I submitted an essay of 963 words, the upper limit was 2000.

How bad is this? I am aiming for a pass mark, and as far as my uni goes, I can't find any rules about a minimum limit, only a maximum limit.

So do I have any chances of getting that 40% with half the amount of words I was supposed to write? :/

Reply 1

Paralove

21

Was 2000 the word limit, or did it specifically say upper word limit?

Reply 2

sliceofcake

15

Typically it works on a 10% allowance either side of the word limit. The minimum they probably expected of you was 1800. If you're just aiming to barely pass, why are you bothering with a degree at all?

I realise that may sound really harsh. What I meant was, do you really think that scraping by is better than just not having a degree? There's little point to having a degree in something you have absolutely no interest in.

Reply 3

AbdulKoyes

2

WTF! 2000 word essay and you only wrote less than half of that.. :/ Typically a 10% leeway applies both above and below the limit, so you may be **** out of luck

Reply 4

IceJJFish(II)

You can't pass with that as you've obviously put in an acceptable amount of detail. Unless you're ****ing good at concise language.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 5

driftawaay

OP

3

Original post by Paralove

Was 2000 the word limit, or did it specifically say upper word limit?

It specifically says upper word limit everywhere on the website, student handbook, etc. no mention about minimum words. Also says 10% OVER the world limit will be penalised etc.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 6

Paralove

21

Original post by driftawaay

It specifically says upper word limit everywhere on the website, student handbook, etc. no mention about minimum words. Also says 10% OVER the world limit will be penalised etc.

Didn't the person who set the essay specify though?

As pretty much all universities say 10% under/over the limit, and it says over 10% will be penalised, I would say that you are wayyyyyy under any amount they're expecting. The minimum length I've heard anyone be set personally is 1500, and 963 seems way too little anyway. I'm not sure how it works at other universities as mine is a bit different with essays but I would expect you to be penalised for such a small number.

Reply 7

hothedgehog

16

If you've covered everything you needed to say in that then you'll be fine. However, chances are you haven't!

Reply 8

driftawaay

OP

3

Original post by sliceofcake

Typically it works on a 10% allowance either side of the word limit. The minimum they probably expected of you was 1800. If you're just aiming to barely pass, why are you bothering with a degree at all?

I realise that may sound really harsh. What I meant was, do you really think that scraping by is better than just not having a degree? There's little point to having a degree in something you have absolutely no interest in.

No, I don't really think that nor did I ever say I think that. I do have interest in my degree. Be careful not to fall off your high horse though x

Reply 9

driftawaay

OP

3

Original post by hothedgehog

If you've covered everything you needed to say in that then you'll be fine. However, chances are you haven't!

Well oviously I didn't cover EVERYTHING I should have but the stuff I did write is solid. I left it to the last minute so couldn't do enough research to blab about anything that would make any sense... still seeing as I'm only aiming for that 40% I have a little bit of hope :/ If not then I have to do this again in the summer... -.-

It was originally 1400 words though but a lot of it seemed unnecesarry so I deleted it (I shouldn't have...). I guess bull**** is better than an assignment that is too short, lol.

Reply 10

newnation

1

Most essays come with a scoring rubric which should be followed appropriately. In reality, students can approximate the percentage score they will be awarded if they follow it to the letter. For now, unfortunately, you will have to be patient and wait for the results.

Reply 11

driftawaay

OP

3

Haha I actually got 68%, which is shocking, I had already accepted the fact that I failed and then saw the results.. lol. Imagine if I actually bothered putting effort into it and got into detail, I could've easily gotten like 80+%.

Anyways I'm so happy :smile:

Reply 12

Airfairy

21

Original post by driftawaay

Haha I actually got 68%, which is shocking, I had already accepted the fact that I failed and then saw the results.. lol. Imagine if I actually bothered putting effort into it and got into detail, I could've easily gotten like 80+%.

Anyways I'm so happy :smile:

Don't get too complacent and think that writing under half of the word limit is okay though. You can't get through your degree doing that.

I submitted an essay of 963 words, the upper limit was 2000.

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