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?

Would you genuinely think any worse of anyone else who didn't have straight As at school or who has a 2:1?

I agree with PP that it's your self esteem that needs to improve and I'd certainly work on that before doing a PHD. It can be very demoralising trying to get published with lots of knock backs etc. Even for the cleverest of candidates.

I'm struggling to imagine any scenario where I might have been casually asked about my degree classification, or where I'd have felt the need to mention it, and in 10+ years I can honestly say it's zero.

So in agreement with some PPs, I think you're fixating on something which is important to no one but you (except maybe in an employment context, but then hopefully you wouldn't be looking to lie).

Its not that I don't get it exactly... at school I was also a straight A/A* student and any poor result would have stung. But sometimes you just have to accept that life happens and realise that you and your achievements aren't defined by a single grade 🤷🏼‍♀️

Any job I’ve applied for that requires knowing my degree grade asks for my transcript as verification, whilst waiting for that from my university they will accept my certificate as an interim to continue forward.

I don’t understand why you want to lie?
So yes, YABU!

Whatever grade you get on whatever level doesn't matter as long as you have enough to get you go the next level.

Let it go OP but don’t lie about it, especially to not yourself

You can hoodwink yourself if you want to but you still know you didn't get the perfect run of scores that you wanted. It's a shame if that's how you value yourself.

I have a colleague who says he has a PhD, he calls himself Dr, he was offered an MPhil, but he couldn't bear to tell people he failed.

So you want to lie and pretend to be someone you are not.

No wonder you didn’t get a 1st class degree.

How can you be sure you will have got a first, if circumstances were different?

I'd love to identify as many things I didn't achieve but don't because it's an odd thing to do.

@drpet49

So you want to lie and pretend to be someone you are not.

No wonder you didn’t get a 1st class degree.

That's so uncalled for.

OP I can understand that there may be reasons why you needed to rely on academic achievement and perfectionism to boost your self esteem. However, if you got caught out lying, it could crush you personally and professionally.

It sounds like you could find better ways to build up your inner confidence as you obviously have the ability; really understanding that everyone gets things wrong sometimes might boost this more successfully than lying about your degree.

It's a bit pointless to lie about. Other people don't care and you know it's a lie. It won't affect your self esteem because every time you'll know that you're lying.

Could you do a masters or an open university degree to get a second degree with a first, if you really think its so important?

In my 20 years of recruiting and managing teams, I’ve never asked what classification a candidate received. Frankly it’s none of my business.
You HAVE a degree which is a fantastic achievement, stop putting yourself down, and there’s certainly no need to include it on your CV.

It's ok to fail at things (not that a 2.1 is a failure at all). It's ok to not always be exceptional.

If you come to terms with that, you will be much happier and more successful in life than if you lie about your degree classification.

I have a friend who announced at her wedding, in the middle of her husbands speech, that she got a first.

It was pretty cringe.

And you don’t think the lie will catch up with you at any point? Of course it will, why not focus on the future rather than a past event you can’t change?!

[quote Kanaloa]@Sahgah

It’s basically just how good your marks and exams were. You can get a first, a 2.1, or a 2.2. A first is the best. It’s generally not too important, but say you were going for a prestigious grad scheme or masters, having a first would be an advantage over someone who had a 2.2.

Outside of interviews for things like this it would (in my opinion) be odd to drop in that you got a first.[/quote]
You can also get a 3rd, or in some circumstances a pass/ordinary (rather than Honours) degree. As far as I can remember the latter tended to happen if you failed one of the earlier years and were allowed to re-sit, but that may be an institution specific thing.

Are you quite young OP? In a work context it doesn't matter what your degree classification is as long as you're good at your job (particularly once you've progressed beyond your first job, as they're more bothered about experience), and in a social context it doesn't matter at all unless you're some kind of weird academic snob.

I may have missed it, but what did you actually get?

Graduating from a degree course is a fantastic accomplishment in itself. Most people who were straight A students at school don’t end up with Firsts - degree level learning is very very different to school education. There is absolutely no guarantee that if your circumstances had been different, you’d have got a 1st.

Be proud of your achievements. Don’t lie about them. And no-one except employers is remotely interested in what you got. Even employers aren’t that bothered, to be honest.

Honestly this is just silly. Accept what you got and move on. Lying to others and yourself is fake and deceitful, never mind risky should you be found out.

There are things I would have liked to achieve in my life but I’m not about to start pretending that I did achieve them, cause I didn’t.

As others have said, jobs that ask for a degree will probably ask to see your certificate or transcript.

