7 tips to write an A-grade final year project on LOW BUDGET

A final year project – the ‘last bus stop’ of a degree program, is the ultimate of a student’s knowledge of the course. At this stage, the student is expected to pick a topic and prove that the four years (or more) expended during the course of the program have amounted to something.

Students, at this point, are basically expected to find a problem, discuss it, research it, investigate it and come to a reasonable conclusion… solutions. One could rightly say it is the ultimate examination that every student should take very serious. This is because it, ideally, is not a subject you can just read lecture notes for and then go sit for a test once and for all.

No. A properly done research takes a lot of thinking, studying and researching hours. Beyond that, a project can either be the icing or the dung on a student’s cake. For my degree at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, for example, the project is a six (6) credit ‘course’, three times the regular courses. The implication of scoring an ‘A’ grade is that your Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is strengthened.

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You could move from 2 class lower to 2 Class Upper by simply having an excellent project grade. Also, you can fall down from 1 class or 2 class Upper to a lower grade it you botch it up. It then means that your project is a very serious business.

Now, how does the average student will little resources at his or her disposal? What are the little ‘tricks and corners’ the student can use to hedge off a little bit of the prohibitive cost of the average project?

I’ll share a bit of my personal experience with my final year project (for my BSc. Mass Communication in 2006-2007) titled 'IMAGES AND PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN PRINT MEDIA ADVERTS' in which I used the Punch Newspaper as my case study. I used two data gathering methods – Content Analysis (Punch newspaper for 6 months) and Questionnaire using women (students and professionals) as my study group.

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Here are 7 important tips:

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Remember that you are not allowed to copy phrases from existing works without due attributions. You MUST acknowledge the source of any idea that did not originate from you.

Also, you should learn how to reference materials sourced online. There is a standard format for that.

One thing you should also note is that a well-researched and executed project could be your first book in the making.

If you can score a B grade at least, your CGPA will give you as hug.