Have you ever worked really hard on a school assignment and then got a low grade? It's pretty confidence shattering.

[Sheentak]

Basically have you ever really worked hard on a assignment and thought you did pretty well and felt a sense of accomplishment to only crash when you see the grade you got.

Well just happend to me, I thought I worked really hard on a essay for uni spent weeks on it and I felt really confident on the piece. Well my result came in and I got a 2.2 very close to a 2.1 but a 2.2 none the less. I'm not desputing the grade as I agree with the feedback but my confidence is shattered. I worked so hard on this and it's jank, like I spent a week in the school libary to just get a 2.2. Brings questions that am I good enough?
Like what will it take to get a decent grade..i spent so much time working on this and effort. Like if I hadn't worked hard fair enough but I did work hard and I get jank. Should I even be at university.

What's worse is feedback was basically it was good just not great and improve referencing. Like I'm stumped..

So. I'm just wondering how did you get your confidence back after a blow like this as I'm feeling dejected.

 

[brawndolicious]

I think so but only for essays. I learned that you have to suck up to the teacher by going to office hours and asking for preliminary feedback or else they automatically give you a C. You do that and you're almost guaranteed an A.


What does a 2.2 correspond to on the ABCDF scale?

 

[Sheentak]

I think so but only for essays. I learned that you have to suck up to the teacher by going to office hours and asking for preliminary feedback or else they automatically give you a C. You do that and you're almost guaranteed an A.


What does a 2.2 correspond to on the ABCDF scale?

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I think around a C kinda. Third highest in our grading system

 

[AoM]

Ask for more feedback.

 

[PopsMaellard]

Go see your professor or TA, work with them to get as much feedback as possible to implement into the next assignment. Learn from the outcome, adapt, keep doing your best. That's what makes you good enough.

Spoiler

then wait until you've graduated, start applying for jobs and don't even get an automated rejection email to explain what part of your application and experience didn't make the cut

 

[Wishbone Ash]

I think so but only for essays. I learned that you have to suck up to the teacher by going to office hours and asking for preliminary feedback or else they automatically give you a C. You do that and you're almost guaranteed an A.


What does a 2.2 correspond to on the ABCDF scale?

Click to shrink...

I wrote hundreds of essays as I majored in English and Language, Literature, & Writing. I spent a few semesters editing papers with students in the library, and did a bit of editing for faculty for half a year. I'd say your quality of writing and the class factor in a lot more than "sucking up."

The school itself probably makes the biggest difference, I would imagine.

 

[Miso]

Oh don't worry about that.

Plenty more things to come in the workplace to really fuck over your confidence.

 

[TheBeardedOne]

Yeah, it happened to me once or twice. Same with being told something was due in two weeks, then going to the next class and the professor having changed his mind/forgotten he ever said that, and wanting it right away. It always bothered me a lot.

My art teacher in middle school would give me 67 or 68 on every assignment, no matter how much work I put into it. I got fed up with it. Eventually, my mom started doing my art and got the same marks, even though she was more talented than me. Kids would turn in their friends' assignments a second time, and get different marks because their name was different. Vastly different marks.

 

[Thorn]

My poor performance in my 3D Portfolio class was what made me realize that 3D Animation was not a viable path in my life.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Art class elective in middle school. But teacher made it clear he was an asshole. Did way better in my highschool elective.

I should probably get back into drawing actually.

 

[Steeped in a Sea of Games]

Yeah, it happened to me once or twice. Same with being told something was due in two weeks, then going to the next class and the professor having changed his mind/forgotten he ever said that, and wanting it right away. It always bothered me a lot.

My art teacher in middle school would give me 67 or 68 on every assignment, no matter how much work I put into it. I got fed up with it. Eventually, my mom started doing my art and got the same marks, even though she was more talented than me. Kids would turn in their friends' assignments a second time, and get different marks because their name was different. Vastly different marks.

Click to shrink...

