Disappointed with my master's grade

[namechangedgraduate]

I know I am being very unreasonable posting this, hence why I have name changed and hence why I have come to an anonymous forum rather than tell anyone this in real life. I got my master's grades back yesterday and I am really annoyed at myself for being disappointed when the grades themselves are really good.

I got a distinction overall which I am happy about and all of my modules range from 72-90%. However, I am disappointed in my dissertation grade. The two assignments I submitted in the latter part of my master's got 85% and 90%. Then the final assignment was my dissertation which had a heavy weighting. I got 72% in my dissertation. I feel sad because it is >17% lower than the previous two assignments and that it is only "just' a distinction, it is also my lowest grade of the master's. I spent hours and hours in the lab and writing it up and I just feel like it doesn't show. I am also disappointed as my undergraduate dissertation got 78% and I feel sad my master's dissertation grade is lower.

I want to do on to do a PhD and I just feel disheartened that my research project was my lowest mark. I know I am being ridiculous and 72% is good and I should be happy about it in itself it is just when I consider the mark in context with my previous performance I feel like I have let myself down. I am also frustrated with myself that my response to a distinction has been tainted by my perfectionism and I feel like I cannot celebrate my result as it is tinged with disappointment. I haven't even told my parents yet which is ridiculous as 72% is good.

Sorry, I know this is ridiculous and I am embarrassed to post it but I already feel better haven written this. Like I said, I can't say this in real life as I know I am being ridiculous.

[Pota2]

Sarah really? Maybe it is subject specific because Cambridge is one of the institutions that I am familiar with. In humanities/soc-sci though so maybe different in other disciplines. Not studied or worked at Oxford but surprised if grade boundaries different for Humanities there.

[SarahAndQuack]

Interesting!

I'm English Lit. Did my MSt at Oxford (where the boundary is 70); then worked at Cambridge. I'm out of the UK now, but it wasn't very long ago, so I doubt it has changed.

[Pota2]

Is it not 70 at Cambridge then? Because it was when I studied there, although that is over 10 years ago now. Not English lit (don’t want to out myself by saying the actual subject).

[SarahAndQuack]

Oh, I'm sorry, I've confused daisy and doublebarrelled (who was one of the people talking about boundaries at 80), and you're quite right.

However, the point I'm trying to stress here, which does matter, is that different grading boundaries do not mean it is 'harder' to do a masters course where you have to get 80 to get a Distinction.

[pota2]

www.hps.cam.ac.uk/students/mphil-guide/examining

This is from a hums subject at cambridge which has ‘first class’ at 70, although the ‘high distinction’ is 80. But I would say that the 70 mark is pretty much what everyone else recognises as a distinction/first.

[notmytea]

I would assume that either the essay grades were inflated or you're just better at structuring shorter pieces/writing essays rather than conducting an actual research project. Don't worry, PhD will be fine, it's all part of the learning.

[Pota2]

Oh, sorry for the confusion! Yes, totally agree that it’s not ‘harder’ if the boundary is higher. It’s just a different mark scheme.

[SarahAndQuack]

No, it's entirely my fault! I should have clipped the quotation in any case, to make it clearer what I was taking issue with.

I think the problem arises because students often assume HE is standardised in the same way schooling is, so that grade boundaries will be the same everywhere and a 'good' mark will mean the same thing to everyone.

[HalfSiblingsMadeContact]

I'm glad to read you're coming to terms with this. I absolutely understand the gut reaction bit though, and the difficulty of being able to talk to anyone about it because you've still done excellently.

Some (cough) years back I got a 1st class honours degree. Our graduation was some months after finishing (funny system where I went), and I found it really quite difficult. Why? Because if I had maintained my performance through my 4th year, I should have been a strong contender for the university medal for my course. But for various reasons I wasn't. Still a great degree result but I knew it wasn't what it could have been.

Don't let your disappointment in something that may not represent anything "real" anyway, set you back. Good luck with the next steps!