Page 2 | Lying to friends about degree classification

doctormusic · 2021-08-10T16:31:58+00:00

DS 21 got a 2:2 in his degree, he's recently been messaging some old friends from school, they've asked him about what he got in his degree. DS is a bit embarrassed about getting a 2:2 as everyone who he went to school with and on his course have been posting on Facebook how they have got 1st's and 2:1's. DS didn't know what whether to lie and say he got a 2:1 but said that he morally thinks it's wrong and it's not a good habit to start telling lies. DH has told DS that he's blowing it out of proportion, he can say he got a 2:1 if he wants to but he should not feel embarrassed in any way of getting a 2:2 and these friends he hasn't seen in at least 2 years and it really doesn't matter. Is this something which DS has blown out of proportion?

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 10/08/2021 18:58

If he got into the course he wanted, then that’s all that matters.

So much snobbery on here. OK, I may have got a first in the 90s, but heck, I’d never do the head tilt to one side & say, “Well, it’s not very good these days”, as some posters have.

Getting a Desmond is great in his case, as it got him onto the course he wants next.

(Shhh…Don’t tell anyone, but as an employer I couldn’t give a monkey’s bum if it’s a 1st or a 3rd. It’s their experience - even as a hobby - & aptitude at interview that matters. Oddly, the only woman who really came a cropper at interview had an Oxbridge doctorate & was arrogant enough to think it made her the Second Coming of The Messiah. Yeah. Right. Nope).

Original poster

doctormusic · 10/08/2021 19:05

Yes DS was expecting to get a 2:2, that's the one thing he regrets because for DS to get a 2:1 was never a given and he was going to have to work hard for it but because the course he's starting in September he needed a 2:2 for DS feels that he tried not to stress to much when he was doing his assignments but looking back DS wonders if he took his eye of the ball a bit.

OP posts:

icedcoffees · 10/08/2021 19:06

Well, saying you graduated with a 2.1 or a First would be a lie, wouldn't it

Well, of course @jimmyhill but I've never been asked.

The point is - he has no reason to lie. Once you get a job, your degree classification is pretty much irrelevant.

newnortherner111 · 10/08/2021 19:06

They are not worth keeping as friends if they respond badly to someone getting a 2:2 instead of a 2:1. I don't think your DS should lie.

lannistunut · 10/08/2021 19:09

Better to tell the truth and focus on the future.

If he lies, it will follow him around and weigh more heavily on his mind.

HmmmmmmInteresting · 10/08/2021 19:10

@KingdomScrolls

I don't know anyone in real life who talks about their degree classification more than a year after they graduate, if these are people he doesn't really see much there's no harm in letting them think what they want and not correcting them. It's not like lying on your CV to get a job. I'm very surprised by a previous poster's comment that only five percent of her department get a 2:2 or less. Isn't that akin to half of A level candidates getting A's

I actually checked the stats yesterday because of a conversation I was having with my DC and it's something like 75% of people get 2:1 or above these days. We were talking about grade inflation because this percent was much lower when I graduated.

Anyway I agree that it's not talked about- I can't recall ever talking about my degree classification to friends. Your DS should just say nothing rather than lie.

HmmmmmmInteresting · 10/08/2021 19:12

@icedcoffees

Well, saying you graduated with a 2.1 or a First would be a lie, wouldn't it

Well, of course @jimmyhill but I've never been asked.

The point is - he has no reason to lie. Once you get a job, your degree classification is pretty much irrelevant.

I agree, although it's getting the job first. Because so many get 2:1s these days it must be difficult with a Desmond.

icedcoffees · 10/08/2021 19:13

I agree, although it's getting the job first. Because so many get 2:1s these days it must be difficult with a Desmond.

I didn't struggle at all and now run my own business after 10 years in management at other jobs.

I suppose it depends on where you live and what career yo want to get into, though.

TableFlowerss · 10/08/2021 19:18

I would just joke if he’s that bothered and say ‘Not as good as I’d hoped, but I suppose not everyone can get firsts…🤣’

No one gives a shit in the real world generally

HmmmmmmInteresting · 10/08/2021 19:19

@TableFlowerss

I would just joke if he’s that bothered and say ‘Not as good as I’d hoped, but I suppose not everyone can get firsts…🤣’

No one gives a shit in the real world generally

Haha, that's a good idea!

GrrRightBackAtYou · 10/08/2021 19:26

@doctormusic

When I mean lie I'm only talking about friends not jobs or university or any other thing. What I think DH was trying to say even if you lied about his result those friends are not in DS's life anymore apart from occasional messaging so just telling them he got a 2:1 instead of a 2:2 is not going to be the end of the world. DH obviously would prefer DS to tell the truth but DS is an adult so it his choice to make.