This happened to me in middle school art as well. I'd try my best and get like a D for my fucking painting of a bowl of fruit.

I never took another art class past sixth grade because of it. Fuck art class.

 

[Jordan117]

 

[-JD-]

Yeah once I got an A- on a school project. Tough times.

 

[TheBeardedOne]

This happened to me in middle school art as well. I'd try my best and get like a D for my fucking painting of a bowl of fruit.

I never took another art class past sixth grade because of it. Fuck art class.

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Agreed. That class really killed my interest in art. Then again, I saw what my friend was doing in high school art and know I couldn't have done that kind of stuff.

 

[Black_Stride]

An Essay?...Oh yeah.
This changed for me in high school, I was never particularly studious when it came to essays early in my highschool life....but I slowly started pulling my socks up and started actually scoring good essays.
Come IGCSE mocks I write the essay of all time, the paper was legit glowing.
I hand it in with all the confidence in the world, my whole life lead up to that paper......twas a fucking low C.

That paper crushed me so deeply i never put my all into an essay ever again, hell I dont think I ever put 100% into an assignment ever again. I wasnt failing university or anything, but I would legit put just enough for a C or B so when the C or B showed up I wasnt shocked, never hoping for an A but when they showed up, meh.

I think around a C kinda. Third highest in our grading system

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What grading system is that.
Sounds weird (interesting).
What does 2.1 represent as a percentage? If 2.2 is C, 2.1 is a B, 2.0 must be an A.......so what is 1.0?

 

[Deleted member 15428]

Work smart > work hard

 

[Interested Observer]

Resilience is an important skill. Everyone, EVERYONE gets knocked back in some way or other. Dust yourself off, take all the feedback on board, and do better on the next assignment. You said you were close to a 2.1, that's a perfectly respectable grade.

 

[Smash-It Stan]

All of school for me. Felt like finally understanding the material and the homeworks easy suddenly bomb the quiz/tests and go back to sleeping in class.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Getting a good grade on an essay is pretty subjective on the part of the professor. I was considered a pretty solid writer in college, but once got a C- on a paper on the grounds that the prof. disagreed with my thesis. The key to a good grade is figuring out what they want to hear and then parroting that back to them, honestly. I'm assuming this is for a humanities class as STEM courses don't usually have essays. Pay attention to the prof's opinions on the subject in class and mirror those in your writing. Maybe meet with them if they have open office hours before your next essay is due to further pick their brain on the topic.

Also on the subject of confidence: It's just school, man. It hardly matters in the long term so long as you pass and get your degree. Internalize the feedback you got, pick yourself up off the ground, and do better on the next one.

 

[Seesaw15]

Nope. Every single project/essay/final exam etc I've known what I'll get when I turn it in.

Maybe a teacher will be a slightly easier grader and give me a few extra points but I've never been just completely blindsided.

 

[Nivash]

Yup. Started off badly in uni due to poor study technique but decided to make up for it on a major second year exam. Thought I did everything right: studied harder than ever before, made sure to sleep and eat strategically, the works.

Failed it hard. Had the same doubts you're having about whether or not I was cut out for it.

Picked myself up after a few weeks of moping and eventually retook it and passed. Thankfully, my program has a pass/fail only system with no grades and doesn't really penalise you for failing, provided you eventually pass. Continued like that for most of uni. Failed exams, passed them on the second try... didn't exactly enter my chosen profession with a ton of confidence.

Weirdest thing though: I rock at work. Took me a year to internalise it after constant positive feedback, but it's true. I simply suck at exams. So if nothing else, keep that in mind - grades aren't always the the best way to judge competence.

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

What grading system is that.
Sounds weird (interesting).
What does 2.1 represent as a percentage? If 2.2 is C, 2.1 is a B, 2.0 must be an A.......so what is 1.0?

Click to shrink...

That's not how UK universities grade or award degrees. There are 4 pass classifications for UK undergraduate degrees, which people also apply those descriptions to given exams in place of A,B,C,... Grades.

