TOP 10 SECRETS OF FIRST CLASS
STUDENTS
I prepared this based on my personal
experience, experience of people I
know, and experience of juniors I
mentored to making it.
1, NATURAL BRILLIANCE: There is a
minimum level of natural brilliance that
is required before a student can think
of First Class. I do not intend to put
limit to one’s capabilities, for I
believe like most people that
impossible is nothing. However,
realistically speaking, that is an
exception to the rule. Most First Class
students have a track record from
lower levels of education. That is the
first foundation.
2,THE POWER OF DREAM: Most first
class students dream. I do not mean
metaphysical dream, I mean the Luther
King definition – vision, forward-
looking, even though awake. In
secondary school I had a friend who
once looked up and said, ‘the last time
someone made an aggregate 6 (i.e
minimum of 6 A1’s in SSCE) in this
school was 12 years ago, I want to be
the next’. He made it. Same boy told
me he wanted to ‘enter the back of
JAMB brochure’, meaning he wanted to
be among the top 3 JAMB students in
Nigeria (JAMB print at the back of
the brochure for a year the names of
the best 3 candidates in the prior
year’s examinations). He didn’t make
it, but he scored 296. When this
friend of mine entered Ife, he went to
his faculty’s board, where names of
best students are engraved every year,
looked up and said, ‘when I leave this
school after five years I want my name
written on this board’. He worked for
it. He didn’t make it. But he not only
came out with a CGPA north of 4.7 (of
the possible 5.0) but he also emerged
as one of his faculty’s best. After
that, he told someone that he wanted
to have his PhD without doing Master’s
degree. The person told him it was
hardly possibly, and counted on his
fingertips the number of Nigerians
that performed that feat. My friend
proved our doubter wrong. He got the
PhD at age 29, skipping Master’s. That
is the power of dream.
3, COMPETITION: What most people
don’t know is that there is usually a
subtle competition among best
students in classes. The competition is
not necessarily unhealthy. They may be
–and in fact usually are – friends, but
they compete. In my undergraduate
days, story is told of a guy that, at
the beginning of every semester, went
to ask what X, the best student in the
class immediately preceding his, scored
in each course and he would tell those
that cared to listen to him that he
would break the record and score
higher than him. He did, most times.
Most First Class students compete.
Each wants to be the highest scorer in
each subject. That is why it is always
good to go to a competitive institution,
rather than enjoy local championship
status without stiff competition.
4, CALCULATION: When you see some
students reading a purely theoretical
course and having calculator by the
side, don’t think they are insane or
doing ‘over-syllabus’. No they are just
running the permutations – if I score B
in this course, what will my CGPA be?
What is the worst case scenario?
What is the best case scenario? How
many A’s do I need to make X-CGPA?
etc. These are calculations that go on
in their heads. Some don’t even
compute their GP’s at the end of a
semester, they have the template in
their heads already, having done the
permutations over and over again even
before writing the examinations, and
they just insert the course scores into
their mental template.
5, OPTIMISTIC MENTALITY: Some
students die many times before their
academic death. How can a student gain
admission into a school and the first
thing he hears is, you can never make a
First Class, they wont give you. Well, I
don’t believe this. This is what kills
many students. How can you go to
battle with a defeatist mentality and
expect to win? Many First Class
students defy these “messengers of
doom” and pursue their target
optimistically. I finished from the
Obafemi Awolowo University and this is
one thing I must commend students of
the school for. As a Jambite, what you
hear are stories of one Deji Akere
that shattered school records, or one
Hammed Shittu that effortlessly broke
any record breakable. You even hear of
stories of students that had graduated
since the 1970s. These are stories
that motivate you, not some tale by
moonlight about a sadist lecturer
denying you First class. This is another
very vital feature of First Class
students. They don’t believe cock and
bull stories.
6, ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT: Academic
environment also helps. In a school
where you spend most of your time
queuing for water or transport or
forced to read with candle, chances of
academic success are very low. This is
why Nigerian students do well abroad
where they have all the facilities and
learning is conducive. This is also why
schools like OAU, UI and to some
extent, Unilag, with strong students
body that fight for students welfare
like good transport system, power on
campus, good water system etc,
produce more First Class students.
Same for private schools, where there
is little or no worry about welfare.
7, COURSE OF STUDY: Course of study
is another very important factor. It is
better to choose a course you are
interested in, not one you are forced
to do. Some otherwise brilliant
students don’t perform up to potential
because they are not interested in
what they are studying in the
university.
8, THE EARLY YEARS ARE CRITICAL:
Some students get taken away by the
euphoria of being a university student
and spend their first year faffing
around. Still, in some schools, year 1
performance is not aggregated as part
of the overall grade. For most
students, after performing woefully in
their first two years, they now grab
straw to salvage the situation in the
later years. Needless to say, it is
most times a futile exercise. But there
are cases of great come-backs. The
best two students in my class during
my undergraduate days were not among
top 15 in class after our first
semester year 1. They were not even
in First Class then. But they came
back to overtake all of us early flyers.
Well, that means there is still hope if
you didn’t do too well after your year
1. But after year 2, the bridge may
have fallen.
9, KNOW THYSELF: The problem with
many student is they try to ‘copy-cat’.
While it is good to learn from the
method of another high performer, it
is important to know how to adapt it.
Some students don’t need to read for
more than 3 hours a day before they
pass, indeed do excellently well and
top the class. Some must read for at
least 7 hours a day. I know First Class
students that watched football and
participated actively in campus
religious activities. Some even get
involved in departmental politics. It is
about knowing oneself. But for most
First Class students I know, reading
the notes while still hot, and not
waiting till they accumulate, is a
common denominator.
10,….AND KNOW THY TEACHER TOO:
Knowing how to approach a question in
an examination is an art itself. How do
you organize your answers? It goes
beyond just picking the answer script
and writing down what you think is the
answer. Know what the lecturer wants.
Does he want ‘lengthy story’? Or he
wants it ‘short and snappy’? You may
have a clue into this through your
seniors who had taken the course
earlier. First class students study not
only the course, but the course-taker.
Ultimately, God is very important. The
above are just helpful human factors.


