Do these three things and you’ll smash your degree.

Starting university can be intimidating but it doesn’t need to be. You’ll need to work hard, but it won’t be unmanageable. You never know you might even enjoy it! So how can you make sure that you maximise your academic success whilst developing your social skills and having a social life. Well, we’re here to tell you how.

1. Sort your essay submissions before you do anything else.

This might sound like simple advice but the most important part of your academic work at university is your end grades. What contributes to your end grades? Weekly submissions. You’ll have submissions to do throughout the year and these will often count towards your end of year grades. Now it can be tempting to put this off until the last moment however this can lead to feelings of insecurity and nervousness. Knowing that you have an essay to do but not being sure how and when you’re going to do them can be very worrying. So what exactly am I suggesting? Well, you don’t have to do your essay straight away, but have a place for it. You should work out:

·       How long the essay will take.

·       What books you need.

·       Where you can find the books.

·       When you will start.

When you have this information, not only will you be likely to get a better grade because of this planning, you’ll also be able to relax, because until your new timeline says to start work you can completely chill out!

2. Bagsy the books early

For every essay you write you’ll need to read a whole host of books. Imagine now that another 200 people also need to read those books. That’s the reality. Your whole course will be asked to read the same books at the same time and there is normally only a couple of each book available in any given library.

You can get organised (see point 1!) and this will mean you are one of the lucky few who gets to read the book when you want to. You can even rent out the book to desperate students on your course when you’re done. I’m joking – obviously don’t do that… but you could.

3. Find a friend to discuss your work with

University is meant to reflect the real world and in the real world, you will rarely find yourself having to work alone. Your course mates are doing the same reading, same lectures and the same essays so try and pool your knowledge. They might have a different approach to you and it might even take a bit of organisation but if you get a good study group going then you are certain to reap the benefits in the long run.

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