Grading system at my uni sucks :(

At my uni there are two grades in every course, a pass and distinction.

For a pass grade you need to have 55% or better and för distinction you need 75% or above. So if you get 74% on a test(equivalent to a 1st in the UK) you would still get a pass.

Once the courses are graded it is impossible to see a GPA only which grade you got.

The main reason why this makes me mad is when I'm applying to schools abroad (hoping for LSE), if I have several courses with a pass while I actually had 70%~ on my tests, they won't know the difference :frown:

Sorry if this doesn't interest anyone, just got to blow off some steam :mad:

since I got a pass on my last test with 73% marks!

Anyone else having similar troubles?

Reply 1

hibernation

i had. did my first degree in germany in a subject where we didn't get any grades at all (except for the final thesis and exams) so i applied, explaining the "grading system" and got in (postgrad at sussex). dont worry, they'll know that there are different systems! you're outside uk i assume?

Reply 2

Vilho

hibernation

Yeah, sweden at the moment. The thing is that they won't have any way to trace back my scores so not too confident about getting accepted...

Reply 3

hibernation

ha..i guessed you study in sweden, have spent half a year at jönköping högskolan and found the system to be, well, interesting. anyway, isn't there a possibility to get your actual points stated somewhere? are you on an exchange or doing your whole studies there? If you get a swedish degree i am sure that uk-unis will be aware that different countries have different systems. and to calm you down, i got accepted to do a ph.d. and i get founding through a gta without ever being to brighton...like, no interviews or whatsever. seems like being international is an advantage in a way.

Reply 4

rhododendron

Why don't you get those who write your references to state exactly how you did - not just pass etc.

Reply 5

Vilho

rhododendron

Why don't you get those who write your references to state exactly how you did - not just pass etc.

Since there is no culture of writing references in sweden and they almost have a policy stating that they wont write references since they don't "know the students" (professors often don't even know our names).

I guess I might be able to get a good reference from my professor when I'm writing my thesis and have a little more personal interaction with him than in a usual class.

And I'm coming to the UK for exchange this fall so I'm hoping to impress some professors, get some references and get a 1st or something on my record.

But still a little worried since I want to study at schools like LSE, Cambridge etc...

Heh, what was so interesting about Jönköping? :p:

Reply 6

hibernation

Vilho

Heh, what was so interesting about Jönköping? :p:

lol..nothing. was the only place i could go as an erasmus exchange student! but its not too bad, i had loads of fun there. and i love sweden anyway so didn't care where i went as long as i was able to live there for a while.

and believe me, i am totally sure that youre (nonexisting) grades won't cause you too much trouble. why dont you just email those unis you want to go and ask for their advice? thats what i did, i contacted about three or four unis and all they said was that i have to have my degree and certain toefl score and their emphasis was on my research proposal and references. as far as i know you'll be supervised by a professor when you write your thesis in sweden so get him to write you a reference!