I want to tell people I have a 1st class even though I don’t?

[plieddried]

It bothers me so much to see my actual degree classification. On my cv I don’t even bother to write my degree classification but I still feel embarrassed. I want to start telling people (and myself) that I graduated with a 1st class honours even if it’s not true. It makes me feel happier to tell myself I got a first class. It also makes me feel more confident and secure in my ability to work. It makes me feel accomplished. Wondering if AIBU?

@RandomLondoner

Are degree classifications a purely British thing?

I came to the UK as a young adult in the 1980's and I think in my first round of interviews was asked once about my degree classification, and didn't have an answer. To me a degree was something you either did or didn't have, grades did not matter. (If they did, I would have scraped a pass, but in subjects that 99% of my age cohort could not have passed, so my self-esteem wasn't particularly at stake.)

Ever since I've wondered if I wrongly went through university thinking grades did not matter as long as you passed, or if they really were only a "thing" in the UK.

(I worked in IT, sometimes alongside people who had no degree at all, so my lack of a classification was never really an issue.)

Most graduate schemes want a 2.1 or higher to get on them (exceptions exist obviously) and in careers like law, it's highly competitive so a first or 2.1 from a good university is pretty much the bare minimum to get a good law firm who pays your exams. Then you probably need work experience plus involved in university societies in a leadership role etc. I am glad I did my law degree for interest, I couldn't face the sheer ambition of most students.

I understand as am also a perfectionist who didn't get a first, however if you lie about it you will have the anxiety of being caught, and if you get caught it will be humiliating for you.

@ErrolTheDragon

No they do it in the USA too. They have GPA scores and then there's all that weird business with the greek letters for really high flyers.

The Greek letters are something different I think... fraternities/sororities.

No, confusingly there are two lots of daft Greek letters in use in the USA

On is to do with Frat/Sororities but the other is absolutely to do with degree ratings

registrar.uconn.edu/latin-honors/

@dangerrabbit

I understand as am also a perfectionist who didn't get a first, however if you lie about it you will have the anxiety of being caught, and if you get caught it will be humiliating for you.

Absolutely this. I couldn't give a monkeys what classification someone got for their degree but if they lied and comes up in background checks we'd withdraw the offer over dishonesty. Many many years ago my dad would if anything reject people with firsts for sales positions unless there was anything else compelling on the CV as it tended to suggest they hadn't lived their life to the full at university. Not sure I agree with that but it's another perspective.

No, confusingly there are two lots of daft Greek letters in use in the USA

On is to do with Frat/Sororities but the other is absolutely to do with degree ratings

https://registrar.uconn.edu/latin-honors/

It's Latin honour names, not Greek letters for the degree ratings. The cum Laude things I mentioned and you've linked to.

I feel like it tells people I’m accomplished.

No, it just tells them that you are a liar and that they should seriously doubt anything else that you say.

Who are you telling? I can’t think of a time I’ve been asked what classification I got since graduation.

I only read the first few pages but I'm a bit startled that you'd imagine getting a bad grade at school would have made you feel embarrassed, but lying about your degree grade would boost your self esteem. You seem very mixed up.

Having a first class degree does not make you a better person than someone who has no degree at all, or the girl next door who only got a handful of GCSEs.

@ErrolTheDragon

No, confusingly there are two lots of daft Greek letters in use in the USA

On is to do with Frat/Sororities but the other is absolutely to do with degree ratings

[[https://registrar.uconn.edu/latin-honors]]/

It's Latin honour names, not Greek letters for the degree ratings. The cum Laude things I mentioned and you've linked to.

He he - as you can see I studied neither Greek nor Latin - thank you, I have learned something form this - the Americans use daft Greek and Latin terms in their Universities :)

It’s more of a self esteem booster. I feel like it tells people I’m accomplished.

Nah, all it does is make you a liar. You need some professional help with your self esteem.

@ThinWomansBrain

Maybe straight As at school just means you're good at rote learning?

Gross over-simplification alert.

Hang on though, the honor societies are Greek letters and some of them seem to need a high GPA to join?

@chipsandgin

*I just feel like I’m smarter than what my degree classification shows•

I’m really hoping it wasn’t an English degree!? ;)

Lol

You are being weird & when found out people would think less of you than if you just tell the truth.

