How are third and pass degrees regarded these days?

cupid_s

when I went to uni i decided i was going to get a first. it was the most important thing to me and a 2.1 wasn't good enough.

with GCSEs and A-levels I know i could have done better had i worked so much harder. but i would never actually tell people this (apart from people here obviously). i hate it when people say i got a 2.2/3rd but could have done better. then why didn't you? cos you're lazy and i'd rather admit i wasn't clever enough to get a grade rather than i'm too god damn lazy to work fo it.

so when people ask how i did at uni i can honestly say i could not have done any more than i did. there is not one exam i took or one piece of coursework i did where i can say i could have done better by even one percent.

and that's the most important thing - doing the absolute best you can and knowing without question that you did this. i'd rather employ someone who got a 2.2 but will openly admit that they worked their absolute hardest and just weren't good enough for a 2.1/first, than someone who got a 2.1 but says they could have got a first if they had worked more.

lisa_75

cupid_stunt wrote:

and that's the most important thing - doing the absolute best you can and knowing without question that you did this. i'd rather employ someone who got a 2.2 but will openly admit that they worked their absolute hardest and just weren't good enough for a 2.1/first, than someone who got a 2.1 but says they could have got a first if they had worked more.

It all depends on what other things you have going on in your life. I am on target to get a 2:1, my average mark is 68. If I worked harder I could get a first, but I have a kids and a husband and I don't want to spend 24 hours chained to my PC.

I will be really happy with a 2:1. If I was young,free and single I would probably get a first, but for me there is more to life than study.

cupid_s

lisa_75 wrote:

It all depends on what other things you have going on in your life. I am on target to get a 2:1, my average mark is 68. If I worked harder I could get a first, but I have a kids and a husband and I don't want to spend 24 hours chained to my PC.

I will be really happy with a 2:1. If I was young,free and single I would probably get a first, but for me there is more to life than study.

ah but i would say that if you have a husband and kids then it isn't possible for you to be chained to your pc 24 hours a day. you other things you HAVE to do.
could you work harder? and if the answer is 'yes, but your family life would suffer' then the answer really should be no.

talksalot81

Descartes wrote:

If you got a third from Cambridge it would be better than a first from one of the average universities.

That is not sensible... to get into cambridge you must do very well at A-level. To come out with a third suggests you are capable of the relatively simple A-levels but are nowhere near as good when things get tough. A first from most universities will show that you have either performed similarly or even better when the going gets tough. A 3rd from oxbridge suggests to me that someone has gone seriously down hill when they hit the freedom of the uni system.

Some comments earlier about stupidity. Take this scenario, you are young, you have a great opportunity ahead of you, you dont have to spend the rest of your life paying for it, the rest of your life may in fact be dictated by it. But you decide to bum through and not try. Id say that is a pretty good definition of stupidity!

melancholly

Descartes wrote:

If you got a third from Cambridge it would be better than a first from one of the average universities.

having been at cambridge and now 2 other unis, i don't think this is true. i think students who get good 2:1s at cambridge might get firsts elsewhere when being compared against a different group of students, but a third from cambridge is not worth anything close to a first from other places. and getting a third from cambridge takes quite some effort - when you factor in all the one-on-one time with supervisors, coming away with that little knowledge is scary! unless they did 3 years of university and international sport that is!

melancholly

studentphil wrote:

I find it very hard to see how things can change I have tried really hard with all my essays and I never get really good marks and all that is written on them is I do not express myself well and that means I am put into 2,2. I can not relearn a writing style and the way my brain functions within a year.

then ask for specific examples of how to rephrase things - give in work and have a meeting where someone can verbally explain what they mean and give examples of how to improve.... ask friends who got good marks to read through things before you hand them in.

the reason that the 3rd year of your degree is weighted so much more than the other 2 is that you CAN make huge improvements in the way you work. you can certainly adapt your writing style, and the way you phrase things in a whole year. it's not going to be easy, granted, but i'm someone who believes that if you're not happy with a situation, you either do something about it or you give up the right to complain because you didn't do anyway! now, i'm not saying you've done nothing, you clearly have - just that there are other things you can do and that you should probably do them!

studentphil

melancholly wrote:

then ask for specific examples of how to rephrase things - give in work and have a meeting where someone can verbally explain what they mean and give examples of how to improve.... ask friends who got good marks to read through things before you hand them in.

the reason that the 3rd year of your degree is weighted so much more than the other 2 is that you CAN make huge improvements in the way you work. you can certainly adapt your writing style, and the way you phrase things in a whole year. it's not going to be easy, granted, but i'm someone who believes that if you're not happy with a situation, you either do something about it or you give up the right to complain because you didn't do anyway! now, i'm not saying you've done nothing, you clearly have - just that there are other things you can do and that you should probably do them!

I see that, I am not really sure if I can talk to my tutors as they are so critical about my work I find little positive in my mind to about them to even go speak to them.

studentphil

I am going to spend less time on the tutorial work this year and just work on the essay topics far more I hope that will help. I will be mighty proud if I end up with a 2.2 even if all the rest of world think it is a waste of time.

melancholly

studentphil wrote:

I see that, I am not really sure if I can talk to my tutors as they are so critical about my work I find little positive in my mind to about them to even go speak to them.

you may find that their attitude towards you changes if they see that you are actively seeking their help to improve - you may not, but if you aren't getting the best marks then they probably think you're just not bothered and some effort will raise their opinion of you. are there any postgrads in your dept that you could ask? (although postgrads are in general a lot more critical of undergrad work than lecturers - but they may be prepared to give you a little more individual time).

to be honest, if you don't ask them then you'll never know! if they do give you suggestions on your style then that will also improve your exams.... if you think they don't like you anyway, what harm can it do?

studentphil

melancholly wrote:

you may find that their attitude towards you changes if they see that you are actively seeking their help to improve - you may not, but if you aren't getting the best marks then they probably think you're just not bothered and some effort will raise their opinion of you. are there any postgrads in your dept that you could ask? (although postgrads are in general a lot more critical of undergrad work than lecturers - but they may be prepared to give you a little more individual time).

to be honest, if you don't ask them then you'll never know! if they do give you suggestions on your style then that will also improve your exams.... if you think they don't like you anyway, what harm can it do?

I did email one lecturer to ask, but I got no answer as to what he thought was up with it, so is it worth emailing and asking again?