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CoffeeAndPolitics: The Journey to Achieving a 1st Class Degree - Year 2 (2020/21)
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Original post by Lemur14
I've just been terrible at responding to blogs despite reading them 
Hope you managed to get your report done on time! I was utterly exhausted around 1/2am but by 7/8 I was a lot more awake haha. It's a shame York didn't have a better extension policy this year - Durham have allowed all summative coursework (eg. not exams essentially) to have a 7 day extension automatically approved due to covid (you just had to apply suitably far in advance ofc), though then again the maths department said they weren't doing that and we would get max 48 hours
Good luck for your exam! Without trying to scare you, make sure you get started on your 24 hour exam on time...I have several friends who left it a few hours to start then ran out of time to finish (though admittedly more STEM than essay subjects) so better not to risk it
No tea, but if it helps I was still up at 10am this morning having started my exam at a similar time yesterday...had a few hours sleep after that so sleep pattern definitely messed up Will sleep well tonight!
Hope you managed to get your report done on time! I was utterly exhausted around 1/2am but by 7/8 I was a lot more awake haha. It's a shame York didn't have a better extension policy this year - Durham have allowed all summative coursework (eg. not exams essentially) to have a 7 day extension automatically approved due to covid (you just had to apply suitably far in advance ofc), though then again the maths department said they weren't doing that and we would get max 48 hours
Good luck for your exam! Without trying to scare you, make sure you get started on your 24 hour exam on time...I have several friends who left it a few hours to start then ran out of time to finish (though admittedly more STEM than essay subjects) so better not to risk it
No tea, but if it helps I was still up at 10am this morning having started my exam at a similar time yesterday...had a few hours sleep after that so sleep pattern definitely messed up
Will sleep well tonight!I've managed to submit everything on time, though I'm not happy with the 4,000 words project (I pretty much missed a section out and it's mediocre at best), but I'm happy with the other 2 assignments. I've tried applying for a deadline extension, but my case got rejected - York's policy is basically removing the need for evidence to support claims. This time around, I feel like York or shall I say individual departments have been stricter with approving extensions as apparently a lot of people have been asking for it according to my supervisor. Durham's policy on deadline extensions for summative assignments sounds good though.
Thanks!
I need to double-check the start time, but I think it's 09:00 for Thursday - should be ok, just need to plan how I will spend 8 hours (probably less) on writing x2 1,250 words essays. Yeet, do look after yourself! I think I was up by 10am yesterday and I didn't get to bed till 4/5am this morning having pulled an all-nighter to complete this annoying project. I'm going to watch a few more stuff on YouTube and reply to messages on here before going to bed because I could do with fixing my sleep pattern - been having regular late nights in the past week which isn't good.
Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics
Yes, I feel that York is indeed a safe city during my time living here as a student as crime rates are quite low which is quite a contrast to being in the capital which is where I'm from.
I've actually applied for uni accommodation for next year though still waiting for an offer to be made, so I'm probably in a good place to talk about this. Tbh, the rent prices aren't great whether you're going with uni accommodation or the private sector, it's just truly bad though the local council and the SU are looking into making rent cheaper for students and implementing regs for student houses, etc.
I would say applying for uni accommodation is relatively straightforward though given that York has a collegiate system, you might want to consider whether you apply for an accommodation with a college that's near your department. From personal experience, it doesn't really matter where you are though I would say that Halifax College is a bit awkward as it's a bit further down Campus West (main campus) and you just need to walk back up towards the sports field, etc. to get to facilities on campus and a regular bus to town. We do have e-scooters and e-bikes around campus and there's a UB1 bus that serves Halifax and campus which runs on weekdays, but it's a low-frequency service.
I hope I've answered your question and not just rambling about accommodation in general. I forgot to mention as well, catering is alright and in terms of getting your laundry done, we have Circuit Laundry who aren't the best - apparently, they've replaced the washers and driers on campus - but, they're quite pricey. I'm currently off-campus this year so I don't know whether the service Circuit Laundry are providing has improved or not.
I've actually applied for uni accommodation for next year though still waiting for an offer to be made, so I'm probably in a good place to talk about this. Tbh, the rent prices aren't great whether you're going with uni accommodation or the private sector, it's just truly bad though the local council and the SU are looking into making rent cheaper for students and implementing regs for student houses, etc.
I would say applying for uni accommodation is relatively straightforward though given that York has a collegiate system, you might want to consider whether you apply for an accommodation with a college that's near your department. From personal experience, it doesn't really matter where you are though I would say that Halifax College is a bit awkward as it's a bit further down Campus West (main campus) and you just need to walk back up towards the sports field, etc. to get to facilities on campus and a regular bus to town. We do have e-scooters and e-bikes around campus and there's a UB1 bus that serves Halifax and campus which runs on weekdays, but it's a low-frequency service.
I hope I've answered your question and not just rambling about accommodation in general. I forgot to mention as well, catering is alright and in terms of getting your laundry done, we have Circuit Laundry who aren't the best - apparently, they've replaced the washers and driers on campus - but, they're quite pricey. I'm currently off-campus this year so I don't know whether the service Circuit Laundry are providing has improved or not.
i live near norwich which i think is a bot like york
Original post by Wise Goldie
i hope you do your blog when you at york cos i love york so much
Yeah I think I’m going to
Yeah the 24 hour exans sort of suck. Mine started okay,2 1500 word questions, then 2 with 3 questions.
In those cases, even starting exams at 12, I could get all 3 90% done before 10pm so could sleep (I am a mature student, I need my sleep) then polish in the morning.
Last one was 4 questions. Choice of problems and essays (I do law) and I left the worse bit, the essay, until the morning. (Even though I had 4 hours then, and in theory the exam was 3 hours total).
I managed it but would have been better to save a problem for the morning and stay up later doing the essay. (And only 1125 words)
Most people I know worked through the night. Not good for Mental health!