If it bothers you that much, you can go & take another degree & earn the right to a first if you can get one.

I might want to tell people I have a Phd in Mathematics but I haven't got one so I don't.

If people believed that I'd feel like I am better at maths than I am but it would still be a big fat lie.

if you really think degree classification is an indicator of how smart you are then you aren't that smart.

I think you need to work on your self confidence and ability in your job.

Who are you telling? I can’t think of a time I’ve been asked what classification I got since graduation.

sometimes people discuss it don't they, generally in a fairly joking way. My degree isn't particularly accomplished but it was boring and I was 18.

Since starting work I can assure you that nobody has been interested in my degree classification. It never comes up in conversation either

@Teateaandmoretea

Most jokey discussions I've heard have all been centred around how bad degrees were, I'm convinced some people were lying to fit in as not everyone in the 90's got a 2:2 or below!!!

Don't be ridiculous. You can't just make up qualifications to make yourself feel better.

You got the best mark you could under the circumstances you were in at the time. This is true of everyone, if I'd have had any parents who took the remotest bit of interest I'm sure I'd have performed better in school, my degree and later achievements speak for themselves.

If you want a better grade, earn it.

If you have children it would be an appalling example to set, both the lying and the idea that something is wrong if you aren't top of the class.

I would never employ someone I'd found to be lying in this way, and degree certificates are checked.

It makes me feel happier to tell myself I got a first class.

But you haven't. You know that you haven't got a first so how would it be possible 'tell' yourself you have and convince yourself?

And how does knowing you're lying to people and might very well get found out if you lie on your CV make you feel better about yourself?

I used to know someone who was an osteopath. When she was on holiday she would tell people she was a doctor.

One of the people she told turned out to actually be a doctor who worked in the same area of the country as the osteopath and kept asking if she knew this doctor or that doctor, trying to find out if she knew various colleagues of his.

She ended up spending most of her holiday trying to avoid this person in case she got found out.

Very silly thing to do.

I work in education, so all educational qualifications back as far as GCSEs have to be included on any application form, including grades and degree classifications. Certificates have to be shown and you can lose your job for misrepresenting your qualifications.

I am involved in recruitment for ITT and teacher appointments. We are actually interested in people who have a lower than usual degree classification or school qualifications but have then built their experience towards their chosen career as a teacher. That tenacity and determination shows how committed they are to the profession, often more so than some 21 year olds who drift into applying for teaching because they can't think what to do as they finish their degree.
I worry that you are so fixated on this, OP. You need to shift your thinking to the resilience and grit you have demonstrated to build your career since the blip of your degree - it's done, it was what it was, but it is not who you are now.

I once fired someone who lied about her academic achievements. I had never seen her application and didn't particularly care, but she put on Linkedin when it first got going that she had a bachelor's degree from a certain school which, it turned out, doesn't actually issue them. Her actual degree had come from a former poly in the same city and would have been fine, but a client had seen her profile and pointed out the discrepancy.

I stayed at that employer for about three years and got reference requests every couple of months for the rest of my time there. "Dismissed due to dishonesty on academic achievements" clearly wasn't good enough for other employers either. The irony is that she had been a perfectly good employee, and had the client not said anything nothing would have happened.

FWIW, the only time I have ever been asked for proof of my first degree classifcation was when applying for postgrad study, and they wanted the entire academic transcript as well. But I would always ask for a copy of the certificate now were I the hiring manager.

I work at a University. One of my jobs is to process appeals where students think their classification does not reflect their academic ability. I've looked at classifications vs performance in depth for almost a decade.

I'll tell you straight - classifications ALWAYS reflects an academic performance. Degrees are weighted in such a way to make this pretty much foolproof. There is a certain amount of movement at the borderlines of classifications that even if you were almost there you would likely have been uplifted if your performance warranted it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You got what your performance was worthy of. What you feel you were entitled to ("I was so smart in high school I deserve better") makes no difference.

On my CV, I put that I have a degree but apart from my very first employer, no one has ever asked what class it was. Mine was not great, and I was honest with that employer and it really didn't make any difference.