70%+ = 1st
60-70% = 2.1
50-60%=2.2
40-50%=3rd

Exams and all university work are supposed to be appropriately difficult that the average grade is about 60%.

 

[YukiroCTX]

This perfectly sums up my English experience in college. It feels completely random and vague. Making things up on the fly, guessing quotes and not bothering to proof read seems to fair better than putting in the effort to remember everything ranging from film techniques, prose, quotes, themes, language etc. Thank goodness we could drop the subject in the last year.

I do incredible well with essays involving research because it seems the criteria is far easier to follow and rewards effort.

 

[lemonade]

Just remember essays are worthless. It's the product of academic circle jerk.

 

[Deleted member 2779]

Mate don't beat yourself up too much over it. It's a bit of a cliche but it's a cliche for a reason: study smarter, not just harder. If you didn't ask your lecturer for guidance or to check on the direction your essay was headed in, absolutely do it next time. Handing in an essay to a lecturer I don't know plus without having consulted them about what I was writing is basically handicapping yourself from an A. Even if I know them or have a feel for what they like, I'll at least pop into their office once with a plan at minimum.

 

[Blade24070]

For me it was usually putting little effort or doing things last minute and still getting high grades and praise. I miss those days.

But don't worry about it OP. Every teacher is different, for one, and two, try and really take the criticism and apply it.

 

[hombremalo]

That prepares you for the constant frustration of the work environment.

 

[Razgreez]

No... but on the flipside myself and a classmate worked really hard for 3hrs on the night before due date on an assignment which counted for 25% of the year mark for that subject.

The teacher had a habit of handing out assignments from the lowest mark to the highest while calling out the grade and providing some comments relating to his reasoning behind the mark. Anyway he starts around 60% and myself and my assignment partner are feeling good because by 70% our assignment has not yet been mentioned. 75% and still not us. 80%... nope not us. 86% and there are no longer assignments on his desk... W...T...F... are we screwed? I mean maybe we plagiarized a little bit (we didn't) but was our quality that bad that we didnt even get graded.

Anyway the stocky balding teacher starts walking over to his cabinet after a long pause and then begins his monologue: "in all my years as a teacher I have never... never had the privilege of grading an assignment which clearly has so much effort and attention to detail instilled within it..." He went on for about 10mins regarding how impressed his was and gave us 96% - the highest grade he has ever given to an assignment ever.

Never experienced such emotional highs and lows in a 45min class again.

For me it was usually putting little effort or doing things last minute and still getting high grades and praise. I miss those days.

.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much my experience

 

[Electricb7]

The one that always come to mind is when I drew this Owl in art class. I was very proud of myself. I knew I had made a really good sketch and my teacher gave me an 85 because I didn't color it. I was pissed.

 

[Razgreez]

Dp

 

[fick]

the trick is to never try

 

[1upsuper]

Just remember essays are worthless. It's the product of academic circle jerk.

Click to shrink...

What? No. The worth is in learning how to find an argument, make the argument, and support the argument with your research and your own analytical skills. The fundamentals of good essay writing are very useful, as are basic writing and research skills.

 

[Conciliator]

Back when I was in my first classes for a CS associate's degree, we had an operating system class, which was lame, and we had to write a report on an operating system, which is lamer than it even sounds. It was a fairly short thing, like two pages, but I did an honest job and expected to get a decent score. Except...I apparently wrote it for the wrong OS. Yes, they were "assigned." The prof said the paper was good, but I did it for the wrong OS, so he failed me. It was my fault(I assume, I really can't remember but this prof was honest so I don't think he would like cheat me or cover up his mistake by punishing me), but goddamn was it frustrating. Fortunately in the long long run it didn't make that much of a diff, I still passed the course and still had 3.0+ that semester if I recall correctly. But it was pretty frustrating. Don't let the speedbumps stop you.