In those cases, even starting exams at 12, I could get all 3 90% done before 10pm so could sleep (I am a mature student, I need my sleep) then polish in the morning.
Last one was 4 questions. Choice of problems and essays (I do law) and I left the worse bit, the essay, until the morning. (Even though I had 4 hours then, and in theory the exam was 3 hours total).
I managed it but would have been better to save a problem for the morning and stay up later doing the essay. (And only 1125 words)
Most people I know worked through the night. Not good for Mental health!
Original post by LovingLucy
Yeah I think I’m going to
can you put pictures of york up then lol
i am going to yorkshire on holiday tomorrow for 5 days and we might go to york for one of them
Original post by Catherine1973
Yeah the 24 hour exans sort of suck. Mine started okay,2 1500 word questions, then 2 with 3 questions.
In those cases, even starting exams at 12, I could get all 3 90% done before 10pm so could sleep (I am a mature student, I need my sleep) then polish in the morning.
Last one was 4 questions. Choice of problems and essays (I do law) and I left the worse bit, the essay, until the morning. (Even though I had 4 hours then, and in theory the exam was 3 hours total).
I managed it but would have been better to save a problem for the morning and stay up later doing the essay. (And only 1125 words)
Most people I know worked through the night. Not good for Mental health!
In those cases, even starting exams at 12, I could get all 3 90% done before 10pm so could sleep (I am a mature student, I need my sleep) then polish in the morning.
Last one was 4 questions. Choice of problems and essays (I do law) and I left the worse bit, the essay, until the morning. (Even though I had 4 hours then, and in theory the exam was 3 hours total).
I managed it but would have been better to save a problem for the morning and stay up later doing the essay. (And only 1125 words)
Most people I know worked through the night. Not good for Mental health!
I suppose for other subjects, what they're asking students to complete during the 24 hours (obviously not going to spend the entire 24 hours lol) could be unreasonable and unmanageable - just depends on the conditions of the exam, etc.
Yh, I can barely pull an all-nighter to get stuff done (I made a mistake of leaving one of my assignments which is a project to the eleventh hour to start and complete), but that's probably me just having consecutive late nights for no reason. Ooops.
In my case, I should be fine tomorrow if I plan how to spend my time wisely and just remain calm and focused - if I start panicking, that won't be good. I've read anonymous confessions and heard of people saying they've worked through the night which obviously doesn't sound great, but I don't know if that's down to poor revision (especially if it's an open exam) or they're being expected to complete quite a lot within a normal workday, i.e. 8 hours. Though, there is a qualification to what I'm saying because if a student has a disability that affects their assessment, they're eligible for extra time. Completely agree that working through the night and pulling an all-nighter isn't great for mental health and physical health for that matter!
i mean these 24 hour exams are tough, we are told you should NOT be spending 24 hours, that you can do it in the normal 3.
But even i, who has studied all year, done all the reading, well you give me 24 hours and i shall spend that time polishing my answer to the nth degree. As little things may be the difference between say 68% answer and a 72% answer.
But even i, who has studied all year, done all the reading, well you give me 24 hours and i shall spend that time polishing my answer to the nth degree. As little things may be the difference between say 68% answer and a 72% answer.
Original post by Catherine1973
i mean these 24 hour exams are tough, we are told you should NOT be spending 24 hours, that you can do it in the normal 3.
But even i, who has studied all year, done all the reading, well you give me 24 hours and i shall spend that time polishing my answer to the nth degree. As little things may be the difference between say 68% answer and a 72% answer.
But even i, who has studied all year, done all the reading, well you give me 24 hours and i shall spend that time polishing my answer to the nth degree. As little things may be the difference between say 68% answer and a 72% answer.
Haha, that's true - it would be quite frustrating if you spend a long time polishing your essays for the open exam just to get a mark back which is still decent, but you're like this could've been even better. Having said that though, I would be happy with a high 2.1 in the open exams, but I think the open exams will work in my favour - the word count is manageable and I'll have time to polish my answers.
Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics
I've managed to submit everything on time, though I'm not happy with the 4,000 words project (I pretty much missed a section out and it's mediocre at best), but I'm happy with the other 2 assignments. I've tried applying for a deadline extension, but my case got rejected - York's policy is basically removing the need for evidence to support claims. This time around, I feel like York or shall I say individual departments have been stricter with approving extensions as apparently a lot of people have been asking for it according to my supervisor. Durham's policy on deadline extensions for summative assignments sounds good though.
Thanks! I need to double-check the start time, but I think it's 09:00 for Thursday - should be ok, just need to plan how I will spend 8 hours (probably less) on writing x2 1,250 words essays.
Yeet, do look after yourself! I think I was up by 10am yesterday and I didn't get to bed till 4/5am this morning having pulled an all-nighter to complete this annoying project. I'm going to watch a few more stuff on YouTube and reply to messages on here before going to bed because I could do with fixing my sleep pattern - been having regular late nights in the past week which isn't good.
Thanks!
I need to double-check the start time, but I think it's 09:00 for Thursday - should be ok, just need to plan how I will spend 8 hours (probably less) on writing x2 1,250 words essays. Yeet, do look after yourself! I think I was up by 10am yesterday and I didn't get to bed till 4/5am this morning having pulled an all-nighter to complete this annoying project. I'm going to watch a few more stuff on YouTube and reply to messages on here before going to bed because I could do with fixing my sleep pattern - been having regular late nights in the past week which isn't good.
