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University Marks - 80% or more

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I got 80+ a lot in my first year, mostly in data handling coursework and in a couple of my exams (but these had a multiple choice and data handling section as well as an essay). In second year I got a couple of 80+ scores for practical reports and for contribution to seminars. In my final year my highest mark has been 79% for a practical report. In my experience it varies depending on the marker but I have always found essays the hardest to score highly on.

Reply 61

LeeC

Original post by Ice_Queen

Moral of the story: Play to what your teacher wants to see, not just what the question asks.

This is SO important sometimes!

Reply 62

Ice_Queen

Original post by LeeC

This is SO important always!

I corrected it for you :h:

Reply 63

Hailey_Lawson

Original post by cookiedough101

Maths based modules - yes.
Essay based - very rare. Read some journals ( I do economics so some by Robert Solow or your own university research departments would be handy). An equivalent standard of that would get you 80

I'm quite scared for university now if it is so hard to achieve an 80% in essay based modules!!!! eeks! What do professors generally look for in essays in order for students to achieve an A+? And is 80% considered an A+ in the UK, or is 90%? As well, how would north american students measure up to this tough system of grading considering our courses are generally broad. Is it possible to take writing courses to improve essay writing, and is it possible for university professors to edit work? Sorry, I am wayyy too keen. x

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 64

De Lubac

Original post by Struggle

I wanted to know if anybody has achieved more than 80% on any of their coursework or overall for their degree. I have read about University Grading via books and about the necessarily quality of a piece of coursework to achieve such a grade of 80-90% – publishable standard. But I wanted confirmation from students as to whether this is true, and what they did to achieve such a grade – For example, hours spent on a 2000 word essay, from the very beginning to the final minute (Including research).

I also wanted to know if there is anybody here who achieved 80% or more, and what advice could you give.

Thanks.

A friend got 82 in his degree... His dissertation was published.

Another friend who is doing an MA has so far got 78 and 84 in her essays.

Reply 65

Prime500

My highest ever mark at uni was 90%, and my average for second year was 83%. Did a stupid amount of work for it though.

Reply 66

Blueflare

I got an 80% last year. :smug:

I worked on it for several hours almost every day for like 3 weeks before. I probably spent about 40 hours on it, which is way more than I ever spend on anything. :p:

But I was really interested in the topic.

Reply 67

tuesday91

Original post by Hailey_Lawson

I wouldn't worry, once you're at uni the percentages required for a good degree are dramatically less. 80% is way more than an A+ for an essay, that is properly bordering on something you could publish. A first (70%) is more than impressive. Depending on where you go, a lot of universities do have lectures on essay writing I think (and you should have an academic tutor you can ask questions), but I don't think that professors will usually edit any of your essays.

To other people, I agree it is easier to get high marks in science based subjects, but also so much easier to get very low marks. Getting over 80% would be very impressive in an essay, but equally anything under 50% would be pretty bad. Whereas in sciences both these extremes are very possible. I do Physics and Philosophy, and so far in the papers I've done, physics I've scraped passes whereas Philosophy I've managed firsts, and this is with significant amounts more revision for the Physics.

Reply 68

Kim-x

I got 82% for a coursework portfolio. It was weekly tasks, an essay and a learning journal for which we were the guinea pigs. I did the weekly tasks as I went and what I could of the learning journal as soon as possible. I then made adjustments and added a few things over the christmas holiday. For the essay, I got books out of the library as soon as I could, did some reading and made some notes. Another essay came up so it went on the back burner and I pretty much had to start again. Did some reading (again) then outlined the theories so I didn't have to look at a blank page when I went back to it. Then it was more reading for the evaluation and put that in. Over christmas it was tidying things up and changing some references over as I thought I had too many books and not enough journals referenced.

I've had more over 80% in exams - definitely easier.

Reply 69

LooCee

The highest I've had for an essay type piece of work is 72% and I was chuffed enough with that! That was for a speech and language therapy case study where you're writing about an individual's presentation and then about approaches to intervention so it is quite theoretical and you need to be able to pick up on the right things and talk about empirical studies and theory as to why those aspects are important. I've found that at university level it's more about writing in detail about the most important areas, rather than trying to write a little bit about everything which is the approach that some people seem to take. When you have a limited word count it's impossible to write about everything!

Reply 70

cookiedough101

Original post by Hailey_Lawson

The best way to gauge on your progress is through the yearly assessments. If you keep hovering in the 30-50 region, I would def suggest taking some form of help.
You need to go beyond the course, critique some concepts in your own way and most importantly back claims through academic journals.
90% in an essay based unit is unheard of in my experience.

Reply 71

Hailey_Lawson

Original post by cookiedough101

Thank you

I'm going to try to aim for 90's though :smile:

I honestly cry when I get 80% in high school haha x

Reply 72

Skidman

Original post by Struggle

83% in accounting and 99% in exam
81% in law assignment. This include 1 week planning including research, then 14-16 days to write it up

I always plan my assignment before jumping in, making sure I use all the resources available for that assignment, And always try 2 ask the lecturer for the making criteria it is very important when writing up your assignment.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 73

FrostyLemon

I finished my degree with an overall of 80% and I got an 85 for my dissertation. In all honesty I just spent a lot of time thinking about what I was writing, thinking of counter argument after counter argument, then synthesizing them them to come up with a new argument, counter argument etc etc. I ended up making a very reserved conclusion and suggested an area for further research.

Reply 74

Saltedcaramel1

I got 75% for a lab write a couple days ago considering the fact my lecturer said she rarely gives higher than 70% I was kinda pleased. :colone:

Reply 75

Saltedcaramel1

Original post by Ice_Queen

I got an 80% in one of my Masters courseworks.

Took me about a day and a half maybe? Turned out all he pretty much wanted was a list of references. I googled a load, summarised and linked them, got it back and smiled all day :p:

Moral of the story: Play to what your teacher wants to see, not just what the question asks.

Totally agree with you, I had an essay on testicular cancer so naturally everyone assumed that we had to write a bunch of facts on testicular cancer. I was feeling apprehensive about writing the essay so I asked her what exactly she expected. Turns out she wanted us to write about histopathology (preparing a slide, staining ect). Misleading or what I know.

Reply 76

2007PSanHa

I'm first year biological sciences and in my 1st semester all bar 1 of my assignments were over 80%! Pretty good going considering my A levels were BDDD and C in general studies!

Reply 77

TheWaffle

Original post by 2007PSanHa

I'm first year biological sciences and in my 1st semester all bar 1 of my assignments were over 80%! Pretty good going considering my A levels were BDDD and C in general studies!