Why does first year matter?

[daenyy]

hey guys, so I'm just feeling v lost and confused right now, I've been trying to get my shit together for uni and complete all my assignments. I do law at UNSW but I don't understand, why does first year matter? How much does it count towards the final degree?? just feeling a total loss of motivation and have kinda been winging everything. Everyone else in my class is always stressing about assignment but idk i just don't understand why it matters rn.

[spectroscopy]

First heard important for a few things. The main one is probably building the foundation for the rest of your degree and even career after. It's the year where you learn what does and doesn't work for you and you start building the knowledge that later subjects will depend on. Also if your grades are crap in first year it can be an anchor on your average and make it an uphill battle to graduate with good gpa

[Aqualim]

hey guys, so I'm just feeling v lost and confused right now, a family member recently passed away but I've been trying to get my shit together for uni and complete all my assignments. I do law at UNSW but I don't understand, why does first year matter? How much does it count towards the final degree?? just feeling a total loss of motivation and have kinda been winging everything. Everyone else in my class is always stressing about assignment but idk i just don't understand why it matters rn.

All years of your degree are important, as they all contribute to your WAM/GPA. The day you start your degree is the day you start your career. It's actually pretty serious, especially in this day and age where you are heavily scrutinised at job interviews, (I've done heaps of them, trust me, they're pretty brutal), and are competing against people who average 80+ their entire degree, were the captain of the rowing team, started up a foundation and cured cancer (Not really, but you get the picture).

Honestly if I was in your position and I didn't have any motivation to study or do anything productive, I would pull out for a semester, but that's just me. So either you work really hard this semester to start your degree with a good WAM/GPA and withdraw next semester, or you withdraw late with a $3,000+ HECS debt that didn't really get put to use.

[Sine]

hey guys, so I'm just feeling v lost and confused right now, a family member recently passed away but I've been trying to get my shit together for uni and complete all my assignments. I do law at UNSW but I don't understand, why does first year matter? How much does it count towards the final degree?? just feeling a total loss of motivation and have kinda been winging everything. Everyone else in my class is always stressing about assignment but idk i just don't understand why it matters rn.

First year will contribute to your final GPA/WAM which is relatively important, but imo most importantly (like spectroscopy said) is learning how to learn and using the system of university. Learning what works for you what doesn't - what shortcuts you can take (without it not impacting your grades too much) so you can maximise marks without exerting 100% effort

As for the "stress" of the assignments that is more a short term goal in wanting to do well - whether that just be for the sake of doing well or pride but also could be something like job prospects or even knowing that that it will indirectly help you in your future job as the long term goal.