Perceptions of BA without hons?

itsakindof_magic

Hi!
I agree with lots of the advice given here
I'm doing dissertation this year - but my course (training to be a teacher) means that I haven't been able to really begin to plan or anything yet - its also due in may. I'm not too worried just yet - I've got a dissertation tutor (maybe you do too?) who I'm making sure I stay in contct with and am now beginning to research my area of study. Obviously I only know what I have read of your situation, and don't know you, but you seem to be doing really well, and altough you've lost motivation at the moment, just having done half is fantastic! On the other hand, if you really wanted to change the focus, I know somebody who decided their dissertation just wasn't working only a month before hand in. They changed the question (obviously worked really hard!) but got a first for it as she was much more passionate about the topic. I know not everyone could do that (I know I couldn't!!) but just hope I've lifted your spirits a little. Good luck with everything

moggylover

Bestpud! Hugs and sympathy! My suggestion is that you go and ask if you can change your question. Try to find one that you feel really passionate about - it makes an amazing difference when the subject takes you over instead of you having to fight it.

Yes, you could finish the one you are on: I'm positive you are up to it. But if you are really hating it perhaps it will not do you justice. Let it go, if allowed, and move onwards and upwards.

I do think that having worked this hard, you deserve the "extra added value" of the hons. I can see where you are coming from on the "I don't need it now" - I'm impatient like that myself if the subject matter doesn't grab me:o
but I think you would regret it in later years. I think you would also regret not totally finishing what you started.

If you cannot change your question, then I think the suggestions about reading the dissertations of others might perk you up and give you some fresh insight and if you set yourself just a small part to do each day then I feel sure that you can finish it off and take a well deserved rest.

Good luck.

bestpud

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I logged on, read them and burst into tears (not something I do often enough), so now I am back having composed myself! I had braced myself for loads of 'sort yourself out type posts'...

I have contacted the OU and I could gain and Open honours degree by transferring 240 points and completing the whole of level three with them. Or I could try converting it into a Social Science honours but would probably need to do level two and three with them for that option. It's an option at least, and I feel better for knowing there is one.

I have emailed my supervisor and asked about the pros and cons of changing the question, or sticking as I am and pushing to get it done asap.

I have had a couple of weeks away from it, in fact we were away last week. I am fully recharged in every other aspect of my life but back to square one (it feels like) with the dissertation.

I have a plan, and chapter headings etc, and know exactly what I need to do - I just can't seem to do it. 'Rabbit in headlights' springs to mind!

I've looked at old dissertations and they were helpful in seeing what is expected. I hadn't thought of looking at PhD theses. I certainly wouldn't plagurise; if I can't graduate under my own steam, I'd rather not at all.

I only need to pass it but I have awful trouble handing in something I am not happy with. I'm also not good with writing a draft - I tend to need it 'right' from the start and sit for ages trying to word the first paragraph perfectly! :rolleyes: I have found switching the monitor off helps with that sometimes.

Re writing under pressure: I am not someone who can work with their back to the wall. Once my stress levels reach a certain pitch, my brain shuts down (literally). That is one reason I am not interested in graduate positions as such - I'm really not suited to demanding schedules and/or constant deadlines!

Knowing I am like that though, makes me worse, as I put things off, to avoid reaching 'melt down', but make myself more likely to reach it by doing so! :rolleyes:

I'm just a mess aren't I? :rotfl:

I do feel better now though so thanks again.

Errata

Hello - no, you're not a mess ! Your work doesn't need to be perfect - it just needs to get done. Few people are 100% satisfied with what they hand in and if everyone kept gnawing at it until it was 100% perfect nothing would ever be handed in. Perfection is not a good concept, perfect work exists only in people's minds - just like the perfect mother and the perfect child !
Whatever you decide is the best way forward for you will be the best way forward for you right now.

whitfreak

At my university graduating without honours meant you didnt get a classification and just got awarded an "Ordinary degree". So if you averaging anything above a third class at the moment losing honours would lose you quite a bit. Bear in mind that most grad jobs require at least a 2:2. I know people who have gone onto taught masters after getting an ordinary degree but I have no idea if they got any funding for it. And if you were thinking of doing a phd remember that a thesis is 100 times worse that your disitation from the writing point of view.

Right now for something slightly more cheery. On the subject of changing your question, if you're finding that your research is taking you in a slightly different direction then a minor change in the question shouldnt matter. Hell, at my university (both the physics and history departments atleast anyway), we were told to make sure our title/question was as relavant to what we'd written as possible. This recognises the fact that research doesnt always go the way that its planned, and also makes it easier for them to give you marks.

