[Flo[ProActiv]]

(Original post by jeh_jeh)
My baby-est (there are three of them in total) sister is sixteen on Saturday. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! SHE'S STARTING SIXTH FORM IN SEPTEMBER. In my head, she's still fourteen.

Happy birthday to your brother!

Seriously, who gave our babies permission to grow up?! I WAS NOT CONSULTED ABOUT THIS!

Happy birthday to your sister too

[rainbow drops]

(Original post by Zoedotdot)
In my department we can't get above 80. It winds me up when I hear about people doing my course at other universities talking about their amazing marks - an amazing mark here is 73/74 and getting very much higher than that is pretty rare.

We can get above 80% but no one ever does, and I think it's generally agreed that any English essay which is awarded anything above 85ish is of publishable standard (at York it is, anyway), hence why no one ever manages it. I even had a tutor in second year that read the mark scheme out to us and basically disregarded the 80-90 section and above. The very highest mark I've heard of someone getting in my year is 78, but when people get firsts, they tend to hover at the lower end. My highest is 74.

What annoys me the most is when people studying science subjects that get, like, 80-100% all the time, sneer at humanities subjects and our marks. Urgh, they have absolutely no idea.

edit: I also think that uneven marking from university to university is a problem; when I was in first year, none of us were getting anything above about 62 for months, but my friend (who was an English first year at Leeds at the time) said that quite a lot of people in her year were already doing really well. Seems like my department is very harsh on marking at times. There's nothing that can be done about that, really, but it kind of sucks.

[New...Romantic]

Ouch. I'm away to just learn everything in my notes so I can regurgitate it in the exam...

I get that you're just moaning about your own courses but there's no point comparing. Sciences and arts are different, different courses at the same uni are different, the same course at different unis is different.

(Original post by Flo[ProActiv])
My mummy came home and made me feel better

Decided to have a cup of tea, a slice of toast and man up and get on with my work. Since I was disappointed with that essay, it seems counter productive to just give up on work full stop Managaed another 500 words, and am going to attempt to get the references done before I go out.

It's my brother's 18th today, so we're going to a Japanese restaurant in town for dinner Can't believe my baby brother is 18, in my head he's still about 12 (even though he's over 6ft tall )

Glad you're feeling better Aw happy birthday to him. My sister's 18 next week, don't know whether to get her a present or just offer to take her to TGIs or something now she can drink.

[jeh_jeh]

(Original post by Flo[ProActiv])
Seriously, who gave our babies permission to grow up?! I WAS NOT CONSULTED ABOUT THIS!

Happy birthday to your sister too

I KNOW. I demand a refund, or something. It's actually quite scary - I was allowed to learn to drive (you can start at 16 if you're disabled) when I was her age. I'm glad she's not.

(Original post by rainbow drops)
What annoys me the most is when people studying science subjects that get, like, 80-100% all the time, sneer at humanities subjects and our marks. Urgh, they have absolutely no idea.

edit: I also think that uneven marking from university to university is a problem; when I was in first year, none of us were getting anything above about 62 for months, but my friend (who was an English first year at Leeds at the time) said that quite a lot of people in her year were already doing really well. Seems like my department is very harsh on marking at times. There's nothing that can be done about that, really, but it kind of sucks.

It doesn't help that all my Maths/Physics friends are also ridiculously clever (as in, funded PhD offers from Oxbridge clever), and so they get those kinds of marks with ease. I'm not sure what the average is if you're not a genius... it makes me feel so stupid.

I think our department is audited sometimes, but since different departments have different ways of marking (I know, for example, that the French department look for different things in a piece of work marked at x% compared to Italian) there really is no way of standardisation.

(Original post by New...Romantic)
Ouch. I'm away to just learn everything in my notes so I can regurgitate it in the exam...

I get that you're just moaning about your own courses but there's no point comparing. Sciences and arts are different, different courses at the same uni are different, the same course at different unis is different.

