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Year 4 General Advice

General Advice

Try to stay somewhat on top of your online business course. – 19/20

Autumn and winter in this country are depressing as fuck, get a light box. Spring is less depressing, but most of the term is still in the winter. It's going to be hell you poor things. Social isolation is going to be horrific, good luck – 19/20

Stay on top of your work - being organised is a massive key to success in fourth year as you also have to manage graduate job applications and your final year project. Speaking of FYPs, I would recommend getting a lot of work for your project done as early as you can, including the interim report because it definitely helps you later on in the year. You can leave work to the summer term and still do well in your project but you definitely won't gain as much from the experience and will hinder your grades at least a bit. It depends where your priorities lie (project, grades or grad job), but choose which is your priority and stick to it. – 19/20

If it fits with your plans do consider loading up on modules in Autumn term. It helps to leave the rest of the year (excluding exams) free for FYP. 3rd year coursework modules are a great choice to take in Spring term. – 19/20

Apply for jobs/grad roles ASAP if you don't yet have an offer and don't plan on pursuing academia. – 19/20

Difficult year but it is the last one! – Clementine Biet, 2019/20

Take a business module and frontload your modules this year. I did 6 modules in my first term and 1 in my second, which gave me plenty of time to work on FYP without interruption in spring. – 19/20

prepare to apply a job in autumn term – 19/20

FYP Advice

Don't put it all off until the summer term, but you can do so and still get a good mark. I did no work beyond the required interim report until May, and got a 2:1. But it was quite hellish doing so. – 19/20

There is less time than you might think. It’s important to choose a really well defined project so you don’t have to waste time searching for what to focus on and what you need to achieve. – 19/20

Write report as you go, through the term will save you a lot of editing time later – 19/20

Stay disciplined, motivated and organised. If you have your own idea for the project, I would highly recommend you do it, as this way you are guaranteed to have a project that you're passionate about, and have more autonomy over. However regardless the project is a great opportunity to complete a piece of work all by yourself and at the end you definitely feel accomplished that you completed it, even if you felt pretty daunted at the beginning of the year. – 19/20

Don't be afraid to discuss changing the scope of your project with your supervisor. Many of them would much prefer a smaller, really well done project, to a big one that isn't great. Also don't jump straight in, spend your time on research before starting. – 19/20

Choose something you are genuinely interested in, in an area which you know you enjoy, and work consistently on it. Otherwise you will suffer. – 19/20

The FYP should be neglected for other modules even during Autumn term. Good planning and regular meeting with your supervisor are key for the FYP. Being pro-active will really benefit the FYP – Clementine Biet, 2019/20

Don't leave it until last minute, there is way too much work to do to manage it in a month. Also, communicate with your supervisor, they have done this before and are really helpful – 19/20

Avoid drama in the first week and either check Tom Clarke's project list early on (there should be a few projects in September) or think about self-proposing a project. Also, choose your supervisor well - make sure they'll be able to meet regularly and give you actual advice. – 19/20

always start early, otherwise you will be too stressed – 19/20