UWS's journey to a First Class degree!

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Chapter 11 - Turning Point

Well the results came out one day earlier than expected. I've never been so excited to see one exam result before but after seeing what I got, things will change a lot now.

I mentioned that I needed at least 82% in the exam for this module to count towards my degree...

Find out what I got here!

Spoiler

Spoiler

Chapter 12 - Doing The Maths

With 3 modules remaining, it's still all to play for. I now only need 1 module out of 3 to be higher than 79% and it should be plain sailing until the end. Below I include scenarios on what I need as a minimum to get a first.

IT for Business - Could be insurance module (Goal: 80%)
Project Management - Must not be insurance module, for the interest of everyone in my group (Goal: 80%)
E-Commerce - Definite insurance module (40% required)

If I do get 80% in either IT For Business or Project Management, then I need at least 45% in my dissertation to get a first. I am sure I can achieve this as my group are working hard and we're all aiming for a first.

As I mentioned, I don't want to get too complacent or smug just yet as I'm not aiming for 45% in the dissertation but that's just showing what I need. I still need to do a lot of work on my dissertation and the result last week has given me a massive motivational boost!

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UWS

Chapter 13 - Retrospective Action

Today I sent off my first graduate job application, with special help with one of my good uni friends who recommended me. Refer to my placement year experience for an account of what happened leading up to the placement. A total of about 70+ applications was sent in for my placement year with a total of 4 job offers, giving me a success rate of less than 20%. The shocking realisation is that I could have prevented it from happening! My CV was crap and my personal tutor at the time said it was "fine", but now after getting it reviewed, there seems to be a lot of changes that could have been made. I could have done better but instead I put too much trust into my tutor rather than myself, which cost me a job at a Top 50 company. GSK, GE, Cisco, Disney and HP all rejected me and all this time I never knew what I was lacking. I was jealous that all my friends got into top companies and there is an essence of deja vu as they have secured good graduate roles as well.

It just makes me furious that I'm not achieving my best and I'm not going to stand here and do nothing! Today is a new start. I've always said failure fuels my ambition to try harder and I'm going to do it for this graduate job. I am going to make sure that I get it this time. Now I must balance my final year with job applications. The hunt begins.

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UWS

Chapter 14 -Intermission

This marks the halfway point in the year. I am officially 7 weeks away from completing my studies at university. Reading week has begun but today was drawn out and we found a lot of issues with our Project Management coursework so we'll probably have to meet up during reading week to finish that. Meanwhile I've made no progress on my ITFB or E-Commerce coursework just yet as dissertation is the priority for me now and I'm making good progress on it.

Next week I do plan on finishing my ITFB coursework. A 4 page essay can easily be done in a couple of days so I'm going to use reading week to do that as well as work on my dissertation. I don't know when i'll start on E-Commerce but as it's highly likely to be an insurance module, I can get away with a 2:1 since it'll be replaced. I'll also apply to a few more graduate roles as I have more time on my hands.

As of today, nothing heard back from the graduate job I applied to yesterday. It's only been two days so I'll give it some more time before making any conclusions.

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UWS

Chapter 15 - The Gamble

A bit of an unexpected turn of events here. There is quite a big setback in the Project Management module as there is uncertainty over whether we are doing the right thing. My group have been meeting over reading week to try and improve things but as we review things, it's becoming clear that we may not be doing what should be done. But at this stage it's too late to turn back and start over so we have to make do with what we have.

In the event that the 80% goal is not met then this module will be replaced and that means I have to do well in the ITFB or E-Commerce module. I was being too reliant on Project Management and neglecting my other modules and it was a chance that has not gone smoothly. Good thing that this is known now and not later so now I can focus on the other modules as well. I can't let this slip at this stage of the year. Reading week so far has been dedicated to my dissertation though and my app is coming along nicely, it's just so time consuming though...

Still no reply from the company I replied to. I sent in another email just for all times sake so I'll see what happens.