 

[Van Bur3n]

If anything, the exact opposite has occurred. Knowingly doing jack shit and miraculously end up with a good grade.

I wrote a research proposal out of thin air once because I procrastinated and honestly didn't give a fuck and got an A on it. And this was a professor who was pretty hardcore on writing papers.

What can I say I'm just that good at applying Marxism to works of art.

 

[Superking]

Hmm, trying to think of such a case, but I don't think that's really happened.

I've always been the type of person that generally gets the grade in direct proportion to the amount of effort I put in. There's only been few (like less than 3) instances in my entire life where that wasn't the case, but even in those instances, it was for the reverse (thinking I did absolutely horrible but then turns out I did pretty well).

The closest I can think of was one situation in the past few years. It was for a class on the Civil War, and I turned in what I thought was a slightly above average paper. I was expecting to get a B at best, but turns out I got an A-. No complaints here, obviously. But the next paper I put way more effort into it, only to have it returned and getting a B+ instead. The bastard. >:(

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Click to shrink...

First thing I thought of.

Regroup and re-strategize. Not everyone learns the same way.

 

[TheChuggernaut]

My intro film analysis class had two essays we had to do that were graded by one of the TAs. I did pretty well on the first one, but I got the other TA for my second essay and this dude just shit all over my essay that I actually put a pretty big amount of effort into. My grade was high enough where I could take the hit, but it was still a weird moment because I did really well on all of my essays before and since then.

 

[Hypron]

Never got a bad bad grade for a uni assignment, but I was really mad I only got an A for that advanced control systems paper I took in my final year of undergrad. It was pretty much the only serious paper I was taking that semester, control systems is my favourite subject, I had full marks for the coursework going into the exam, I had revised a shitton for it, I knew everything there was to know, and came out of the exam thinking I had completely aced it...

I was like 'if there's one paper I'll get an A+ for it's this one'. Three days later (which is extremely fast by our university's standards) we get our final grades and nope. Requested my corrected transcript but they never sent it to me. I'm still salty af about it lol.

On top of that, the exam questions actually contained 2 significant mistakes (like, 'Starting from Equations (1) and (2), show how to derive Equation (3)', where the given Equation (3) is wrong). The weird thing is that the questions that contained these mistakes were questions we did in class during the semester or in past years' papers. We had discussed those questions during the semester, and the lecturer had issued erratas for them. But then the incorrect version of the question comes up again in the exam? I reported them to the assessors during the exam... But when you combine that with the suspiciously short amount of time it took them to mark the exam and the fact they didn't return the marked scripts, I'm wondering if they didn't just fudge the numbers. As a point of reference, an A+ is 90% at my uni, the exam was worth 70% of the final grade and I had a full 30% for the course work. To lose that many marks you'd need to make a lot of mistakes.

Spoiler

This probably sounds excessively petty and salty, which I totally am

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Welcome to STEM.
Don't worry it builds character.

Edit: except for the part where you actually thought you did well before learning otherwise. That doesn't happen lol.

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

No but I can definitely imagine how awful that would feel.

 

[excowboy]

I had this during my degree. I spoke to the module leader (not the person who marked my essay) and she could see that it had possibly been undermarked. She suggested speaking in person with the lecturer. When I did I could see that the actual lecturer who did the marking didn't understand the question/essay title (it was a reflective essay about a piece of group work - I argued in my essay that the group work was therefore meaningless as we were being marked on our reflections on it, rather than its outcome, but she disagreed). She doubled down on her position and I my only other option was to make a formal complaint. I just decided it wasn't worth the hassle and I would make up the marks by the end of my degree, which I managed to do.

 

[Yourfawthaaa]

Yeah it happens.

When i first started online schooling, i was shooting for an A+ in every class. I tried to meet all the grading rubrics expectations but online instructors are all different and will find a way to nit pick on your essays. Considering my classes only last 5 weeks, I do enough in the first four weeks then when the final essay comes along i do enough to pass the class. My major classes i made sure i paid attention too. Its the electives/residency classes i tend to bullshit in.

