Official bitch about daily life in UL

onethreefive

Will the library be quiet from 6ish onwards this evening? Was in there this morning but got a horrible window seat with the Sun blinding me Might try red raisins but the plugs are always gone

Ave Sodalis

onethreefive wrote: »

Will the library be quiet from 6ish onwards this evening? Was in there this morning but got a horrible window seat with the Sun blinding me Might try red raisins but the plugs are always gone

The plug between Subway and Starbucks is free at the mo and I can't really see that changing. Red Raisins is near empty

iLaura

onethreefive wrote: »

Will the library be quiet from 6ish onwards this evening? Was in there this morning but got a horrible window seat with the Sun blinding me Might try red raisins but the plugs are always gone

I'm currently on the first floor at the back by the medical books and there's no empty seats around me. It SHOULD start to quieten down though.

onethreefive

I was sitting beside someone in the library today who was listening to clean bandit - rather be on repeat for around an hour Kind of ironic how the song kept saying 'no place i'd rather be'

Midkemia

Bed at 1 up at 5:30, do exam at 9 crash then promise myself to never do so much cramming again and get it done during study week. Then repeat for next semesters exams :P

wnolan1992

Midkemia wrote: »

Bed at 1 up at 5:30, do exam at 9 crash then promise myself to never do so much cramming again and get it done during study week. Then repeat for next semesters exams :P

I've been doing this cycle for five years. :pac:

I lay down on my bed at 7pm yesterday having been up for about 35 hours cramming for the exam I had yesterday.

I woke up 20 minutes ago, music still playing on my laptop.

iLaura

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I've been doing this cycle for five years. :pac:

I lay down on my bed at 7pm yesterday having been up for about 35 hours cramming for the exam I had yesterday.

I woke up 20 minutes ago, music still playing on my laptop.

:eek:

I can never understand you people. I can go to bed at 10 and then get up at 7 to head into the library and I'll be absolutely wrecked, and then it gets harder and harder to sleep as the week goes on. I honestly don't know how ye do it :P

Ompala

iLaura wrote: »

:eek:

I can never understand you people. I can go to bed at 10 and then get up at 7 to head into the library and I'll be absolutely wrecked, and then it gets harder and harder to sleep as the week goes on. I honestly don't know how ye do it :P

Desperate times etc.

iLaura

Ompala wrote: »

Desperate times etc.

Even in past exams I haven't been capable of any of that :P I think I just favor sleep more. Either that or I'm strangely prepared for the exam, which has only happened once...

wnolan1992

I dunno, it's always how I've done exams. I mean, I basically went through my Leaving Cert year surviving on, on average, 15 hours sleep during the week, then an epic crash every Friday.
With college exams, I find I retain way more information if I'm in a complete panic stage. Like, looking back on Sunday night/Monday morning I was like a man possessed frantically typing up notes from notes I'd already typed up. :pac:

iLaura

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I dunno, it's always how I've done exams. I mean, I basically went through my Leaving Cert year surviving on, on average, 15 hours sleep during the week, then an epic crash every Friday.
With college exams, I find I retain way more information if I'm in a complete panic stage. Like, looking back on Sunday night/Monday morning I was like a man possessed frantically typing up notes from notes I'd already typed up. :pac:

If I had less than 15 hours of sleep over 2 days I'd be a walking zombie. I'm definitely one of the people who need 8+ hours of sleep a night. And god help any who interrupt that sleep :P

Last Tuesday I was in a complete panic mode and learned the whole set of metabolism of carbohydrates in half an hour, including all the pathways from the lecture notes. And then it didn't come up in the exam...But yeah, I learn so much better when I put myself under pressure, just not the kind of pressure that results in me loosing sleep. I know I'm starting to panic though when the last thing that goes through my head before sleep is equations/diagrams etc. It's really annoying :P

wnolan1992

iLaura wrote: »

If I had less than 15 hours of sleep over 2 days I'd be a walking zombie. I'm definitely one of the people who need 8+ hours of sleep a night. And god help any who interrupt that sleep :P

Last Tuesday I was in a complete panic mode and learned the whole set of metabolism of carbohydrates in half an hour, including all the pathways from the lecture notes. And then it didn't come up in the exam...But yeah, I learn so much better when I put myself under pressure, just not the kind of pressure that results in me loosing sleep. I know I'm starting to panic though when the last thing that goes through my head before sleep is equations/diagrams etc. It's really annoying :P

Oh I turn into a zombie. But a high functioning zombie. If anyone saw me walking home from my exam yesterday (it took me around 15 minutes to walk from the main building to Dromroe FFS ) they could definitely attest to this. :pac:

onethreefive

1 day to revise around half a module. This will be fun.

