Difficulty level at ANU (1 Viewer)

[SuperRen]

Hi,

I was on the general university university discussion thread and I came upon this.

PASS means you’ve satisfied the criteria. Marks will be 50-64%
CREDIT means you’ve demonstrated capabilities and understanding beyond what was expected of this course at this level. This is above average, so 65-74%. Rough estimate: like getting 90+ for HSC assessments.
DISTINCTION – Speculation says that it's like getting a 96+UAI... however it's not unachievable. Pretty bloody good, though. Marks are about 75-84%
HIGH DISTINCTION – Use your imagination. Again, not unachievable (I got a few last year, however I think they were flukes though), marks of about 85+%

The biggest shock HSC students will find is that your marks will be significantly lower in Uni even if you work harder. That's because in the HSC, it's a shoe-in that most people will pass, and you're just seeing how high you go. In Uni, you have to work a bit for your pass - anything over is a bonus. Anything over a pass is GREAT!

Could anyone help me by telling my just exactly how difficult it is to obtain a distinction in any ANU course but specifically in medical science? Does ANU mark particularly harder than other universities? Do the lecturers not want you to achieve distinctions?

Thanks.

 

[Evilo]

Hmmm good questions, im curious to the reply too. I always assumed they were standards reached - a bit like the standards packages for HSC etc. And all universities has the same standards - just some were more prestigous than others.

Can an ANU student shed some light?
Cheers

 

[mcs]

I will try to shed some light on it. ANU I think overall has a reputation as being a 'hard' marking uni as such- especially in Law where according to my flatmate HD's are practically impossible to get. But overall I think if you are willing to put the work in Distinctions are quite achievable. I got 4 of them this year and 3 of the courses I know I could of worked much harder in. I think as long as your willing to put a reasonable amount of work in and can cram fairly well before the final exams, then you are going to get plenty of distinctions.

ANU does blabber on with all the standards crap as well but I thinkt here is plenty of scaling of marks etc to try and get towards the bell curve layout of students in most courses- I found in 2nd semester that the course I thought I failed I got a middle of the range credit in while the one I thought I aced I only got just a distinction in it whereas a subject I thought I would get a credit in I ended up with a HD. So it can be hard to tell. But I think with the way ANU marks, it seems to me that as long as you can get on top of the work and have a decent idea whats going on by the time you hit the week before exams then you will at worst get a credit (as long as you dont stuff the exam completely)

I cant help on the Medical Science aspect, but I do have a mate that is doing some science degree and he seems to have done pretty well and is smart but not by a long way a nerd or anything so I think its probably fairly similar across the board. I think bar maybe the Law Faculty, most lecturers etc are not aiming to stop you getting distinctions but to see that everybody does as well as possible.

The Marking scheme for ANU is 50-59 Pass 60-69 Credit 70-79 Distinction and 80+ HD.

Hope this helps a bit!

Matt

 

[neo o]

It depends on the faculty. In biology and chemistry I've found that it's fairly easy to obtain distinctions (and I do little to no work). The biology courses that you'll be doing for medical science have very easy lab sessions in first year and as long as you're careful with your lab work it's very easy to do well. Chemistry in particular is quite good if you're willing to put in a bit of extra work, because they have an advanced chemistry stream (which you don't need to enrol in) that can bolster your marks. However, in regards to high distinctions in the science faculty you have to remember that you're competing against PhB science students (who are required to get a high distinction average for their degree) which means that the bar for high distinctions is set quite high.

 

[Evilo]

Hey all, not trying to hijack the thread but...
Are their standards for university courses that all universities must reach? or do they all just create their own and give out degrees at their own discression?

 

[SuperRen]

So if you get an overall mark of something like 75 then you've got a distinction, right? So does that mean you have to get 70's in all of your assessments throughout the term in order to get a distinction.
That makes me quite nervous because that seems like not a very high mark, which makes it seem as though it is very difficult to get even in the 70's at ANU.
Also on the general uni discussion there was one part that said marks between 69 and 75, were REALLY GOOD. This also makes me nervous.

 

[timmyh]

The thing is, the marks u get at school and the marks u get at uni will most likely be different. if ur used to getting 90s at school be prepared to get 70s and 80s... i know it sounds low, but u cant really compare it. u will have to work harder to get a 90 at uni than u did to get a 90 at school.
If u get a D in all ur subjects u will get a D average.
getting a D for a subject does not mean u have gotten a D in each assessment, this is because each assessment has a different weight. e.g. 10% tutorial participation, 50% essay and 40% exam. U might get a HD for tute participation, a credit for ur essay and a distinction for ur exam and end up getting a D overall...
Don't worry about it... a credit or above for anything is a solid mark, it might not sound like a mark in the 60s is respectable but it is....
its just one of the transitions into uni life...

