Failed degree and am a complete failure

[loseridiot]

Hi,

Failed an OU open degree after failing the final EMA. Thought it would just mean a lower classification but it'll be a diploma. When it comes it's going straight in the bin.

Can't stop crying. Everybody always said I was useless, stupid and would never amount to anything. Wanted to prove they were wrong. They weren't. Always had minimum wage jobs as no better for anything else. Thought it might improve prospects and help others.

Hope nobody is in this position. What a waste of time and money.

Actually I am going to resit. Nothing to lose.

Itslosenotloose if I fail the degree once and for all I won't accept the diploma and will throw it away. Because I already have them and this wasn't want I wanted to achieve now. It's a degree. That was the goal. I know getting upset isn't helping but people are allowed to feel upset before moving on one way or the other. This will be my last reply to you.

To answer, it's the same question. The dissertation needs improving to gain an extra 7 points. Thanks so so much for all the great suggestions. Will contact Student Support tomorrow and see what they can suggest to improve. Will have a look at past papers as well. The Student Forum's closed or would have suggested forming a group!

Thanks to the person who said No I wouldn't be harsh to people who need the NHS. They need help and compassion.

Squirrelsonthescaffolding well done on gaining a PHD. That's excellent!

Please don't give up, you've done extremely well so far getting the marks you've got. Of course you're allowed a good cry. This is a blip though. Nothing more. You're a human being and you don't deserve the mean things you believe about yourself.

Obviously you don't need to.do anything tonight or even tomorrow but I would be pushing for clearer feedback. Maybe you could ask the tutor for another session, or go to the course leader if they're not available? I would say that at 33%, you may have misunderstood the question, gone off on a tangent and your discussion and conclusion not answered the question laid out rather than just inadequate citation unless you've been told you haven't evidenced your work. It should be fixable, you just need to know what went wrong. Really push for clarity and support from the OU here if you have to.

You can do this, you've proven it to yourself in previous assignments. Just one final push.

Cross post, it's great you're dusting yourself off and resitting.

The only people who never fail at anything, are the people who never do anything.

Pick yourself up OP, and pass your re-sit.

Possibly consider some counselling or therapy to explore your history and what made you react with that level of self-loathing.

If your tutor has not been able to help with this, can you ask for a referral to someone else? You could maybe put it on the basis that you feel you need a fresh perspective, which is probably true.

I'm SO glad you're going to resit. You've achieved so much getting this far, you can do it!

I don't understand why your tutor let you submit something that was anywhere near the possibility of not passing, poor show from them, I'd be fuming! I'm waiting on mine being marked and will be breathing fire if it doesn't as my supervisor gave only minor comments on it. What are you paying for? Good luck, you'll smash it and all this will be a distant memory.

Dissertations are horrible things OP! No one ever explained to me how to do one, how to structure it or gave me examples of what a good one might look like as opposed to a weak one. The fact that you got 70s in your other modules shows that you're not exactly an idiot. The fact that your dissertation mark was half your usual marks shows a clear lack of guidance on the university's part. Research essays and papers have always been mysterious to me. It's not something that we're ever taught! So I'm guessing that you've not done any or many before, like most people.

So, have a good cry. Pick yourself up. Then decide in a few days time whether to stick with a diploma (which incidentally is still a useful tool to have) or whether to upgrade by going back and redoing/resubmitting your dissertation.

It's up to you whether you choose to label yourself as an idiot. I would suggest that it's neither useful or helpful. I would also question whether 'people' really did think that you would never amount to anything either. What evidence do you have of that as opposed to your interpretation? It's far easier to externalise problems and blame others rather than actually take responsibility for your own thoughts, actions and reactions. It sounds to me that you are directing some of your anger and frustration at some of those others and then going on a self destruct mission right now. If there's one thing that I've learnt in life is that, if you want something to happen, you have to make it happen yourself. So you have a choice now - either do nothing, throw your diploma in the bin, give up your dreams and continue to label yourself an idiot, or see what you can do to either redo your dissertation or look into how you can make the most of your diploma. Now my guess is that others around you don't give much of a care whether you get a degree or a diploma or whether you succeed or don't (whatever that means anyway!). People are far too busy dealing with their own crap. So ultimately it's up to you what you do now, harsh as that may seem.

Well done Maiyakat and sorry you didn't go. A Master's is brilliant!

PurpleBananaSmoothie well done for doing great things!

Nobody else is a failure. Would never say that about anybody. Glad for all who did well.

The tutor was great. I did use an argument and counter argument but the essay didn't flow and didn't use enough citations in one part. That was fair feedback.

You haven't failed. You have a diploma! That is no easy feat, particularly when you're doing it via self-study like you have. That in itself is an achievement you should be proud of and are allowed to celebrate.

I understand it is not what you wanted but it is still an achievement. You said yourself you got high marks on all the other modules. That is also an achievement that deserves celebration.

Pick yourself up, brush yourself down, and re-do the module next term. OU is really popular on MN so don't be afraid to reach out for help. I am certain other posters will have completed the same module and will be able to give you pointers and if not there will be a Reddit forum dedicated to that OU degree.

I've just restarted my OU degree. It's not in Psychology but I'd be happy to swap study tips with you/proof read things/cheer you on from the sidelines.

