1st and 2nd Class Honours - totally confused

Steibhin

I know this has been spoken about here on the boards already, but never satisfactorly. Do students still recieve awards of 1st Class Honours, 2nd Class Grade 1 etc? My offical transciprts for a Higher Diploma in Economics gives me a figure for my GPA for the year (or 'Stage 1' as they like to call it for so reason) with corresponds to a 2H1. There is no mention that I got a 2H1 anywhere, eventhough my GPA lie between the 3.08 and 3.68 limits as set out in UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN MODULARISATION AND SEMESTERISATION GENERAL REGULATIONS documnet.

7.25 Where a Programme Board determines that the award arising from a taught postgraduate programme
should be classified (awarded with or without honours) the Programme Examination Board will classify
the overall award for each graduate of the programme based on the programme GPA. The following
classes of honours will be awarded: First Class Honours, Second Class Honours Grade 1 and Second
Class Honours Grade 2.
GPA AWARD
Greater than or equal to 3.68 First Class Honours
From 3.08 to 3.67 inclusive Second Class Honours, Grade 1
From 2.48 to 3.07 inclusive Second Class Honours, Grade 2
From 2.00 to 2.47 inclusive Pass

I am to take it that my Programme Board has determined not to classify the awards in this programme? Why the hell not? And why was I never informed of this? A GPA score will mean little to propective employers. I have to hand these results into a Uni for a Masters that doesn't use the GPA system. They might have an idea what the GPA score corresponds to, but they would only know this by looking up the UCD website.

In addition to this problem my offical transcipts were printed in black and white (Most other colleges use coloured headed paper to make results look more official), the programme is descibed as being 'Higher Diploma' rather than its offical title of 'Higher Diploma in Economic Science' and thirdly while my overall GPA is calculated correctly and each module graded correctly, my score for Semester 2 is well below my actual score.

What a mess! UCD can be so amaturish and accpeting of low standards of administration. I paid big money to do this programme and deserve an awful lot better.

aequinoctium

most universities, especially in america, use the GPA system

Esmereldina

As far as I know the firsts, 2.1 etc have been completely replaced with letter grades and GPAs... unless you are in final year, as I think this is the last year of that system?

Edit: I just saw that it's a postgraduate course. It looks like they are using the new system then. I don't know what the deal is with postgraduate courses and different schools etc using old system or changing to new one. As far as I understand it anyway, the old system of first and second class honours etc is on the way out (this year is last year for final year students) and employers will just have to familiarise themselves with the new one. Tis all part of Hugh Brady's 'Brave New University'...

Jonny Arson

I don't see why the university can't do the simple thing and award the degree based firstly on your GPA and then with corresponding Honour category the students falls into

i.e. and then on your CV- blah blah Higher Diploma in Economic Science UCD 2nd Class Honour GPA 3.34 blah blah whatever

many employers don't have a clue what the GPA system is and will probably end up laughing looking at a number with two decimal points, there is unfamiliarity with the GPA system with a number of employers and UCD should be ensuring that there is some level of transparency between both grading systems

this was one of my fears over the GPA system but i believed that UCD were going to award degrees based on GPA and then to it's corresponding Honour as outlined in S&M regulation 7.25

Steibhin

aequinoctium wrote:

most universities, especially in america, use the GPA system

The US system is different to UCD's system. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(education)#United_States

Also, name the 'most other universities'?

The problem is that UCD students will be disadvantaged when applying for jobs where the emloyer is unfamiliar with the UCD system. This really is a huge issue, probably the most fundamental issue surrounding your study in UCD, and I am shocked the SU hasn't made more of it.

aequinoctium

hong kong, the phillipines, most of asia in fact.

france has a 20 point grading system,
germany has a 6 point grading scale,
italy is 5 points
austria has something similar

and many others...

Assets Model

Well don't put down your GPA down just put down 2.1 or 2.2 or whatever you got.

Steibhin

Assets Model wrote:

Well don't put down your GPA down just put down 2.1 or 2.2 or whatever you got.

Thats okay on my CV, but I can harldy write 2H1 on red pen on my offical transcripts can I?

Steibhin

aequinoctium wrote:

hong kong, the phillipines, most of asia in fact.

france has a 20 point grading system,
germany has a 6 point grading scale,
italy is 5 points
austria has something similar

and many others...

I wasn't saying oher countries don't have grading systems. I am saying that UCD's grading system is not the same as the US as you suggested. In the US a GPA of 2.0 is a C while in UCD it is a D. We are not comparing like with like. The fact that Germany and Austria use numbers as a degree classification is not an argument in itself for UCD not awarding a GPA score along with 1H1, 2H1, etc.

aequinoctium

my point is that they use a GPA system of some kind.
they dont depend on knowing 1st class etc.

katarin

all postgrad applications and jobs with qualification specifications generally write ''English System Upper Second Class Honors or Equivelant'' on their applications (i cant spell) so I wouldnt worry too much about employers or universities scoffing at a number they don't understand. If they're interested in hiring/ offering you a place then they'll go to the bother of checking how a B is equivilent to a 2H1. It's pretty obvious anyway.

Steibhin

Turns out that Higher Diploma Students do not get awarded honours, merely given an award of 'awarded' or 'incomplete'. The GPA score, had it been in a BA degree would have been a 2.1. however for H Dip students this classification does not apply. I was never made aware of this at any stage of my applicaiton or through the course. Its a funny old one.

Of course I can claim I got the equilvant of a 2.1 on my CV, etc and I can back that out by a printout of UCD standard and regulations document. But really should the college by making thing that difficult for everyone? UCD have the worng attitude when it comes to students. We are nothing more than a nessesary evil.

katarin

We are nothing more than a nessesary evil.

ah now, only undergraduates. postgrads and research students are the future of higher education. i think the system tries to build charachter or something by making the undergraduate experience one big baffling ordeal.

fortune99

so what do i put on my cv then??

Master of Science in blah blah 2H1

or what do i put down on the actual cv??

parker kent

Steibhin wrote: »

The problem is that UCD students will be disadvantaged when applying for jobs where the emloyer is unfamiliar with the UCD system. This really is a huge issue, probably the most fundamental issue surrounding your study in UCD, and I am shocked the SU hasn't made more of it.

You won't be disadvantaged in the slightest. On your CV you can put 2.1 and your GPA. If they are an employer that looks for official transcripts, they can ring UCD Admin and get verification of what the GPA corresponds to in the other system. Many employers do that regularly. Given that UCD provides a massive percentage of the students in Irish, I highly doubt employers will ignore them because of UCD's grading system. Plus given the sheer amount of students from UCD, they will quickly get used to the system.

Lastly, I just finished a Masters in UCD and my official results give the GPA and it says 1.1 Honours. So given that they give both on my results, I imagine that is commonplace for many courses in UCD.

There really is no need to get as worked up about this issue. It will have no negative impact on your future at all.

RandomName2

parker kent wrote: »

and it says 1.1 Honours.

Real smooth occupatio

parker kent

RandomName2 wrote: »

Real smooth occupatio

Did I mention it said 1.1. honours

OK that sounded more douchey than I meant, but it did mention the two formats of results.

El Siglo

Put down the old system, nobody outside of UCD gets the UCD system anyway. In America (and UL oddly enough) they use the GPA system proper (i.e. out of 4 and not UCD's 4.2 shite)

laura360

I would think they have calmed down by now, considering that it was posted in 2007! lo!