unhappy with dissertation result

[sunshineNdaisies]

Okay so I realise I probably am, but hear me out and I want some inside into how the grading might work as I was last in education about 15 years ago.

I've just submitted a postgraduate masters research dissertation and got a provisional grade of 65%. It goes to the external examiner and I'm not sure what the likelihood of it being increased is? Because tbh I was hoping for a higher grade, a distinction.

The reasoning for this is that my original supervisor kept telling me I would definitely get a distinction, and that if I wanted to progress onto a PHD, then I needed a distinction grade. Throughout my course, she kept telling me what a high standard my work was, encouraged me to present at conferences, submit articles etc. Her area of research is similar to mine.

She went on sick leave in April though, and I had another supervisor who I felt was much more strict and nitpicky but I took her advice on board, thinking it's good to get different opinions after all. Her area of research is not in my area but is almost identical to another student (who we will call E) and I understand that E got a lot of information and resources from the new supervisor to help with her own research.

New supervisor said that whilst the dissertation had to be between 15,000 to 17,000 words, it was okay to be a few hundred words over. I was 50 words over.

Anyway, long story short. I got 65% provision and E says she got "an A" which will be anything from 70%. I feel pretty disappointed as I think the fact she had the same topic area as our supervisor and had additional support from that supervisor played a part.

I feel angry that I was led to believe by the original supervisor that I would get a distinction and then I do not. The original supervisor did not give me any materials etc despite having a similar research area, unlike the new supervisor with E. I just felt that the original supervisor actually understood what I was doing better.

In addition, it was a 2 year course, but 3 of us submitted a year early. All of us have full time jobs and kids. I'm also disabled. I just feel that I put more work in and had to struggle more than the others.

Can anyone advise on whether the external examiner is likely to increase my grade? Do you think my new supervisor was wrong to say it was okay to go slightly over my word count and would that have played a part in my grade? I submitted my dissertation a month before the deadline but E told us she was still writing it on the last day of submission.

I've got this desire to prove myself I must admit, I've always felt I wasn't good enough and I had gotten my hopes up of a distinction as a means to prove to myself and those who bully me in work etc that I am good enough.

Can anyone make me feel any better?

lol spot on, I am indeed 39. with two kids I feel a helluva lot older though...

"I know my particular topic inside and out so was happy with my final submission."

Something sounds wrong right here. Basically, I've never known anyone speak like this about their own research before. Could lack of ambition/originality be your problem? Difficulties in transferring professional competence into scholarly thinking?

Whats your relationship to E?

Have you read back over your dissertation? Are you 100% happy with it? Do YOU think it is distinction level work? Do you not think it could be improved upon? Tbh even a dissertation that scores 70 or 80 can be improved upon, and most academics despise their peer reviewed published papers given enough time.
Do you genuinely think your work is distinction-level? Why?

I'm with Cory with respect to this:

"I know my particular topic inside and out so was happy with my final submission."

I'm a very mature PhD student and I find that comment really odd, because the more I learn, the more I realise how much more there is to learn, and how little I really know. There is always more, we can always do better, and I wonder if not being able to see that means you've reached your peak. You might not realise it but you are coming across quite arrogant and entitled rather than ready for independent research.

I cannot say too much without being outing but E is a colleague but in a different part of the country and in a different role. All students work for our company as it's a very specialised degree/postgrad/masters topic.

My job role is very very niche and I think that's part of the problem as well. My postgrad was 100% related to the course I was studying but my job role that I entered is linked but not directly if that makes any sense. Again trying not to out myself. So my first supervisor had similar experience to me but the new supervisor did not and I feel she did not really understand my line of work as it wasn't what the other students were doing.

Hard to explain really. anyway thanks for all your advice and support. I will not post anymore. Appreciate the responses.

Just to reiterate what others have said, OP, a mark of 65 at MA level is a very good result and you should be proud of your achievement in spite of any disappointment, which I hope should fade in time. I hope you'll consider going to your graduation. I would also add that (again, as others have posted) there is no absolute requirement for someone to have gained a distinction in their MA in order to go on to a PhD, so if other factors were favourable, that door is not closed to you.