I've managed to put my foot in it again. And I wasn't referring anyone, or to a particular course (I don't know enough about them, for a start!). I also wasn't comparing per se - I'm not assigning value judgements (I already said there's no hope in hell of me ever graduating in anything vaguely mathematical or scientific!) - rather saying that humanities subjects, especially literature, can be so subjective, and that science subjects tend to be more fact-based (you either know the answer or you don't). I actually watched a video excerpt in which Ian McEwan was talking about how he managed to interpret his own book "incorrectly", and that his son's 'A'-Level tutors didn't agree. If the author of a book can't help his son get an A in an essay, what hope do the rest of us unenlightened souls have?!

---

My sister baked heart-shaped chocolate sponge cakes for her friends to take into school tomorrow as an early birthday thing, and we chopped them in half and sandwiched red butter cream icing between them, and the red has managed to get everywhere. I am such a child when it comes to baking!

[rainbow drops]

^^^ ditto - I wasn't saying all science subjects are is regurgitation (I mean, I'm rubbish at maths and science, so who am I to judge?) but the fact is that if you get all the answers correct in BSc exams then you will do well, but for the likes of English and History, one tutor might mark an essay at a 64 and another might want to give it a 70. Subjective marking has an absolutely huge impact on humanities degree marks and is an incredibly frustrating thing to have to deal with, and to my complete annoyance, some of my friends studying a science degree don't grasp that at all.

[Stray_talk]

To play devil's advocate (I did a humanities degree) but why would they? They don't do humanities, they don't have to worry about subjectivity (as much), it's not part of their degree so they wouldn't see it.
Aren't there many conflicting viewpoints in the sciences? I'd argue that with certain things, there is no one way.

[rainbow drops]

(Original post by Stray_talk)
To play devil's advocate (I did a humanities degree) but why would they? They don't do humanities, they don't have to worry about subjectivity (as much), it's not part of their degree so they wouldn't see it.
Aren't there many conflicting viewpoints in the sciences? I'd argue that with certain things, there is no one way.

Why would they question the subjectivity thing, you mean? They don't do it all the time, obviously, but I can think of a couple of conversations we've had about how our degrees are going when people doing humanities courses have expressed frustration about marking, and science students who aren't as familar with the horribly frustrating way in which our essays are marked have questioned how marking can be unfair. It's not unfair, but it is fundamentally flawed, as different tutors have different preferences which will impact how they mark essays, and some always mark more harshly than others. The best example I have is how I had one tutor mark me down for not being decisive enough in one argument, and then an essay or two later, I was marked down again by someone else for being too decisive. It's beyond, beyond frustrating, and seeing science students able to reach very high marks is kind of frustrating too, sometimes it's nothing against their degrees at all, but it is frustrating. I have one friend that gets over 85 in pretty much everything, and for me, that's quite literally impossible.

I'm just in a bit of a mood about it all atm, because I'm currently working so hard on essays and revision, but I know for a fact that subjective, inconsistent marking will affect my results in some way and it sucks. It seems like near enough my whole year feels the same way.

[Stray_talk]

(Original post by rainbow drops)
Why would they question the subjectivity thing, you mean? They don't do it all the time, obviously, but I can think of a couple of conversations we've had about how our degrees are going when people doing humanities courses have expressed frustration about marking, and science students who aren't as familar with the horribly frustrating way in which our essays are marked have questioned how marking can be unfair. It's not unfair, but it is fundamentally flawed, as different tutors have different preferences which will impact how they mark essays, and some always mark more harshly than others. The best example I have is how I had one tutor mark me down for not being decisive enough in one argument, and then an essay or two later, I was marked down again by someone else for being too decisive. It's beyond, beyond frustrating, and seeing science students able to reach very high marks is kind of frustrating too, sometimes it's nothing against their degrees at all, but it is frustrating. I have one friend that gets over 85 in pretty much everything, and for me, that's quite literally impossible.

I'm just in a bit of a mood about it all atm, because I'm currently working so hard on essays and revision, but I know for a fact that subjective, inconsistent marking will affect my results in some way and it sucks. It seems like near enough my whole year feels the same way.

I understand what you are saying but they are two different areas. To compare how things are done isn't really possible, surely? The fields, methods etc are fundamentally different.
Personally, I don't think it's necessarily right to be comparing the two.

