Marginal 2-2

plastic-man

I've graduated. 1 poor academic year destroyed my overall progress. Worked damn hard in my final year to get my gpa back up. As a result, got a 1st in final year, but it just wasn't enough...

Marginal. Ended up with a heart-breaking 3.07, which is a 2-2. A 2-1 is 3.08-3.68. I asked a lecturer (also head of dept) about this issue before, about a year ago and I was informed. Someone very close to a different class hons degree will not be rounded up. This is due to the fact that this 'rounding up' is now accounted for in exams marking.

However, this is definitely not the case as I confirmed when I viewed scripts in the summer. I've come here to ask if anyone could suggest anything.

Please no smart-ass or deliberately blunt responses, I'm heart-broken enough as it is..

[Jackass]

Maybe get every single paper you can re-checked / I'm sure there's some form of appeal. You just need an extra couple of percent anywhere on any paper.

That absolutely sucks though, hope it works out for you.

Other than that, can you take one more elective and sit it over 1 semester to get your GPA up?

plastic-man

I have 2 appeals in progress but I'm not holding my breath. The difference of an extra 2 or 3% in an exam is the difference between your job application being dumped and considered.

It does suck, and I was annoyed about it for a while, but I'm so determined to get this 2-1, willing to try anything (within reason)

Ideas?

Bluefox21

Yes, get in touch with both lecturers who will be re-correcting your exams. If you were working very hard in final year hopefully they would take this into consideration especially if you could subtlety let them know that you are .01 away from a 2:1 which you need for a job.

Alternatively and this is a long shot but what were the circumstances of your poor academic year? It may be too late know but if you were under significant pressure (financial, health etc) it may be worth contacted your program officer and asking them to give extenuating circumstance/discount that year.

Best of luck

plastic-man

Bluefox21 wrote: »

It may be too late know but if you were under significant pressure (financial, health etc) it may be worth contacted your program officer and asking them to give extenuating circumstance/discount that year.

Purely financial. Long hours, double shifts, frequently. Tried to take on too much and it tired me out and left me with little time to study. Took a loan out in third year instead. I never even considered sighting 'financial reasons' as an extenuating circumstance. I thought to qualify for this you'd have to be genuinely struggling to get food. It may sound a bit extreme. What are the grounds for financial extenuating circumstances?

WeeBushy

Here's UCD's policy document on extenuating circumstances if you want a read of it: http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol_ext_circum_gn.pdf

Says there that financial difficulties are unlikely to be considered, I'm afraid.

Edit: And extenuating circumstances form have to be submitted at latest 5 days after the end of the exam period...

I hope the appeals go your way.

Econoline Van

Is it so bad to end up with a 2:2? I just ask because I'll probably end up with that....

parker kent

I just want to add that it might be more than just "2 or 3%" between a 2.2 and a 2.1. It probably requires small increases in a number of modules.

plastic-man

Well, it depends what the exact true GPA is. UCD only go to the hundredth in providing the GPA so there is either some element of 'rounding up/down' or they don't reveal the actual GPA. That's what I need to discuss. I recently found out that one of my grades was moved up one grade point from a minus grade to a flat (eg B3 to a B2). I'm still not sure if this will make a difference. Or whether it will make a significant difference to push me up the 0.01. Does anybody know who exactly I need to speak to? Is it the course program office, the assessment appeals (technically, it was an informal appeal), or who?

Raphael

What's your course? If you're in a degree where your grade is based purely off final year, then a .2 increase in 1 grade is a 0.016 overall increase, which would tip you over, but if you're graded on 2 years, then it's only an increase of .0083, which may or may not do it.

beardedmaster

If it's a degree where final year counts for everything.. you wouldn't be in this problem, so there's no accounting for that unfortunately

If your course has a ratio of 50:50 between final and penultimate years, and a final GPA of 3.07 (exactly - assuming that it isn't 3.066 or anything, and was already rounded up) - the raising of a single grade would increase your GPA to 3.078333333~ - which of course would be rounded up to a 3.08.

If your course has the ratio of 70:30 between final and penultimate - then if it was in the final year that the grade was increased, your GPA would rise to 3.081666667, which is clear sailing.
If it was in the penultimate year that the grade was increased, then the GPA would be raised to 3.075, which wouldn't be as clear at all, but still a chance.

That of course is assuming that your exact GPA was 3.07, and wasn't something less and that figured was a rounded-up one.
Best of luck with your appeals. Everything fecking up because of one set of exams, let alone one year, it's just such a bitch.