How to Get a First
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Review
'[How to Get a First] is the title of an excellent guide by Thomas Dixon ... it is a compilation of what he wishes he had known before he went to university.' - The Daily Telegraph
'This is not some sort of get rich (top grades) quick scheme but a collection of good advice.' - Physical Sciences Educational Reviews
Product Description
In this informative guide, Thomas Dixon argues that you do not have to be a genius to get a first at university. He sets out to de-mystify first-class degrees in the arts, humanities and social sciences, clearly articulating the difference between the excellent and the merely competent in undergraduate work.
This concise, no-nonsense guidebook will give prospective and current students advice on teaching and learning styles that prevail in university and on how to manage their two most important resources - their time and their lecturers. In an accessible and entertaining style, the author looks at subjects such as:
- making the transition from school to university
- developing transferable skills
- making use of lectures and seminars
- using libraries and the Internet
- note-taking, essays, seminars and presentations
- common mistakes to avoid
- writing with clarity and style
- revision and examinations.
Illustrated with many examples from a range of academic disciplines, How to Get a First is an all-purpose guide to success in academic life. Visit the companion website www.getafirst.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential buy for everyone who wants a First!,
By Miss Demant (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Get a First: The Essential Guide to Academic Success (Routledge Study Guides) (Paperback)
With interest in becoming a clinical psychologist I need to achieve a First, or at least a 2:1. The total mark for my essays last year was 2:2, so I decided to make an effort and bought Thomas Dixon's book hoping it could help me. Today, I got my first essay back for this year and it was marked... FIRST!! I consider myself an average student, but as Dixon emphasizes in his book: you don't need to be a genious to achieve a First! It is definitely a book worth buying, it explains very well and simple in details how you should structure your essay, what to include and not to include, and simply just clarifies what a First-class essay contains and HOW to write it!! It is an essential buy...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
No Earth Shattering Insight - But A Useful Reality Check,
By
This review is from: How to Get a First: The Essential Guide to Academic Success (Routledge Study Guides) (Paperback)
If you are looking for a book that's going to give you some unique inside track in aiming for a good degree classification, or reveal the tricks of the trade so to speak, then this book may not be for you. The advice rendered in its 171 pages is fairly basic stuff. Nonetheless, it does have merit in that the Author is striving to get a simple but really important message across - it's not necessarily the brightest students who get first class honours, but rather the best focused and organised ones. To stress this point, he compares a student aiming for a first class degree to an athlete at competitive level who needs to prepare. The Author points out that it's the silly little distractions that can pull you back if you let them. So, you need to be self-disciplined, and like the athlete who takes to the track, field, gym or pool when he or she really doesn't feel like it, first class students need to get down to work when there's other things they'd rather do. Your greatest ally here he explains, is getting into a routine, and stoutly defending your study time from encroachment by others, as well as yourself.
There are the Author also explains 'rules of the game', and if you follow them well, then your chances of getting a first improve drastically - even if you're not a naturally gifted student. Each chapter has a succinct summary, and covered in these are things like how to take useful notes, and using a library in conjunction with your reading lists. He then moves on to writing of essays dissertations and making presentations. Coping with exams is then dealt with. It is as I said before, quite basic stuff, but it's well written and succinct and it would certainly be a sound starting point. I would say the book's main strength isn't really on technique though. Rather, it's in its direct and down-to-earth way of encouraging the reader to adopt the right mental attitude to their studies. The Author also points out that when you're well organised in your studies, it actually helps the creative juices to flow, because it takes the negative type of stress off you, or at least reduces it. Everything he says does make sense. This book may not be a classic, but particularly for those preparing to start a degree course, or in the fairly early stages of one, it does in my opinion, have a valid claim to its space on the book shelf. It's value for me, is in grounding the reader in what they really need to do to get that first, dispelling fanciful notions that could possibly lead the unwary astray in the process. This may not be the most ambitious objective, but it is an entirely valid and worthy one, and in my opinion, the Author does achieve what he sets out to.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great investment for savvy students,
By Vanessa M (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Get a First: The Essential Guide to Academic Success (Routledge Study Guides) (Paperback)
Focusing mainly on arts & humanities subjects Patrick Dixon, an experienced university teacher, shows students how to write eye-catching essays to please tutors and maximise grades.
Although it also offers some 'standard' study-skills tips, what makes Dixon's book stand out is its entertaining style and its tips on how to write first-class standard essays. Using interesting examples he shows what markers are looking for, and offers different ways to help your essay stand out from the pile. It's sometimes a bit of a game, as the author points out, but if you know the rules you can focus your efforts and separate your work from other bright students who aren't quite as savvy. I found the section on how to open essays particularly helpful and entertaining, but the book had good tips throughout. 'How to get a First', as the title suggests, is perhaps most helpful for bright (but not brilliant!) students want to sharpen-up and turn that 2.1 or 2.2 into a first. I'm still awaiting my final grade at the time of writing, but I've received numerous firsts in my essays over the course which I certainly wouldn't have without this book - so has been a very good investment. All the very best for your own studies!
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