The Student Room Group

The story of the man who graduated with a 2:2

Desmond woke up, he looked towards his computer as soon as he did so, jumping up anxiously out of his bed and grabbing the laptop beside him. He was on holiday at the time with his girlfriend. Today was results day.

Desmond eagerly anticipated his grades, nervous and scared, but very excited, for Desmond had worked very hard this year. Desmond studies a science subject, and had to write a lengthly report that was over 20k words in addition to creating software projects. (Desmond studies computer Science btw)

He opened his results, and his heart sank. He read "SECOND CLASS DIVISION 2"

He frantically Googled his grade, in shock, in horror, he knew what it meant but he was hoping some how, that this was some kind of mistake. Google answered his search, and responded with his worst fears, a nightmarish moment he will never forget, he had been awarded a 2:2.

He was confused, he had been receiving 2:1's all year, his project was given a first, voted by the university as one of the best of the year, he presented it at their open day, how could this be!

Desmond realised his efforts had fallen short because in his second year, he had achieved a third. All his efforts in his final year lay to waste and now he was stained with a 2:2.

Everyone he knows, graduated with a 2:1, his girlfriend, who had done no work during their relationship, who was out partying whilst he was at home studying had achieved a 2:1 in Philosophy. Oh how Desmond was in despair, he was ashamed of his grade, ashamed of all he achieved, angry, sad, he was lower than he had been.

He searched online, hoping, praying that others similar to his plight could alleviate some of his trauma. But he was met with a horde of TSR pseudo-acedemic non-graduates.

"2:2, i'd be ashamed of myself", "dude, look forward to working in macdonalds", "might as well have not bothered going to uni"

Oh Desmond tried to appeal to his uni, he was only 1% away after all, but he was rejected.

And now Desmond has failed, he has lost it all, he thought that the shame would leave him once he found a graduate job, but alas, no one would have him.

he found that 70% of all graduate jobs require a 2:1 or above, he found none that would accept him. Now the 2:2 was really burning him, now he was truly being punished.

but it went further, his dream of doing postgraduate courses at the Russell group unis was squashed. For every application he would skim to the "entry requirements" section, only to be met with the great insurmountable gate-keeper, "minimum 2:1 required" he saw at every corner he turned, on application after application.

He has paid upwards of £25k, spent 4 years studying only to receive a grade that does not add anything to his life, but revoke it, does not augment his employability and eligibility, but actually reduces it. The 2:2 stain, screaming of laziness or inability. He has ruined his life, and 1% away...

It has been weeks of peaks and throughs, of depression, anger and sorrow. Desmond finds himself frantically obsessed about his grade, and mortified. His department in university has shut down, and Desmond suffered the inevitable harsh marking of lecturers and professors who knew their jobs were finished. Desmond also suffered great personal problems he doesn't like to hide behind, but that greatly affected him in his second year, and it was after all his second year that dragged him down.

achieving AAA at A-Level, Desmond was great, but now he forever will be a failure. His dreams crushed, all over that 1%, his life is ruined.

(Btw, I am Desmond)
(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
FeelsBadMan :frown:
Reply 2
lol seriously you really think your life is ruined ?
Reply 3
Damn, that was deep. The 3rd person detached narration got me feeling numb :frown:
Sad for you, what plans do you have for the future?
That's a shame. Which subject?
China called, they want their wall back
Original post by kiwi94
lol seriously you really think your life is ruined ?


It is ruined in the sense I can't do what I wanted to do, so in a way it is ruined right? If you see your future as a specific state wherein you have A and B or C etc and you find out that now that is blocked and you will never achieve what you wanted, the opportunity is ruined for you.

Anyone who graduates with a Desmond will know exactly what I mean, it's honestly horrible, If you get a desmond and you party and don't really try that's one thing, but getting a desmond after so much hard work, so much harder than your peers and under-performing them, not because you're lazy or incapable but just because of bad circumstances, having your appeal to your university rejected, seeing "minimum 2:1 requirement" for entry into EVERYTHING I'm interested in, be it graduate jobs or masters for unis I like, it really gets you down.

I honestly am so depressed I really do feel like my life is ruined, might seem melodramatic, but in a way it is, and I know that. I wasted 4 years of my life for a degree that wont get me anywhere, and that I'm embarrassed to have on my CV because it implies I'm terrible at my subject, when actually I was one of the best in my final year.

It sucks :/
Chin up bro
what university did you go to?

JK Rowling got a 2:2 from Exeter if it's any consolation.
Original post by veni_vidi_vasi
That's a shame. Which subject?


Computer Science from a top 20 uni
Can't tell if you're joking or just serious and self-indulgent.

I (and many others) have a 2.1 and I haven't worked in a grad role since I graduated 3 years ago. So it's not like things would be much better even if someone had a 2.1, assuming their degree is non-vocational.

So rather than feeling sorry for themselves, someone in that position ought to see what other training they can get which leads towards a decent job OR what is still open to them with with a 2.2.

Also, really not sure what you're trying to imply about someone partying and getting a 2.1 in Philosophy - maybe someone can do that because they're academically gifted, not because it's a doss subject since I studied it myself and can tell you it's certainly not.
cool story bro!
Join the club, pal. It's not so bad, we have party rings.
Original post by grassntai
what university did you go to?

JK Rowling got a 2:2 from Exeter if it's any consolation.


And she struggled to feed herself and her daughter for years afterwards.
Original post by grassntai
what university did you go to?

JK Rowling got a 2:2 from Exeter if it's any consolation.


This.
I don't think most Russell group unis require a 2.1 for postgrad courses.
Original post by somethingbeautiful
Can't tell if you're joking or just serious and self-indulgent.

I (and many others) have a 2.1 and I haven't worked in a grad role since I graduated 3 years ago. So it's not like things would be much better even if someone had a 2.1, assuming their degree is non-vocational.

So rather than feeling sorry for themselves, someone in that position ought to see what other training they can get which leads towards a decent job OR what is still open to them with with a 2.2.

Also, really not sure what you're trying to imply about someone partying and getting a 2.1 in Philosophy - maybe someone can do that because they're academically gifted, not because it's a doss subject since I studied it myself and can tell you it's certainly not.


It's not doss, but I'm sorry the workload was nothing compared to what I had, literally nothing. I'm not going to say anything about the subject or get into a debate about that but I'm sorry I lived with this girl, I saw what work she had to do and it was nothing compared to the amounts we had to do.

I shouldn't even really mention it though because I shouldn't be bitter others have achieved well and I haven't in a way it's hard to help it, but I think a lot of my anger is at my department who really gave us too much work and weren't very good at all, in fact my department was shut down this year too so that goes to show.

we had a 20k dissertation, 20k!!! think about that for a minute. on TOP of that we had to create software, I'm not sure if you've ever tried that but it's no walk in the park.

But it doesn't mean **** that I got a first in both the report and the software, I got a 2:2 overall, I'm an idiot, a failure, lazy, my CV will be automatically filtered out and binned and no one will hire me.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by TheMaster102
Computer Science from a top 20 uni


Does Computer Science teach you how to code? (Sorry if this is a stupid question but this is not my sort of area). Can you do freelance coding for websites or something? Someone with your skills may be needed by someone who doesn't care about your class of degree.
All is not lost.

Although you sound like you may have been looking at pg stuff. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Try and find some smaller companies, startups etc.

Graduate schemes are not the be all and end all. Good luck

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