree in September and I am aiming for a First all throughout, does anybody have any tips on how to get there? Yes, I realise the amount of effort and hard work I am going to have to commit to!

did you get an offer, if so for what uni
Reply 3
Original post by MindMax2000
I haven't done a Biomed degree, so I don't know the specifics.

The general tips I can offer to get a first include:

Focus on critical thinking and strong analysis

Lead with theory, then work on application and testing

Make everything as clear as possible

Focus on reading research papers after you have done the mandatory reading. The mandatory reamding will give you the foundational understanding, but what will really give you the marks is the further reading, especially the research papers

Look at your unit outline often, as it not only gives you the recommended reading required, but also what you need to do to score the high marks (albiet it being really vague).

If your mandatory text sucks, look for alternative texts or other recommended books on the same subject. Just because it's mandatory reading or the author is a big name, doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

Try to write in a similar style and structure to how the research papers present themselves. Of course, just because it's an important or famous paper, doesn't necessarily mean it's well written.



For biology/chemistry in general:

Watch YouTube videos on experiment techniques relevant to what you will be studying

Read the material required for your lecture immediately after the lecture is over. Biomed is one of those subjects where I am guessing there's a lot of facts to remember, and it doesn't help recall if you leave it for a long time.

Keep your notes very organised and clear

Learn to write and summarise material in a very concise way. There's a lot of material but every few words you're allowed to use

Time management is key, especially with the amount of material you will be covering



Resources I recommend looking into:

Brush up on Excel and Word - you will likely to use them often. I'd recommend Microsoft's MOS qualifications, but it's overdoing it a bit

Read Peter Levin's How to write great essays

Learn to touch type, as it will help you save a lot of time (not necessarily improve your grades, but hours and days of your life). It takes 10 hours to learn, and it's a life long skill



THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea how much this helped me, I’ll make sure to look into everything you’ve mentioned. Once again, thank you!
Reply 4
Original post by qwertuyuyuy
did you get an offer, if so for what uni


I got an unconditional offer at Birmingham City University.
Original post by MindMax2000
I haven't done a Biomed degree, so I don't know the specifics.

The general tips I can offer to get a first include:

Focus on critical thinking and strong analysis

Lead with theory, then work on application and testing

Make everything as clear as possible

Focus on reading research papers after you have done the mandatory reading. The mandatory reamding will give you the foundational understanding, but what will really give you the marks is the further reading, especially the research papers

Look at your unit outline often, as it not only gives you the recommended reading required, but also what you need to do to score the high marks (albiet it being really vague).

If your mandatory text sucks, look for alternative texts or other recommended books on the same subject. Just because it's mandatory reading or the author is a big name, doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

Try to write in a similar style and structure to how the research papers present themselves. Of course, just because it's an important or famous paper, doesn't necessarily mean it's well written.



For biology/chemistry in general:

Watch YouTube videos on experiment techniques relevant to what you will be studying

Read the material required for your lecture immediately after the lecture is over. Biomed is one of those subjects where I am guessing there's a lot of facts to remember, and it doesn't help recall if you leave it for a long time.

Keep your notes very organised and clear

Learn to write and summarise material in a very concise way. There's a lot of material but every few words you're allowed to use

Time management is key, especially with the amount of material you will be covering



Resources I recommend looking into:

Brush up on Excel and Word - you will likely to use them often. I'd recommend Microsoft's MOS qualifications, but it's overdoing it a bit

Read Peter Levin's How to write great essays

Learn to touch type, as it will help you save a lot of time (not necessarily improve your grades, but hours and days of your life). It takes 10 hours to learn, and it's a life long skill


As someone who has done biomedical sciences I'd say all this advice is spot on, exactly what I would be recommending. Probably the only other thing is learn how to use a referencing software like Endnote/Mendeley, saves you hours when writing essays
Original post by DiamondDia
Any tips? I am yet to start my Biomedical Science degree in September and I am aiming for a First all throughout, does anybody have any tips on how to get there? Yes, I realise the amount of effort and hard work I am going to have to commit to!


Work hard, strong personal motivation, set micro goals. Dont target 70%, target 100%.
Pay attention to detail.
Be very self critical: where could you work improve, analysis, conclusions, calculations, formatting, resources, references.
Pay careful attention to the assessment criteria & assignment brief.
Finish assignments early, that way you can review, critique, refine & improve.
Go speak to lecturers early in the semester, who do you think they'll make time for the person who is passionate & works hard, or the person who emails 72 hours before an assignment is due in...

Learn how to build and structure academic writing coherently, concisely & professionally.
Reply 7
Original post by QuentinM
As someone who has done biomedical sciences I'd say all this advice is spot on, exactly what I would be recommending. Probably the only other thing is learn how to use a referencing software like Endnote/Mendeley, saves you hours when writing essays


Thank you!
Reply 8
Original post by mnot
Work hard, strong personal motivation, set micro goals. Dont target 70%, target 100%.
Pay attention to detail.
Be very self critical: where could you work improve, analysis, conclusions, calculations, formatting, resources, references.
Pay careful attention to the assessment criteria & assignment brief.
Finish assignments early, that way you can review, critique, refine & improve.
Go speak to lecturers early in the semester, who do you think they'll make time for the person who is passionate & works hard, or the person who emails 72 hours before an assignment is due in...

Learn how to build and structure academic writing coherently, concisely & professionally.


Thank you so much!

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