AIBU to still regret getting a 2:1 instead of a first?

[onedayillmoveon]

It’s been 10 years since I graduated from university and I still can’t shake off the regret that I got a 2:1 and not a first. I know that a 2:1 is perfectly fine for the vast majority of jobs and nothing to be ashamed of, my more and more people have gotten firsts for the past 20 years or so. When I graduated in 2016, about 33% of humanities graduates from my uni got firsts. I just felt so stupid, incapable, inadequate….. I know people say that grades and numbers can’t define us, but I sort of did let it.

I still can’t shake off this horrible regret that I didn’t get one. I got a high first in my second year and was so pleased, I genuinely loved my subject and had applied myself. In my final year (which largely determines degree class where I went), I became quite depressed and stressed. I could never focus and never really adequately prepared for my exams. I just can’t stop wishing that I had pulled myself together in some way.

Some of you, if you read this far, might think, “well if you have a decent job, nobody gives a damn what degree you got”, and yes, fair. Yet there are certain supposedly ‘elite’ jobs where a first is strongly preferred, and I think not getting one ruined my chances of those.

Anyway, if anyone else has ever felt the same way, or knows someone who does, and wants to share ideas or experiences, maybe that will be helpful.

Ah occasionally I think about not getting a first (I was 2% off) as everyone seems to have a 2:1 so it doesn't feel that special, but in the big scheme of things I've done alright and I loved Uni, went before tuition fees and got a full LEA grant to study so count my blessings.

And did you apply to any of them - given you got a distinction in your Masters? It sounds like not getting a first is a hook to hang your disappointment on - it’s not like you’ve pursued an elite career in the longer term. Yes there will be students graduating with a first, but you come with work experience that they won’t necessarily have. Knowing how to frame that experience is at least as important as your degree classification certainly a year or two after graduating.

Which ones? Because we recruit in a highly competitive well paid area and having a first was not a requirement - passing the tests we set were and there was no suggestion that someone with a 2:1 had less chance of passing or doing well.

I got a first in 1996. Still went into nursing before a degree was even required and it hasn’t made a scrap of difference to my career.
DS2 is currently on for a first in his fourth year (masters).
DS1 is proud of his ‘social 2:1’ !

So you're a teacher, have you made excellent career progression or are you still using your 2:1 as the reason you are not being promoted?

The first in your masters will supersede the 2:1 in your BA for job applications now. It’s not too late to entirely change your career now if you want to.

I have worked in HR/Recruitment for 30+ years, focusing mostly on SLT and board level HR. I don't think I've asked anyone what grade they got in their degree. Seriously, apart from your very first graduate role, nobody gives a shit. Your problem is why you are so hung up on this, not what grade you got. I would recommend some support, maybe some therapy? It's not healthy to be so focused on something so irrelevant.

When I graduated in mid 90s, out of class of about 100, only 3 people got firsts.
The value of them has changed over the years.
I think you need to reframe this. You did well. What was good about your university life?

One thing I'm wondering is if you haven't done as well as you had hoped and you're looking for something to blame?

Perhaps there are a small number of elite jobs that require a 1st, but surely if you are good enough for those, you're good enough to excel at other things. So unless you were not able to pursue a specific dream because of this, then it feels like maybe you do just need to move on and accept that for whatever reason you haven't been as successful as you'd hoped.

Assuming you went to uni young, you still have a long career ahead of you and plenty of time to make up for whatever it is you feel you haven't achieved.

I got a first but many firms took trainees with 2:1s no problem, they then did look back at A level grades (AAA or AAB) if they’re very picky and friends who got 1sts lost out for their ABC A-levels. If you stepped back from something like law/finance because the BIGGEST firms were out of reach - I think you were probably misled on the variety of training available at high calibre firms, with great salaries and training, which is a shame.

I know people with “big careers” who got 2:2s.

I hate to say it, but while grades help, it’s ultimately down to personal determination and hard work. I know people with 1st class degrees who just don’t have “it” to ever be great leadership or “successful” (whatever that means) in industry and people with 2:2s that have it in bucket loads and sky rocket. A degree grade isn’t a key to success.

It sounds as though your uncertainty on which career to choose may have actually lead to your disappointment now rather than the grade itself. I always think myself fortunate having chosen law and knowing the career path ahead of me so early on - had I changed my mind or taken history, I can see myself having been as lost as you did having to choose which path I wanted to do.

Nothing is ever too late if you dislike teaching. There are however great and rewarding careers in education and teaching itself.

Honestly, and I say this gently, you're using the fact that you didn't get a first as an excuse not to try in your career. I know loads of people with 2:1s who have incredible careers, and many with firsts who have not made it to a glitzy career. I know people who absolutely scraped through with a third do amazing things and earn crap loads of money. I've seen people with firsts do amazing things and earn crap loads of money. Just depends on your mindset (and sometimes a little bit of good luck and good timing). I hope you come to terms with your academic success, which on the outside seems absolutely fine for what it's worth.

