Is repeating a year okay? Uni degree

[manchesterunistudent3000]

Hi guys,

I find myself in a very awkward position and I'm not entirely sure who to turn to.

I have had a really difficult academic journey.

When initially applying to university, my sister got raped and both of my grandparents died right around A-levels. This affected my mental healthy massively. I came out with AAB. I chose to resit to get A*AA, because I had an offer from LSE. However, my exam was then canceled because of Covid. The exam results fiasco resulted in my grade from the government being a B. I lost both my firm and insurance, and found a place at Birmingham via clearing for AAB. The government then gave allocated grades; I ended with AAA in the end.

I hated Birmingham. I never saw myself there; I tried to make the most of bad luck. I chose to stay the year because I’m from a small town, and there are no job opportunities nearby. I couldn’t take a second gap year. However, after a year at Birmingham, I felt entirely out of place. In the first few modules I worked my socks off; I did well. The second semester not so much. I felt incredibly depressed because I hated the city and my heart was never in it. In February, my brother then died of an overdose. I couldn’t find the motivation to study whatsoever, and my second-semester term results were pretty abysmal.

For the first semester:
Criminal law - 76%
Legal skills and methods - 77%
Law in action - 62%

Second semester:
Public law - 49%
Contract law - 47%
Decolonising legal concepts - 67%

I was aiming for a strong 1st. My aspiration has always been to become a barrister at a top set. I realise you need a strong first for this. Alternatively, I thought that I'd apply for a US/Magic Circle. With the grades I got, and the total dislike of Birmingham, I decided to move to Manchester University - my original insurance choice. My thought process was that by repeating the first year, I can get the first-class degree that I wanted. However, I am now sat in a lecture doing the same modules that I’ve already studied. I feel like I’m going backwards. As much as I hated Birmingham, and as much as I love Manchester, I don’t know whether I should move back and just continue with the second and third year. Will my nodules from first year hold me back, or am I doing the right thing in moving? I worry that being back in Birmingham would probably make me sad, but also being here makes me sad because I'm doing it all over again. I don't know how much my results would hold me back, also. Contract law and public law are both important modules, and if I'm trying to get a strong 1st overall, I don't think it's too great with a low 2:1 average of 63%.

What do you guys think? I realise this is lengthy but I have no one to turn to.

 

[manchesterunistudent3000]

@Jessica Booker

 

[Dheepa]

Hey there,

I’m really sorry to hear about everything you’ve been through, my heart really goes out to you. There are plenty of people that bounce back from poor first year grades and go on to secure a first overall. I think this comes down to how much weightage is placed on each year towards your overall average. As far as I know most unis don’t take into account/place only a 10% weightage on your first year results when calculating your overall grade. I don’t know much about the barrister route but for most MC/US/city firms if you’re second and third year grades are strong and you explain the clearly valid mitigating circumstances you have, you still stand a good chance at getting a TC. So no I don’t think your modules alone will hold you back, especially if you have strong grades in the coming years, good extracurricular etc.

On whether or not you should move back to Birmingham, I think this should be less dependent on the grades situation and more dependent on what will make you happy. Ultimately, wherever you are happier at is where you will perform better academically and while you don’t know what will make you happy at the moment, you do know that Birmingham did make you unhappy. While I know it’s not a great feeling to be re-doing something you’ve already done, this way you are still studying at a place you want to be at, you get a head start over everyone else having already done the material before and you get the certainty of knowing you can perform well this year and finish with the grades you want. It sounds like you’re going through a little bit of an adjustment period with redoing the year and you probably need to give yourself some time to adjust to all the emotions that come with that. If you can I would try to talk to a mental health counsellor at your university about this too.

One final thing, something I do personally myself when I can’t decide on a huge life changing decision is: I take a piece of paper fold it in half and on one side write down what the side in favour of Decision A has to say and the on the other side counter with what the side in favour of Decision B has to say in response to A’s points. I hope this makes sense but essentially, follow the conversation with yourself through to the end on paper because sometimes just going over it in your head alone isn’t enough. It may help you see what you really want to do more clearly.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Have you spoken to Birmingham to see if you can go back into your second year? I think this is a first steo

This is only how I can interpret what you have written, but if you feel like you arse going backwards at Manchester and you choose to stay, maybe it’s worthwhile pouring yourself into something else outside of academia to feel like you are doing something. Maybe you can get involved in some extra curriculars or even work part time/volunteer to really help build up the rest of your CV outside of academia (all will be important with the careers you are aiming for).

You’ll need to explain your years out - but they are not 1) unusual or 2) necessarily a negative, especially in the light of extenuating circumstances.

I think you really need to focus on what keeps you happy though, given what you have gone through. I wouldn’t really focus on longer term goals, I’d focus more on getting yourself to a place where you are happy first.