Home Work & Study
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

Is uni right for me?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
Today I got an essay back which I had actually been looking forward to getting...It was on plant genetic engineering and I thought I had nailed it, I had read comments on her plan feedback page and amended everything...I got 63%. I come from a literature background so maybe I feel like I should have aced it? Am really jealous of my friends that have done better though they obviously deserved it...thing is, I thought I did too!

I'll put it down to experience, but my question is: has anyone ever felt like they weren't good enough for uni? Im beginning to think despite me doing well at A Level it means fuck all now. :(
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Surely one essay is not suffice evidence to say whether you are capable of uni - or? Do not give up that easily.

    Maybe the way you are working is the problem and not your capability. Have you ever considered taking classes for 'Better Essay Writing' or something like that? Maybe it's just a small problem which you can solve yourself.

    Name the problem and several solutions. Also, name who is involved and what the consequences are when taking the preferred solution. Try it out - you never know!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why on earth are you disappointed with 63%?? That's a 2:1 isn't it?

    Are your other grades much higher or something?

    By the way in answer to the title of your post: don't be daft. You can't possibly contemplate leaving Uni 'cause you didn't get the mark you wanted!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why on earth are you disappointed with 63%?? That's a 2:1 isn't it?

    I would be just as disappointed as she is atm. She said that she should have aced the test as it went so well. It has happened to me once - only once :p. It hurts you more than anything, getting lower than what your expectations were.

    What's wrong with wanting high marks?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Didn't know it was a 2:1. Was thinking at school 63% is like a C grade...And I know I should think that's a good grade if it is a 2:1. I dont know, ever guess when you think a piece of work is amazing? I've felt that throughout my continuous assessment this semester, like I was doing just "average" even though I had doubled the effort.
    I've no intention of quitting, far from it, just felt a little dejected when I got the mark back :blush:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Didn't know it was a 2:1. Was thinking at school 63% is like a C grade...And I know I should think that's a good grade if it is a 2:1. I dont know, ever guess when you think a piece of work is amazing? I've felt that throughout my continuous assessment this semester, like I was doing just "average" even though I had doubled the effort.
    I've no intention of quitting, far from it, just felt a little dejected when I got the mark back :blush:

    as far as i know:

    40%+ = 3rd
    50%+ = 2:2
    60%+ = 2:1
    70%+ = 1st

    what year of uni are you in?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    quarfly wrote:

    What's wrong with wanting high marks?

    you're not from here though, are you? the grading system must be different over there.

    63% might sound average and that she could've done better but it's a 2:1 which is a very good mark. you have to work hard to get that 63%, it's not like at secondary school.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah, im sure it's a 2:1. i'd be MORE than happy with that personally. and if you're in your first year it won't count anyway. i guess if you worked hard and were expecting to do better, it's only natural to be disappointed. but it doesn't mean you're not good enough for uni! read the comments, work out how you could improve and go from there.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    63% is pretty good, unless you're a genius you shouldn't really be disappointed, my average for 2nd and 3rd year was 66% and i was pretty chuffed with that.......i got 80%+ for most of my a level work but it's really not the same at university, highest score i got was 89% in an exam but c/w is really hard to get 70%+, lecturers are just pretty picky so unless you're a complete geek or genius i wouldn't be too bothered........
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    63% is a 2:1, which is good. :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey everyone thanks for the comments, I'm first year Micro and didn't really realise the transitionfrom A Level grading to uni marking was so differernt. At least he's stuck another feedback sheet along with my work so I'll be able to figure out where I've gone wrong. Arrghh critical arguement is soo hard to get right!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Alot of academics are pretentious fools who will mark you down if they don't like you or your arguements. Also, essays usually only get marked out of 80, not 100.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I failed to slag Greenpeace, the facist corperation that pander to gullible minds. No joke,
    You also seem to be unaware that Greenpeace is a multinational corporation with worse ethics than a tobaco company because they have less risk of prosecution.
    They survive by pedling disasters, and if there isn't a real danger they invent
    one. They did this with GM specifically to hit American businesses, as a
    continuation of anti-globalisation campains. Unfortunately the not-for-profit
    work designed for the third world was also stopped, and they pretend it never
    existed.


    He went on like that for ages lol. :eek2:
    Tis ok, I'll learn!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'll put it down to experience, but my question is: has anyone ever felt like they weren't good enough for uni?
    Frequently. In fact I had a period of self doubt this term but now I just get on with it and treat my final year at uni as a means to an end.