 

[SuperRen]

But the assessments aren't ridiculously hard right? What I'm trying to say is that if you study the material well enough you should be able to get a decent mark. I'm just worried that studying hard may not pay off in that lecturer's might play favourites or the assessment is just sooo... difficult that there is no way to get above a credit.

 

[mcs]

No SuperRen they are not ridiculously hard- if you put the work in and understand the stuff then you will do well in the assessments and thus do well overall if you do well in the exam as well. But no they are challenging but nothing that you shouldnt expect when going to University anywhere.

 

[SuperRen]

Thanks for the help!

 

[Venusian]

ANU seems to have harder courses (im speaking from an Economics perspective and comparing it with UQ) but its "easier" to get the grades (ie 70% for a D not 75% as it is else where) but we dont have concided passes like they do else where (ie you can "pass" the course if its not an elective if you get 40%-50%)

The other thing is not to always rely on your marks during semester for example in a course i too last year there were three assesments: a mid semester (worth 20%), tute marks (worth 40%) and a final exam (40%) - 40% of the class failed the mid semester (only 4 people got a D or over) and almost everyone got a D or HD for tute stuff, so with wacky stuff like that (cos of a crap lecturer) there was lots of scaling come marks time and my marks went up by 10% (comparting raw to final score) - so dont get too depressed if your work sucks during semester (or too cocky), cos you can never be sure as to how everyone else is going

 

[Misty777]

ANU does mark harder than most Unis.

I have recently completed an Arts/Law degree from ANU, but spent the last year in Sydney doing a couple of law subjects cross institutionally at UNSW.

The law faculty at UNSW definitely marks more generously than ANU! I tended to get high credits and low distinctions at ANU, whereas I got top end distinctions and an HD at UNSW.

In terms of Arts at ANU I believe it varies substantially with the department. I majored in political science and it had a reasonable rep for being tough marks wise (though substantially more generous than law). I didn't find it difficult at all to get D's and HD's in polsci. I did a minor in history and found that very easy to get HDs in, they seemed to be more the norm than exception.

From anecdotal evidence a lot of people told me that the Economics faculty were VERY tough markers...

 

[Epic_Postings]

Off-topic I know, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lectures here at ANU, most of the lecturers know their shit and the lectures themselves are nearly free from chit-chatting all the time. In the last holidays I went to Melbourne Uni for a week to attend commerce lectures and they sucked quite badly compared to ANU- people talking all the time and the lecturers didn't seem like they cared much about teaching.

 

[loquasagacious]

I find that my marks vary on the political bias of the tutor.....

 

[jas0nt]

Off-topic I know, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lectures here at ANU, most of the lecturers know their shit and the lectures themselves are nearly free from chit-chatting all the time. In the last holidays I went to Melbourne Uni for a week to attend commerce lectures and they sucked quite badly compared to ANU- people talking all the time and the lecturers didn't seem like they cared much about teaching.

apparently (according to Jane) if you do Macroeconomics 1, the lecture theater is so quiet you can hear a pin-drop. the lecturer (Ben Smith) would stop what he's doing if he sees someone talking, and he would scream at the mic: "YOU!!! *points at the guy talking* OUT!!!" *points to the door*

even our Quant Methods lecturer threatens to kick people out of they are caught talking or if their phones go off. granted, all the lecturers i have are highly dedicated and know their shit and for that i'm glad

 

[Misty777]

apparently (according to Jane) if you do Macroeconomics 1, the lecture theater is so quiet you can hear a pin-drop. the lecturer (Ben Smith) would stop what he's doing if he sees someone talking, and he would scream at the mic: "YOU!!! *points at the guy talking* OUT!!!" *points to the door*

even our Quant Methods lecturer threatens to kick people out of they are caught talking or if their phones go off. granted, all the lecturers i have are highly dedicated and know their shit and for that i'm glad

Yeah after 5 years at ANU, UNSW was a revelation in that regard.

People were chattering away and making all sorts of noise in my lectures at UNSW, felt like being back in high school.

The poor lecturers there have to engage in constant shushing. :mad1:

 

[Venusian]

Ben Smith's class is that quiet cos everyone is asleep!

 

[mcs]

Ben Smith is as boring as hell to listen to... his lectures for Macro1 suck.... you can just read the textbook anyway he just goes over the same stuff.

 

[jas0nt]

you'd expect him to do so... he did write the text book afterall

 

[*emi*]

on the topic of difficulty at anu...
i'm looking into eco/arts there and the uai is kinding scaring me a bit its only 75 compared with the 90s for everything i want to do at sydney/unsw so just making sure that even though its low the lectures and stuff arn't geared to people who got 75 because i do want a uni course that will be interesting/challenging!!