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80%+ ??
Reply 2
Tarts_n_Vicars
Some of the courses I'm looking at for my Masters say they require a "good" first in a relevant subject at undergrad, a couple even have FAQs asking "what if I have a poor first?" so my initial hope that a first is a first and that's that was obviously misled lol.

Does anyone know what constitutes a "good" first? Rep as always :smile:

It probably varies a bit from university to university, but we were given a list of grading criteria which distinguished between three categories of Firsts, 70-79, 80-85 and 86+. I'd assume that out of those, 70-79 is a low to regular First, 80-85 is a good First and 86+ is a bloody good First.:biggrin:

Edit: Heh, somebody was quicker than me.:redface:
Reply 3
a first is a first
if i scrape 70% ill be over the moon
lol I'm the same Killerbee!!! I'm on the cusp of 71%....I didn't realise people even got 85+ !!! Thanks for the advice peeps
Reply 5
i dont mean to be rude - but does your information say a good first degree (as in a good undergraduate degree) or a good first class honours degree. there was post like this before were some girl thought she had to get a first to apply for the course.

ive never heard first class honours being differentiated - as far as im aware a first is a first BUT if the course is some outstanding, elite, top flight brainy degree where they only want people with 80% or over then it makes sense. either that, or they want a strong first (i.e. not scraping by with various 2:1 grades pulling the marks down.

hobnob - what are you studying and where?
The Boosh
i dont mean to be rude - but does your information say a good first degree (as in a good undergraduate degree) or a good first class honours degree. there was post like this before were some girl thought she had to get a first to apply for the course.

Exactly, and I can almost guarantee it's the former. :rolleyes:

ive never heard first class honours being differentiated - as far as im aware a first is a first BUT if the course is some outstanding, elite, top flight brainy degree where they only want people with 80% or over then it makes sense. either that, or they want a strong first (i.e. not scraping by with various 2:1 grades pulling the marks down.


Cambridge Part III.
It said first class...I wish it was first as in primary lol
Reply 8
Pretty Boy Floyd
Exactly, and I can almost guarantee it's the former. :rolleyes:



Cambridge Part III.


what exactly is part III - is it a higher degree or a different set of exams?
Reply 9
Tarts_n_Vicars
It said first class...I wish it was first as in primary lol


ah ok then! a course for gifted boffins. i wonder how many of them on the course are single. ignore me, im only jealous - being the type of guy that always has to work hard to keep up.
The Boosh
what exactly is part III - is it a higher degree or a different set of exams?


It's literally Part III of the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. For students in Cambridge who can persuade their tutor, it's a set of fourth-year courses they can take. Those from outside Cambridge can also take it, but unlike internal candidates they have to fund it themselves - internal candidates can usually get their LEA to fund it as with the rest of their first degree.

It's officially known as the Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics (or something similar) these days, but most people still call it Part III, as it used to be .

edit: http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/casm/ may be useful to you
Tarts_n_Vicars
It said first class...I wish it was first as in primary lol


Post the link, please.

When asking for "First class" it normally refers to funding.
fredsmith365
It's literally Part III of the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. For students in Cambridge who can persuade their tutor, it's a set of fourth-year courses they can take. Those from outside Cambridge can also take it, but unlike internal candidates they have to fund it themselves - internal candidates can usually get their LEA to fund it as with the rest of their first degree.

It's officially known as the Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics (or something similar) these days, but most people still call it Part III, as it used to be .

edit: http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/casm/ may be useful to you


ah cool, thanks for that. i suspected it was something like this, but i didnt know for sure.
Pretty Boy Floyd
Post the link, please.

When asking for "First class" it normally refers to funding.


either that or postal costs *chuckles to himself*
Reply 14
The Boosh
ive never heard first class honours being differentiated - as far as im aware a first is a first BUT if the course is some outstanding, elite, top flight brainy degree where they only want people with 80% or over then it makes sense. either that, or they want a strong first (i.e. not scraping by with various 2:1 grades pulling the marks down.

hobnob - what are you studying and where?

English at Oxford. I was also a bit suprised to see there were three types of firsts, but as far as I know, marks in the 80s (let alone the high 80s) are quite rare in practice. The distinction seems to be mainly intended for marking of extended essays and optional theses, though, so maybe they're being this specific because they're expecting marks to be a bit higher for those papers?:dontknow:
Reply 15
Gosh. All this talk of 80%+ surprises me. Are we talking averages here, or marks for individual papers? Because the very best people I knew at Cambridge, the sort coming in the top ten for the subject, were not averaging over 75 by any means, even if they did get 80+ marks on some papers (my experience tallies with hobnob's here - all the highest marks I've heard of people getting have been for dissertations). But even so, only one person in my whole year (250-odd people?) got 70+ for all her papers.

That said, I have heard of people at other universities who regularly got 75-80 for undergrad English papers. I don't know whether my year at Cam was just a dud year, or if there's some significant variation going on here...?

My understanding, also, is that in humanities, 80+ generally indicates that something is of publishable quality.
Where are you applying TnV? I've never seen a "good first" as in first class in any literature, not even at Oxbridge.
shady lane
Where are you applying TnV? I've never seen a "good first" as in first class in any literature, not even at Oxbridge.


Ditto.

ziggurated
Gosh. All this talk of 80%+ surprises me. Are we talking averages here, or marks for individual papers? Because the very best people I knew at Cambridge, the sort coming in the top ten for the subject, were not averaging over 75 by any means, even if they did get 80+ marks on some papers (my experience tallies with hobnob's here - all the highest marks I've heard of people getting have been for dissertations). But even so, only one person in my whole year (250-odd people?) got 70+ for all her papers.

My understanding, also, is that in humanities, 80+ generally indicates that something is of publishable quality.


You have to remember that anything can be said behind the veil of the pc screen.
Reply 18
zigguratted
My understanding, also, is that in humanities, 80+ generally indicates that something is of publishable quality.

Nope. According to the guidelines I mentioned, 80+ is only "near-publishable", actually.:rolleyes: I just love those guidelines; they're an endless source of mirth...

Anyway, come to think of it, you're right; while 80+ is a "good" first for an individual mark, it should be virtually impossible to achieve as an average. So that basically leaves two possibilities: a) The Boosh's initial guess was correct and the university really requires a "good first degree" rather than a "good first" or b) the definition of a "good first" is something really obvious like above 70 on every individual paper. That would still be something few people achieve but not quite as unlikely as averaging 80+.
hobnob

Anyway, come to think of it, you're right; while 80+ is a "good" first for an individual mark, it should be virtually impossible to achieve as an average. So that basically leaves two possibilities: a) The Boosh's initial guess was correct and the university really requires a "good first degree" rather than a "good first" or b) the definition of a "good first" is something really obvious like above 70 on every individual paper. That would still be something few people achieve but not quite as unlikely as averaging 80+.


It depends on your subject though. I know it is quite possible to get 80+% in maths and sciences.