Copper_pipe

This analogue electronics exam tomorrow is going to be awful

Ave Sodalis

onethreefive wrote: »

1 day to revise around half a module. This will be fun.

Be grand, I did an entire module yesterday, it can be done

Midkemia

Lucozade is my hero for this weeks cramming even though I couldn't really sleep last night from drinking so much of it :P

Chimaera

This discussion reminds me of how badly we need to reconsider how we examine students. End of semester examinations that depend substantially or totally on rote learning are not adequate, especially for science/engineering subjects. It's totally unrepresentative of how graduates are actually expected to work in industry.

wnolan1992

Chimaera wrote: »

This discussion reminds me of how badly we need to reconsider how we examine students. End of semester examinations that depend substantially or totally on rote learning are not adequate, especially for science/engineering subjects. It's totally unrepresentative of how graduates are actually expected to work in industry.

It think it's especially nonsensical for Computer Science students. I mean, memorising formulae and diagrams is all fine and good for an exam, but it's bloody pointless when you've got all that stuff at your fingertips when you're actually working in industry. It's a real shame that nearly all modules are still heavily weighted towards the final exam.

But meh, that's a problem for someone else to fix, I'm (hopefully) out of UL in 5 and a half months. :P

Celestechu

Blanking in an exam has to be the worst feeling ever. Looks like I'll be sitting my first repeat in August! At least I can pay for it with co-op money.

Iranoutofideas

"Ok which one of you has that phone?"

onethreefive

If I fail one module can I get a compensatory fail if I've passed all the other ones? I'm really confused about QCA's and all that. If at the end of semester 2 I have a QCA of above 4 (two semesters) together do I need to repeat something I might of failed in semester 1?

Ave Sodalis

onethreefive wrote: »

If I fail one module can I get a compensatory fail if I've passed all the other ones? I'm really confused about QCA's and all that. If at the end of semester 2 I have a QCA of above 4 (two semesters) together do I need to repeat something I might of failed in semester 1?

Only if you get a D and your QCA is above 2. If your QCA is below 2, then you just fail with a D. Anything below a D is a straight fail.

And your QCA stays between 0 and 4, it's not added together

onethreefive

sup_dude wrote: »

Only if you get a D and your QCA is above 2. If your QCA is below 2, then you just fail with a D. Anything below a D is a straight fail.

And your QCA stays between 0 and 4, it's not added together

So if I get a D2 in the module I think I might fail and my QCA is 2 or above I'll get a compensatory fail in the D2 module?

Ave Sodalis

onethreefive wrote: »

So if I get a D2 in the module I think I might fail and my QCA is 2 or above I'll get a compensatory fail in the D2 module?

If you get a D2 and a QCA of over 2, you get a compensatory.

If you get a D2 and a QCA of under 2, you fail and have to repeat

onethreefive

sup_dude wrote: »

If you get a D2 and a QCA of over 2, you get a compensatory.

If you get a D2 and a QCA of under 2, you fail and have to repeat

Thank you What grades would I need in other modules to get a QCA of 2?

FlyingIrishMan

onethreefive wrote: »

Thank you What grades would I need in other modules to get a QCA of 2?

