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?????