(edited 8 years ago)

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UWS

Chapter 16 - Final Countdown

Semester 2 part 2 has officially begun!! This means there's only 5 more weeks of teaching before the home stretch. I've been making some great progress on my app. I will need to spend about a week trying to fix up the code and cleaning things up to make things consistent. I also have a week dedicated to making the design on point. My personal deadline is the 20th March to finish implementation, then spend 2-3 weeks on the testing and writeup. It's a bit of a squeeze but that's me trying to get myself motivated and more organised.

Meanwhile Project Management is coming along well, but a lot more work is needed if we need to get that elusive 80%. No progress done on ITFB or E-Commerce which is starting to be a worry! I had intended on spending reading week and doing all of my 4 page essay but alas, I had prioritised the 20% dissertation which turns out to be a good move. I'll start on the others soon...(every procrastinator's words)

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UWS

Chapter 17 - #NotDead

Why did I decide to get instagram now? First things first, I am not dead from stressing myself out with all this dissertation. I completely forgot about this thread because I've been so busy but here's a short update.

The first part of Project Management has been completed, but now comes the second part which is still worth 35% and everyone looks to be totally focused on their dissertation. This means I should really be focusing on my ITFB coursework since I can't rely on Project Management for the last 80% grade. I think I'm starting to get complacent now because I've calculated what I needed to get for a first and it's just resting on my mind.

Dissertation is going well so far but I'm trying to get some more complex features since that's what they are after. I'm struggling to think of things now and there's always the risk that I won't have time to finish it then start with testing because I'm trying to add more features. But I think what I have should be enough, hopefully. I've no idea how they mark the dissertation as they don't provide us with a mark scheme so it's pretty much a blind run...

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UWS

Chapter 18 - On The Rise

Well it's been an eventful few days to say the least. My app is reaching the end of the implementation stage and testing will soon commence. How I'll go about doing the testing is a concern for another day.. It may end up like HCI or Software Engineering (which I hate), or a bit of both so that's something I'm gonna think about later.

In other news I have heard back from one of my graduate schemes and I had a phone interview today. Who knows what'll be the outcome, but I had a friend who helped me prepare before the interview so maybe that will give me a slight edge but here's hoping.

Meanwhile, still no progress on E-Commerce, ITFB and Project Management. Who says this would be an easy semester? The first deadline is in 3 weeks and I am starting to **** bricks

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UWS

Chapter 19 - In Rhythm

I'm 1-2 days away from finishing my implementation for this dissertation. It's been a long journey but it's finally almost done. Let the testing begin and boy, that's not going to be fun.

In other news, our Project Management meeting last Friday was probably one of the most productive this term, we've gotten through most of the second part of the group coursework. Yes, I said group coursework because there's also a 1500 word individual writeup to do as well, which is worth 30% of the entire module!

For E-Commerce, we have been given a 1 week extension thanks to some persuasion. I have spent the last few days working on my website and it's looking quite good. But unfortunately still no work done yet on ITFB and I have a presentation to do next Monday regarding my progress. That's the only setback, but apart from that, things look to be going in the right direction.

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UWS

Chapter 20 is lost

(edited 8 years ago)

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UWS

Chapter 21 - Seeing Stars

Incredible how much work I can do in the space of a week! My first draft of dissertation is almost done. Just a few appendices documents to create and then the final paragraph of my testing phase. I went through this dissertation quite fast, however is it up to par? I hope it's worth at least a 2:1 because I put a lot of effort into this project, it would be a shame to get anything less... Don't want to sound cocky but I think it's deserved!

Meanwhile, as the 17th edges ever closer, I still am yet to do my individual report for Project Management and the E-Commerce website and writeup... Will UWS finish both courseworks AND the final draft in 4 days? Stay tuned to find out!

Also I just screwed up and lost Chapter 20 because I edited over it by mistake. Need more coffee I think.

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UWS

Chapter 22 - 2 Down, 1 Across

I seem to work better under pressure as I manage to conquer the beast that is Project Management and E-commerce over the weekend. This involved staying at uni from 10am-10pm every day, including the weekend to get things done but it looks like the hard work has paid off. So what's left?

