3rd degree, what do I do now? [Considering Appeal]

melancholly

i think you may find it very hard to object to your degree classification after the event...... if you filled out a special circumstances form, your situation will have been discussed by a committee who would have looked at your grades in this light. they may not have realised the severity of your situation and i'm not trying to defend the system, i just think that you may be getting your hopes up for something that is unlikely to make a difference.............

i would also say that think of your degree class as like every other exams you've ever taken - right now, who cares about your GCSE grades? or your A levels? your degree class won't overly help get a job, but it won't make it impossible. it certainly won't stop you having a very successful career. it will make a difference now, but in 3 years, your experience will get you a job and your degree class will seem a lot like A level grades do now!

you may have to apply to lots of jobs, maybe not doing exactly what you want, but no-one gets their dream job straight out of uni anyway! i would advise focussing your energy on that rather than chasing the uni for a higher mark - they have systems in place that need to be used before a classification is announced, so i think they will be very very unlikely to change your grade now.

dellfanatic

melancholly wrote: »

if you filled out a special circumstances form, your situation will have been discussed by a committee who would have looked at your grades in this light. they may not have realised the severity of your situation and i'm not trying to defend the system, i just think that you may be getting your hopes up for something that is unlikely to make a difference.............

Hello Just to say I never filled in a form and wasn't asked to even after discussing the situation with my personal tutor. We didn't have a single tutorial this year, the only time I met him was when we had to do a one-on-one presentation with him when he asked me about the 'financial situation at home'. He was fully aware of the situation at the end of last year and definitely before the exam board sat last week.

brazilianwax

zorber wrote: »

What are you worried about! unless you have a specific job in mind that needs a 2:2 or higher (most civil service jobs for example).

As an HR manager in the civil service (without a degree, I would add), I don't know where you get that info from!

melancholly

dellfanatic wrote: »

Hello Just to say I never filled in a form and wasn't asked to even after discussing the situation with my personal tutor.

ok - that's not great tbh! if nothing was put by you in writing about the situation, it probably wasn't considered. trying to do it now may be interpreted as complaining after the event............ was there anything in your course handbook about how to proceed in the event of special circumstances? it's just that if there is an official procedure (usually involving filling out forms), if you were informed about it in some way but didn't follow it, the uni really won't take you seriously in your complaint....

i'm not trying to be negative - but having already had the external examiners meeting, trying to change a mark is a big deal. had you complained about the viva beforehand, you would be in a better position. the department will do everything it can to keep the mark the same - if they do it once, it will open the floodgates, so it really will have to be an extraordinary situation where they can pin absolutely no blame on you.

tr3mor

dellfanatic wrote: »

Submitted work was generally good, my lowest mark if I remember rightly was 62%, highest was 78%. No opportunity has been given for any resits/resubmissions.

If this was the case it strikes me as very odd you've been given a third. I'd definitely query it. It may turn out to be a simple clerical error.

What were your results like at the end of second year?

dellfanatic

I have an email reply from my head of dept where I informed him of the problems and he emailed back to say it was taken account of at the exam panel last year, so actually I do have proof that they were aware. The academic handbook states that "the school should be aware of the details". There is no requirement for documentary evidence unless requested. So on my part I've fulfilled that by informing my personal tutor. Following the viva, I went back to where the other students were sitting. At that point one of the lecturers (my project supervisor) came over for a chat and asked how we were, I said I was sitting down while regaining the will to live, he laughed but when I told him the questions he seemed quite taken aback. I also mentioned to one of the postdoc researchers that I worked with the questions, she too said she'd have had difficulty, so I have made my feelings known in good time and to relevant people (both university staff).

One of my colleagues on the course wrote details of an enzyme based reaction on his wrist, as he showed me after the exam, he did the same for a couple of exams when we had 4 exams in 3 days. But he's got a 2:1 now. He said that there was no way he could have remembered the details, I'm sure I messed up the details on the exam script but can hold my head high as I never cheated in exams but it would have been better to do the same, I can't say on my CV that 'I didn't cheat'. But what could I do in the circumstances, as it was after the exam and the 'evidence' had gone. Of course I could tell my personal tutor but this guy has gone on to get the graduate prize on our course so I'll be viewed as the 'troublemaker'.

tr3mor, my 2nd year wasn't great as I had to do some resits in August (again my 2nd year coursework was not below 60%) but my average for 2nd year was 51.6 which is a 2:2 standard.

Blacksheep1979

Hate to say it but coursework in science based courses is generally higher than exams. My coursework for a science based degree was never below 80% in my first two years and I just scraped a first in my second year. Coursework (final year project) in my final year was borderline 1st but the ratio of coursework:exams is always weighted in favour of exams as thats the only place that the department can be 100% sure the work is your own and not copied/helped along in other ways.

I hate to say it but your second year mark is borderline 3rd (although into the 2:2 class) as well and you were obviously borderline again as you got a viva - I wouldn't hold your breath for exams getting remarked etc.

BigBouncyBall

TBH it doesn't matter what anybody else got on their course - that won't help you right now. I see three options

1) continue to fight this battle over the summer - one you may well loose.
2) Start applying for a Masters now for a september 07 entry and put the past behind you
3) Get away from university and out into the job market and start applying for those.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

It appears that much of the advice and support offered in this thread gives the impression that a degree isn't worth the paper it's written on.

If it dosen't matter what level of degree you get, why do people slave their guts out for 3 or 4 yrs??

Also, the job market will be saturated with people who hold a degree, surely it's only fair to consider that employers are going to have the pick of applicants and will take the best they can get?? Why bother going to uni if all it takes is a successful interview?? You have to be able to wow them during the application process first.

Plus my opinion on Universities that take people with a 3rd on a masters degree are only after one thing and that's the £3000 + fees.

BigBouncyBall

ok.

may i ask if you have a degree? - You seem to be a bit bitter about something.

universities are always after only one thing - £3000. They don't give a hoot (at management level, and sometimes below) about students.

"A university is a business first and foremost" - My Vice Chancellor's 'welcome' speech, 2004