[rainbow drops]

(Original post by Stray_talk)
I understand what you are saying but they are two different areas. To compare how things are done isn't really possible, surely? The fields, methods etc are fundamentally different.
Personally, I don't think it's necessarily right to be comparing the two.

I'm not seriously comparing them, more expressing jealousy than anything else it would be nice to receive grades without wondering how the hell your work was marked the way it was, that's all, but I know that's basically impossible for my subject.

[hbandtr4eva]

At Essex the highest mark you could get was 80 but we still had the same grade boundaries as the other departments which scored out of 100. This means that in order for me to get a first I had to get at least 70/80 but all other departments had to get 70/100. Completely unfair

[Sephrenia]

(Original post by Stray_talk)
I understand what you are saying but they are two different areas. To compare how things are done isn't really possible, surely? The fields, methods etc are fundamentally different.
Personally, I don't think it's necessarily right to be comparing the two.

PRSOM...

I've had the Humanities v Science debate far too many times, and it always ends up with agreeing to disagree.


(For the record, I had to write essays for my maths, and god that was horrible. Mathematicians + Grammar do not mix, and 20% of the marks were on grammar and structure )

[Flo[ProActiv]]

Oh God, I'm so full *dies*

The Japanese restaurant was better than I thought - was really worried it was all going to be raw fish, but in the end I had vegetable dumplings followed by chicken teriyaki (and ginger and orange tea instead of dessert). Then we came home and had red velvet cake from the Hummingbird bakery. Sooooo nice, but sooooo filling.

I need to finish my packing, but I don't want to move

[rainbow drops]

Japanese dumplings I think sushi is ridiculously overrated, but I love their noodles and dumplings, mmmmmm. Jealous.

(Original post by Sephrenia)
PRSOM...

I've had the Humanities v Science debate far too many times, and it always ends up with agreeing to disagree.


(For the record, I had to write essays for my maths, and god that was horrible. Mathematicians + Grammar do not mix, and 20% of the marks were on grammar and structure )

I really wasn't trying to make it into a humanities vs science debate, if that's what you guys are thinking. Literally all I was saying was that our mark schemes are more subjective than science ones, and that it's a little frustrating sometimes that's all! Sucks about that 20% grammar and structure mark in your essays, though; considering you're a maths student, that seems ridiculously harsh.

Just finished the Asda online shop that my mum's buying for me. I'm so grateful because I have a truly hectic week ahead of me, of an exam, two deadlines, tutor meetings and another meeting at the school where I'm doing an afternoon of work experience a week this term. I'm not even sure where I'd have found the time to go and buy food myself!

[Flo[ProActiv]]

Yeah, I'm not sold on sushi. I like the rice that goes in the middle (which I ha a whole bowl of with the chicken teryaki ), but apart from that, I'm rather meh about it.

Packing is done, and my Dad has said he'll help me to the station tomorrow (even though I don't really have that much stuff - a small wheely case, a weekend bag and my normal bag). Just wish I was travelling to see the boy instead of back to uni Although I need to prepare myself for a weekend of being ignored -he's builing his new computer, so no doubt he'll end up losing track of time, etc.

[Lil-Lele]

In reference to my last question, I guess you guys are right and yes I only really brought it up as I felt like I wasn't really priority right now . The exam is today so I'm hoping after that things will change again. He gets in at 10pm tonight, I was hoping to go into work today but I can't get lifts home and a taxi wouldn't make it worth going in. I've got up early still though and hoping to have a productive day, think I need to make a to-do list! I'm not good at organisation :/. I need to somehow also figure out exactly what I need to revise for this french exam, like split it into topics or something.

[Flo[ProActiv]]

Morning thread
I'm off back to uni for the final time. Can't believe I'm in my final term already, barely feels like any time has passed since I moved into halls in my first year!