Not my idea nor writeup. Got it from Jarushub.com and decided to share

Thanks, U made my day. ASUU and their useless, clueless, greedy and selfish lectures should all die for all I care!!

40% only go through school, they don't let school go through them

45% of them cram to pass their exams....and when they get to labour market, they won't be able defend it.

50% are boring....not social at all!!!

You forgot Relationship impedes your first class abilities

Thanks very much 4 dz tips. Know thyself. Even a relationship can't stop u if u've gat d dream.

As a first class graduate, I totally agree with your write-up. Especially with ur 1st point on Natural brillance and also optimistic mentality, not forgeting d use of calculator 2 guage grades and cgpa. whenever I lecture my year one students, i try as much as possible to inculcate into them most of d information u itemized in ur post. To me, its my own of giving back to the society dat v made me who i am today.

you are wrong....the list is as follows in Nigeria

1. cram

2. buy hand outs and cram

3. solve past questions...lazy lecturers recycle questions

4. dr. rashhedd likes a girl that fancies you.....drop her like shes hot

5. carry his bag for him....in short be his P.A, go to his house and wash his car

6. cram again

7. go to fellowship tutorials

8. no.....don't do sports or anything...leave that girl!....go home and cram

9. get a mat......sleep in the library

10. that equation too long to cram, turn it into a song, cram the song, hate music?....then write it in short hand on a piece of paper..sneak it in,
too scared cos to do that and you r a girl...easy..."meet" your lecturer...give him meat, a boy....then pay your tithe.

if he is religious and wont agree to any of the above, go to his church, become and usher.......after this don't even bother with the exam, in short don't even go to the exam hall


11. become the class rep, compile assignments from submitted ones, submit, your c.a will almost guarantee an A



IF YOU DO ALL OF THE ABOVE AND YOU DONT GET IT,

call me yourself bastar.d

i graduated with a first class. i can relate with the write up

[color=#006600][/color] Good write op. But in Nigerian Varsities except for maybe private uni.'s these theories don't just apply. And for any prospective student wanting to adopt these principle better start jettisoning admission offer from fed. and state uni.'s in Nigeria.

osifred: i graduated with a first class. i can relate with the write up

In what discipline?

All very true. How i wish i cud av read this wen I wax still an undergraduate. Am still happy share cos I know for sure dat am beta Dan dose with first class in my school (some can't even write their names well). MOD! Dis is front page material

Friday1993: [color=#006600][/color] Good write op. But in Nigerian Varsities except for maybe private uni.'s these theories don't just apply. And for any prospective student wanting to adopt these principle better start jettisoning admission offer from fed. and state uni.'s in Nigeria.

Pls expantiate on this comment