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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

504 replies

plieddried · 01/12/2021 03:56

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?

OP posts:
Cam22 · 01/12/2021 14:17

You’re right about the vast number of Firsts, though, OP!!

Cam22 · 01/12/2021 14:18

@KeyboardWorriers

I have two first class degrees. I think outside my family the only person who knows are my university friends (because they displayed our results on a big board) and my colleague (who "guessed" but I suspect was actually told by our now retired manager who recruited me)

You are so much more than your exam result

From an Ancient or a Russell Group?
iloveeverykindofcat · 01/12/2021 14:23

@Raskolnikov84 Neither I nor any of my friends/colleagues use Dr. except when its strictly necessary for context (most of my friends are academics). I just find it cringy, no matter what kind of doctor you are - PhD, medicine, whatever. And no, you certainly don't have to be a genius to get a PhD! I'd say you have to be reasonably intelligent, self-disciplined, motivated and organized. No genius necessary.

Tiddlywinks10 · 01/12/2021 14:24

The only person who’s ever asked and genuinely cared about my degree classification promptly asked what percentage I got…
They couldn’t fathom that I had a first too

The energy your pushing into this could be used to advance your career. Show you’re more than a number :)

The only time is seems to matter is as an entrance to further education and/or development schemes but I’ve only ever seen 2:1 or above, never 1:1

Littlepaws18 · 01/12/2021 14:37

Rather than lie why don't you do a masters? You can do them part time (I did mine over four years) it's relatively commonplace to have a degree, but not necessarily a masters. If you are as academic as you claim it should be straight forward to achieve and do it in something you are interested in so it won't seem like a chore.

FirewomanSam · 01/12/2021 14:41

I wondered how long it would take for the ‘if you got a first you didn’t have a life at uni’ comments to start Hmm

When I got my first I had to listen to so much of that and it really freaked me out. Tales of employers throwing all the CVs with Firsts in the bin because they must be losers with no social skills. My parents took me out for dinner after my graduation and the group on the table next to us were loudly reassuring each other that they were better off with a 2:1 because everyone knows that if you got a first you didn’t do university ‘properly’. It made me feel like shit. I’d worked so hard and I got to be proud of myself for approximately 0.2 seconds before people starting telling me I must be a freak and a loser for getting those extra few marks that pushed me into a first instead of a 2:1.

For what it’s worth I partied with the best of them at uni, did lots of clubs and extracurricular stuff, had plenty of friends, went travelling in uni holidays, visited friends at other uni in my weekends, all that stuff that I guess people consider doing uni ‘properly’? I also just really really loved my subject and all my tutors and I didn’t get why I was supposed to actively miss half of my lectures just because that’s what students do. I went to pretty much every single class (often very very hungover and on no sleep, it’s true) and did all my assignments even if it meant pulling an all nighter after an impromptu visit to the pub, because it just didn’t occur to me to do otherwise. Oh to
be 18 again… I can only dream of having that kind of energy now, as a 30-something PhD student who basically can’t write a coherent sentence unless I’ve had a solid 8 hours’ sleep!

Of course, in real life nobody has ever given a fuck about my First, any more than they give a fuck about people who don’t have one. But please let’s not piss all over students who do well and accuse them of being losers with no social life because that’s just a bit mean spirited and pathetic.

Piglet89 · 01/12/2021 14:44

We’ll said @FirewomanSam

Of course, the comments from the two-oners are borne out of insecurity and jealousy, but this doesn’t excuse it.

Piglet89 · 01/12/2021 14:44

*well said

Cottagepieandpeas · 01/12/2021 14:45

My ex-partner used to lie about this & where his degree was from. He was a compulsive liar.

Piglet89 · 01/12/2021 14:50

I also notice people putting for example “University of Oxford” as the lead institution at the top of their LinkedIn profile when they’ve just done a two week summer course in tech there and their actual undergrad degree (you know, the place they spent an extended period of time studying) is buried in the rest of their profile.

So disingenuous.

givethatbabyaname · 01/12/2021 14:52

Don't get another degree.

Get therapy.

It would be cheaper, quicker and better for you.

toconclude · 01/12/2021 15:00

I have one of each. The 2:1 involved more work and was from a much better university. Degree classification is only part of it.
Don't bother, OP.

Idony · 01/12/2021 15:02

Well that's the weirdest post on here today. Lying to 'look clever' shows the level of critical thinking that, well, caused your poor marks the first time around.

Consider putting some of that energy towards genuinely bettering yourself and doing things that make you happy, rather than thinking up fibs to make dim people like you - remember, no one worth your time gives a stuff about your degree.

toconclude · 01/12/2021 15:02

@Piglet89

We’ll said *@FirewomanSam*

Of course, the comments from the two-oners are borne out of insecurity and jealousy, but this doesn’t excuse it.

