Shades Of A 039
Holy backgrounds batman.
In super cool news, Shades is being translated into Spanish!
It’s pretty much up to date so spanish readers check it out!
I’ve gotten another JD fan art, this time from Cricket!
Clicking the image takes you to their tumblr.
Is this referencing some English exams? Any nice Brits car to explain to this Yankee? :)
It refers to the grades you get at the end of your undergraduate university course. You can get a first (70% and above), 2:1 (60-69%), 2:2 (50-59%), a third (40-49%), or fail (anything below 40%). Some universities also offer a “double first” if you score more than 80%.
This is important for a number of reasons. Of course the better grade gets the better job. If you want to do a post-grad job then you tend to need a 2:1 or first. There is also a touch of snobbery still in play. A Second (2:2) from Oxford or Cambridge is worth more than a First from Hull. Cambridge is considered the better uni.
On the whole though, to get anywhere as a graduate you need a 2:1 right now, though a 2:2 in a course relevant to your job (and I mean directly) also works. I speak from experience here sadly.
So does this mean Anwar is done with school now? Or are these grade classifications something you get after every semester?
Also, what determines which one you get? Just an average of your course grades? Or an average of your final exam grades?
Cambridge is not better! Cambridge is full of poo! Raaaaaargh! (Proud Oxfordshire lass here ^_^)
Just out of curiosity, why did you refer to Hull of all places? Id there a local reader?
*is
Blackadder joke:
Blackadder: I asked if he’d been to one of the great universities, Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull.
Nurse Mary: Well?
Captain Blackadder: You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary: Swine!
General Melchett: That’s right! Oxford’s a complete dump!
The full appreciation of that joke requires the knowledge that Stephen Fry (who plays Melchett) went to Cambridge.
Can someone explain what the 2:1 is? I am not familiar with it, and it is not easily Googled.
Degree classification. Degrees come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class, with 2nd Class being divided into 2:1 and 2:2. A 2:1 is generally considered the gold standard for employability.
Which is to say, undergraduate degrees.
Most undergraduate degrees in the UK (and most other countries in the Commonwealth) are ‘honours’ degrees, abbreviated BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) and awarded in four classes.
First-class honours (‘getting a First’) is the highest classification. It recognizes outstanding work.
Upper-second-class honours (a 2:1) is the second highest, regarded as respectable but not outstanding. A great many employers and postgraduate degrees expect a 2:1 or above, although there is usually some room for negotiation.
Lower-second-class honours (a 2:2) is historically the lower half of a subdivided second class, but the gap between a 2:2 and a 2:1 is probably bigger than between a 2:2 and a third.
Third-class honours is the lowest class of honours degree. It usually indicates that something has gone pretty wrong in some way.
Ordinary bachelors’ degrees also exist. These used (hundreds of years ago) to be the normal form of bachelor’s degree, and honours were used to recognize special achievement. In Scotland they are still a separate qualification, awarded after three years’ study instead of four. Elsewhere in the UK, where an honours degree only takes three years, an ordinary (or ‘pass’) degree is treated as simply an extra grade, below third-class honours.
Masters’ and doctoral degrees are either awarded on a pass-merit-distinction scale or not graded at all. Medical degrees have their own system that I don’t really understand.
Alternatively you can flunk your final year entirely and get a Diploma of Higher Education, which is pretty much a fancy name for a certificate of completion.
Source: Personal Experience.
Is 2:1 sort of like a B+ in the Americas?
Think of a 2:11 more like an A. A first would be an A+, and a 2:2 covers the whole range from C+ to B+, depending on the university/course. A 3rd would be anything from a C below, before it becomes a fail.
Most employers expect an A+ (1st), are content with an A (2:1), and can negotiate on a high 2:2 if you’re lucky.
I’m surprised employers care about your grades. Usually when one graduates college in the US (university, I guess), no one gives a crap about your GPA, as long as you didn’t drop out. Like, if you have an engineering degree and got C-‘s for four (or five) years, you’re still going to get hired at a job that pays you out the wazoo, no problem. The degree is all that matters.
Sadly such is not the case in England. Most employers treat our vocational degree’s in such a manner. If you pass a plumbing/electrician course, irrespective of your GRADE, you get a job as a plumber/electrician and earn amazing salaries.
For an academic course though, we have a history of upper-class snobbery. Therefore you need to do more than pass; you need to pass well. This sucks especcially hard as you can effectively ‘buy’ a better grade if you know what you’re doing (or your parents do) and the whole thing is skewed for the rich.
I have the empression the same happens in America with places like Harvard; the rich can donate to the school who then bump the marks up a bit to encourage further donations. I couldn’t comment; it’s an impression I gathered from an American friend of mine.