Glad you managed to submit at least! If it helps, I reckon after working 22 hours on what was meant to be a 3 hour exam I still reckon I left a third of it blank so that's great. Oh and that exam alone was worth 6% of my degree
I think Durham's policy might have been partly about taking the workload off the people approving them tbf, if there's a blanket approval then they just need to note who has applied basically!Good luck for tomorrow
Hope you can manage it in 8 hours...I think my shortest exam I spent 15 hours on Possibly worth more though, as my exams make up the majority of my assessment.4/5am isn't an all nighter
I did about 9:30am-10:30am on Monday/Tuesday Fixing your sleep schedule is good! Something I could do with doing...done a lot of 15-20 hour days this past fortnight 
Original post by Lemur14
Glad you managed to submit at least! If it helps, I reckon after working 22 hours on what was meant to be a 3 hour exam I still reckon I left a third of it blank so that's great. Oh and that exam alone was worth 6% of my degree I think Durham's policy might have been partly about taking the workload off the people approving them tbf, if there's a blanket approval then they just need to note who has applied basically!
Good luck for tomorrow Hope you can manage it in 8 hours...I think my shortest exam I spent 15 hours on Possibly worth more though, as my exams make up the majority of my assessment.
4/5am isn't an all nighter I did about 9:30am-10:30am on Monday/Tuesday Fixing your sleep schedule is good! Something I could do with doing...done a lot of 15-20 hour days this past fortnight
I think Durham's policy might have been partly about taking the workload off the people approving them tbf, if there's a blanket approval then they just need to note who has applied basically!Good luck for tomorrow
Hope you can manage it in 8 hours...I think my shortest exam I spent 15 hours on Possibly worth more though, as my exams make up the majority of my assessment.4/5am isn't an all nighter
I did about 9:30am-10:30am on Monday/Tuesday Fixing your sleep schedule is good! Something I could do with doing...done a lot of 15-20 hour days this past fortnight Thanks, Lemur! I did see this before my open exam for Politics, but I wasn't in a position to reply.
Speaking of the open exam for Politics, I would say some of the questions we could choose looked really tough, but it wasn't too bad - I found the exam alright. TL;DR my time management for the exam was completely out of the window and somehow I ended up pulling an all-nighter again - I don't think I recovered properly from pulling an all-nighter for last Tuesday's deadline. I took far too long to decide what questions to answer and to plan it by writing the intro and structuring my points, but at least I'm happy with my essays and managed to submit it just over 3 hours before the deadline which was Friday 09:00!
Monday 31st May 2021
Happy Spring Bank Holiday! The 2nd year of my undergraduate studies is finally over, though the academic year isn't actually over until 3 weeks' time. Over this Bank Holiday weekend, I've not been up to much except for taking a well-deserved break from handing in Summer assignments and completing my Politics open exam (24 hours). I did venture out yesterday to the shops as I was looking for a container which I could easily store oil in for cooking and for some other bits (mostly fruit for myself and a few snacks), but otherwise, I've been indoors either watching Uncle Roger (Nigel Ng - he's a comedian) on YouTube or Netflix.
Placement Year Update
Since being rejected by Northern following a virtual assessment day and an interview, I've tried resurrecting the hopes of my Placement Year by applying to one of the roles advertised via my uni's Careers and Placements Team, but unfortunately, I got rejected.
The current plan atm is that I'm should be heading into the 3rd year of my undergraduate studies though I'm really hoping I didn't fail that 4,000 words project I've painstakingly rushed to submit on-time - it's honestly awful and I'm trying not to think about it. I think two things could happen with the project - a) it's bad, but alas I have passed the 40% threshold (not ideal) or b) I failed to meet the 40% threshold and will have to resit the assessment in August. I'm really hoping it's not the latter option because I don't think it's a fail, but it's clearly rushed and I've missed out on quite a few sections from the project and I did try to apply for a deadline extension so hmmm... * Screams into the void * TL;DR Everything will be fine and I'll be ok.
As for accommodation for next year, the uni apparently said they'll start making offers from 2 weeks ago exactly, but I haven't heard anything yet. Either way, I did update my application as I somehow only applied to 3 accommodations with different colleges, so I've added 3 more just to be on the safe side. On a side note, I've noticed that uni accommodation prices have increased again since my 1st year which sucks especially when a joint report from the SU and Citizens Advice York highlighted that renting is the 'low point of student life', but I want to stress strenuously that the SU has been campaigning to cut uni accommodation rent and ensure that all accommodation is up to scratch.
Third Year Modules
I had to change one of the option modules for Spring term next year as my original choice: Welfare Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future is no longer running, and I ended up replacing it with a Politics module instead as I hate the alternative choices in Social Policy. Bizarrely, they've scrapped my Head of School's module on welfare states so now it's just modules with a heavy focus on criminology and social justice really which is super annoying. TL;DR below are my choices for the Autumn and Spring term for next year...
Autumn Term: The Racial State and Development Paradigms
Spring Term: Regionalism in World Politics and Political Economy of New Europe
Dissertation
I'm really annoyed that my department hasn't told us in advance, i.e. start of this term that the deadline to come up with a provisional dissertation topic is 18th June because I honestly don't know what to do my dissertation on. I have asked someone I know who's 2 years above me (he's currently due to finish his PGCE in History) for advice.
Atm, I'm not sure whether my dissertation will be focused on politics or social policy. If I were to do something on political economy/globalisation broadly speaking, that would link up well with my modules compared with my other idea which I can't describe... essentially, my other idea is to write a dissertation about the Lib Dems/something along those lines with small parties? and either focus on voting behaviour or something completely different. If I did choose voting behaviour, it'll be doable, but I would be better off swapping Development Paradigms with Political Psychology and Public Opinion to support my dissertation (something I can imagine my Head of School saying) so I have quite the dilemma atm. I'm quite reluctant to swap out Development Paradigms should I decide to go down this route because it's a really interesting module so I'll have a difficult decision to make if I do.
Anyways, this may be the last update on this blog for a while because I won't have much/anything to update on. As for the next 3 weeks, I'll be making the most of my time catching up with friends and doing things I enjoy such as political campaigning (obviously whilst wearing PPE) - mostly delivering leaflets and potentially doing doorstep surveying of the local ward.
Until then, here's to a happy June!