    But it down to experience, and try not to be too disheartened.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my dad told me he thought i was aiming too high for uni.

    but then that makes me want to do my best and say 'haha i did it' to him.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As many people have said, your piece of work was marked as a 2:1, and only 7% off a first, so it's not like they said it was a pile of shit.

    At the end of the day, only you can decide if you are cut out for uni. The basis of one essay isn't a whole lot to go on when decided how your life might pan out though..
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know what you feel like.

    I haven't been to class since halloween. It's not like I'm not smart enough, it's just the fact I have lots of parties and usually end up going to bed when people are getting up.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Today I got an essay back which I had actually been looking forward to getting...It was on plant genetic engineering and I thought I had nailed it, I had read comments on her plan feedback page and amended everything...I got 63%. I come from a literature background so maybe I feel like I should have aced it? Am really jealous of my friends that have done better though they obviously deserved it...thing is, I thought I did too!

    I'll put it down to experience, but my question is: has anyone ever felt like they weren't good enough for uni? Im beginning to think despite me doing well at A Level it means fuck all now. :(

    Nope. I think i'm too good for uni. Can't help but think standards dropped for our generation.

    If I studied and went to lectures i'd get 1A's for everything.

    Unfortunately I don't.

    If you come from a literature background, go for something different perhaps? Change to English? If you play to your strengths, you shouldn't find it too difficult...especially if you put the work in.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I do think there is a massive difference between A levels and doing a degree, I got four As at A level and yet so far in my degree the highest mark I have got for anything has been 67. But as has already been said anything above 60 is a decent mark to get and it can be really difficult to know exactly what the lecturer/marker is looking for, so I think you've done well and have nothing to worry about.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :cool:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cheers for that.


    Something you'll find, I certainly have found it at uni is that sometimes you'll spend ages on an essay and then get a wanko mark and other times, you'll dash something off in an hour and get a first for it. I did that with an essay on Golden Age Spanish Theatre for my lecturer who's a world leader in that field and I got a first. That's just the way things go sometimes.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    At least he's stuck another feedback sheet along with my work so I'll be able to figure out where I've gone wrong. Arrghh critical arguement is soo hard to get right!

    You need to stop seeing it as having 'gone wrong' and look at it more as something that needs polishing. Remember the uni game is still new to you, so to get a nice mid-2:1 from the word go is great, as expectations and demands of academic work are a lot different from school, and it sounds like with you it's clicked more or less straight away.

    And remember, your marks are likely to vary a bit between tutors and different module. I think in my first year I got 57% for my first medieval essay but 65% for my first Cold War one.

    But, yeah, going over the feedback sheet should be helpful so you know what that tutor looks for and what bees he has in his bonnet.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well I have done 2 years Business at A level and know business organisations inside out, im in my first year and did an essay and got 45%....heh I really worked hard on it and knew what I was saying. Thing is I didnt get any feedback or anything so its being remarked (will probably still be low).

    So I ask around a bit, one guy had about 10 lines of knowledge and then went on about the world war and firebrigades and got 91% and another lad has never worked in his life got 98% but I didnt get to read his essay. I felt like I had to dumb down or something because no one seem to have done what was required, so spoke to my dad and he told me some things.

    Basically, the way they mark it is to their own standard so it isnt a set criteria as such, its whether the marker agrees with you which I think its fucked up. Just get to know how they want you to write and do that, dont let it knock your confidence, it got me down but no point, live and learn!

    So far though I learned I have to chat shit to get the mark, where as knowledge, examples and experiences are useless even though they assess that...heh
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It was on plant genetic engineering and I thought I had nailed it, I had read comments on her plan feedback page and amended everything...I got 63%. I come from a literature background so maybe I feel like
    I don't know if this has been said, but that sounds like a science essay, and coming from a literature background, you might want to look at your language? I do English at Uni, and they constantly tell us the differences in styles between an english essay and a science essay. You've should look at it and see if you're being extravagant with language, when really you need to be concise.

    Oh and i think 63% happens to be quite respectable :) As said, it's a 2:1, and it's also my best mark to date (i have only done 2 essays, but y'know i was quite pleased) Looking through some of the feedback sheets i got, it's funny how picky they can be, like when i said in a conclusion john donne was a genius who pioneered a genre, and i lost marks because apparently we all know that!
    Well yeah anyway, don't kick yourself; oh and reading back it looks like you might be doing a damn interesting subject to.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey everyone, thanks for the replies, I've taken it on all board and at the time it was obvious to everyone but me I over reacted! It's down to my style of writing, I need to curb the langage a bit and stick to facts, do more background reading etc.

    Thanks everyone who replied :) appreciate it!
Sign In or Register to comment.