The point is the grade does matter over here though I agree; it shouldn’t.
In US colleges, donations and alumi associations mainly improve a child’s chances of entrance. It mostly doesn’t affect grades much (for one thing, most of the professors don’t know jack about an individual student’s donation values. Strictly speaking, it’s a grey area, legally, in most states). A Dept. head, depending on how the school is run, might, but, again, there may be several hundred students to track, so, unless the donation is notably large, why would they bother knowing? Especially since try to meddle can get them fired, if they aren’t careful – and it gets more likely the more they try to do it. All this does vary greatly, from school to school, of course.
I do personally know someone who was admitted to my college (I’m in the US) solely as the result of his family donating a large sum of money to the school. However, I’m not aware of donations being used to change grades, only admittance. Although I’d image those sorts of incidents vary by school, since lots of colleges are private and can do whatever they want more or less. I think I recall my friend in question trying to use his family’s monetary clout to get some other things changed in his favor (requirements dropped, etc) and failed.
I also think saying that grades don’t affect your ability to get hired in the US is a bit of an exaggeration…I’d agree it’s true after you’ve been in the work force a while and already have other jobs on your resume, employers don’t care so much about how you did in school they only care about your work history. But when you’re fresh out of school and only have your schooling on your resume, employers are going to ask about and consider things like your GPA.
I don’t know . . . Some employers might care, just like some employers care enough to snoop around on Facebook seeing if you use swearwords. But I do think that if you had a crappy GPA as a biochemical engineering major, you’d probably not really have a problem getting a job.
If you had a C- average as an English major though (says me, with my English degree), they’d probably think something was up with you . . .
Internships are really the way to get a job. Grades kind of just happen around those.
Also, it is possible for grades to be influenced by money, evidenced by George W. Bush’s acceptance into Harvard and his “gentlemanly C’s”, meaning his dad was rich and paid the university craploads of money, and they gave him C’s to compensate. But at least they didn’t give him A’s?
I love your coloring of the sky in the bottom panel. Is he in a graveyard?
It’s either a graveyard or an outdoor sleeping bag store.
Because I am weird, my first impression was that he was walking past rows of cold frames in a nursery. I really had to stare at it very confused for a while before realizing a graveyard would make more sense.
my guess is he’s visiting his father’s grave.
BTW Is that van driving on the right?
No, it’s parked on the pavement.
This brings back memories of my time at uni. I didn’t hand in one essay in my second year. I missed getting a 2:1 by 14 points. That essay wouldn’t netted by at least 20.
Gah!?
I’ve told any number of my younger friends and relatives now; university is a huge gamble. take it only if you are sure of success. I’m happy to say most went on to vocational education and are earning far more money than I now, despite being 5-10 years younger.
Once you’ve had a few jobs, you can maybe get away with just saying you graduate from such-and-such university (especially if it’s one of the more impressive ones) but for the first few jobs being on the wrong side of the 2:1/2:2 divide feels like a massive difference.
I managed to drag myself up passed the 2:1 mark just in time for finals and I remember the massive rush of relief at the final mark. Not achievement or satisfaction, just mainly relief.
No idea how you would ‘buy’ a grade from a UK university. Having the cash would help with getting more tuition and support, and less of the constant terror that you couldn’t afford rent, but you can donate all you like to your Cambridge college and your grades will do squat.
US college these days is just a joke. I’m trying to steer my younger relatives into vocational schools where they can learn a trade. Universities, Colleges, and all the businesses in and surrounding them are just a vacuum for young idiots (like I was) with lots of extra money. Plus, having a BA or BS these days is like having a diploma in my parent’s day.
You really shouldn’t do that… a bachelors is fast becoming the new entry level requirement for the majority of jobs in the US and even worse is that a masters is becoming the new bachelors…
one can say one has a bachelors in the US and its treated like a high school diploma.
Yeah, even if you can get hired without a BA you’ll usually get paid more if you do have one than do not. My wife was hired at a higher salary than some of her coworkers who do the exact same job as her but didn’t have a degree.
Thanks to everyone who provided an explanation on the grading- I’m a Brit who didn’t understand either.
I’ve only ever seen graveyards like that in parts Louisiana that are below sea level. They bury above ground for obvious flooding reasons. Is that something they do in parts of the UK too? I’m used to seeing just a headstone and maybe a footstone.
HOLY FUCK. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME. I WAS 3% SHORT OF A 2:1 AND IT WAS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING MOMENT OF MY LIFE AND EVEN THOUGH A 2:2 IS STILL GOOD I FEEL SO ASHAMED AND IT SUCKS. IT SUCKS SO HARD. BECAUSE NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE 3% THEY JUST SEE THE 2:2. fucked.