Happy Spring Bank Holiday! The 2nd year of my undergraduate studies is finally over, though the academic year isn't actually over until 3 weeks' time. Over this Bank Holiday weekend, I've not been up to much except for taking a well-deserved break from handing in Summer assignments and completing my Politics open exam (24 hours). I did venture out yesterday to the shops as I was looking for a container which I could easily store oil in for cooking and for some other bits (mostly fruit for myself and a few snacks), but otherwise, I've been indoors either watching Uncle Roger (Nigel Ng - he's a comedian) on YouTube or Netflix.
Placement Year Update
Since being rejected by Northern following a virtual assessment day and an interview, I've tried resurrecting the hopes of my Placement Year by applying to one of the roles advertised via my uni's Careers and Placements Team, but unfortunately, I got rejected.
The current plan atm is that I'm should be heading into the 3rd year of my undergraduate studies though I'm really hoping I didn't fail that 4,000 words project I've painstakingly rushed to submit on-time - it's honestly awful and I'm trying not to think about it. I think two things could happen with the project - a) it's bad, but alas I have passed the 40% threshold (not ideal) or b) I failed to meet the 40% threshold and will have to resit the assessment in August. I'm really hoping it's not the latter option because I don't think it's a fail, but it's clearly rushed and I've missed out on quite a few sections from the project and I did try to apply for a deadline extension so hmmm... * Screams into the void * TL;DR Everything will be fine and I'll be ok.
As for accommodation for next year, the uni apparently said they'll start making offers from 2 weeks ago exactly, but I haven't heard anything yet. Either way, I did update my application as I somehow only applied to 3 accommodations with different colleges, so I've added 3 more just to be on the safe side. On a side note, I've noticed that uni accommodation prices have increased again since my 1st year which sucks especially when a joint report from the SU and Citizens Advice York highlighted that renting is the 'low point of student life', but I want to stress strenuously that the SU has been campaigning to cut uni accommodation rent and ensure that all accommodation is up to scratch.
Third Year Modules
I had to change one of the option modules for Spring term next year as my original choice: Welfare Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future is no longer running, and I ended up replacing it with a Politics module instead as I hate the alternative choices in Social Policy. Bizarrely, they've scrapped my Head of School's module on welfare states so now it's just modules with a heavy focus on criminology and social justice really which is super annoying. TL;DR below are my choices for the Autumn and Spring term for next year...
Autumn Term: The Racial State and Development Paradigms
Spring Term: Regionalism in World Politics and Political Economy of New Europe
Dissertation
I'm really annoyed that my department hasn't told us in advance, i.e. start of this term that the deadline to come up with a provisional dissertation topic is 18th June because I honestly don't know what to do my dissertation on. I have asked someone I know who's 2 years above me (he's currently due to finish his PGCE in History) for advice.
Atm, I'm not sure whether my dissertation will be focused on politics or social policy. If I were to do something on political economy/globalisation broadly speaking, that would link up well with my modules compared with my other idea which I can't describe... essentially, my other idea is to write a dissertation about the Lib Dems/something along those lines with small parties? and either focus on voting behaviour or something completely different. If I did choose voting behaviour, it'll be doable, but I would be better off swapping Development Paradigms with Political Psychology and Public Opinion to support my dissertation (something I can imagine my Head of School saying) so I have quite the dilemma atm. I'm quite reluctant to swap out Development Paradigms should I decide to go down this route because it's a really interesting module so I'll have a difficult decision to make if I do.
Anyways, this may be the last update on this blog for a while because I won't have much/anything to update on. As for the next 3 weeks, I'll be making the most of my time catching up with friends and doing things I enjoy such as political campaigning (obviously whilst wearing PPE) - mostly delivering leaflets and potentially doing doorstep surveying of the local ward.
Until then, here's to a happy June!
Wednesday 16th June 2021
Hello again! I'm back with another update after not posting for a couple of weeks. As I said in my last update, the academic year is now over and I'm still in York making the most of my free time by catching up with friends - I'm meeting another friend of mine, MB this Friday - I haven't seen him since before the Christmas holidays except virtually on Zoom and I'm quite excited to see him again.
What have I been up to?
- Meeting up with close friends on several occasions and staying over for dinner (just myself and 3 others).
- One of my close friends and I went on a walk around the city centre and she took really dapper pictures of me with her friend's DSR camera (it's a Nikon). Honestly, she's a great camera director and I don't think anyone has ever taken pictures of me whereby I literally look 🔥. Obviously, that's not to say that I don't have pictures of me which looks great, but I do think these are particularly great!
- Getting back into Duolingo: Been learning Mandarin which I've been finding ok since I speak Cantonese at home and there's some degree of similarity in terms of the characters through the pronunciation and the tones are different. I might try learning Korean as well, but it looks really hard.
Placement Year?!
TL;DR It's been difficult finding placement year opportunities this year that closely align with my interests and I thought my hopes of doing a Placement Year are over after being unsuccessful with my Northern Trains application and one within my uni (admittedly, I did rush with sending applications off after being done with my assessments and in hindsight, I wasn't great).
To cut to the chase, one of the careers people from the Careers and Placements Team emailed me yesterday asking me to provide an update on the status of my placement search (I'm supposed to keep them updated regularly now) which I totally forgot about. I was also informed about a new placement opportunity within my uni in which they encouraged me to apply for - I'm going to send over my CV and application form for feedback, I did look at the previous feedback with a different placement role within the uni that I was unsuccessful for so hopefully it's looking alright.
Plan B and C? Plan B would be to apply for the Bright Network's on-demand internship experience in the public sector, policy, and charity which will really be beneficial as I'm interested in a career to do with policymaking, though I'm open-minded generally. There isn't a limit to who can take part in this provide interest is demonstrated in the application form so I can still add to my skills and experiences either way. Plan C would be to go into the final year of my degree and I've already chosen my option modules and have a dissertation topic in mind (an investigation into the decline/collapse of liberal Britain).