Of course it would make you feel good to tell people that you've achieved to the highest standard . It would make me feel great to tell people that I won a gold medal at the Olympics for swimming when in fact I can only swim very slowly and not for that wrong. But those things are lies. You can't lie to people about how well you did at something. It would be terrible to your professional career if you were found out and wouldn't be fair to other people who were able to earn a 1st.

Are you a new graduate? If so then these things won't matter after some time and success in your job. If you're older then I think you need to consider your own self-esteem and your resilience. What happens if you make a big mistake at work? Or if you underperform on a work project? You won't be able to lie to make yourself feel better so you'll need to have confidence in your deeper abilities. This might really be worth working on.

You're quite flippant about taking a PhD and publishing heaps to make yourself feel more successful. You might be able to do this or you might not. Getting a PhD is quite challenging and many people don't successfully publish multiple articles. I have a PhD and I know many people who weren't able to publish or only had one publication. PhDs and undergraduate degrees take place over years so there is likely to be some challenging personal circumstances during this time. Please remember that most people face some level of challenging circumstances during a degree so you're far from the only one who found that it impacted their marks (although I don't know the severity of your circumstances obviously). If you can say that this is the reason that you didn't get a 1st and you should be therefore able to tell people that you basically did get a 1st then so should many people. Also think about how you would cope with a PhD if something challenging does happen during that time. Would you feel okay with yourself if you finished a PhD but it was average or only had one publication?

Even if you tell others for external validation, you’ll know you didn’t get a first.

If it’s for a job, they’re going to ask to see proof so you can’t do it for that

YABU.

Your classification is part of your rich journey as a student. Reflect on why it is important to you. Reflect on why you got the grade you did. Think about how you can use that knowledge.

I was possibly a little like you and missed out on a 1st due to extenuating circumstances. It has made me always encourage people to seek help when they need it and submit extenuating circumstances forms. It also made me more determined to see potential and encourage that spark - I know the encouragement of one of my tutors made all the difference to me. It also helped me in my other degrees to know my physical limits and to look after myself as well as studying.

A masters might help you, especially if you think it will affect your career, but how would you feel if you didn't get a distinction? A PhD is only worth it if it is on your career pathway. Most of a PhD is just slog and determination.

I think that the people who really value a 1st probably aren't aware of how fine a line it is. Yes sometimes students get 1sts who are truly exceptional, other times a really good student might have a bad year or a good student might really work hard and push themselves into the first classification.

You might watch JK Rowling's speech on failure to Harvard it has some interesting points about failing and the benefits of it. Before anyone jumps on me I don't think the OP has failed but to OP it may feel like that. Reflect on this as an opportunity to understand yourself as a learner and to build your determination. It will make you stronger as a person and will help you to face future adversity.

Don't lie about it, you would only really be lying to yourself because no one else particularly will care what classification you got, unless on a CV and you could lose your job if you lie on a CV.

OP,
Do not lie about your qualifications.

If you get found out you could be disciplined.

Remember that chap on Dragons' Den?

How does it boost your self esteem to pretend you got a first when you didn't?

You know its not true.

Yeah, YABU. Unlikely you ever need to mention your classification in conversation anyway but all the jobs I ever applied required you to submit your degree certificate during the HR checks so pointless to lie.
Get your self esteem boost somewhere else OP.

I am old and often look up people I have worked with in the past on linked in. The people I didn't like do seem to have all embellished their CV quite significantly on linked in over the years, saying their earlier roles were director level when they weren't, saying they had a "global" role when they didn't, heading an entire business when they didn't etc. So much poetic licence. It says a lot about a person that they need to do that, and that they think people won't know. So no, don't lie. Ever. You are better than that. Being honest is a much better statement of your worth than having an actual first.

@steff13 and @Sahgah, in the UK, if you study for an undergraduate degree, "you're aiming to graduate with a degree with honours. With this type of degree, the level of your academic performance on your programme is indicated by the ‘class’ of degree – or honours - you are awarded. Most universities award a class of degree based on the marks from the assessed work you have completed. To distinguish between students on the basis of their academic achievement, undergraduate degree awards are classified as follows:

First-Class Honours (70% and above): a first class degree, usually referred to as a ‘first’ or 1st, is the highest honours degree you can achieve

Upper Second-Class Honours (60-70%): there are two levels of second class degree. An upper second class, known as a 2:1 or two-one, is the higher of the two levels

Lower Second-Class Honours (50-60%): a 2.2 or two-two is the lower level of the second class degree

Third-Class Honours (40-50%): known as a ‘third’ or 3rd, this degree is the lowest honours degree achievable

Ordinary Degree: If an honours student fails to achieve a third class by a small margin, they may be awarded an ordinary degree i.e. without honours"
www.ucl.ac.uk/students/exams-and-assessments/certificates-results/uk-honours-degree-system-undergraduates