exams and applying for master’s courses john aldrich these slides will be emailed to students...
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Exams and applying for Master’s courses
John Aldrich
These slides will be emailed to students afterwards
Topics for today
Examinations—relevant to everybody
Applying for a Master’s—for students
applying for admission in 2015
Good marks and bad marks The usual requirement for admission to a
Master’s course is a first (average of 70+) or upper second (average of 60+)
A fail is a mark <40. (Visiting students get no credit for modules they fail)
A bad fail is a mark <25. (If you fail a
module this badly you have to re-sit the exam in August in order to obtain DipHE or to pass the year for 2+2)
Passing the DipHE or passing the year (2+2 students): more details
40% in every module gives a pass overall
A mark <40 in one or two modules may be compensated for by good performance elsewhere. More than 2 failures cannot be compensated for and have to be taken again.
A mark <25 cannot be compensated for
by good performance elsewhere.For the precise rules see Progression, Determination & Classification of Results on http://www.southampton.ac.uk/socscinet/ug/forms.html
Examinations
The exam is the most important form of assessment—accounting for 80-90% of the mark for the module.
There are university procedures for everything connected with exams. You will receive information on these procedures.
Exams—when?
The first semester exams are held in a two week
period at the end of the semester between the
12th and 24th of January (including Saturday 17th.)
You should receive your timetable about now.
You also receive information about exam
procedures. Study the rules carefully.
Exams—what can go wrong
You are ill or something happens that is not your
fault to prevent you from taking the exam. You
may ask for special considerations.
You are not well prepared. This is your fault.
Illness & Special Considerations If you are absent from an examination you must
contact the Student Office on the day of the missed examination or at the very first opportunity after the illness to discuss the reasons for missing the examination.
If you have grounds for believing that your performance in examinations or coursework merits special consideration, you must ensure that this information, with supporting documentation, is submitted to the Student Office.
For details see Special consideration form athttp://www.soton.ac.uk/socscinet/ug/forms.html
and University student medical guidelines athttp://www.soton.ac.uk/socscinet/ug/forms.html
Preparing
You should go to the exam knowing the subject
AND
knowing what you will be expected to do
What is expected
Ask the lecturer
The exam rubric on the module’s Blackboard site
Past Examination Papers Accessible through SUSSED
The lecturers’ feedback on past exams http://www.soton.ac.uk/socscinet/ug/examfeedback/index.htm
In the exam—the rubric The rubric is the set of instructions printed
at the top of the exam paper. Follow the instructions
Thus if you are told to do FOUR questions, then answers to 3 can give no more than 75% and answers to 5 will include one wasted effort.
If questions are unequally weighted, then pay attention to the weights when organising your time during the exam.
CalculatorsIn some exams you need to use a calculator.
Check whether this is so for your exams
The calculator must be a University-approved calculator. (These are sold in the University Union shop.)
Any other kind of calculator will be confiscated and you will have to do calculations in your head.
Your answers
Read the questions carefully and try to answer the questions asked rather than ones you wish had been asked.
Show your reasoning: the examiner is interested in your reasoning and can only give marks for what is on the page.
If a question should take 40 minutes and you write your answer in 20, then most likely you are not including enough detail.
The results—in February
If you have failed any modules you will receive a letter from the Student Office.
You should consult your tutor about resits.
You cannot resit a paper you have passed. Resit marks are capped at 40%. So there is no point in failing deliberately!
Making sense of your results Read the Exam feedback for the units you
have taken. It may be worth seeing your script. If you
wish to, you should contact your tutor NOT the module lecturer.
Note that Marks are not negotiable. Scripts are not re-marked.
Looking ahead for 2+2s: applying for Master’s courses
For a Master’s course in 2016/17 you apply in semester 1 of 2015/16.
This year there is nothing to do except
get the best marks you can in your courses
talk to third years about their experience in applying for Master’s courses.
Applying for a Master’s 2015
Choosing courses/universities
Writing a Personal Statement
Getting references
Timetable
Choosing
My advice is apply for the subject you are most interested in at the best institution that will take you.
