How are third and pass degrees regarded these days?

cupid_s

there aren't many people who find degrees easy without putting in an awful lot of work. and if you put in an awful lot of work and find you're doing well (and I believe with enough effort eveyone can do well), you're going to be more likely to like what you're doing and then it kinda goes full cricle. You like what you're donig so work even more, then do even better, which makes you like the subject even more and so on

are those people who are on-line for a 2.2/3rd honestly doing everything possible and putting in 110% effort?

talksalot81

cupid_stunt wrote:

are those people who are on-line for a 2.2/3rd honestly doing everything possible and putting in 110% effort?

When I was an undergrad, i was someone who found things 'easy'... or that was what people thought. Of course there were those not doing as well who couldnt understand it... they were working hard and doing as well as they could, but I was getting better marks and getting through much more 'easily'. It wasnt until I let on how much work I did that the penny dropped. Most of my friends were doing half a dozen hours on assignments (about what you are expected) going to all the lectures, lab classes, tutorials etc. When I told them that for every hour of lectures, I spent two writing up, for every lab class, i spent the same time reading background, for every assignment, I was spending multiples of their time... jaws hit the floor.

So I certainly knew plenty of people who were putting in 110%... until they realised what that really meant!

studentphil

I still personally find it very down heartening to be told my answers look as if I have not read the texts when I spent hours reading the stupid things getting very over powered with the volume and complexity of the readings and frankly getting no where.

I honestly think is there any point in putting myself through reading it all if they are going to say that?

talksalot81

The combination has told you something (although you may not like it)... you havent understood the text. As I alluded to earlier, it isnt about what you do or what you get, it is about what you learn.

Clearly you are having trouble so it is not as if you do not know where the problems are coming from (it would be much worse if you actually thought you understood when you did not). It is also clear that you are not going to work it out on your own. Sometimes you just have to accept that and you HAVE to seek help... else you will definitely not understand, ever.

studentphil

Indeed, we shall see what they say is the answer to this problem. Sadly they just assume if you have problems that you do not try. Sadly given the way my brain functions I can not cope with reading two complete books a module, which they know and yet all these say is they can not give me more direction with the reading as it would reduce standards. I can only read about 30 mins at a time of acedemic work if it is modern and readable. But I really can only manage to read 10-15 minutes of primary texts without needing a rest.

bestpud

BigBouncyBall wrote:

To you Phil i would say you need to talk to someone outside of your family/friends and outside of the university councilling service who, while having all the good intentions in the world are usually full of people sitting on 1st's doing some CV building volutary work.

While I don't want to start a debate on the merits of uni counselling services, I think you may actually find them useful. At my uni the counsellors are fully trained and certainly not there gaining work experience.

I've found mine to be very helpful and she does know the ups and downs of student life. They know how the system works too and may help you to speak with your tutors, or point you in the direction of other help within the uni.

Don't rule them out anyway - you sound quite quite despondent and it can be hard to see the wood for the trees when you get like that.

Hope things pick up for you soon

Bestpud

BigBouncyBall

hi,

Reflecting on that point i made about student councilling services i think i was wrong. They must be trained properly mustnt they. I've been to them once and had a wasted trip but thats not to say they're all like that. Investigate them further (you are paying for them whether you use them or not!)

melancholly

BigBouncyBall wrote:

hi,

Reflecting on that point i made about student councilling services i think i was wrong. They must be trained properly mustnt they. I've been to them once and had a wasted trip but thats not to say they're all like that. Investigate them further (you are paying for them whether you use them or not!)

i used them in the past and i don't know how i would have managed my final year without them, so they can be very useful.

studentphil - is it that you simply just don't get the texts, or that you understand them but your writing style is making you sound confused? those are 2 very different things and have different ways of improving things.

when you do lots and lots of reading, it's very easy to miss the overall picture and get bogged down in detail. when you know very little about something, often it seems reasonably easy to understand, but then when you read more it becomes confusing. reading and digesting enough to come out the other side to full understanding is difficult. can you find reviews on the books you're reading so that you can try to see what someone else understood by it? reading the same information that has been phrased by different people can something help.

can you start a study group with your friends? i had an evil course on immunology and it helped to sit down with 3/4 other people and talk about it with eachother. it turned out that a lot of the time we all got different bits and when we all talked we all understood a lot more. there were also plenty of conversations that i didn't follow though!! it's also a much less threatening environment and if different people have different tutors then you can benefit from a different perspective. i don't know how this translates to philosophy, but 'they say' the best way to check if you understand something is to try and teach it to someone else, so it may be a possibility.

studentphil

My problem is that I have a very slow reading speed and limited concentration which means I find reading two or three primary texts a bit much. I have asked again today from my help on reading the texts more productively, but I have asked before and as people really can not understand my disability I get no good useful answers than read it again. I tried to use secondary texts but they want you to show a good knowledge of the primary texts.
I do have rather poor spelling which does limit the way in which I can express myself in exams which does not help.

I am trying to get help from my tutors but their lack of understanding is rather upsetting.

anewman

studentphil wrote:

but I have asked before and as people really can not understand my disability I get no good useful answers than read it again.

Your university should be accommodating about any disabilities so long as they are aware. You should be offered extra help (where appropriate) and also allowed extra time/special provisions in exams. If you have told them about your disability and you feel you are not getting the help you need I would complain. On the other hand, if you have not let them know there's not much you can expect them to do until you let them know.