Half way through 2nd year ... want to leave?

[needanewhobby]

Hi, I am looking for advice because I really don't want to have to go through another 1 1/2 years of university.
I am at the University of Nottingham studying history. I have struggled from the beginning, and have hated it even more this year 'now it counts'...I have never received a mark higher than 60 and this has only been once, the rest of my marks have been around 55 - a 2:2 which I am led to believe is worthless to employers.
Do I need a degree to be a success? My family seem to think so. I don't know what to do. The support available at the uni is lacking - my personal tutor is too busy to be of any use. I know everyone there will tell me to stay. The problem is I don't know how to do any better.
I just received an essay back that I thought was quite good. I loved the topic and thought I might actually get higher than 59, but I didn't, I got 55 and now can't see the point of suffering through the rest of the degree to probably get the same job i'd get without a degree. (I already work at the weekends at a department store so sort of have a foot in the door there).
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Mmm - Do you enjoy the subject? Do the lectures / books interest you? If not itis going t be a struggle, maybe you could switch courses.

If you are interested then it could just be that you lack essay technique. There must be courses / support that Uni could provide. When my DH was doing OU after twenty years out o education system , he bought a couple of cheat essays online. Not to copy I hasten to add but to see what a 'good' essay looked like. Maybe your tutor could do this or indeed buy an essay on the topic you just got 55 on and see what the differences are..

My daughter left Uni part way through the 2nd year and it was definitely the right decision for her. She wasn't enjoying her course and was mounting up student debts too. We had a worrying few months when she flitted between jobs but then she started working for a bank and hasn't looked back. You can always go back to studying later on (I did an MA in my 40s with 3 children!). I don't think a 2:2 degree is worthless though - some employers will ask for higher but many will be happy with a 2:2. If it's just this that is putting you off and otherwise you enjoy your course then I would say carry on.

I enjoy aspects of the subject - I have just finished a module on the Second World War and social change which I loved but this is the one I got 55 in. It's the era I am most interested in but still did badly. The other modules interest me very little, mainly because there's a big focus on medieval history which I do not enjoy at all. I'm not sure what course I would switch to (I did psychology and english language at a level, neither interest me enough for a degree).

It's definitely essay technique i'm lacking in, but also exam technique. Essay feedback tells me to be more in-depth, but I have no idea how I could be more in depth! Uni ran a series of lectures supposed to help with skills, I went (listened, took notes and absorbed!) to all of them but they clearly haven't done a lot.
Thanks for the suggestion r.e. essays - I will have a look into it.
I'm sorry this post has been so negative, i'm not feeling very level headed right now!

davidjrmum - that's great to hear. That's the main thing that's putting me off - not knowing what i'd do if I wasn't at uni. Also glad to hear about the 2:2 and getting a job.

i don't enjoy my course and I don't enjoy the 'uni lifestyle', yet I still feel I would see myself as a failure if I quit now.

In depth means writing in a critical manner. So rather than doing a brain dump about "all the reasons why ww2 happened" (for example), you need to analyse the reasons as to how the war erupted. Doing a brain dump means you are not demonstrating anything more than an ability to cut and paste/reading comprehension. You need to explain and critique what others have said.

So it could be author a said it was due to xxx, author b said it was due to yyy. Why do you think they say this? What are the alternatives?

That should get you into the 60s at least.

Good luck.

Hi NK5BM3, thanks for your advice, that's far easier to understand than 'be more in depth', haha! I certainly tried to do that for this essay, but was criticised for not including an author who was not cited in the reading list(?!!)

Will the work you have already done count as credits towards an OU or other part time degree later on?

coco44 - I have no idea, but I also have no idea where to find out this information. I am very under informed about what to do without Uni, which is why I think I went in the first place. In hindsight, a gap year would've been better for me. That, and taking up my offer at Nottingham Trent (better course, but sixth-form pushed the Russell groups).

I think you definitely need to read beyond the reading list too. That shows breath of understanding.. It's no point quoting the books (especially the set texts!!!) when everyone will know where you've got it from. It's about reading a paper that's not been suggested but is of some use in the argument that you make.

It's fairly easy to do that because you need to just read a couple of papers, look at the ref list that they have quoted, and read those!

Basically, it's about showing a bit more initiative and thought.

Thanks, I will definitely do this in future. The reason I mentioned it was because I was told in the feedback that the author I had missed was central to the debate, so I had struggled to gain marks because I hadn't included that. But I suppose others must've included what I missed so they obviously managed to realise, haha!

In my experience, many student get 2:2 marks rather than 2:1 because of poorer writing skills rather than a lack of knowledge.

Have you been to see the academic support unit? In my uni (and most others I know) essay writing workshops and 1-1 sessions.

It might be the case that your dept is expecting you to get the generic essay writing support there, whilst they focus on the academic content.

Erm by not including an author who is central to the argument, then that's really not v good going tbh. I'm surprised you got a 55.

