Over the next two weeks, i have four exams coming up which will determine what sort of degree i get. Above 70% and get a distinction, above 60% is a Merit 1 and so on… although i could well get above 70% in these exams, it still might not be enough to get top marks…
Up until now, i’ve never known or fully understood the way my degree mark is calculated. I still don’t. No formal documentation on it was ever given to us… no information anywhere on the college website…
Anyway, this is my understanding of it and i’m taking it as the proper formula;
- 25% of 100% for semester 4 (year 2)
- 37.5% of 100% for semester 5 (year 3)
- 37.5% of 100% for semester 6 (year 3)
So my overall degree result is comprised of one semester of 2nd year work (worth 25%) and both semesters of third year work (worth 75%). I already know that i’ve gotten 39.3% out of 62.5%. That means i have to get 30.7% out of a max available 37.5% this semester to get a distinction (which is above 70% overall).
So in a nutshell, i need to get an 81.86% average in these exams and overall this semester to get bang on 70% and get a distinction. Is that possible? Based on my history in college exams, no. The max average i’ve ever gotten in a semester has been 70.83% back in first year.
photo credit: joshfassbind.com
If we go back to that day i got those 1st semester results, i even predicted that i’d go downhill after the ‘novelty’ wore off…
Now that the novelty has worn off and i become less interested in college and more interested in work, it’s a case of balance and priorities…
So i could just give up now, turn up for exams and scribble down enough to pass – that would be the easy option. But that’s not really a great way to finish off a college degree… so i’ll aim to beat my best average in a semester so far which is 70.83%. Aiming for 81.86% is unrealistic – it’s not going to happen. Although it’s only 10% more than what i’m aiming for, i know that 10% more translates in to me working about 50% harder and it’s simply not worth killing myself over.
I do better in the first half of every year deliberately (because failing any subject then means i’d have it hanging over my head for over 8 months until i get to repeat it). I always relax in the second half of the year and my results reflect that. This year however i’ve deliberately upped my work rate in the latter half of the year so i’m expecting to end it with my best average so far. That will at least prove that i can up my game when it suits me.
photo credit: Heiloo Online
I’ve said in the past though that this degree doesn’t really matter… next year is when i need to be at my best and i’ll put in a bigger effort which will hopefully render this degree’s mark useless. Ultimately though, a degree is a degree… if this was my honours degree (12 months down the line), i’d be questioning whether i’d be getting first class honours or second class honours which to most people would be a trivial matter… there are many who’d love to be in that situation or just have any kind of degree at all under their belts. Even just being in college would be an achievement for many and that’s something i’m aware of, which is why i do my best not to fail anything first and foremost and not to waste the opportunity given to me.
So i’m resigned to a “Bachelor of Science in Computing in Computer Applications and Support” with a grade of ‘Merit 1’ (which means above 60%, less than 70%). That’s assuming of course i turn up for the exams and do some work. Technically i could still fail 4 subjects and not get a degree at all 