Perceptions of BA without hons?

bestpud

I thought I'd resurrect this thread to thank everyone for your support now I have finally finished my dissertation!! :j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

I wasn't convinced I ever would if I'm honest and it's not how I'd like it, but it's done, and I will hopefully graduate with an Hons after all!

I'm very glad I didn't give up on it now and this thread helped me keep at it so many thanks for all your kind words. :beer:

And, of course, best wishes to everyone still slogging with theirs!





I'm considering dropping my dissertation and therefore graduating with a BA rather than a BAhons.

Considering I will not be looking for a graduate position and I am not doing the degree for employment reasons, how much difference is it likely to make?

Would it hinder me going into postgrad study?

Would an employer notice this?

I am a support worker for adults with learning difficulties at the moment and would like to stay in that area, or support work with a different client groups. Possibly counselling at some point (although that would involve further training etc).

My degree is sociology so it is relevent in a sense, but the classification is less so than the transferable skills, I'd have thought? I can't see it being a requirement as such.

I've never give it much thought before now but is it frowned upon in general? Or does it raise questions?

Any thoughts welcome.

Oldernotwiser

I think you'll close many doors in the future and almost certainly rule out post grad study. Can you take a break and do your honours later, perhaps with the OU?

bestpud

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think you'll close many doors in the future and almost certainly rule out post grad study. Can you take a break and do your honours later, perhaps with the OU?

I'm happy with the rest of my study but have reached burn out with the dissertation unfortunately.

The daft thing is it's half done, and I have until May to complete it, but I have got to the point where I want to scream when I look at it!

I really want to set aside a couple of weeks and get it out of the way but the thought makes me want to throw up!

Equally bad is the thought of it sitting over my head any longer!

But if it is going to close doors, I will have to find a solution. I was [STRIKE]praying[/STRIKE] hoping that wouldn't be the case.

Thanks.

Oldernotwiser

Have you got too close to it? Can you take a break or will it just hang over you?

Why not ring the OU and find out how many credits they'd give you for a BA and how many you'd need to add to top it up to Honours? That could be a way round the dissertation problem. Personally, I think this whole dissertation "thing" is unneccessary; they never used to exist at this level, or if they did they were just a "long essay" without all this stress!

omelette451

bestpud wrote: »

I'm happy with the rest of my study but have reached burn out with the dissertation unfortunately.

The daft thing is it's half done, and I have until May to complete it, but I have got to the point where I want to scream when I look at it!

But if it is going to close doors, I will have to find a solution. I was [strike]praying[/strike] hoping that wouldn't be the case.

Could you not talk to your tutor about it? He/she may have more suggestions than us. Unfortunately I think not having Hons will indeed close doors for you, but a dissertation is not a pre-requisite to getting an honours degree (I've just finished a degree but didn't have to write one), so there may be a way round it. Alternatively, if you're feeling fed up it may help to give yourself a rest from it, ignore it for a week or two, then work as hard as you can to get it done as fast as you can.

Lorian

You seem like you need to finish it. You have plenty of time, stop panicking and procrastinating, and do some!

bestpud

Thanks.

It's like a dark cloud hanging over me at the moment and, no, I can't shut off from it.

I have left it the last few weeks but it hasn't helped at all - made things worse if anything.

I will look into the OU option though. That seems better for me right now.

We used to need a certain grade in the IS, or our whole classification would suffer, but now it makes no difference what grade we get for it, so long as we achieve sufficient points overall. That eases things a little, but not enough for a worrier like me!

The problem is this has been ongoing now for the best part of two years (including the period in which I deferred) and I think I've reached saturation point with it iyswim?

Plus I was trying to do it when I became very stressed (just prior to deferring) and now associate it with all those bad feelings.

I wish I'd submitted a completely new question in September (I had that option but placed finances first at the time) rather than trying to continue with this one.

Hindsight is a great thing though...

I may ask my supervisor about altering the question now, as I have a few months and it may work - I'll be no worse off for trying I guess.

I'm off to work in a short while but will contact the OU tomorrow as well. I'll let you know what they say.

bestpud

omelette451 wrote: »

Could you not talk to your tutor about it? He/she may have more suggestions than us. Unfortunately I think not having Hons will indeed close doors for you, but a dissertation is not a pre-requisite to getting an honours degree (I've just finished a degree but didn't have to write one), so there may be a way round it. Alternatively, if you're feeling fed up it may help to give yourself a rest from it, ignore it for a week or two, then work as hard as you can to get it done as fast as you can.

We have to do an independent study (equivalent to 2 modules work) at my uni so I would have to come up with something equivalent if I didn't do it. At this stage, it would be difficult to find something suitable, and academically worthy, plus obtain the required permission etc.

bestpud

Lorian wrote: »

You seem like you need to finish it. You have plenty of time, stop panicking and procrastinating, and do some!

I know.

Do you feel like coming here and giving me a kick up the rear? Might take a stick of dynamite though tbh.

non_believer_2

Hi there - my degree is in Sociology so I can empathise with how you must be feeling right now. Since graduating with honours (coming up for 6 years ago now) I still haven't managed to get what is strictly speaking a graduate level job. This isn't because I am incompetent but because, as I have learned, qualifications alone (especially arts/social science qualifications) don't really qualify you for anything. Outside of medicine, law, engineering and maybe accountancy, there isn't really any such thing as a graduate job, only jobs where a degree is required or desireable i.e graduate level jobs. You've got to remember that potential employers are not just judging you and your ability to do the job, they're judging you against the other people who have applied for the job. Experience counts for a lot, so you will probably find that many of the non-graduate jobs you will be applying for will also be applied to by people who have degrees but don't yet have enough experience to get a graduate level job. Therefore, although an honours degree might not be a requirement of a job, if all other things are equal, but another candidate does have an honours degree and you don't, they may become a more attractive candidate. You really should take every opportunity you can to make yourself more attractive to potential employers. Also, I appreciate that you say you don't want a graduate job now, but might you in the future?

Piggles12345

BA, rather than BAhons, can never look good.