A guide to the Scholarship Examinations

09-01-2006 11:18am #1

Hey ho, I've just completed an FAQ of sorts on Schols which hopefully should provide some insight into the examinations. Given that I'm not a Scholar myself, I'd be greatly appreciated if anyone who has gone through the examinations could post here to give a personal idea of what it is about - I can only cover so much!

I also should inform you that there will be an evening dedicated to giving information about the Scholarship Exams at 6:15pm on Thursday the 19th of January, in the MacNeill. There will be a general Question and Answers session here, and your answers will be given by the Scholars' Secretary, David Rickard. Come one, come all.

Dónal

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What are Schols?

Scholarship Exams (Schols) are a special set of examinations held in the Hilary Term break of each year. They are usually based on material from your Junior Freshman and Senior Freshman years.

What’s so special about that?

If you choose to go for Schols in your Senior Freshman year, and you get an overall mark of a II.1 (60%) or more, you may be exempt from sitting some or all of your summer exams.

If you obtain an overall mark of I (70%) or more, you become a Scholar. There are foundation and non-foundation Scholars - Foundation Scholars “own” part of college, and there can be a max of 70 at one time.

Sounds good, but why should I give up my time?

Well, both foundation and non-foundation Scholars are entitled to several things:

*Commons (evening meal) each weekday, free of charge;

*An entitlement to a room free of charge (for up to 9 months of the year);

*An annual salary of €253.95;

*Their college fees paid for if they are not receiving free fees from the government, or if they are non-EU then the fees will be reduced to the appropriate fee level of an Irish student;

*All of the above for up to 5 years, if you continue as a postgraduate.

Also, if a scholar does not wish to take the Commons or the Room, they can receive cash in lieu of these.

Do I have to be in second year to apply?

Actually, no! You can apply if you are in JF, SF, JS, SS or if you are entered on college’s books as a Bachelor. Most students do try to do the exams during their second year of college, but several try in their third year of college.

When do I have to sign up by?

The deadline for applying for Schols is the 1st of February. You can get forms at the Examinations Office, which is located here.

Or else you can obtain one at the following address:

http://www.tcd.ie/Senior_Lecturer/teo/teopdf/fsapp2006.pdf

Will I get full exemptions from the SF summer exams or not if I get over 60%?

In order to find out, contact your relevant department / school. A lot of courses do give full exemptions, but even with no summer exams you will still be required to attend lectures/tutorials.

When are the exams planned for?

They will take place sometime between the 14th of March to the 31st of March. The timetable will be available from your department / school closer to those dates. Also, the library won’t be closing earlier at those times (as it normally does out of term), but it will be closed on St. Patrick’s Day (17th March).

Where can I find out more information?

There are Schols Exam Papers from previous years available on the web. Simply go to here:
http://www.tcd.ie/Local/Exam_Papers/

Also, the college calendar has a lot of information on Schols in the “Prizes and other awards section”: http://www.tcd.ie/Secretary/College_Calendar/Part_I/

It would also be a good idea to talk to your lecturers if you’re thinking about going for Schols, as they may give some advice on what to study. Contact them yourself, or ask your class rep to ask for you!

Finally, you could try to make contact with those who took the exams last year. Good luck!

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Studying for exams is a stressful time for everyone. The following student services offer guidance, advice and support:

*Your Own Tutor (email available from Student Information System, if you’re unsure)

*Senior Tutor’s Office (stosec@tcd.ie)

*Student Disability Service (6083111)

*College Health Service (6081556)

*Chaplaincy (6081260)

*Students’ Union:
Education: Dónal 6468439 or education@tcdsu.org, Welfare: Steph 6468437 or welfare@tcdsu.org.

Student Counselling offers a wide range of supports to students, including study skills, exam preparation etc. For more information, go to http://www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling or phone 6081407.

pseudonym · 09-01-2006 1:34pm

I got schols last year, and can say that if you do get it, it is definitely worth all the work etc that you need to put in, which is an awful lot, at least in the hamilton end subjects anyway!

I can imagine that if you put in a lot of work and just miss the mark it would be very depressing, and exemptions mightnt be all the consolation they might seem, or you could just miss out on exemptions, and have to sit another set of exams at the end of the year, even more depressing.

As for the exams themselves, they're very similar to end of year exams, exept harder, and you have to sign a big book and write your name and your fathers name etc...

I would recommend checking out previous exam papers online if you are thinking of sitting the schols, as I found there tends to be a lot of repetition of questions, and also theyre good practice.

If you do sit them, you find out whether or not you have exemptions the first week of trinity term, but dont find out if ou got schols or not till the monday after lectures end, a long wait!

