What should I do??

pivotalgubbins

spaceage wrote:

Thank you so much all of you :T it's nice to get some encouragement and support for a change!!

I've done an interesting calculation...

Initial number of Biochemists at Level 1 = 15
Current Biochemists cleared for Level 3 = 9

Therefore 6/15 x 100 = 40% failure/dropout rate. :eek: :eek:

Now doesn't that say something about the department?? :think: How I'd love to email that to my department but they'd just turn on me I think

I've emailed them to say I can't resit the second year due to cost and accommodation issues so my only options are to resit or leave. No reply yet :rotfl:

I wouldn't say that is anything out of the ordinary, I'd certainly imagine many courses and similar if not worse.

I doubt they'll respond kindly to your email, as they can't just 'let you through' - the rules are set and governed by powers far higher that your lecturers.

This is going to sound majorly harsh and please, please, please don't take it the wrong way - but Uni is a time to grow up and take responsibility for your own actions (and the eventual successes and failures). Circumstances can play a part, but they'll be little help offered - you need to decide what to do and go for it.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

studentphil

You should always press them because the University NO is not as certain as you may think. I think you best hope is sit appeals and resits and then see.
I think you should only need 10 of the 12 to progress years.

bnoc

ffeindadifyr wrote:

What I have seen in my short time doing this lecturing malarky is that some students tend to self-destruct after one bad exam

This is a spot on observation. :T I went into the final year of my law degree on top form thinking I was indestructible; a couple of tough questions later things changed for the worse and from that exam (which was my first final) I spiraled into an abyss of self-doubt and correspondingly appalling marks (in order of exams sat I got: 38%, 24%, 12%, 4%).

It took me some time to get over that blow, but I am came back fighting and graduated last month

In short what I'm trying to say is keep in good spirits and you'll come out the other side with a great big grin over your chevy.

Good luck and don't forget to come back to the forum at the end of August to tell us all how wonderfully you did in your resits

ffeindadifyr

spaceage wrote:

Thank you so much all of you :T it's nice to get some encouragement and support for a change!!

I've done an interesting calculation...

Initial number of Biochemists at Level 1 = 15
Current Biochemists cleared for Level 3 = 9

Therefore 6/15 x 100 = 40% failure/dropout rate. :eek: :eek:

Now doesn't that say something about the department?? :think: How I'd love to email that to my department but they'd just turn on me I think

I've emailed them to say I can't resit the second year due to cost and accommodation issues so my only options are to resit or leave. No reply yet :rotfl:

Please don't, unless you are sure this is due to very bad teaching!!! There is a LOT OF PRESSURE on depts not to fail ANY students as this is now "against" University/Company policy as we need to retain our students/customers.

I understand that students are paying customers these days BUT there is a need to keep standards high, otherwise what will the difference be between on 2:2 and the next? By all means a 40% fail rate is fairly high BUT wouldn't you rather leave with a degree knowing that you have kept up to the high standards of previous years and that you can then compete in the jobs market?

I say, resit the exams in the summer and do your best next year... I found my 2nd year the hardest... 3rd year was much easier after the scare of the 2nd year results!!!

BTW did strike action impend on your exams... If so, might be worth a moan!?!

ffeindadifyr

talksalot81 wrote:

I wouldnt be so surprised by that.... I doubt that the department would either! As a rule sciences are not so hard to get into (grades wise) so plenty of people apply as a way of 'getting in'. They may well think that they can just get through on the course, but who are we kidding, you do not get through something like biochemistry with 3D's and not working your !!! into the ground. So these people quickly realise that, drop out and do something else. Im from physics and it is just the same.... I have had to teach new students who I wouldnt have trusted to plug in a lamp, letalone get a degree in physics!

Same here on te Physics front - really scary some of the people coming through now - But believe me they existed when I did my 1st degree!!!

RE: 40% not being a high dropout/fail rate - I personally think this is quite high for 2nd years going into 3rd year. Of course at the end of the first year a load of ppl realise that a science degree isn't as much of a doss as what they expected (a lot more hours in class/labs than other subjects) and some others who haven't realised that they aren't cut out for this type of subject fail - this is usually quite a high fail rate... but surely these people should be weeded out before getting to the 2nd year?

PS... can I suggest to those of you that find that you know you're work but are failing miserably in exams due to stress and any other reasons that you look into all the modules you choose next year - sometimes you can get modules which are weighted more heavily on course work or practical work, thus reducing the impact of the exam mark (which usually results in much better exam marks due to less stress).

All the best!