I got a 2:1 over 30 years ago…honestly haven’t given it another thought since then! Genuinely…can’t think of a reason when it’s ever been a thought in my head up until reading this thread. It’s seriously a non-event.

You really need to get support with your mental health OP if it’s giving you this much anxiety after 10 years. This is not healthy.

Some jobs do. Elite law firms and Chambers as well as finance do.

I graduated in 2014 with a 2:2 and it hasn’t impacted my job at all. I’ve worked in several of the biggest accounting firms and gained further professional qualifications. I don’t think anyone’s asked what grade I got since my first grad job tbh!

There are a few careers where the undergraduate degree classification is the most important. Not many, but a few.

I averaged 69.3% in my first degree and was awarded a 2:1. They will have had to have a meeting where they agreed to average me down not up. I was very upset at the time - I had worked really hard. This was in 2003 and about 10 people in my year out of 200 got firsts. I was number 11 on the list.

I basically gave up trying to be exceptional at that point. I’d missed out on Cambridge by one place as well. I did some further study in a different area, and by the time I landed my first job a couple of years later I had largely stopped dwelling on it (although not completely). Now, 20-odd years on, I don’t think of it at all really. It’s an awful feeling though and I really sympathise.

I felt exactly the same in similar circumstances. It really knocked my confidence and I felt I could have tried harder.

As it happened I ended up doing another under grad degree. I got a First then. And guess what no one has appeared to care about the classification of either degree.
I know in my case I am scarred by my father's obsession with education and grades. And my own perfectionism and imposter syndrome linked to this.
But the truth is it doesn't matter. What matters is enjoying the subject, learning what you need and being able to go on and get a job.

I don't remember the last time I was asked my degree classification and I'm doing pretty well. I've found the more senior you are the less people care, it's more about your experience and reputation. The only time it may have been relevant was for very prescriptive grad schemes, but you need to let it go. My brother doesn't have a degree at all, nor A levels. He earns a fortune. You've decided to let it define you, and given up. That's your attitude not your grade.

I don’t think it’s about the first. I think it’s about your life now and your state of mind now. Not feeling good enough/always feeling like you are falling short of perfection. I would recommend therapy to unpick some of these feelings - did someone in your family life make you feel as though you were always falling short/their love for you is conditional?

My friend had a narcissistic mother and when she told her she had got a 2:1 she said “oh well, never mind.”

She has had a lot of therapy but it’s very hard if that was the sort of family system you grew up in. One of the most important things you can say to a child is “I love you no matter what.”

Your Masters supercedes your 2:1. You’ve tried (half heartedly?) the glitzy career, suffered imposter syndrome so quit. You continue to blame your perceived failings on that 2:1 because it’s easier that addressing the real
issue.

Do you truly think that no one who got a 2:1 has a high flying career? Because plenty do. Even at the bar, Magic circle and finance.

Actually I think you are wrong on this. I think your institution might be a filter for competitive careers but I’ve worked in a bit of recruitment on the graduate side of things and a first/2:1 filter wasn’t really a consideration. Employers look for a wide variety of factors when choosing candidates and just having a crew of people with firsts might mean you are missing people with other skills.

im kinda in your position that I got a very high 2:1. But it honestly would have made a difference other than bragging rights. On the other hand I did a professional qualification after and I had to take 20 exams. I passed all with pretty much marks in the 70-90% range and failed one of the lasts ones on 45%. In my mind I think it was a mistake but I didn’t query it and so it bugs me like mad I can’t say first time passes!!!! But that’s life. It was a long time ago and we all have these little things that annoy us in life!

But a first is 70% and the 69.3 means they would have had to average down? Thats what I was taught at school anyway, that anything below .5 means you average down.

@Orangebadger I know - major grade inflation was happening (probably still is). It was 33% of humanities, English, languages and law graduates getting firsts.

I see both sides. I also got a 2:1 & feel like you, I also was predicted to get a first but in my case I definitely just didn’t put enough effort in and I really regret it. On the other hand, i really don’t think it has held me back. I did a masters and got a first in that then retrained in a totally different field and did well in other professional exams etc. So while I totally get it that it’s frustrating you didn’t fulfill your full potential in your 1st degree, you still have all that potential and if you only graduated in 2016 you still have time to retrain and excel in a different field.

I'm currently interviewing (role in finance) and I couldn't tell you what degree classification the interviewees have got. It's in their CV, I'm sure, but I don't care. Unless you're straight out of uni, experience and skills are way more important than having a 1st.