Trinity Monday (the day of the announcement) is great fun if you get them. You get to get dressed up in gowns and tuxes and meet "famous" people (the provost) and have your back slapped by professors etc, and you get a great dinner in the dining hall (several course, lots of wine, port etc.) and its also probably the only time you'll be dressed well enough to get into lilys bordello afterwards!

Its also handy to remember that you only have to AVERAGE 70% or higher, not get over 70% in each subject.

Oh, and if you do fail, it doesnt look bad on your permanent record or anything since you dont have to sit them.

Hope some of this waffle was someway useful.

Time Magazine · 09-01-2006 5:46pm

Fair play D. One question though:

EduMyth wrote:

Do I have to be in second year to apply?

Actually, no! You can apply if you are in JF...

Are you positive?

whyamihere? · 09-01-2006 5:56pm

You can sit the schols in any year of your course, defo. A couple of JS got it last year.

If you do it in any other year though, you do not get exempted from the end of year exams.

09-01-2006 5:59pm

Angry Banana wrote:

Fair play D. One question though:

Are you positive?

Yep... I cleared it with Exams Office today. Was going to put it online before today, but waited until I got the all clear. The reason that it is ok is because...

Statutes, Chapter VI wrote:

No person shall be eligible for election, or be elected, as a Scholar on the Foundation or as a non-Foundation Scholar, who is not entered on the College Books as a Junior Freshman, Senior Freshman, Junior Sophister, or Senior Sophister, or Bachelor, and, in the opinion of the Board, of good conduct and character.

and...

College Calender, 2004/5 T6, 2005/6 S6 wrote:

11 No students may compete for a scholarship until after their names have been entered on the
College books as Junior Freshmen, i.e. they cannot compete as rising Junior Freshmen.

Time Magazine · 09-01-2006 6:28pm

Grand so. I take your word on it!

'Tis very weird though:

College Calender, 2004/5 T6, 2005/6 S6 wrote:

...they cannot compete as rising Junior Freshmen.

Is that not contradictory? Do save my mind and explain D

.

Nietzschean · 09-01-2006 6:35pm

rising junior freshmen would be the time before you register at the start of first year....so like you haven't started college really...makes sence...

09-01-2006 6:38pm

The rising Junior Freshman thing I've taken to mean they cannot compete as "incoming" or "soon to be" Junior Freshman, not as Junior Freshman advancing to another level. Even if this is wrong, the statutes contradict the college calendar.

Time Magazine · 09-01-2006 6:50pm

Again, I don't doubt your word on it, but that really seems weird by my interpretation.

The Statutes (1966 Consolidated, I presume?) say no person shall be eligible etc., as opposed to deeming students as ineligible; and thus a Calender rule could deem one as ineligible without contradicting the statutes.

And I always thought "rising JF" meant "continuing JF".

Interesting, that.

I suppose, seeing as there's no CAO-offers between Schols and Trinity Monday, the "rising" clause refers mostly to deferred entry students and what not. 'Tis odd. I was definitely under the impression I could not sit them last year.

Nietzschean · 09-01-2006 6:58pm

Angry Banana wrote:

And I always thought "rising JF" meant "continuing JF".

if you mean the summer between JF and SF, thats rising SF....

ApeXaviour · 09-01-2006 10:17pm

Angry Banana wrote:

And I always thought "rising JF" meant "continuing JF".

Same here.. That's where my confusion came from dónal..

Enda wrote:

I was definitely under the impression I could not sit them last year.

Let's be honest, it's not like you would have anyway..

I mean if a fresher sits and gets them, they really shouldnt be a fresher..

Pet · 09-01-2006 10:32pm

Yeah, here was me thinking "deadly, I can try this year" til I realised I'd be doing second year material not even covered yet..

10-01-2006 12:34am

Heh. Exams Office gave me the all clear at any rate, so meh. The fun thing is that in the past, first years have gone for Schols and gotten it

Crash · 10-01-2006 12:38am

Hell of a lot of work though, even in comparison to schols normally.

Ron DMC · 10-01-2006 12:54am

EduMyth wrote:

The fun thing is that in the past, first years have gone for Schols and gotten it

Freakin nerds

10-01-2006 1:41am

By the way Enda, drop up to the office sometime. I have a collection of college calendars, one of which dates back to 1962-3. Given your appreciation of Trinity Knowledge, I'm sure you'd love to see it. Has to stay within the confines of the office, for obvious reasons though!

But the quote from the college calendar for the scholars section is the same then (and throughout most of the years I've looked at) as it is now.