Well, i still have one deadline on the 24th of April but that's the least of my concern right now. I have a final review of my project on the 29th followed up by the final submission on the 6th of May.

I need to finish user testing and my final version of the dissertation by then. The upcoming plan is to spend a day finishing and proofreading the IT For Business coursework (1 page left) and then go all out on that dissertation. I am feeling more and more confident about that first now.

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UWS

Chapter 23 - Final Approach

The last ever coursework has been submitted! Now the all important results await. Looking for an 80% in any of the 3 modules which should secure the first overall (fingers crossed!).

Now that the first is increasingly likely to happen, I may aim for a 75% overall. Still a first but it's a goal to stop me from being complacent.

The final submission date (6th May) is fast approaching and my dissertation is about 90% written. I have feedback on my first draft and my supervisor says it's looking good. I don't know what good means so I still need to make it better!

Things that still needs to be done:

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Analyse my user evaluations + write up (1.5 pages + graphs/stats)

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Finish writing the conclusions (2 pages)

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Fix up appendices

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Fix up grammar

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Make some changes to formatting

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Proofreading

I've become a bit too casual these last few days because I'm almost done.... But with only 11 days left, there's no time for slacking.

Also with the final review on Friday, that is pretty much all that matters for now. I need to prepare for that and make sure I pass or it's all over.

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UWS

Chapter 24 - Ultimatum

At 6pm today I will have my Final Review for this individual project. This is where I find out whether 8 months of hard work has paid off. I should be fine, everyone else on my course has passed and I have a good feeling that I will do so as well.

My final report is almost done, I just need to fix up the appendices and it should be all done by this weekend. Then it gives me a few days to proofread everything and make some changes. It feels good to be ahead on this dissertation after being so behind at one point.

Stay tuned to find out the result of my final review!

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UWS

Chapter 25 - Damage Limitation

The review resulted in a pass but the celebrations were short lived when it seemed that my markers were not too impressed with the project I had on offer. To them it seemed basic and now I wonder if I will get what I need to get the first... It's too late to change anything now so all i can do is make sure my report is on point.

I have just over 4 days to sort this out. Can I do it and produce a report worthy of the first? Updates every day this week until submission date on Friday!

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UWS

Chapter 26 - All Nighter Club

3 all nighters in a row. I don't even think it was needed but I did it! So where am I at this stage? The report is done and but there are 1 or 2 things that need to be amended. Proofreading will be done today and of course there's the bit where I have to comment on the code part. Deadline day is tomorrow and there's just over a day left.

Also still waiting on the 3 courseworks that I did this semester. Getting at least one mark today with a good grade will take the pressure off on the dissertation

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UWS

Chapter 27 - Terminus

The dissertation was submitted 2 minutes early! I had to do an all nighter and complete everything and it went down to the last few minutes. But it's submitted now and I can finally relax! The results could take up to 6 weeks to be released.

All that stands between me and graduation now is one final exam on the 3rd of June. It's almost over. The next plan is to secure a graduate role before I graduate in July. Will I get a job, find out in future updates!

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UWS

Chapter 28 - Standstill

A week after the dissertation deadline and I am no closer to finding out any coursework results from the 3 pieces of coursework that I handed in this semester. Based on initial feedback from Project Management, it is likely that we will get an "average" to "above average" score but it's difficult to interpret the words from the lecturer exactly. Next week could prove vital as all 3 results could be released (or not).

On the other hand I have submitted one application this week for a summer internship. I could do with the extra experience on my CV as I only have my placement to work from. Will keep updates posted in here as well as the coursework results.

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UWS

Chapter 29 - At Long Last

I was informed by my friend that the Project Management results were out today. I hadn't even realised because I didn't receive an email...

Nevertheless, the feedback for Project Management was posted early but our marks were never released until today. Based on the feedback, the consensus was that we would get in the mid 60s...

But what did I actually get?

Spoiler

With 2 more coursework results still to come, what will happen?