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Original poster

Am I not bright? 3rd in my degree.

315 replies

OnTrain · 06/01/2019 21:32

A thread kind of about a thread. More about a post in a thread! Someone slagging off Carol Vordeman because she only got a third in her degree. Saying she wasn’t bright.

I got a third, tbh I’m just glad I passed but I also thought I was bright! Do I need a reality check? Am I a thicko?!

OP posts:
mrsed1987 · 06/01/2019 23:52

I got a third. Got a full time job before i even finished my course, in my field im very well regarded as it isnt all about academics (thank god lol). No one has ever asked me what grade i achieved either...

NotUmbongoUnchained · 06/01/2019 23:53

sarah where the hell dis you hear that? Astrophysics is a very tough subject and is very highly regarded amongst physicists.

nakedscientist · 06/01/2019 23:55

Oxbridge have huge amounts of effort put into making sure students do not get thirds. Much more than other lower-ranked universities have typically put in

This is just not true. The 'rankings calculations rely heavily on the A level grades of their students on entry. They work very hard to support students who have various disadvantages/ jobs/ caring responsibilities. Their degrees are not rubbish and are evaluated as stringently as anywhere else.

immunogoblin · 07/01/2019 00:01

I got a third in law (OU degree)

It was a brand new course and pre internet days so literally just study books.

I did it over 6 years and worked full time throughout. I nearly gave up towards the end (partner very ill and outlook was very poor) but I clung on. I still have nightmares occasionally about the essay writing!

It looks pretty shit on paper, but I had a fairly troubled background which marred my 20s and study was the making of me.

I never practised law but it did get me a good job elsewhere which gave me the financial security I'd never had before, confidence in myself and the means to enjoy my life Smile

SlowNorris · 07/01/2019 00:01

This thread is weird

ErrolTheDragon · 07/01/2019 00:03

Nothing wrong with Edge Hill as a university, what an odd thing to post .

I know two people who (largely altruistically) thought they'd go into teaching after careers as research scientists who went there for training and gave up on it because it was so bad. They didn't even think it was good as a teacher training college. (One of these had a First and a PhD from a red brick, plus an OU MBA). 'Student satisfaction' maybe depends on how easily satisfied the students are.

wotsittoyou · 07/01/2019 00:05

As long as you do not have a SpLD, trying your very best and achieving average grades indicates that you probably have average intelligence. You are unlikely, then, to be what one would consider 'bright' if this concept refers to people with above average logical intelligence.

However, the kind of brain power involved in academic study is not the only facet of intelligence, and you may have strengths elsewhere.

For context, I usually spend a fraction of the recommended time studying and achieve 85-95% in assessments easily. However, I can't concentrate on two things at once, so I can't be trusted to get off at my bus stop, I burn two pans a week, and I spill my dinner if I try to have a conversation while I'm eating!

Intelligence is a complex and contentious concept, it's most helpful to focus on your particular strengths and weaknesses and meet your own potential.

LifeofClimb · 07/01/2019 00:09

OP, it doesn’t mean you’re thick. I got a third - which I should have, at the time, appealed (did you try?). I was personally knocked for 6 as there wasn’t much explanation as I’d put a lot of work into my dissertation, even if my practicals had been an absolute nightmare!
There was a LONG list of reasons why I went from a 2.1 in my second year to third year. I probably should have redone the year, but I was way too upset (and my living situation was very bad, which was a big part of the problem).
I’m not thick and I’ve (finally) accepted my results, begrudgingly. I didn’t have the support I needed from anyone - nightmare landlords, bad boyfriend, bad health, bad friends, bad tutors... I personally couldn’t see any other way out than to give up, go home and find paid work - and just get away from all the awful people dragging me down!

HirooOnoda · 07/01/2019 00:09

@ErrolTheDragon I mean, it’s pretty good considering 6 years ago it used to be a biscuit factory Grin

IAmAlwaysLikeThis · 07/01/2019 00:10

"For context, I usually spend a fraction of the recommended time studying and achieve 85-95% in assessments easily. However, I can't concentrate on two things at once, so I can't be trusted to get off at my bus stop, I burn two pans a week, and I spill my dinner if I try to have a conversation while I'm eating! "

Surely this all depends on context though! I mean, at my university it was basically unheard of to get over 75% in an essay, it just wasn't possible (stupid, imo, but there you go!)

Butchyrestingface · 07/01/2019 00:10

For context, I usually spend a fraction of the recommended time studying and achieve 85-95% in assessments easily.

What subject, out of interest?

LifeofClimb · 07/01/2019 00:13

I wish I’d done an academic degree, there is more of a chance I’d have had a 1 or 2.1! None of my essays were lower than 2.1!
Less chance of getting screwed over by partners Hmm

FacingUp · 07/01/2019 00:15

I really struggled with Uni and couldn’t even finish! I had undiagnosed SPlds for most of my time at uni and went as a mature student so had a toddler at home I got really stressed and depressed and ended up packing it in. It’s one and only regret!
Anyhoo a 3rd is fine imo, you actually finished!