Of course. Can't be the ' oh, did I mention yet this week that I got a first' brigade being tits about it. Definitely not.
Namenic · 01/12/2021 15:35

OP - don’t let it define you. It is one snapshot in time. If you had got a first, maybe it would tempt you to boast or show off - which might rub people up the wrong way.

The people I know who have 2:2s are v successful - and doing better than those who got 2:1s or 1sts - I’m not saying that to detract from academic achievement (I got a 2:1 from a good uni - and worked so hard for it, didn’t party much), but just that it’s not everything and it’s definitely possible to succeed and be a kind, humble, helpful person - whatever your academic record shows.

DinoWoman · 01/12/2021 15:42

I don't think employers even care too much about your degree classification to be honest. Generally I've noticed that employers are much more interested in what university you attended. A 2.1 from Oxford is a lot more impressive/difficult to achieve than a first class degree from Cardiff University for instance.

SummerHouse · 01/12/2021 15:49

I can't relate to this because I got a FIRST.

Oh, I feel better already.

Bluntness100 · 01/12/2021 16:00

@DinoWoman

I don't think employers even care too much about your degree classification to be honest. Generally I've noticed that employers are much more interested in what university you attended. A 2.1 from Oxford is a lot more impressive/difficult to achieve than a first class degree from Cardiff University for instance.
I think it depends on the field, when my daughter started her training contract she got her degree results in and had to notify them, she informed HR and then said to the senior partner at the end of a meeting “Oh I got my results in, I. got a first” he looked at her dryly and said “little blunt, we all got a first here” smiled, and that was that.

But for many other fields it doesn’t matter. However she certainly doesn’t run around telling people she got a first, but it was important for her at that point.

Keke94LND · 01/12/2021 16:06

In the nicest possible way.. get over yourself

Butchyrestingface · 01/12/2021 16:06

Why not do an OU degree part-time or something and try to get a first if you're that bothered by it, @plieddried?

TheKeatingFive · 01/12/2021 16:07

In my working life, I've never had a conversation about anyone's degree result. Not once.

DontBeCatty · 01/12/2021 16:08

OP
Reading through the comments in this thread made me realise I can’t let this define me for the rest of my life. I’ve come to terms with it now. It’s from five years ago now anyway. I’m only triggered by it because we get new graduates every year and it seems like everyone has a first class now! Everyone apart from me.

TBF the number of first class degrees has sky rocketed over the last few years.

Also, what degree did you get and where did you get it.

Platax · 01/12/2021 16:08

@DinoWoman

I don't think employers even care too much about your degree classification to be honest. Generally I've noticed that employers are much more interested in what university you attended. A 2.1 from Oxford is a lot more impressive/difficult to achieve than a first class degree from Cardiff University for instance.
As time goes on, they become way more interested in your work experience and reputation. My last two jobs I was headhunted and they neither knew nor cared what my degree result was.

I used to know someone who, for mental health reasons, didn't take all his exams and so only achieved an ordinary degree (rather than an honours one) but in fact passed all the exams he did take with marks which would have gained him a 2:1. So his CV scrupulously says he has a BA and makes no suggestion that it is an honours degree, but does say his degree is at 2:1 level. It may well be that some people assume he has an honours degree but he has never suggested it. He's never actually been asked to provide proof of his qualifications, and has moved steadily upwards in his career where he is very well respected and, again, most recently has moved because he was headhunted.

So the lesson is, OP, don't stress about it. If your work reputation is good, people will respect you for that, not for any degree you achieved in your 20s.

VerveClique · 01/12/2021 16:11

Jeepers don't lie on your CV! I have withdrawn job offers and disciplined people for misrepresenting their credentials.

You do know that a 1st isn't quite what it used to be anyway don't you? It's because of grade inflation.

Own your qualifications and concentrate on why you feel this way. Doing another degree won't necessarily lead to a first anyway!

Suzanne999 · 01/12/2021 16:14

If it really bothers you, you could go back to a Uni, get accepted, do the course all over again, work harder or at a higher level, whatever it takes and make sure you get a first ?
An acquaintance years ago was determined to go to Uni A in a city about 20 miles away, she needed high grades of A levels. Uni B ( 10 miles closer) would have accepted her with lower grades. She spent 6 years retaking A levels ( paying each time) and never got the higher grades needed. I’d passed the A levels with not the highest grades, gone to Uni B, graduated and got a job and been working a year while she was still retaking A levels. Sometimes it’s just not worth sweating the small stuff.