A complete change of question (i.e. starting afresh) is a different ball game, and will depend on your supervisor and whether you think you can pull it off in half the normal time.

Its also possible to be too much of a perfectionist, my girlfriend is still convienced that her first class disitation is rubbish... So look at previous ones (even if they're not relevent) to get an idea of the standard required, if you've got completed sections try and get an opinion out of your supervisor. And its perfectly acceptable to referance phds.

Most of all try to make timef for something else, working on a single piece of work constantly for hours on end make most people go nuts. So anything to take your mind off it will be a bonus.

melancholly

oh bestpud, hope you get less stressed soon....

i'd say that although a phd thesis may help, it will be HUGE and take a long time to get through! it also isn't the level an undergrad dissertation needs to be pitched out, so only have a look if it won't make you feel like you have an even bigger mountain to climb!!

i would try and have a change of working style - the first paragraph is often the last thing i write or certainly the last thing i edit. i never end up writing exactly what i think i'll write! can you split it into sections and then just bash out a rough draft of them. they'll need linking together later but that's easy enough with a few added sentences.

trying to make my thesis 'perfect' would have given me a nervous breakdown!! trying to make it good enough to pass nearly ended up with that on its own! it took plenty of drafts and some bits were very hard to write, with the introduction chapter being one of the last that i finished..... maybe you need to let go of the perfection aim now, and then when you have something that's 'ok' all the way through, you can go and edit bits to polish it into some 'very good'.

good luck though - not good to hear you're so down!

non_believer_2

I know it doesn't seem like it, but it really sounds like you have done the hard part. You say you have your chapter headings etc so you just need to get over this psychological barrier of getting started. Could you maybe just start writing about someting, anything, to get you into the mindset of sitting at the computer producing written work? Also, if the scale of the task ahead of you is so daunting, it might also help if you try and pretend that rather than writing a dissertation, you just have to write a series of individual essays. Start with chapter 1 (or whichever chapter seems easiest), set your timeframe for completing this essay, number of words etc and treat it as you have any other essay you've had to complete throughout your course. When you finish one you can have a break before you consider starting on your next 'essay'. I know it seems difficult, but you will get through it. Also, try to focus how good you will feel on graduation day, knowing you came through all of these feelings to achieve something so great. Good luck!

bitsandpieces

whitfreak wrote: »

Its also possible to be too much of a perfectionist, my girlfriend is still convienced that her first class disitation is rubbish...

Even with published, high profile academic work, the vast majority will contain errors (at least minor ones). Beyond that, the nature of research means that many or most of the predictions, hypotheses etc. will ultimately be found to be wrong. No one expects perfection in an undergrad dissertation.

It might be worth a look at your university's marking criteria. To get a pass mark (enough to at least earn you a with honours degree) you normally just need to show basic competence. I imagine, though, that some of the higher marks should be within your grasp...

Bluebird24

I also took the approach of treating my dissertation as a series of essays, each of 2 or 3000 words, which is what we were used to. It made it seem like a much less daunting task and gave me a real sense of satisfaction when I had a chapter wrapped up.

I left mine fairly late and started with about five weeks to go, having not done an awful lot of research, so I really cracked on with it in the Easter holidays and set myself a target of a chapter a week so I was working pretty intensively most days but still had a little time off. I'd also set targets for each day and provide little incentives for myself along the way. So I wouldn't have lunch until I'd done however many words etc! Or I wouldn't leave the library until I'd done 1000 words so I'd only get to drive home (I was back home for the holidays so I was going into the uni library 40 odd miles away) if I'd done it. And my boyfriend, who's based down south, was on Easter leave so I could only see him if I got cracking. I'm the opposite though and have to put myself under a bit of pressure or I won't do anything at all. Ever.

I also find it really difficult to write plans and tend to just get on with it, so whenever I get an idea I just write it, even if I'm in the middle of something else, and I can tidy it up and link it all together later. Or if I can think of the sort of thing I want to write for a paragraph but can't think of exactly what to say, I'll just sum up the general idea in a sentence, make it red and then go back to it.

I definitely think the most important thing is to view it in little chunks or it really is a bit too frightening. It would be such a shame to throw it all away at this stage when you have so much time to go! I didn't even know what I'd be doing mine on this time last year and it was due in in April.

bestpud

bitsandpieces - my supervisor assured me back a few weeks ago, that I'd scrape a pass if I only handed in what I have already done.

But I can't make myself do that - daft, I know! In my mind, it is better to fail than hand in something half done! :rolleyes:

Anyway, I have decided I will not be beaten by a mere 4000 words, and so I'm off to read over what I have done and get a grip of it again.

I may be a while...

Thanks again everyone - I feel so much better about it now it is out of my head.