TIPS ON GETTING FIRST CLASS DEGREE

Every student will have a dream on getting the first class degree. Here are some top tips on snagging the best grades in university.

1. You need a minimum level of natural brilliance.

You know yourself probably better than others. The first step is to discover your own academic ability. You can have an idea about this by looking at the grades you made in lower levels of education (elementary school, high school, A levels etc). Most times, if you did very well in those stages, you stand a good chance of repeating same – or doing better – in the university. If your performance at those levels was not outstanding, but you know deep inside you that it was below your potential, you can still go ahead to pursue a first-class degree.

2. Do you have interest in the course you want to study or have just been admitted to study?

It must be a course you are comfortable with and passionate about. This keeps the dream of getting a first-class degree going.

3. Look for students in higher levels in your department who are in the first-class bracket.

Make friends with them. Ask for mentorship. Ask them how to go about each course, how they did their own. 

4. Develop a positive mindset that you can do it.

Don't listen to prophets of doom that tell you that you can never get a first-class degree. This is very common in African universities. Please don’t listen to people that instill fears in you.

5. Take your department’s handbook that shows all courses you are to offer from year one to final year.

Write down the courses, set a target of say 4.70 (in a 5 point system) or 3.75 (in a 4-point system) for yourself, and calculate what you need to score in each subject to make the targeted CGPA or GPA. Break it down further into semesters. At the beginning of each semester, set a sub-target.

6. Choose your electives wisely.

At the early years, go for the "quick-win" elective courses even if they're the least rich. At higher levels, you may begin to rank value of elective over cheapness.

7. Learn the art of taking exams.

Study the course takers. At the beginning of each course, ask your immediate seniors what the lecturer likes. This will give you an idea about how to approach exams.

8. Be an all-rounder.

Don't say you're only good in calculation and not theory. You have to learn how to be good in theory too. If it involves cramming, so be it. Being very weak in one aspect can hamper your chance of graduating with a first-class degree. 

9. Target being the highest scorer in each course in your class.

At the beginning of every course, set a target to score the highest in the course among your classmates.

10. Bear in mind that a first-class degree will provide you a better employment or scholarship opportunity when you graduate.

The mere knowledge of this will make you want to make sacrifice now so as to enjoy later.