by Caitlin (Student Blogger: BA Hons English Language)
There isn’t really a step-by-step guide on how to do third year right – but I can offer you some useful insights into what to expect and how to deal with third year in your first term. My first term in my final year at Lancaster is nearly over, and I can definitely say it’s by far the best but the most stressful.
1. Get organised
I know it’s what EVERYONE always says, but it definitely helps if you have a calendar with all of your upcoming deadlines, a to-do-list and make use of posit notes to remind yourself on things you need to do.
2. Start your dissertation early
This is something I have NOT done and regret it, because at this point in the term I’m swamped with other deadlines and priorities and my dissertation has fallen behind. I cannot recommend enough deciding your topic as early as possible (summer even) and getting started on your literature review and data collection as soon as you can, before other deadlines catch up with you.
3. Start applying to jobs early
This is something I began doing at the start of term, but have also had put on pause due to my deadlines. Lots of graduate job deadlines can be as early as October and November, so make sure you check out the deadlines in advance as job applications can be extremely time consuming (especially grad schemes that involve various tests and online interviews).
4. Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise
With the mountain of things you will have going on in third year – from sports to assignments, job applications to work experience and part-time work to maintaining a social life – prioritising is vital. This ties in with organisation, make sure you know when your deadlines are and order what you should be doing first – because there won’t be a time during first term of final year when you have NOTHING you could be doing.
5. Go out, socialise and do everything you did in previous years
Just because it’s final year, don’t let this scare you into isolation, quitting your sports and not going out with friends. I’ve managed to maintain all of this and revive a society on my own – it’s all about time management and once you get the hard work out of the way, you can reward yourself by going out. Without the de-stress of spending time with friends, going out for food or doing anything sociable, you’ll look back on third year with frustration and stress. It doesn’t have to be like that.
6. Get a break from uni
This is something that I only recently discovered – that staying in the ‘uni campus bubble’ is not productive and definitely does not motivate you to get your work done. Get out of Lancaster every once in a while, – catch a train to Manchester, go on a drive to the lakes with a friend or get a bus to Blackpool. Sometimes a day off from work, stress and Lancaster is all you need to motivate you.