Pretty sure just getting a C3 in everything else would get you above 2.0, though I've no idea how it really works so probably best get someone else to back that up :P

SuperNova1890

FlyingIrishMan wrote: »

Pretty sure just getting a C3 in everything else would get you above 2.0, though I've no idea how it really works so probably best get someone else to back that up :P

C3 will get you a QCA of 2.0.... you can get a degree with a QCA 2.0 not a very good degree but its still a degree!! :P

QCA Table
A1 4.0
A2 3.6
B1 3.2
B2 3.0
B3 2.8
C1 2.6
C2 2.4
C3 2.0
D1 1.6
D2 1.2

iLaura

SuperNova1890 wrote: »

C3 will get you a QCA of 2.0.... you can get a degree with a QCA 2.0 not a very good degree but its still a degree!! :P

QCA Table
A1 4.0
A2 3.6
B1 3.2
B2 3.0
B3 2.8
C1 2.6
C2 2.4
C3 2.0
D1 1.6
D2 1.2

In terms of degree this is how its broken down;

"Award Classification
Cumulative QCA

3.40 - 1.1

3.00 - 2.1

2.60 - 2.2

2.00 - Third class honors", also known as a pass degree

onethreefive

Anyone know what would happen if you've an exam that the class is divided into two different rooms by your surname for and you did the exam in the wrong room ? It hasn't happened but it was something I was thinking about :pac:

Ave Sodalis

onethreefive wrote: »

Anyone know what would happen if you've an exam that the class is divided into two different rooms by your surname for and you did the exam in the wrong room ? It hasn't happened but it was something I was thinking about :pac:

It won't happen, the invigilators check everyone who comes in. And say you did slip through and the person who no longer had a seat managed to slip into the other room, as long as you were in the right row, nothing really would happen as all the papers go together in the end

wnolan1992

iLaura wrote: »

In terms of degree this is how its broken down;

"Award Classification
Cumulative QCA

3.40 - 1.1

3.00 - 2.1

2.60 - 2.2

2.00 - Third class honors", also known as a pass degree

Plus there are discretionary bands of 0.1, so a QCA of 3.3 puts you in the running for a 1.1, but it's discretionary and subject to your department's criteria (For example, in CSIS if you have a QCA of 3.3, you'll more than likely be bumped up if your FYP has received an A2A2).

Ave Sodalis

wnolan1992 wrote: »

if your FYP has received an A2A2).

I don't know about CSIS but I think it's really unfair that the FYPs are marked this year. Mine was changed only recently by my supervisor who will be correcting it. However, that supervisor hasn't a clue and will surely mess up the marking and/or not take into account the fact it was changed and therefore, even though all my work was done and relevant for the last one, it looks as though I've done nothing for this one. Not to mention the fact that I hadn't a clue what I was doing the whole time and drawing information out of my supervisor was like trying to pull wisdom teeth with your barehands...

iLaura

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Plus there are discretionary bands of 0.1, so a QCA of 3.3 puts you in the running for a 1.1, but it's discretionary and subject to your department's criteria (For example, in CSIS if you have a QCA of 3.3, you'll more than likely be bumped up if your FYP has received an A2A2).

I'm actually the education department rep, and there was a University board meeting concerning this lately. I can't remember the exact figure, but when you use the FYP for the discretionary band you're weighting the FYP x400 times its actual mark. And the use of the word discretionary was being debated as well, because the department aren't actually showing discretion when moving someone up a grade if they're focusing only on one aspect (or something along those lines)

wnolan1992

iLaura wrote: »

I'm actually the education department rep, and there was a University board meeting concerning this lately. I can't remember the exact figure, but when you use the FYP for the discretionary band you're weighting the FYP x400 times its actual mark. And the use of the word discretionary was being debated as well, because the department aren't actually showing discretion when moving someone up a grade if they're focusing only on one aspect (or something along those lines)

Just to clarify, that's not the only criteria CSIS use, s'just the one I remembered off the top of my head. Another one is:

"There exist clearly exceptional and mitigating circumstances which have been documented and which the CSIS Department’s Internal Examination Board accepts had a negative impact on the candidate’s performance in assessments and for which allowance has not already been made."

But yeah, the FYP one is a bit weird, seems very harsh that if you're at 3.39 and you get a B1A2 in the FYP you, going by the regulations, don't get the higher award.

Argh, I need to stop procrastinating and study!

phish

iLaura wrote: »

I'm actually the education department rep, and there was a University board meeting concerning this lately. I can't remember the exact figure, but when you use the FYP for the discretionary band you're weighting the FYP x400 times its actual mark. And the use of the word discretionary was being debated as well, because the department aren't actually showing discretion when moving someone up a grade if they're focusing only on one aspect (or something along those lines)

As education department rep you don't by any chance know what the story is in the education department with discretionary bands? What is the criteria they look at?

iLaura

phish wrote: »

As education department rep you don't by any chance know what the story is in the education department with discretionary bands? What is the criteria they look at?