AutumnColours9 · 07/01/2019 00:21

I think it all depends. I have a first from original degree and now doing a second and have been getting massively varied results from first to 3rd grades. It all depends. I am better at essay based but lots of unis use presentations etc.

wotsittoyou · 07/01/2019 00:42

IAmAlwaysLikeThis: I imagine it is unusual but possible, at all universities. How do you know what marks your fellow students achieved? I certainly don't tell anyone mine irl.

Butchyrestingface: Criminal justice. But I've dependably achieved similar results on OU modules across a range of disciplines.

NotTheQueen · 07/01/2019 00:43

A Third is generally fine if your career isn’t going to be imparting knowledge to students, which in turn could potentially impact hundreds of students lives.

As a general comment, my secondary school maths teacher was absolutely shit, he could barely explain 2+2=4 let alone trig or algebra. It didn’t help that he was socially awkward (think sheldon Cooper / Big Bang theory without the knowledge). I remember being in tears before my final exams and barely scraped a C in Maths, despite having gotten an A in my junior examinations for Maths and I wasn’t the only one. Eventually he left after too many complaints about his poor teaching. Several years later he applied for a postgraduate research degree in the university where I worked - I was interested to see his transcripts. His H2:2 (borderline Third) didn’t meet the entry requirements for the programme so it was obvious he genuinely shouldn’t have been teaching Mathematics to students (we’d suffered him together)... Perhaps if he’d applied his undergraduate to accounting or something he might not have had a negative impact on so many kids. My cousin for instance had to repeat Maths to get enough points for university after his crap teaching.

A Third certainly doesn’t mean that you’re thick but it does mean that you can’t convey your knowledge adequately to obtain a strong grade. If you can’t do it for your own grades, how can you convey your knowledge to students?

IAmAlwaysLikeThis · 07/01/2019 00:44

" imagine it is unusual but possible, at all universities. How do you know what marks your fellow students achieved? I certainly don't tell anyone mine irl."

Because I went to university at a time when all grades were posted on the wall for everyone to see. Highest I ever saw was an 80.

poppiesallykatie · 07/01/2019 00:49

OP I think @butterflycookie was quoting and correcting me, just the bold quote failed.

I think you might be from where I am from where 2 :2 is a third and then there is a 4th classification, called a pass (on an honours degree). And a first is over 85%. But that is ok, swings and roundabouts . But having said I am bothered by the input of @TheSheepofWallSt. Simply because I can't agree or disagree. I don't think all degrees are equal. But they are in classification, the amount of work, the ask of each, the expectations after. And it goes back to my original point, I did badly in one degree area and really well in another and I think that is an important point. It is no flaw in your intellect, just maybe not that suited to you/or the subject is more subjective than objective. I would ask if people with literature based degrees, design degrees, architecture, fashion, psychology, philosophy all got what they expected to get. Because sometimes these type of degrees are very subjectively marked.

brizzledrizzle · 07/01/2019 00:49

1.1 - a first (over 85%)
2.1 - a second (between 65 - 85%
2.2 - a third (between 55 - 65%)
Pass - (40 - 55%)*

That's with the OU not brick universities. I got 84% and a 2:1 with the OU. Gutted didn't begin to describe it. though the OU do a third, it's below the 2:2 aka Desmond.

Schmoobarb · 07/01/2019 00:52

I’m certain you’re not thick but I’d have been absolutely devastated if I’d got a third. I mean I’d have got over it and I certainly don’t think it means someone isn’t smart, not that that is the be all and end all of life anyway, but at the time I’d have been gutted.

HirooOnoda · 07/01/2019 00:53

@brizzledrizzle I am pretty sure that is not the classifications used to classify undergrad degrees at university, be it the OU or other establishments

To achieve an 85% plus average in the ‘arts’ and many other largely essay based subjects is nigh on impossible

SarahAndQuack · 07/01/2019 00:54

@notumbongounchained - I am thinking of a fair few conversations with family members over the years (one works in this area). I may have misunderstood them, as I suggested, because this isn't my area. But, having now had a quick google, I still don't quite understand why I'm wrong? What universities do offer good astrophysics degrees (as opposed to physics or physics-plus-something)?

SarahAndQuack · 07/01/2019 01:00

@nakedscientist - it is true! I think you must have misunderstood me? I posted to point out that Oxbridge work very hard to support students who might be risking a lower degree class. You say they 'work very hard to support students who have various disadvantages/ jobs/ caring responsibilities'. So, um ... we agree? Right? If your point is that Oxbridge could do more to support other students with other needs, I think you are right. And I'm glad to see that there is also increasingly good support for students with mental health issues, and for SPLD.

I have no idea what your point is when you observe that Oxbridge degrees are not 'rubbish,' but I will go with No Shit Sherlock.

Schmoobarb · 07/01/2019 01:00

Ah I need to RTFT it seems. A 2:2? That’s not bad. :) I know plenty of people with 2:2s now making much more money than me!!

wotsittoyou · 07/01/2019 01:04

brizzledrizzle is correct that >85% is required for a 1st at the OU. I've achieved this in the social sciences, philosophy and psychology over the last fifteen years, so it's definitely possible.