Accommodation for Next Academic Year
I got an email from the person directly responsible for dealing with uni accommodation which states that continuing students such as myself should expect an email by the end of the month regarding a room offer. I've applied for a relatively wide range of uni accommodation and I'm hoping I can remain in my current college, Vanbrugh as I feel that's a strong part of my college identity (we have a collegiate system at York). Having said that, it won't be a massive deal if I have to change college as a result of being offered and accepting uni accommodation with a different college, e.g. Goodricke.
Covid-19 Vaccine
I wasn't surprised with the so-called 'Freedom Day' being delayed to 19th July given concerns about the Delta variant of Covid-19, but I was initially frustrated with the progress of England's vaccine roll-out as there are a lot of young people aged 18+ who are waiting to be vaccinated. Having said that, it was encouraging to hear and read that all adults will be invited for a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the week. Today, 21 and 22-year-olds are being invited and I think 20-year-olds will be invited either tomorrow or Friday based on the current progress in England. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting my jab though depending on the circumstances, I think I'll be getting my second in London - can always change that easily anyway on the NHS booking site.
Anyways, I think this will be one of the very last updates on this blog so do have a lovely Summer! In short, I'm feeling a lot more positive about things though I'm not quite sure what my Summer will look like - I'll try to meet up with some friends back home in London and I may travel back up to York and stay with a close friend for a week or two.
Hello again! I'm back with another update after not posting for a couple of weeks. As I said in my last update, the academic year is now over and I'm still in York making the most of my free time by catching up with friends - I'm meeting another friend of mine, MB this Friday - I haven't seen him since before the Christmas holidays except virtually on Zoom and I'm quite excited to see him again.
What have I been up to?
- Meeting up with close friends on several occasions and staying over for dinner (just myself and 3 others).
- One of my close friends and I went on a walk around the city centre and she took really dapper pictures of me with her friend's DSR camera (it's a Nikon). Honestly, she's a great camera director and I don't think anyone has ever taken pictures of me whereby I literally look 🔥. Obviously, that's not to say that I don't have pictures of me which looks great, but I do think these are particularly great!
- Getting back into Duolingo: Been learning Mandarin which I've been finding ok since I speak Cantonese at home and there's some degree of similarity in terms of the characters through the pronunciation and the tones are different. I might try learning Korean as well, but it looks really hard.
Placement Year?!
TL;DR It's been difficult finding placement year opportunities this year that closely align with my interests and I thought my hopes of doing a Placement Year are over after being unsuccessful with my Northern Trains application and one within my uni (admittedly, I did rush with sending applications off after being done with my assessments and in hindsight, I wasn't great).
To cut to the chase, one of the careers people from the Careers and Placements Team emailed me yesterday asking me to provide an update on the status of my placement search (I'm supposed to keep them updated regularly now) which I totally forgot about. I was also informed about a new placement opportunity within my uni in which they encouraged me to apply for - I'm going to send over my CV and application form for feedback, I did look at the previous feedback with a different placement role within the uni that I was unsuccessful for so hopefully it's looking alright.
Plan B and C? Plan B would be to apply for the Bright Network's on-demand internship experience in the public sector, policy, and charity which will really be beneficial as I'm interested in a career to do with policymaking, though I'm open-minded generally. There isn't a limit to who can take part in this provide interest is demonstrated in the application form so I can still add to my skills and experiences either way. Plan C would be to go into the final year of my degree and I've already chosen my option modules and have a dissertation topic in mind (an investigation into the decline/collapse of liberal Britain).
Accommodation for Next Academic Year
I got an email from the person directly responsible for dealing with uni accommodation which states that continuing students such as myself should expect an email by the end of the month regarding a room offer. I've applied for a relatively wide range of uni accommodation and I'm hoping I can remain in my current college, Vanbrugh as I feel that's a strong part of my college identity (we have a collegiate system at York). Having said that, it won't be a massive deal if I have to change college as a result of being offered and accepting uni accommodation with a different college, e.g. Goodricke.
Covid-19 Vaccine
I wasn't surprised with the so-called 'Freedom Day' being delayed to 19th July given concerns about the Delta variant of Covid-19, but I was initially frustrated with the progress of England's vaccine roll-out as there are a lot of young people aged 18+ who are waiting to be vaccinated. Having said that, it was encouraging to hear and read that all adults will be invited for a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the week. Today, 21 and 22-year-olds are being invited and I think 20-year-olds will be invited either tomorrow or Friday based on the current progress in England. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting my jab though depending on the circumstances, I think I'll be getting my second in London - can always change that easily anyway on the NHS booking site.
Anyways, I think this will be one of the very last updates on this blog so do have a lovely Summer! In short, I'm feeling a lot more positive about things though I'm not quite sure what my Summer will look like - I'll try to meet up with some friends back home in London and I may travel back up to York and stay with a close friend for a week or two.
Thursday 24th June 2021
Hello again! I'm back with another update and it's the final week of the academic year at York, though I've finished the year several weeks ago and been making the most of my time by catching up with friends. Some of my friends are starting to head back home and I'll be going home probably next Wednesday or this time next week (I've not decided yet).
Having said that, I'm hoping to catch up with my friend, MB again before he heads back home early on Saturday (he's also getting his first Covid jab then!). As for my plans, until I leave York, I'll be minuting an executive meeting for University of York Lib Dems and start planning for Freshers with the rest of the new executive and sorting out some other stuff behind the scenes. I also need to sort tidying my room and packing my stuff away (I've started on the tidying part!) and I need to sort out my desk, drawers, and wardrobe. I don't have an awful lot of stuff with me actually so it shouldn't take me ages and I can start moving some stuff over to a close friend of mine who has kindly agreed to let me store my stuff in her spare bedroom.