But imagine the humiliation if they found out.

Someone would be very quick to say
“Hey, remember doctormusic jr said he got a 2:1? He never did. He lied “

I got a 2:2. I do remember feeling a bit gutted. No one in the real world has ever actually asked me tbh.

Bollockstothat · 10/08/2021 19:28

I didn't struggle at all and now run my own business after 10 years in management at other jobs.

Things were different 10 years ago, though - and even more different 20 or 30 years ago. These days, 80% of students graduate with a 2.1 or 1st (more than a third of all students now graduate with a 1st). That makes it harder for the people who don't, because why would you want to hire someone who performed in the bottom 20% of their year when you could hire someone who did better?

Kanaloa · 10/08/2021 19:28

That’s true as a pp said, nobody will remember he got a 2.2 but everyone will remember if it comes to light he lied.

I wouldn’t look badly on someone for getting a 2.2 but if I discovered they had lied about it I would think a bit less of them.

Christmasfairy2020 · 10/08/2021 19:29

What was the discipline in. My dh failed his disertation and only got an ordinary degree

Ivegotanewfridge · 10/08/2021 19:33

What was his degree subject OP?

icedcoffees · 10/08/2021 19:33

@Bollockstothat

I didn't struggle at all and now run my own business after 10 years in management at other jobs.

Things were different 10 years ago, though - and even more different 20 or 30 years ago. These days, 80% of students graduate with a 2.1 or 1st (more than a third of all students now graduate with a 1st). That makes it harder for the people who don't, because why would you want to hire someone who performed in the bottom 20% of their year when you could hire someone who did better?

I hired people who had 2:2's as late as last year - it really didn't bother me what classification they got.

Whether someone got a 1st or a 2:1 (or not) is only a tiny part of whether they're worth hiring.

BareVanilla · 10/08/2021 19:36

Advise him not to lie. His CV will be on linked in and surprisingly there lots of jobs that require a 2:1 or above. How will he explain his lying once he gets found out?

Ivegotanewfridge · 10/08/2021 19:37

because why would you want to hire someone who performed in the bottom 20% of their year when you could hire someone who did better?

We have people with 2:1’s, and Masters, working in a call centre. We have some C Suite with no degrees. It does depend on the degree of course but performance is much much more than academic achievement

TableFlowerss · 10/08/2021 19:38

@Bollockstothat

I didn't struggle at all and now run my own business after 10 years in management at other jobs.

Things were different 10 years ago, though - and even more different 20 or 30 years ago. These days, 80% of students graduate with a 2.1 or 1st (more than a third of all students now graduate with a 1st). That makes it harder for the people who don't, because why would you want to hire someone who performed in the bottom 20% of their year when you could hire someone who did better?

Well I think it just shows that degrees are probably easier these days. Well, easier to get top marks in anyway.

As you say, things were different 30 years ago, but why is that, it’s certainly not because the students weren’t as smart.

Let’s be honest, it was only the truly academic then went on to university back then, until 1997, when someone decided everyone should go!

It dilutes it now and even saying you have a first isn’t as prestigious as it once was.

Ivegotanewfridge · 10/08/2021 19:38

Agreed @icedcoffees

TableFlowerss · 10/08/2021 19:40

To add- Having a 2:2 doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do the job as well as someone with with a first. It could just mean that you’re great at academic writing!

TractorsAndHeadphones · 10/08/2021 19:41

@Bollockstothat

I didn't struggle at all and now run my own business after 10 years in management at other jobs.

Things were different 10 years ago, though - and even more different 20 or 30 years ago. These days, 80% of students graduate with a 2.1 or 1st (more than a third of all students now graduate with a 1st). That makes it harder for the people who don't, because why would you want to hire someone who performed in the bottom 20% of their year when you could hire someone who did better?

Most corporate graduate schemes require at least a 2:1. But it also depends on subject and university. As some take all years into account, some place a greater or emphasis on the final year (meaning you’re finished if you messed that up even with previously stellar results).

My uni placed an equal weight on 2nd and 3rd year , a bit on the first. It’s impossible to get a 2:2 in a humanities subject unless you did zero studying. People have done nothing but read lecture notes and managed a 2:1.

BikeRunSki · 10/08/2021 19:43

When I graduated degree results were published in the national newspapers! And I really didn’t go to a fancy university!

3scape · 10/08/2021 19:45

It's kind of crazy. It's 1st 2nd 3rd. The 2:1 (which I have) i don't bother with
Stating as it sounds petty. I didn't do well enough to get a first. I think it's a bit much to then dance around saying it's not a 2:2.

TractorsAndHeadphones · 10/08/2021 19:46

Also to add - Id advise against lying because it’s a small world. You never know where everyone might end up.