 

[Deleted member 48205]

I studied illustration so imagine working on something for dozens of hours only to be shat on in the end :(

 

[Cocaloch]

I learned that you have to suck up to the teacher by going to office hours and asking for preliminary feedback or else they automatically give you a C.

Click to shrink...

Sounds like you just write bad papers unless the professor helps you out.

 

[LL_Decitrig]

In my first term coding project in my first year at University in 1975 we were given the 8 queens problem. A major part of the traditional solution is to eliminate board arrangements of the 8 queens that are rotations or reflections of other board positions. This is usually done by laboriously performing the necessary transformations and comparing them row by row, but I tried a more original solution.

I simply limited the parameters of the original search, thus constraining the solutions found and doing away with the need for the elimination phase. The result was that my program was shorter and far less complex, but it ran faster and in less memory. I made a strong effort to document the principles, which I had derived intuitively. I was expecting a perfect score for this because it was an impressive piece of analysis-led design (in my incredibly humble estimation). The project was marked by a TA who gave it a decent score but not what I expected. I took my knocks and moved on. To play the show-off, you need an appreciative audience.

In my career I knew that my studies had given me an invincible confidence (occasionally justified) in my own ingenuity. I didn't fear being a bit of a show-off, but I had enough humility to realise I had much to learn. To this day, over forty years later, I'm still learning from others.

 

[Cocaloch]

Getting a good grade on an essay is pretty subjective on the part of the professor. I was considered a pretty solid writer in college, but once got a C- on a paper on the grounds that the prof. disagreed with my thesis. The key to a good grade is figuring out what they want to hear and then parroting that back to them, honestly. I'm assuming this is for a humanities class as STEM courses don't usually have essays. Pay attention to the prof's opinions on the subject in class and mirror those in your writing. Maybe meet with them if they have open office hours before your next essay is due to further pick their brain on the topic.

Also on the subject of confidence: It's just school, man. It hardly matters in the long term so long as you pass and get your degree. Internalize the feedback you got, pick yourself up off the ground, and do better on the next one.

Click to shrink...

Most professors mark papers with a step of the average. So if the average is a B most professors would give between a B- and a B+. There obviously is a subjective element, but undergrads tend to vastly overestimate it so they don't have to accept that sometimes they turned in bad work. Additionally I've never heard of a professor docking students because he disagreed with the thesis itself, but I know a lot of students take other issues with the thesis, it's not articulated well or doesn't address the prompt, as the professor disagrees with it.

Just remember essays are worthless. It's the product of academic circle jerk.

Click to shrink...

Sure. Nothing of value has ever come from a paper or a monograph.

 

[DukeBobby]

Happened a few times in Uni. I'd work really hard on an essay and get a 2.2, but rush an essay in 2 hours after not sleeping for 48 hours and get a 1st.

 

[Apathy]

Yup, my first paper in uni, finished it early, checked it, really proud of it, got a C.

I stopped caring that much and went back to doing papers in a rush like I did in highschool and got back to my normal A's.

 

[MatchaMouse]

I have had this experience, typically with essays. Though, as someone who has just begun learning to code, it's not grades that shatter my confidence as much as other people.

Sometimes I'll think I understand the material or that something I wrote works well. Then I see other people's work and feel like I know nothing and they're light years ahead of me even though we've been being taught the same stuff by the same person.

 

[WhateverItTakes]

Welcome to STEM.
Don't worry it builds character.

Edit: except for the part where you actually thought you did well before learning otherwise. That doesn't happen lol.

Click to shrink...

Nah, in my degree I found you put the hours in, you would definitely get a 2.1, even if it was a low one (60%) when you expecting more. It was my friends doing humanities/arts, who's grades could be completely skewed by their lecturers perspective on the topic I felt sorry for.