Basil_Fawlty

Strike action didn't really have an effect apart from the one day of lectures we lost and even then one of the lecturers adjusted the course so he didn't have to cover that material :think: :rolleyes:

The department was (somehow) awarded an "Excellent" rating by the people who review departments. How they achieved this I'll never know because some slides are old ones which are faded and hardly visible and some lecturers just mumble

About the high standards - one student on the course openly ''planned' to fail two biochem modules and concentrate on the other easier ones - this worked for this particular individual as they are now through to level 3. It's more about tactics so please leave out the nonsense about 'high standards' because they clearly don't care about that. I got better marks than she did in her failed modules but they don't care about that :mad:

I'm having 14kg of course books posted to me by the library through the distance learners scheme... :rotfl: bye bye summer holiday

humancoin

Again, not wanting to sound harsh, but you failed the exams, you cannot blame anyone else! You are at University, not school. The lectures are scraping the surface of the level of knowledge you need to pass exams. You say you revised lots, but can you honestly say to yourself that you could not have tried harder when revising? If you can then I would say University perhaps isn't for you...? I am just in my final year of a four year MA at the University of Glasgow (sitting on a 1st atm), and it is not easy, you do have to put a little effort in where it counts. Although have you looked seriously at tactical revision? You mention someone else on your course concentrating on just the easy modules, and making it into third year. For every exam, you have to look what is likely to come up. The majority of time you cannot fully revise everything in the course, you have to make a calculated decision as to what is the best area(s) to revise. Anyway, stick at it, and try and enjoy yourself!

Basil_Fawlty

humancoin wrote:

Again, not wanting to sound harsh, but you failed the exams, you cannot blame anyone else! You are at University, not school. The lectures are scraping the surface of the level of knowledge you need to pass exams. You say you revised lots, but can you honestly say to yourself that you could not have tried harder when revising? If you can then I would say University perhaps isn't for you...? I am just in my final year of a four year MA at the University of Glasgow (sitting on a 1st atm), and it is not easy, you do have to put a little effort in where it counts. Although have you looked seriously at tactical revision? You mention someone else on your course concentrating on just the easy modules, and making it into third year. For every exam, you have to look what is likely to come up. The majority of time you cannot fully revise everything in the course, you have to make a calculated decision as to what is the best area(s) to revise. Anyway, stick at it, and try and enjoy yourself!

I don't believe I failed my exams but thanks for the reply. There are some idiots on my course who do things tactically and succeed. The multi choice is what has dragged me down, because it is not marked by a specialist in my subject - merely a computer optical reader. I would have accepted it but the facts are I got a 2:1 average in the course assessment work, a 2:2 average in the exam essays (57.4% average in the essays), but a fail mark in the multi choice (I supposedly got 0 in one module :rolleyes: ). You see where I'm coming from? I admit the essay marks aren't great but they are still a clear pass.

I revised in detail the mechanisms of prion diseases such as CJD and also diabetes, the genetics. Did it come up? No. I'm probably just unlucky.

humancoin

spaceage wrote:

I don't believe I failed my exams but thanks for the reply. There are some idiots on my course who do things tactically and succeed. The multi choice is what has dragged me down, because it is not marked by a specialist in my subject - merely a computer optical reader. I would have accepted it but the facts are I got a 2:1 average in the course assessment work, a 2:2 average in the exam essays (57.4% average in the essays), but a fail mark in the multi choice (I supposedly got 0 in one module :rolleyes: ). You see where I'm coming from? I admit the essay marks aren't great but they are still a clear pass.

I revised in detail the mechanisms of prion diseases such as CJD and also diabetes, the genetics and biochemistry. Did it come up? No. I'm probably just unlucky.

Well, from what i read, you have failed to get into third year, so you have failed. The "idiots" that tactically revise are in third year.

I presume multiple choice exams are objective not subjective, either you were right or wrong, so a computer can mark it.

Doing essays and course work tend to be a lot easier than final exams. Certainly from my experience this is the case, and a lot of people depend on course work to pull up their final mark. Unseen exams properly test your knowledge, essays etc. don't always tend to be as hard because you can consult books etc. to fill gaps in your knowledge.

meerustar

Get in touch with the Uni again regarding the multiple choice paper.

I was with the OU and had to fill in a 'lottery type form' for my multiple choice answers and filled it in wrong. I had written the answers down then copied them onto my sheet ... only I started marking my answers at question 2 and not 1 and so got a terrible score. Fortunately for me, it wasn't a final exam or anything so I was able to laugh it off and learn by my mistake (I still got something like 20% though, lol).

Did you make a copy of the answers you had and have you double checked with others in your study group. A simple error may have caused you to fail ... It's worth checking up on and even if you have to resit becasue of it, at least you'll know that you 'knew' the answers.

Good Luck and don't give up. I know another year seems a long time but really it's not ... YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!