Well done on picking yourself up.

I'm going to be very blunt: this is a normal part of tertiary study. It's meant to be hard. You are meant to fail and learn from it. I know it's heartbreaking, but it does not mean that you are a failure. It's just how this learning process is meant to work.

Giving up and throwing away your hard earned credits would be the failure.

Can I ask if you had a dissertation supervisor? Normally they will give you feedback at each stage?

There is a formula to dissertation writing from , setting objectives, determing reserach methodology, presenting research, presenting evidence, testing hypothesis, drawing conclusions and presenting findings together with rules with citations and primary/secondary recourses etc.

Has anyone clearly explained every steps because if not, I can't see how you could pass? I would repeat and have someone familiar with dissertation writing supervise you & give you constructive feedback if the course doesn't provide this.

Also ask if they have have examples of high scoring dissertations in the subject area, that you can review.

You can absolutely do this.

@loseridiot you are not an idiot.

OU degrees are hard. They require a lot of self discipline. You have gotten this far, which proves that you are a grafter and have earnt this.

You do not have to claim your qualification. You can resit and claim the one you want when you have sufficient points.

I did one course THREE times. (Because I never read the tutor comments so didn't improve). Thankfully I passed the third time (when I realized I had to listen to the tutor) but it was a hard learning curve for me, as the other courses had appealed more to my personal interests.

Please lick your wounds, eat chocolate/ice cream, binge Netflix or whatever you do to cheer yourself up, and then next week, talk about your options.

Emas are incredibly hard , stop beating yourself up.

Take a deep breath. Arrange a meeting with your tutor and ask for advice

Also, just curious, can you repeat the dissertation woth the sane topic and just get guidance on structure?

I suspect you did all the work, just need a little guidance on the best way to present it.

Hey Op. you’ve done amazingly well to get where you are right now. Well done indeed. DH took his first degree through the OU, it took eight years of hard slog so I’ve seen first hand what grit, character and dedication it takes. You must have all of these in abundance.

You are studying psychology, so it must be clear to you that your parents and whoever told you such horrible, untrue and pejorative things about yourself are the root of how you’re feeling right now, and that those thoughts aren’t real things - just things your head is telling you because of the conditioning you’ve had.

Have you had therapy yourself to help you with the feelings that terrible mistreatment has caused? Please look into it, if not - you deserve so much more, to understand that you deserve kindness, you are not a failure, you are a person who deserves a good life, and can and will achieve what you want. A good therapist will help you out of this negative way of thinking and help set you on a better road.

Go and get that resit organised, and prepare to smash it out of the park this time. You can do this. You will do this.

The OU is hard. I have a degree from a red brick university and decided to do a OU 20 years later. Haven’t managed to finish it as the time you have to dedicate and having to do it pretty much all on your on own (I had a bunch of flat mates to bounce ideas off during my first degree). As it’s your final bit please take a bit of time to have a rest and then resit. You are so close after years of work.

GLORIAGloriarse thank you and have done all three a bit by the looks!

Dogsitterwoe thanks a lot and am going into long term therapy after the degree to unpack years of all sorts of abuse. Hope you've never experienced any.

thatwassociopathic thanks and the tutor with the OU doesn't look at them before submitting. Tbf I should have contacted her before doing that maybe.

Oioicaptain thank you for being truthful in a reasonable way.

Glad to hear you are resitting.

Don't make any decisions about graduation yet. You may well feel different when you have the certificate you deserve.

I used to organise them and had a soldier who completed his through three different war zones. He had a resit too. Plus he failed to actually book a place at a ceremony and did wonder why we didn't send him any information (he looked up the details online). We got him in, he had a great day and everyone celebrated his success, not his setbacks or admin failures.

Its okay to cry and feel disappointed. However, I don't think you should let one failure overshadow all the successes you have had. You have worked hard. You have got consistently good grades. This is just a blip. You'll resit and do better. You are far from stupid. What is important now is how resilient and courageous you are. You've got this.

Don't let this eat at your. I did something similar and ended up doin dead end work in a call centre, I never fitted in to get promotion. Do what you can to do your degree.

If you resit at least you only need to aim for 40 as I assume it's capped so a higher mark won't be reflected in end score anyway?
Could you ask any course mate to read your dissertation and feedback on technically what is wrong?

I have read loads of essay submissions for mates on my masters course and even if I have no idea if the argument is correct, I can point out that the format is wrong or the sentence isn't clear or flowing or that they say something and don't back it up with a reference.

People failed modules ob my masters often -for submitting exams 1 minute too late or uploading wrong subject by mistake. They just reset and passed next time. I actually missed my graduation as wasn't feeling up for it on the day (nerves) so attended with a few of them a few months later.

I've helped several people with dissertation writing in the past. Might be too late for that but if you have to resubmit work/assignments, I'm happy to help, if you'd like.

Just read all your posts OP. Good on you for resitting. You can do this, you have a good attitude and you know where you went wrong to fix it for the result.

Oh and I read lots of these sort of books at university (but law). This is one example. Your university library may have a few.

How to Write Brilliant Psychology Essays amzn.eu/d/6PcCcOy