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Original poster

Uni dissertation problem

78 replies

BellissimoGecko · 26/02/2025 18:04

Dd in third year, doing joint honours, decided to do full dissertation (options were full diss or half diss + another module).

After a couple of weeks DD decided to change to a half diss. The system allowed her to change, and she checked with her diss supervisor that she could change, plus another staff member. They all said she could change.

Five weeks later, she's told that she can't change to a half dissertation as she's doing joint honours.

Dd is distraught as she has spent three weeks doing new module and has now lost five weeks of diss reading time. She had a meeting with the heads of both subjects, who were v sorry that dd had been told wrong info/been allowed to change diss options, and they said it will be v hard for her to catch up now.

Where does dd stand now? I want her to complain now and ask for some lenience in marks as this situation is not of her making and the same has happened to other students. Dd doesn't want to complain more in case her diss supervisor is prejudiced against her.

Dd has been told she can have a 2.5-week extension and will still be able to graduate in summer. If she has a longer extension, she will have to graduate in winter, and she doesn't want that.

Anyone in HE - can you advise me/dd? I'm cross that dd has been wrongly advised. This situation is not her fault. She's concerned that it will affect her final degree - the dissertation is 40% of the mark.

Thank you!

OP posts:
Hotappletea · 28/02/2025 22:51

BellissimoGecko · 26/02/2025 21:26

I don't really care how the uni remember her after she graduates. I care about her getting the degree she deserves. I care info being correct so that other students don't go through the same.

Do you have a child at uni? I wonder if you'd be so sanguine if the same had happened to your dc.

Show quote history

I have two children at uni. I’d tell them to stop whinging and get their work done. I’d tell them they should have had a better plan from the beginning and not mucked about so much.

But my two are nearly grown up, so while they might complain and share their frustration with me, they wouldn’t expect me to be mad enough to rage on their behalf.

Mytholmroyd · 28/02/2025 23:04

fortyfifty · 26/02/2025 20:25

It's difficult to understand the timescale from your post OP

She worked for 2 weeks on a full diss. Then changed to do another .module and a half diss. Then 5 weeks later she was told she'd have to do a full diss?

Did she have to change the question/focus of the dissertation when she changed from a full to a half?

I'm perplexed that they only got their dissertation questions approved after Christmas. Is this common in universities? What were students doing between september and Christmas?

Not at mine - 2nd years are currently handing in their dissertation choice forms now!

Mytholmroyd · 28/02/2025 23:10

We also have a concession system that can be used in exceptional circumstances.

But as others have said, if the topic of the dissertation hasn't changed but it just changed from a half to a full module is the only difference in what she submits a longer word count/more to write?

In my experience, many students find it difficult to keep the dissertation within the word count anyway so it might not be too big a disaster for her?

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