Bright Network Internship Experience UK On-Demand: Public Sector, Policy, and Charity Stream
As I said in my previous update, I've been looking for stuff to do during the Summer break and adding to my career portfolio and sent off my application a couple of days ago. I found out today though the email was dated for yesterday (it was hidden in my inbox), that I've successfully secured a place for this internship experience and I can't wait to start!
Placement Year?!
I've heard back from a member of staff at my uni's Careers and Placements Team who checked over my CV and application form and gave me some useful tips about how to make them even better - she said it was very good. Since then, I've sent my application off and I'm waiting to hear if I've been invited for an interview on 6th July. If successful after that, I start the position in late August which is nice as I get most of the Summer off.
Grades for Second Year
I was given some insider info that the feeder departments of Social and Political Sciences (SPS) would start releasing marks and feedback by the end of last week, but so far only half of second-year politics module marks and feedback are out, and for Sociology modules (I believe). Annoyingly, there is a delay for most of the marks and feedback to come back as the Social Policy department said they had to delay this to 2nd July and I have no idea when I'll hear back about my politics module. TL;DR I'm quite anxious about my results especially for one module because I wasn't happy with the project that I pulled an all-nighter to complete only to leave a few sections out and it's mediocre at best. I think Social Research Methods could go either way, but hopefully, the last-minute change of plan to do a quantitative research design pays off.
Accommodation for Next Year
Nothing much to add except I'm still waiting to hear back from the uni accommodation team and apparently room offers should be finalised by the end of this week. Though strangely the last email I got was from earlier this month saying it should be by the end of the month. Who knows smh?
Hello again! I'm back with another update and it's the final week of the academic year at York, though I've finished the year several weeks ago and been making the most of my time by catching up with friends. Some of my friends are starting to head back home and I'll be going home probably next Wednesday or this time next week (I've not decided yet).
Having said that, I'm hoping to catch up with my friend, MB again before he heads back home early on Saturday (he's also getting his first Covid jab then!). As for my plans, until I leave York, I'll be minuting an executive meeting for University of York Lib Dems and start planning for Freshers with the rest of the new executive and sorting out some other stuff behind the scenes. I also need to sort tidying my room and packing my stuff away (I've started on the tidying part!) and I need to sort out my desk, drawers, and wardrobe. I don't have an awful lot of stuff with me actually so it shouldn't take me ages and I can start moving some stuff over to a close friend of mine who has kindly agreed to let me store my stuff in her spare bedroom.
Bright Network Internship Experience UK On-Demand: Public Sector, Policy, and Charity Stream
As I said in my previous update, I've been looking for stuff to do during the Summer break and adding to my career portfolio and sent off my application a couple of days ago. I found out today though the email was dated for yesterday (it was hidden in my inbox), that I've successfully secured a place for this internship experience and I can't wait to start!
Placement Year?!
I've heard back from a member of staff at my uni's Careers and Placements Team who checked over my CV and application form and gave me some useful tips about how to make them even better - she said it was very good. Since then, I've sent my application off and I'm waiting to hear if I've been invited for an interview on 6th July. If successful after that, I start the position in late August which is nice as I get most of the Summer off.
Grades for Second Year
I was given some insider info that the feeder departments of Social and Political Sciences (SPS) would start releasing marks and feedback by the end of last week, but so far only half of second-year politics module marks and feedback are out, and for Sociology modules (I believe). Annoyingly, there is a delay for most of the marks and feedback to come back as the Social Policy department said they had to delay this to 2nd July and I have no idea when I'll hear back about my politics module. TL;DR I'm quite anxious about my results especially for one module because I wasn't happy with the project that I pulled an all-nighter to complete only to leave a few sections out and it's mediocre at best. I think Social Research Methods could go either way, but hopefully, the last-minute change of plan to do a quantitative research design pays off.
Accommodation for Next Year
Nothing much to add except I'm still waiting to hear back from the uni accommodation team and apparently room offers should be finalised by the end of this week. Though strangely the last email I got was from earlier this month saying it should be by the end of the month. Who knows smh?
Friday 2nd July 2021
Welcome back to a final update for my 'Grow Your Grades' blog for this academic year. In short, this academic year has truly been like no other due to the effects of the pandemic, but I'm so proud to have got through this academic year and to have survived it.
Yesterday evening, I finally got back to London from York having stayed the night with very close friends of mine as moving out all my belongings (I don't have a lot relatively speaking) was stressful - I filled two boxes, large suitcases and several bags and it took my two round trips. I did most of the legwork on Tuesday which meant moving out by noon on Wednesday was of little stress.
As for what I got up to since my last update, unfortunately, my friend, MB, and I couldn't find time to meet up again before he headed home last Saturday as I was feeling a little under the weather last week, but I'm all good now. I might be able to see him if I decide to pop up to York during the Summer break for a week or even for the weekend and he decides to pop up to York for the day or something. But I think it's most likely I won't see him until the next academic year starts.
Moreover, I got my eyes tested last Monday (I haven't had an eye test for a while since then) and TL;DR the optician said my eyesight was looking normal, but my prescription had changed a little and I got mild astigmatism in one of my eyes. This was reassuring as I've noticed some changes in my eyesight over time, but nothing alarming thankfully! I've collected my new pair of glasses on Wednesday and I love them. The only problem I have is the fit behind the ear, I need to get that readjusted a little as it's slightly hurting my ears.
Second Year Marks
I'm not going to dwell on this for long, but given that we've all had an academic year truly like no other due to the effects of the pandemic, I'm really happy to have averaged 61% for the year which is a 2.1. There's no doubt that I would ideally have hoped to do a little better, i.e. get a higher mark in the 60s, but tbh, it doesn't make much difference moving forwards.
In terms of marks by modules, I got the following:
As for marks for this term's assessments, overall, it was lower than last term, and for Victimisation and Social Harm, in particular, that really took a dent in terms of the overall mark for that module (it was heavily weighted annoyingly) - I narrowly passed the assignment, but I've been bricking it since submitting it. On a more positive note, I did get a 68 for my research design for Social Research Methods which I didn't expect having decided to do a quantitative research design last minute.
