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Feeling really overwhelmed...

Hey, so I've been doing an access course in Humanities and Social sciences and so far I've had 3 essays to do. Sociology was fine, I had no feedback for improvement on that. English was ok, but there's lots to do now I have it back to improve its content. History is making me really anxious. We have 1500 words to cover the whole industrial revolution from about 1750 to 1830 and I can't see any way of showing real understanding of the subject by being that concise. I'm just panicking at the moment because it's the first 3 assignments and I'm already feeling the pressure. There are another 12 modules after this... How does anyone cope?!
(edited 8 years ago)
Essays like most things will get easier with practice. I'm in a similar boat on access. My first essay, for example, I spent ages making sure I get every reference perfect, next time this should be a lot quicker.

As for writing 1500 words about such a big subject, of course you can not cover everything in detail. I tend to pick out the major points and focus on them. My last essay (1500 word limit) I did 2000 then spent ages trimming it down to 1600.
Original post by skeptical_john
for example, I spent ages making sure I get every reference perfect


have you been introduced to the lovely website that is 'ref me'? it makes referencing a lot quicker!


i can relate, i'm feeling very stressed on my access to nursing. i started in september and have handed in two assignments so far, one got a distinction, the other got a pass! :frown: my teacher said in my first draft, 'make these improvements and it'll be distinction level' and so i was absolutely gutted and haven't been given much feedback on how to improve either. i've always been a high achiever so honestly this pass has hit me really hard.

we can do it though and it will get easier, just got to get back into the swing of things!
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JPO92
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Original post by princess-fab
have you been introduced to the lovely website that is 'ref me'? it makes referencing a lot quicker!


i can relate, i'm feeling very stressed on my access to nursing. i started in september and have handed in two assignments so far, one got a distinction, the other got a pass! :frown: my teacher said in my first draft, 'make these improvements and it'll be distinction level' and so i was absolutely gutted and haven't been given much feedback on how to improve either. i've always been a high achiever so honestly this pass has hit me really hard.

we can do it though and it will get easier, just got to get back into the swing of things!


My first Sociology essay got zero improvement feedback, just that it was excellent. I'm fairly confident that it is at distinction level already which is a small victory I suppose. On our course, after we get our drafts back, the teachers are not allowed to tell us what grade we are working at which we all think is completely unfair. How on earth do we gauge our ability without that kind of feedback? Naturally this has made me nervous rather than happy because I've put so much pressure on myself. All the students are asking me for help as well and I don't think I'm nearly qualified enough to offer it.

I suppose I should be happy nevertheless, but I have alot of history (no pun intended) with education and it really can mean that I get really anxious over these kind of assessments.

English feedback today was very mixed, but it's so much more difficult to gauge your success with a subject like that. It's much more subjective and difficult to define the criteria.

We will get there, like you say. Practice makes perfect and so on and so on.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by JPO92
Hey, so I've been doing an access course in Humanities and Social sciences and so far I've had 3 essays to do. Sociology was fine, I had no feedback for improvement on that. English was ok, but there's lots to do now I have it back to improve its content. History is making me really anxious. We have 1500 words to cover the whole industrial revolution from about 1750 to 1830 and I can't see any way of showing real understanding of the subject by being that concise. I'm just panicking at the moment because it's the first 3 assignments and I'm already feeling the pressure. There are another 12 modules after this... How does anyone cope?!


I actually did a very similar assignment at the very beginning of my access course, do it as well as you can, you will get better at it. once you do your first draft, keep looking back and improving it as best as you can.

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