passing 1st arts

johnnydd

any tips or advice on passing:

spanish?
Irish?
Politics?
Economics?

wordofmouth

Presumably you've done an exam before if you've made it to college. What exactly are you asking? For economics check past exam papers on blackboard. Trade essays with friends in class for politics. Spanish and Irish? Can't really last minute them can you?

Fabio

Have an interest in your subjects, try and enjoy the study, pick your best bits, do a bit of work with past papers and you'll be fine.

Orizio

Turn up and start writing. Anything. In any language.

Its first Arts for christ sake.

johnnydd

im seriously worried about it, havent been doin much all year in irish and beginners spanish especially, can you transfer marks from 1 subject to another and are they very strict on awarding 40 per cent?? i dont want repeats. if your not doing the subject the following year like??

wordofmouth

You can compensate a subject if you failed one by a small margin and got a good result in another. It's not about doing them next year its about the credits you need to pass this year. You probably know more than you think you do, just work hard for this month then you'll be free all summer just put the time in now. It's only a couple of weeks.
Oh and don't do spanish next year..

CommieBaz

I sure hope you took plenty of notes in Politics lectures, coz that's what I'm relying on...of course, there is a certain lecturer who seemed to enjoy giving thoroughly un-useful lecture notes...

Ekancone

wordofmouth wrote: »

You can compensate a subject if you failed one by a small margin and got a good result in another.

This is highly unlikely.

TerrorFirmer

daithifleming wrote: »

This is highly unlikely.

That is how the rules work; how it is 'highly unlikely'?

Ekancone

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

That is how the rules work; how it is 'highly unlikely'?

Could you provide me the evidence of this? Because I was in such a situation and that was the response I received from the highest levels.

TerrorFirmer

Well unless all my lecturers were lying to me - and I go to NUIG by the way - they've explicitly stated in every subject that if you fail one subject, provided you're only 5% off the pass mark you can compensate with another subject you got 50% in. It's not like it's a discretion, it's an actual rule.

Ekancone

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Well unless all my lecturers were lying to me - and I go to NUIG by the way - they've explicitly stated in every subject that if you fail one subject, provided you're only 5% off the pass mark you can compensate with another subject you got 50% in. It's not like it's a discretion, it's an actual rule.

Right, because this is exactly the position I found myself in 1st year and I was told that it was nigh on impossible to get by the head of the department, the mature student officer, the students union and the examinations office. So you would want to start producing evidence for your claims.

TerrorFirmer

It seems to be a university wide thing by the looks it it. Example:

http://ww2.dkit.ie/schools_and_departments/business_and_humanities/policies/pass_by_compensation

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:AAWx-3hG1X4J:www.nuigalway.ie/exams/downloads/exams_office_newsletter_summer_2006_07upated.pdf+pass+by+compensation&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ie&client=firefox-a

Just a casual google brings it up in piles of Irish universities....it's called 'Pass by compensation'.

Ekancone

Well I have heard of no such thing in UCC.

deRanged

it exists alright - or at least it certainly did when I did my undergrad degree.

Ekancone

deRanged wrote: »

it exists alright - or at least it certainly did when I did my undergrad degree.

I'd be well pissed off if it does, after the amount of indifferent responses I received when I enquired. I got 35% in Spanish and did really well in everything else, but I was basically told to forget about it and sit the repeats.

TerrorFirmer

Yeah, I can imagine....not much good now though worrying about it, just forget about it I guess!

deRanged

it's there for sure. grab this pdf
and you'll see a reference to compensation in section 9.5.

I don't think it applies to every course though. If I find more about it I'll put it up here.

edit: got it. in that pdf scroll down to section 13.5, particularly 13.5.1 and 13.5.2.

Ekancone

Bunch of pricks... not you guys!

nesf

I comp'd in Second Year. I don't think you can normally compensate for a module using marks from a different department or something like that (iirc). Also, I've heard in some departments that they don't like compensating people in First Year etc. It's all really hazy tbh.


TerrorFirmer, UCC =! NUIG, so don't be surprised if there are differences between them and not all rules are common to all universities etc.

Ekancone

I was just talking to someone who said that the compensation clause doesn't count in Arts. You have to pass every module.

http://www.ucc.ie/admin/registrar/marksandstandards/2008Arts.pdf

Page 8

'To pass First Year and progress to Second Year candidates must pass modules to the value of 60 credits. All modules must be passed.'

wordofmouth

daithifleming wrote: »

Could you provide me the evidence of this? Because I was in such a situation and that was the response I received from the highest levels.

I guess they didn't want to encourage you to put in less effort.
It's a rule alright.

Ekancone

I'm sure it doesn't count for Arts.

Rebel6

Doing History Geography Archaeology and Celtic Civ.......
Anyone got any tips for cramming these subjects ???

Ekancone

Rebel6 wrote: »

Doing History Geography Archaeology and Celtic Civ.......
Anyone got any tips for cramming these subjects ???

History exams are very predictable, just look at the past papers and you will see. Get on to someone you know and get the notes, get some notes off the net (wiki or something) and just write a basic account. You will get a 2.2 or less, but at least you will pass. I don't know about the others.

Jannah

johnnydd wrote: »

spanish? Irish?

Youch!! If theres one thing I've learned about college its that languages get very VEEERY difficult in third level!! Your best bet is to pick up a muy buono Spanish lass- it'll defo motivate you to learn the language!

IBeTheProphet

Orizio wrote: »

Turn up and start writing. Anything. In any language.

Its first Arts for christ sake.

Hmmm, as a casual browser in here, didn't you have a spot of bother last year?

johnny-fatality

After all the contoversy with passing and repeating exams, did the arts qualification get you anywhere in the end?

Orizio

IBeTheProphet wrote: »

Hmmm, as a casual browser in here, didn't you have a spot of bother last year?

Yes I failed Philosophy, but I only wrote down '**** Sartre' on my paper...

Rebel6

Well i failed physical and economic geography and archaeology........any tips for getting past these second time around ???? thanks

claireybear

You can pass by compensation in UCC several of my friends passed by compensating in the summer exams, basically if you fail by a small margin and get over a certain percent in another exam - different percents for different courses, you transfer percent and pass the exam by compensation.