IMO you are slightly missing the point in that whatever unfair help was given to E, you could still have got a distinction. It sounds as if you didn't /don't understand the required standards. This is something that comes with time and once you know, you can get distinction every time. At the beginning it's hard and you can get the idea that some other thing has stopped you getting the mark. The thing that proves this is that you felt your work was perfect. I got distinctions in all of four dissertations in 2 masters degrees and I still knew that my work could be improved. It sounds as though you had a lot more supervisor help than is usual on a masters - on a PhD you would need to be more independent in terms of accepting that someone else may be having an easier time but it's up to you to complete your work, including getting guidance when you need it. Another student may have lots of advantages but it's up to you to do good work, their success does not affect you.

FWIW, the fact you did quants demonstrates a lot. So many qualitative 'thematic analysis' studies are mediocre. To get a 65 in quants demonstrates stellar work imo.
So E is a colleague somewhere, you feel bullied at work, and now you got less than her.
I kind of get how you feel but surely the best revenge is to get on a PhD programme. Focus on that, not being pissed off. Looking back helps no one.

E hadn't been so blatantly favoured by supervisor 2

Someone else getting help doesn't have any effect on your result. It is not a zero-sum game, and we don't compare dissertations. Seriously.

BUt the OP has flounced off, and this thread has gone the way of around a third of AIBU threads

OP: AIBU?
Experts: Yes, and this is why.
OP: You're all wrong, and I'll explain why.
Experts: YABU. Explanations in detail
OP: No, I'm not.
Experts: more detailed kind helpful explanations
OP: I'm not going to post any more

I’m still at a loss as to why someone who got 50’s, 60’s and ONE 70. Is flummoxed at not getting a distinction. But that’s obviously just me.

"So my first supervisor had similar experience to me but the new supervisor did not and I feel she did not really understand my line of work as it wasn't what the other students were doing."

I'm probably unfamiliar with the field, but isn't this what the introduction does: explain to somebody who is not an expert in this particular narrow area why your work is important, how your method works, why your method works? Again, your attitude is very, very passive: it was the supervisor's job to understand, not yours to explain.

In the future, your PhD external and the grants boards (if you ever need to apply for funding) are almost certainly not going to be experts in your own niche. This is one of the skills you need to master: to take responsibility for explaining.

You need to move on here. A doctorate means hard work, lonely work, exposing yourself to criticism, taking responsibility, getting up again after a setback.

As onetime says, surely the best way to get your own back is to get on a PhD programme and ace it. It's not too late: whatever your supervisor may have said, there are ways of doing that. But it's never going to work if your immediate response to disappointment is to blame other people.

I once failed an exam in my strongest subject, a subject I really, really should have waltzed through with distinctions. My father's response was to tell me how in his young days he had heard an examiner lay into my examiner for mediocre work when she was a student. I have often looked back on that response and thought how unhelpful it was- and made sure not to replicate it with my own children.

If you have suffered a disappointment, the only thing that is going to work is: "Where do I go from here?" "What are my chances now?" "What can I learn from this?" "Is there anything I need to work on?"

Why do you think the help another person got is revelant to your 65%

Why do you assume you worked harder than anyone else? Why would it be relevant in any case?

I'm not trying to be horrid, but these sound like cracks that are developing in your approach and your mental resilience. If you want to get through your PhD you need to have a good long think about whether resentment and entitlement are desirable things for you, whether they will help you do well or make you happy.

You have done well, you should be proud of yourself. It's fine to feel you could have done better but anything you take from that should be a positive.

Don't worry about what other people have got or what they achieve. This is self-sabotaging and counter to positivity.

The aspect of your psyche that constructs excuses must never be given air-time in your head, it is self-sabotaging and counter to achievement and motivation.

Obviously your primary concern at this point is getting somewhere with your result. Once you've done that I'd take a holiday if you can, celebrate your result and take some time to reflect and reset - don't carry baggage forwards.