Travelling up early because it was the same price to travel now in first class as it would have been to travel later in standard. I'm taking advantage of the free WiFi, and am looking forward to my free breakfast

[Jellybean91]

(Original post by Lil-Lele)
In reference to my last question, I guess you guys are right and yes I only really brought it up as I felt like I wasn't really priority right now . The exam is today so I'm hoping after that things will change again. He gets in at 10pm tonight, I was hoping to go into work today but I can't get lifts home and a taxi wouldn't make it worth going in. I've got up early still though and hoping to have a productive day, think I need to make a to-do list! I'm not good at organisation :/. I need to somehow also figure out exactly what I need to revise for this french exam, like split it into topics or something.

I'm really sorry if this sounds harsh (I don't mean it to) but when I have an exam or something stressful coming up, Nathan isn't a priority for me! And I wouldn't expect to be for him around exams! He knows how much I love him, and does exactly what I always need him to do when I'm stressed: support me. I know its hard, esp when you're LD not feeling like a priority, but its only for a couple of weeks in the year, and while that time may pass slowly, remember it will pass and everything will be back to normal, and hey, its not long until you're back together for summer! so Sucks about work, but french revision is a really good idea have you tried watching any kids TV? Also, if I ever see a new spanish/Italian word (depending on which country I'm in) I always write it down, look it up, write it on a post it and stick it to my wall. Scared the **** out of my roommates when I first put them up they thought i'd been attacked by post its! Have you got any past papers for this french exam as well? They're always really useful


Flo - I know what you mean about hardly any time passing! I can't believe that by the time I get back to the UK, most of my friends will have graduated oooh jealous about 1st class enjoy your breakfast!

Meeting one of the girls I lived with in 1st year today (she lives in a little town just outside my city) and we're gonna go to the library and sit and write our essays together

[Danielle89]

Hmm... been living with Marc for two weeks and I made it clear when I moved in (well, before I moved in actually) that weed in the flat is something I am not happy about. He had kept it out for the past couple weeks and I'd noticed when I was sitting in the living room that he'd hidden his wee grinder and long skins under the telly unit. The grinder was empty and no weed about. I'm off today and he's at work, and just realised that the skins had moved. On closer inspection there's a small bag of weed under there pushed further back....

My main reasons for being against him smoking it is that he ends up spending more money than he says on it, and he's meant to be trying to pay off his overdraft. That and the fact that it gives him erm, performance problems, and if for whatever reason the police got wind of it it could be damaging to my career (just got a job confirmed for after training year, cant afford to risk it).

How do I bring this up??? Or do I??? I just don't know. Thought things were going well but he's blatantly hiding it from me.

[Lil-Lele]

Thanks Jelly

Yessss, I've done about 5 exam papers, been doing them for at least two months as I figured there is no better way to practice, I've been getting between 65 - 75% so it's not too bad, I'm just scared about the listening one because I can't really know exactly how it will be on the day. I started watching cartoons and I've also found all of the simpsons episodes in French, and I must have listened to the material i've been provided with about 50 times but I'm not sure if my ear is 'tuning' to the language very easily :/.

[miraclemile]

(Original post by Flo[ProActiv])
I'm off back to uni for the final time. Can't believe I'm in my final term already, barely feels like any time has passed since I moved into halls in my first year!

Travelling up early because it was the same price to travel now in first class as it would have been to travel later in standard. I'm taking advantage of the free WiFi, and am looking forward to my free breakfast

Geez, I can't even imagine. I'm only first year and when my lectures ended in March I was all 'Wait... what?! Where did my year go, give it back!'

And so jealous of first class. I've managed that the last couple of times I've travelled, because of booking really early, and when I go to see the boy in May, it'll be my first time in Standard since I came back from uni in January. Don't think I'll cope without all the lovely tea and cake! I've got soft

(Original post by Danielle89)
x

Personally, I'd bring it up, but that's just me. It's not like you went hunting around to try and catch him out because you didn't trust him, if just sitting in your own living room made you notice, so it's not like you've got anything to defend yourself against You've got really valid reasons for being against it too. I'd just mention that you saw the stuff, and ask him about it first - I'm not saying there's another explanation as such, but could it be that maybe he thinks it's fine if he just stashes it somewhere that (in theory) noone would notice, and never goes near it? Which obviously is not what you asked for, but he might just need that pointing out to him