Placement Year?!/Plans For Next Academic Year
Unfortunately, I've been rejected for the Volunteering Support Officer placement year role that the uni advertised which is gutting, but there wasn't much else I could've done differently. I got my CV and application form checked over with the Careers Team and they said it was looking really good and gave me some suggestions so I don't quite understand why I got rejected - I just feel that they're being harsh. As a result of this, I'm now definitely going into the final year of my degree which is scary, but I'll be fine.
Atm, I have just submitted two possible topic ideas for my dissertation so that they could allocate me a dissertation supervisor, but I'm not 100% sure what I want to do within these topics and that's a conversation I'll be having in the Autumn. Over this Summer break, I'm planning to do a little bit of reading for my dissertation, but certainly, nothing too strenuous because I may make changes further along the line and honestly, I really need and deserve a break.
Accommodation for Next Academic Year
Been waiting forever for this, but I got an email last week and I'm really happy with what I've been offered.
Some sad news...
More uplifting news...
My tenancy starts on 11th September which is a couple of weeks before the start of the next academic year/Autumn term and I'll probably move in then or for the start of term - I'll decide closer to the time. I'm planning to get a few air-purifying plants such as a Chinese Evergreen, but I'll need to see how much stuff I've got and how big the room is as well before committing to getting some plants.
Welcome back to a final update for my 'Grow Your Grades' blog for this academic year. In short, this academic year has truly been like no other due to the effects of the pandemic, but I'm so proud to have got through this academic year and to have survived it.
Yesterday evening, I finally got back to London from York having stayed the night with very close friends of mine as moving out all my belongings (I don't have a lot relatively speaking) was stressful - I filled two boxes, large suitcases and several bags and it took my two round trips. I did most of the legwork on Tuesday which meant moving out by noon on Wednesday was of little stress.
As for what I got up to since my last update, unfortunately, my friend, MB, and I couldn't find time to meet up again before he headed home last Saturday as I was feeling a little under the weather last week, but I'm all good now. I might be able to see him if I decide to pop up to York during the Summer break for a week or even for the weekend and he decides to pop up to York for the day or something. But I think it's most likely I won't see him until the next academic year starts.
Moreover, I got my eyes tested last Monday (I haven't had an eye test for a while since then) and TL;DR the optician said my eyesight was looking normal, but my prescription had changed a little and I got mild astigmatism in one of my eyes. This was reassuring as I've noticed some changes in my eyesight over time, but nothing alarming thankfully! I've collected my new pair of glasses on Wednesday and I love them. The only problem I have is the fit behind the ear, I need to get that readjusted a little as it's slightly hurting my ears.
Second Year Marks
I'm not going to dwell on this for long, but given that we've all had an academic year truly like no other due to the effects of the pandemic, I'm really happy to have averaged 61% for the year which is a 2.1. There's no doubt that I would ideally have hoped to do a little better, i.e. get a higher mark in the 60s, but tbh, it doesn't make much difference moving forwards.
In terms of marks by modules, I got the following:
•
Politics in the UK: 61
•
The Policy Process: 66
•
Social Research Methods: 68
•
Victimisation and Social Harm: 50
As for marks for this term's assessments, overall, it was lower than last term, and for Victimisation and Social Harm, in particular, that really took a dent in terms of the overall mark for that module (it was heavily weighted annoyingly) - I narrowly passed the assignment, but I've been bricking it since submitting it. On a more positive note, I did get a 68 for my research design for Social Research Methods which I didn't expect having decided to do a quantitative research design last minute.
Placement Year?!/Plans For Next Academic Year
Unfortunately, I've been rejected for the Volunteering Support Officer placement year role that the uni advertised which is gutting, but there wasn't much else I could've done differently. I got my CV and application form checked over with the Careers Team and they said it was looking really good and gave me some suggestions so I don't quite understand why I got rejected - I just feel that they're being harsh. As a result of this, I'm now definitely going into the final year of my degree which is scary, but I'll be fine.
Atm, I have just submitted two possible topic ideas for my dissertation so that they could allocate me a dissertation supervisor, but I'm not 100% sure what I want to do within these topics and that's a conversation I'll be having in the Autumn. Over this Summer break, I'm planning to do a little bit of reading for my dissertation, but certainly, nothing too strenuous because I may make changes further along the line and honestly, I really need and deserve a break.
Accommodation for Next Academic Year
Been waiting forever for this, but I got an email last week and I'm really happy with what I've been offered.
Some sad news...
Spoiler
More uplifting news...
Spoiler
My tenancy starts on 11th September which is a couple of weeks before the start of the next academic year/Autumn term and I'll probably move in then or for the start of term - I'll decide closer to the time. I'm planning to get a few air-purifying plants such as a Chinese Evergreen, but I'll need to see how much stuff I've got and how big the room is as well before committing to getting some plants.
well done. those are pretty good results for what has been a tough year for us all
is a first possible? with my degree, i could get a first IF i got all firsts in my final year, having got 2.1s in the second year. So possible still.
is a first possible? with my degree, i could get a first IF i got all firsts in my final year, having got 2.1s in the second year. So possible still.
Original post by Catherine1973
well done. those are pretty good results for what has been a tough year for us all
is a first possible? with my degree, i could get a first IF i got all firsts in my final year, having got 2.1s in the second year. So possible still.
is a first possible? with my degree, i could get a first IF i got all firsts in my final year, having got 2.1s in the second year. So possible still.
Thank you! I agree, the results I've got are pretty decent given what has been a difficult year for us all.
York has implemented provisions for my year and above to safeguard grades by reweighting second and final year marks such that the year you performed better in gets weighted more towards your degree classification. I'm not 100% sure how this reweighting thing works nor am I sure whether getting a first is at all possible - for the latter, I think reweighting second and final year marks should make that possible in theory. I've got 2 firsts in my assessments for this academic year so I'm capable of ending up with a first, but I would still be happy with a high 2.1.