I'm not 100% sure but they currently focus on FYP, which is silly IMO because not everyone does an education based FYP. There was talk the last day about it and Ollie McGarr was mentioning something about moving to the Health Science criteria, though I have zero idea what those are. The discretionary band is still 0.10 of the next degree. I'll hopefully know more next semester when there's more UTEB meetings and I can ask these questions

onethreefive

If I got a grade that corresponds to a 2.2 in 2 modules and then get a 1.1 corresponding grade in another 3 modules would that then give me a 2.1 overall? I'm not sure if that's how it works

Copper_pipe

Analogue electronics was dreadful

SuperNova1890

onethreefive wrote: »

If I got a grade that corresponds to a 2.2 in 2 modules and then get a 1.1 corresponding grade in another 3 modules would that then give me a 2.1 overall? I'm not sure if that's how it works

Short answer yes...

To be honest you would have to calculate it... just add the module QCAs together and divide by number of modules.

iLaura

onethreefive wrote: »

If I got a grade that corresponds to a 2.2 in 2 modules and then get a 1.1 corresponding grade in another 3 modules would that then give me a 2.1 overall? I'm not sure if that's how it works

Someone did out a QCA calculator which can be found here which may be of some help

Chimaera

To the poster wondering about compensating fail grades: D1 and D2 grades are known as compensating fail grades. If you get a D1 or D2 in a module(s) you may still progress once your QCA for that semester is above 2.0; you are not obliged to clear them to progress. If your QCA is below 2.0 you will need to repeat them in order to progress.

An F grade is an outright fail: you must repeat this in order to progress irrespective of your QCA.

Repeats of fail grades are capped at C3 too.

TBH, all of this stuff is in the Academic Handbook and it's quite well explained there. You're university students, you're supposed to be capable of independent research and reading!!

Ave Sodalis

Chimaera wrote: »

TBH, all of this stuff is in the Academic Handbook and it's quite well explained there. You're university students, you're supposed to be capable of independent research and reading!!

Finding out the answer is research.

There's something about the "you're ****, you're suppose to be ****" that irks me, even if it's said in jest...

wnolan1992

What sort of nerd wastes their time reading the Student Handbook when you can just ask on Boards? :P

iLaura

wnolan1992 wrote: »

What sort of nerd wastes their time reading the Student Handbook when you can just ask on Boards? :P

I actually looked at the handbook today when they updated it...am I a nerd?

wnolan1992

iLaura wrote: »

I actually looked at the handbook today when they updated it...am I a nerd?

Well we're using an internet forum that's not Facebook or Twitter. By definition, we're all nerds.

iLaura

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Well we're using an internet forum that's not Facebook or Twitter. By definition, we're all nerds.

Haha, that's very true. I hate bringing up something I saw on Boards in conversation 'cause then I've to explain what it is and generally get strange looks. But oh well

jamo2oo9

If I fail 3 exams, which is kinda looking like it really.. Could I still do semester 2 in Jan/Feb or do I have repeat the semester next year? I'm getting a load of conflicting information about this.

Daniel S

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

If I fail 3 exams, which is kinda looking like it really.. Could I still do semester 2 in Jan/Feb or do I have repeat the semester next year? I'm getting a load of conflicting information about this.

IIRC, I failed three in first semester of first year and repeated them all in August. Continued into semester two and didn't fail any.

I think you're allowed repeat three in one semester or two in each?

wnolan1992

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

If I fail 3 exams, which is kinda looking like it really.. Could I still do semester 2 in Jan/Feb or do I have repeat the semester next year? I'm getting a load of conflicting information about this.

My understanding is:

You can repeat them in August. However, if you were to fail more than one next semester, you'd have to repeat the year.

The only time failing more than two modules in a semester is an instant year repeat is when you have Co-op or Erasmus in one semester.

jamo2oo9

Daniel S wrote: »

IIRC, I failed three in first semester of first year and repeated them all in August. Continued into semester two and didn't fail any.

I think you're allowed repeat three in one semester or two in each?

I was told that there's a max of two fails that you can have for each semester and you can repeat them in August.