Entry requirements vary across universities and within universities across courses, so check that you’re being realistic.
Which course/university ?
Get advice from your lecturers and other local academics. Talk to other students—especially ones doing Masters.
Look online.
This information is free and easy to collect—you should not need to pay an intermediary to get this information.
There are many international comparisons of universities—see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_and_university_rankings
UK newspapers produce rankings of universities—see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankings_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom
These rankings are to help 18 year olds decide where to go for their first degree.
‘Good’ institutions—where they are
‘Good’ departments
The Economic and Social Research Council is a major funder of research in the UK.
It has a list of departments it judges good and a map of where they are
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/where-can-i-study/index.aspx
‘Good’ research—the REF
Every 5 years the research performance of UK universities is reviewed—the REF or RAE (old name).
The results for 2014 are due out in 2 weeks.
The most recent review is RAE 2008.
For Accounting & Finance seehttp://www.rae.ac.uk/results/qualityProfile.aspx?id=35&type=uoa
For Economics & Econometrics see
http://www.rae.ac.uk/results/qualityProfile.aspx?id=34&type=uoa
Looking at course online: examples
Southampton Finance & Economicshttp://www.southampton.ac.uk/economics/postgraduate/taught_courses/
msc_finance_and_economics.page?#entry
LSE Financehttp://www.lse.ac.uk/finance/prospectiveStudents/mscFinanceFT/Home.aspx
Warwick Finance & Economics http://www.wbs.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/finance-and-economics/
How many courses to apply for
If you buy 2 lottery tickets you double your chance of winning.
If you apply for 2 courses, you double the cost but you do not double the chance of being accepted.
In the selection process academic achievement/promise counts for almost everything with only a small random element.
Making lots of applications wastes money and time.
Personal statementWhen you apply the university
will ask you about yourself.This is called a personal
statement.Universities vary in what they
expect.
PS interpretation 1
Under PS the Southampton form says
Please give details of any other relevant information, e.g. publications, prizes, awards etc.
A list is enough!
PS interpretation 2
For some institutions the PS is your account
of why you want to study the subject there.
Your account should be short, well-focussed
and written in good English. The PS is the
only piece of your work the university sees
and you want to make a good impression.
References
Most universities ask for 2 academic
references.
The core of the reference is an assessment of
your academic ability based on your marks.
Make sure that your referee knows about any
special considerations (e.g. illness) that
have affected your exam results.
Choosing referees
The ideal referee knows that you are good from personal experience but all lecturers have access to your academic record.
Natural choices: a lecturer who has taught you and your personal tutor.
If you are applying to a UK university you should choose at least one Southampton academic—the university will want to know how well you can perform in English.
Academics expect to act as referees but it is always polite to ask them before giving their names.
The process
When you apply online you give your referees’ contact details including email address.
The University will email your referees.
The referee writes the reference and uploads it on to the University’s applications website. (There is no printed paper reference.)
Be patient with your referees—they may have a lot to do.
You can usually track the process of your application
Timetable—applying Apply when you need to: universities have
different deadlines (some have none) and you should check their arrangements on-line.
The application season opens in October and many students apply in November/December.
However it is better to apply when you have some Southampton results to report. You will not have results until February.
Timetable—the outcome If you are successful, you will receive a
conditional offer: the university will take you for the specified course provided your degree is of a certain class.
When your degree class is known in summer 2015, the university will take you if you meet the condition.
Sometimes it will accept you if you have just missed the target.
Summary
In choosing a course/university get advice.
Entry requirements vary, so check that you’re being realistic.
Success depends on your academic performance.
Next semester’s modules
At the start of next semester you have the opportunity to revise your choice of modules.
You may want to do this because you want to change pathway
You should check the rules to establish that what you’re proposing makes sense
Not overloading Student OfficeAt certain times the Student Office is very busy writing letters on behalf of students.
You can speed the flow for yourself and other students by making sure that all your details are
correct
by not returning to ask for the same letter to be rewritten.
Any Questions?????