(edited 3 years ago)
Just a short update kinda...
I've been trying to wrap my head around my uni reweighting grades for my cohort and above, and I hope I can do my maths properly...
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to sound smug here, I'm just curious as to what grade I could graduate with by the end of year 3. Would definitely be happy with a 2.1, but graduating with a first would honestly be amazing.
With normal weightings (2:3 / 40%:60%), I'm pretty much guaranteed to graduate with a 2.1 if I get a year 3 average of 62 or higher. To get a first, I would need a year 3 average of 75 or higher which doesn't seem realistic based on the marks I got for this year (minus that odd module which dragged my year 2 average down a bit). Even then, it totals to 69.5% and I believe they do round that up to 70?!
Given the whole pandemic, my uni has implemented alternative weightings (1:3 / 25%:75%) for my cohort which I think could work in my favour, but it puts a lot of pressure to perform well in year 3. They said they'll automatically use whatever weighting gives the higher mark/grade. Anyways, I'm pretty much guaranteed to graduate with a 2.1 if I get a year 3 average of 60 or higher. To get a first, I would need a year 3 average of 73 or higher which tbh is still quite the stretch, but by no means impossible which is encouraging.
Overall, this really motivates me to keep pushing after surviving a really difficult academic year, but I think my possible downfall could be keeping a positive mindset especially when the world is not in a good place atm with the pandemic. TL;DR I need to achieve a year 3 average of at least 67 if I want to graduate with a mid to high 2.1, but that doesn't really matter - a 2.1 is still a 2.1 lol.
Btw, I hope you're all enjoying the summer! I'll make a new thread for documenting my third-year experiences around the time that GCSE and A-level results are out.
I've been trying to wrap my head around my uni reweighting grades for my cohort and above, and I hope I can do my maths properly...
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to sound smug here, I'm just curious as to what grade I could graduate with by the end of year 3. Would definitely be happy with a 2.1, but graduating with a first would honestly be amazing.
With normal weightings (2:3 / 40%:60%), I'm pretty much guaranteed to graduate with a 2.1 if I get a year 3 average of 62 or higher. To get a first, I would need a year 3 average of 75 or higher which doesn't seem realistic based on the marks I got for this year (minus that odd module which dragged my year 2 average down a bit). Even then, it totals to 69.5% and I believe they do round that up to 70?!
Given the whole pandemic, my uni has implemented alternative weightings (1:3 / 25%:75%) for my cohort which I think could work in my favour, but it puts a lot of pressure to perform well in year 3. They said they'll automatically use whatever weighting gives the higher mark/grade. Anyways, I'm pretty much guaranteed to graduate with a 2.1 if I get a year 3 average of 60 or higher. To get a first, I would need a year 3 average of 73 or higher which tbh is still quite the stretch, but by no means impossible which is encouraging.
Overall, this really motivates me to keep pushing after surviving a really difficult academic year, but I think my possible downfall could be keeping a positive mindset especially when the world is not in a good place atm with the pandemic. TL;DR I need to achieve a year 3 average of at least 67 if I want to graduate with a mid to high 2.1, but that doesn't really matter - a 2.1 is still a 2.1 lol.
Btw, I hope you're all enjoying the summer! I'll make a new thread for documenting my third-year experiences around the time that GCSE and A-level results are out.
That is good to calculate it. I worked out I needed 70.5% year 3 to get a first in a 40/60 weighting which seemed achieveable.
I got 71% overall -68.5/70/72/73 and 74.3. But it was tough. Having to ensure a every answer of the 2/3/4 in the exam are first class when we had to do some essays as well as problems (which I enjoy)
So I managed to scrape it. But that was a much lower target.
However you probably should aim for it. And if you miss, you probably come out with a high 2.1.
And always nice to know you have a 2.1 secured anyway.
I got 71% overall -68.5/70/72/73 and 74.3. But it was tough. Having to ensure a every answer of the 2/3/4 in the exam are first class when we had to do some essays as well as problems (which I enjoy)
So I managed to scrape it. But that was a much lower target.
However you probably should aim for it. And if you miss, you probably come out with a high 2.1.
And always nice to know you have a 2.1 secured anyway.
Original post by Catherine1973
That is good to calculate it. I worked out I needed 70.5% year 3 to get a first in a 40/60 weighting which seemed achieveable.
I got 71% overall -68.5/70/72/73 and 74.3. But it was tough. Having to ensure a every answer of the 2/3/4 in the exam are first class when we had to do some essays as well as problems (which I enjoy)
So I managed to scrape it. But that was a much lower target.
However you probably should aim for it. And if you miss, you probably come out with a high 2.1.
And always nice to know you have a 2.1 secured anyway.
I got 71% overall -68.5/70/72/73 and 74.3. But it was tough. Having to ensure a every answer of the 2/3/4 in the exam are first class when we had to do some essays as well as problems (which I enjoy)
So I managed to scrape it. But that was a much lower target.
However you probably should aim for it. And if you miss, you probably come out with a high 2.1.
And always nice to know you have a 2.1 secured anyway.
Thanks! Congratulations on achieving a first - that is a fantastic achievement and I'm sure you must be very pleased. It sure sounds like all your hard work has paid off!
I mean compared to needing at least 75% in year 3 to get a first under normal weightings, 73% under alternative weightings seems more achievable, but still a stretch ofc. Having said that, it's still something I want to aim for and even if I miss it (whether narrowly or whatever), I'm pretty much guaranteed to come with a high 2.1 which is reassuring.
I hate to be the one to ask, but what are your plans moving forward?
Thanks! I wasn’t optimistic but just about managed to get it.
Think a law masters next, just need to actually apply! After many years of working I am enjoying a summer of no actual plans!
Think a law masters next, just need to actually apply! After many years of working I am enjoying a summer of no actual plans!
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