Agent Smith · 10-01-2006 2:29am

EduMyth wrote:

By the way Enda, drop up to the office sometime. I have a collection of college calendars, one of which dates back to 1962-3. Given your appreciation of Trinity Knowledge, I'm sure you'd love to see it. Has to stay within the confines of the office, for obvious reasons though!

isn't that " internet grooming?"

10-01-2006 1:36pm

By the way, there's no plans for exams on saturdays for the Schols.

EmmB · 12-01-2006 12:05am

Isn't it too late to start studying now for the Schols? R what kinda study is really needed, considering you need to know 1st year stuff as well as 2nd year it must be an awful lot

12-01-2006 12:11am

Anyone I've talked to who have gotten it have told me that this is the time they started studying properly.

ApeXaviour · 12-01-2006 12:15am

EmmB wrote:

Isn't it too late to start studying now for the Schols? R what kinda study is really needed, considering you need to know 1st year stuff as well as 2nd year it must be an awful lot

What subjects do you do? My courses (physics/maths in natural science) don't examine 1st year stuff at all. They say they do but they don't. The questions are a little harder though (going by past papers).

And like edumyth said, I reckon if you had your act together and did proper study from now till march you could do well.

Ron DMC · 12-01-2006 12:46am

EmmB wrote:

Isn't it too late to start studying now for the Schols?

I'm starting tomorrow, I swear.:o

Crash · 12-01-2006 12:52am

Actually i'm going into the library, despite being technically off tomorrow, to do some work and maybe a bit of study. go me.

punka · 13-01-2006 5:32am

pseudonym wrote:

Oh, and if you do fail, it doesnt look bad on your permanent record or anything since you dont have to sit them.

not sure what you mean by that
but on your official student record it does say whether or not you took schol and what grade you achieved.

ApeXaviour · 13-01-2006 11:43am

TheGrinch_000 wrote:

Actually i'm going into the library, despite being technically off tomorrow, to do some work and maybe a bit of study. go me.

Well done.. I do that every friday. No labs n such.

Oh the joys of repeating :rolleyes:

Thirdfox · 16-01-2006 12:01am

pseudonym wrote:

Its also handy to remember that you only have to AVERAGE 70% or higher, not get over 70% in each subject.

Are you positive? Does that mean I can get 55% in one subject, four 75%s and still qualify for schols?

Also how are foundation scholars chosen?

Time Magazine · 16-01-2006 1:02am

It depends on your department, Thirdfox. I know I can't get three 100% marks and three 40% and get Schols. In my dept they're "paper grades". You need three I's and three II.1's etc. (with an average leaning towards the former). You have to get a majority of I's.

Foundations Schols get all I's, and are the top seventy Schols students, afaik.

Kwekubo · 16-01-2006 9:52pm

I saw in a copy of Trinity News that foundation scholarships will probably be abolished (at least partially) starting this October. is this true? Just when I'm looking to get into the place... :rolleyes:

punka · 17-01-2006 3:06am

Angry Banana wrote:

Foundations Schols get all I's, and are the top seventy Schols students, afaik.

you don't have to get all firsts, anyway, but I think it's meant to be the top-marked scholars spread evenly across faculties (so you'd have 2 from arts letters, 2 from arts humanities, 2 from bess, etc etc). there can only be 70 foundation scholars at any one time, in practise this means about 14 or 15 are elected each year.

thirdfox, the lowest mark i know of someone getting in a single paper and still getting schols is a 56, but as angry banana said it depends on your department

Ron DMC · 17-01-2006 2:34pm

punka wrote:

I think it's meant to be the top-marked scholars spread evenly across faculties (so you'd have 2 from arts letters, 2 from arts humanities, 2 from bess, etc etc).

Didn't they do away the bess faculty?

17-01-2006 3:12pm

Kwekubo wrote:

I saw in a copy of Trinity News that foundation scholarships will probably be abolished (at least partially) starting this October. is this true? Just when I'm looking to get into the place... :rolleyes:

There is a review under way of the schols exams, but they are guaranteed to happen under the statutes, which is just damn messy to change. What is planned is a change, but only calendar changes, not statute changes, so they should still be given out on Trinity Monday, though I'm unsure how that'd work given that it'd be about 10 months after.

To elaborate more, the Senior Lecturer (main college guy in charge of academic activities) wants to shift the Schols Exams currently held in March somehow to the summer exams. The group is only reviewing it, and the full proposal could come to University Council in June.

Schols will continue on, the benefits of being a Scholar might change throughout the years (as it has done in the past) but it will continue on. FACT!

A guide to the Scholarship Examinations

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