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Studying criminology degree

I’m in second year of criminology degree I’ve been getting basic passes in my degree I don’t get high grades.

Will I get a higher degree grade if I get good grades in my next 3 semesters off my degree?

Also I am very very confused on where to move forward after completing my degree if I get a 3rd class in Crim what can I do next.Im looking into masters but even after that I am clueless and dont know what to do with my career
Original post by Zayyx01
I’m in second year of criminology degree I’ve been getting basic passes in my degree I don’t get high grades.
Will I get a higher degree grade if I get good grades in my next 3 semesters off my degree?
Also I am very very confused on where to move forward after completing my degree if I get a 3rd class in Crim what can I do next.Im looking into masters but even after that I am clueless and dont know what to do with my career

I’ve been getting basic passes in my degree I don’t get high grades
For social sciences, this usually means the following:

Your answers are barely right

You make minimal effort

No analysis

No critical thinking

Minimal references

I would opt for a very very different approach to how you study in order to turn things around (for a start, I can almost be certain that you're using Google for most of your research and not what's in the unit outline or your lecture notes - this isn't college). It's possible because people before you have done it before - in one case I know of someone who was practically failing 2/6 of her modules and she managed to get 1st class and 2:1s in her remaining assignments.

Will I get a higher degree grade if I get good grades in my next 3 semesters off my degree?
Depends on what you got so far and what the weightings are.

I am very very confused on where to move forward after completing my degree if I get a 3rd class in Crim what can I do next.
Strictly speaking, there isn't a career that specifically asks for a degree in criminology. So in your case, you can opt for jobs that asks for degrees in any subject (or lower qualifications). There are 600+ careers to choose from in this case.
Having said that, getting a third is not going to look nice on a CV, especially if you're applying for a place on a graduate scheme.

Im looking into masters
Most masters' are looking for at least a 2:2, with many of them asking for a 2:1 or higher. Typically, you do a master's if:

You want to specialise in an area of research for your PhD

You want to change careers, where the new field require a specific type of degree for regulatory purposes

If the specific field benefits from a master's degree e.g. nursing, engineering, architecture (kind of required if you want to be an architect)

You are passionate about the subject and you want to explore the subject further with the knowledge that it won't help you get jobs

For criminology and social sciences in general, you're typically either want to go into a PhD in the subject or just want to study the subject because you're passionate about it.

but even after that I am clueless and dont know what to do with my career
Start with knowing what career you want first. If you don't know what field you want to go into, it's kind of all over the place to figure out what you should do. My favourite quote for this is a passage in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to”
Alice: “I don't much care where”
Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn't matter which way you go”

There are over 800 job profiles that encompasses the sort of jobs there are in the UK. I am not going through all 800 of them just for kicks.
Hi there!

From your post, I'm assuming that you've just finished first semester of second year, so there are 3 semesters left until you graduate? If that's case, it is very likely that you could get good grades by the end! It will depend on the way your university deals with degree classifications - so you will need to find this info either on your uni portal, website or by contacting your course leader.

For the purpose of this post, I will assume that first year does not count towards your final degree mark, and that your second and third year are worth 50% each, and that your second year grades so far have been 40%. With this info, your current degree grade is at 10% (including the 3 semesters that you have not taken). For your final grade to be 60% (a 2:1), you will need to achieve an average mark of 67% for the next year and a half. For your final grade to be 70% (a first) you will need to achieve an average mark of 80% for the next year and a half.

Again, please note that these numbers will be different depending on your Uni's Degree Classification Rules, so make sure to check them out and do the calculations for yourself - this is just a rough estimate using the 50-50% way.

Good luck and remember to believe in yourself!!
Jorja (LJMU Student Rep)

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