I agree with cream teas. You need to get to the student support unit. Maybe it's research skills you need as well?

Academic support here. www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/academicsupport/index.aspx

Sorry - another thought, could you transfer to the Nottingham Trent course with existing credits? If it's a similar course, it may be quite possible.

Hi creamteas, i haven't heard about any workshops but I will certainly look around for them :)

NK5BM3, I included the author named in the question (obviously) and 90% of the authors on the reading list. The author that I was told I should've included wasn't indicated in the lecture/seminar or on the reading list, hence why I didn't know to include him!

Ah sorry. Misread! But below I've found the link to your student support unit. It looks vv comprehensive (speaking as an academic from another good place)

Just had a look through the link, thanks for finding that...I will explore the transfer option, too.

It seems the website is far more useful than my personal tutor was! Thanks :)

If you do want to consider transfering, then you might find this thread on TSR useful: www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1781424 If you do transfer, do be aware that you would probably have to re-do second year. Universities don't usually accept transfers directly into third year. Not all universities/departments accept transfers, so if one says no, that doesn't mean all will.

If you recieve confusing feeback, have you tried speaking to the lecturers giving you this feedback directly? Send them an email and arrange an appointment, and they may be able to give you some more in depth help.

A solid 2:2 is not a bad grade, and if you manage to improve your essay writing skills then this can still be brought up to a 2:1. If you are able, do try and access all the help available to you. If it's just a matter of essay technique, then you should be able to get your marks up fairly easily.

Thanks very much, I am feeling much more level headed about it now. I have emailed my module tutor, and am going to discuss it with my parents tomorrow.

55% is a perfectly respectable mark.

Frankly you sound rather closed minded about the discipline you're studying. It doesn't sound as though you've got the hang of independent study.

For example, do you regularly go beyond the reading list and the lecture sources in your essay research? Because you should be doing so -- particularly half-way through your degree.

When you read the secondary sources that you use to help you prepare and write your essays, do you think about how those writers are writing? That would help you develop a greater sense of depth in your own writing. We often set readings as much for the examples they set in how to write history, as well as for the information they contain.

You also sound quite dependent and lacking in initiative in terms of seeking help. You can dismiss your personal tutor like that, but there are many members of staff in your Department, including the lecturers & tutors in the modules you're studying. Have you ever taken your essay, with feedback, to an office hour of your lecturer or tutor? Do you go through marginal comments and the narrative feedback (NOT the mark) with each essay? Do you make an appointment (generally by email) to see a tutor to discuss this feedback?

These are all standard things you can do within your subject. And creamteas has suggested taking the initiative to get some generic help about essay writing -- it's ALL there for the asking.

If this list of things you could do makes your heart sink, then maybe you're not ready for university yet. There's no reason why you should be. It might be better to do something that really excites yo. You can always go back to university later in life, or study Distance Learning via the Open University. There are lots of ways of learning. It's really not compulsory to go to university & perfectly possible to succeed in life without a degree.

Hi needanew, I'm also at the University of Nottingham! (studying biology though...) I know how you feel, I'm in third year now and have found it a bloody hard slog since day 1. Coincidentally, I'm also averaging 55%, mine is mainly due to my performance in exams though, I just can't seem to retain enough information to write essays under pressure. (That and having to manage 2 DCs and part time work alongside).

I must have felt like giving up about 100 times now but somehow managed to get to this point!

If you fancy some mutual support, feel free to pm me!

Upthechimney - I thought that too but thought it was me being a cynical academic. The student support looks v comprehensive and frankly in the middle of second year, she should already know and use them (if there's been problems since year 1).

Two issues here OP.

First, your unhappiness. Do you simply hate being away from home? Have you made no freinds? Is your accommodation suitable?

Second, your academic work. It sounds as if essay writing is a problem so you need to source help. Both universities where I work have people drafted in exactly for this purpose. Someone who will help you to showcase what you know.

What the lecturers probably meant by including an author who wasn't on the reading list was that there is likely to be a renowned expert who holds the view that you were arguing who should have been identified with a bit of research.

Make sure you are using historians' perspectives and either agreeing, disagreeing or partially agreeing/disagreeing with them (ie revising their argument, refining it, or lighting upon a particular aspect of their work) using your own perspective and research to do so.

I'm just finishing my phd in the humanities and teach at an RG uni. We expect debate, argument, research and an understanding of the existing academic field I.e. What are the existing views on this historical event/person? What conflicts of perspectives Exist, why do they occur (ie are they revisionist, or from a right wing or left wing perspective, do they use different sources or overlapping ones?) and how valid are they?

I find that some (often female) students are very good at learning the facts and collecting the information about what has happened, but are less confident in debating the whys and looking at the opinions and judging them, and drawing strong conclusions having threaded a clear argument throughout their essay.

It may be worth talking to a PhD student from your department, as they tend to have more time for students and often like to practise teaching and mentoring.