how uni results work (1 Viewer)

[sugared plum]

would someone be able to explain the system/s?
I know a bit about it, but i sort of need it from the beginning...

like what are GPA or WAM (etc) and how are they calculated?

and what gets you a HD, D C etc result, or a university medal, how you get into honours, what is reasonable result, what percentage of students get what results ( if that bellcurve is how they work it??) . etc

and other sorts of things i've missed.

i think i'm going to new south to do law/international studies in globalisation so yeah//

thanks

 

[sunny]

WAM

HD - 85
D - 75
C - 65
Pass - 50
PC - good enough results in everything but one subject, requires school approval

 

[Minai]

GPA is grade point average - most uni's and UAC use this system:
HD - 7 points
D - 6
C - 5
P - 4
F - 0

ur GPA is worked out by multiplying your grade score (as above) by the number of credit points that subject was worth, and this is done for all ur subjects and added - then this total is divided by the total number of credit points completed to give ur GPA
for example..I got 4 HD's, 1 DN, 2 CR's and 1 PS so my GPA would be: (all my subjects were 6 credit points)
{4[7*6] + [6*6] + 2[5*6] + [4*6]} / 48
= 6.0

 

[evilc]

most courses require at least a D average to do 1st class honours i think. For example, to do honours in my course requires a WAM of 77.0 which hopefully i can stay above

 

[Dingo]

what is the highest possible GPA ?
is it 7?

and wats the lowest possible GPA?

peace^^

 

[evilc]

0<= GPA <=7

 

[Minai]

yeah...at UNSW, to do honours in commerce/economics, u need 71% average in the subjects of ur major u wish to pursue an honours year in

 

[evilc]

are you thinking of doing honours Minai?

 

[Rahul]

do all unis use the same system? esp MQ?
what does WAM stand for?

 

[evilc]

Weighted Average Mark ....IMO WAM gives a much better indiction of results than GPA

I'm pretty sure that Mac has some stupid GPA system where distinctions are worth the same as HDs

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by Rahul
do all unis use the same system? esp MQ?
what does WAM stand for?

No, the MQ GPA system is vastly different; and it's used only internally. So if you want to transfer externally the above method would be used.

Anyway:

HD, D = 4
Cr = 3
P = 2
F = 0

I didn't think about my post-grad chances when I thought a D for everything is more than enough.




And yes, bell-curved. Despite what they say about everyone being able to get Ds (and Band-6s .. comparison to BOS), it's bell-curved. So you will get more people on Ps, than Crs, than Ds, than HDs.

 

[Minai]

Originally posted by evilc
are you thinking of doing honours Minai?

yeah, not for accounting though because apparently its useless unless u want to become an academic
I'll prolly try for an honours year in international business (its just been introduced in 2004)

 

[santaslayer]

what is the advantage of getting honours?..better job opportunities?

 

[flyin']

Better job opportunities. Looks good on resume. You might actually know a bit more, which may come in handy.

 

[Minai]

Yeah...I've seen a lot of graduate positions in business stating "applicants with honours or postgraduate degree's are at an advantage"

 

[Rahul]

Originally posted by flyin'
No, the MQ GPA system is vastly different; and it's used only internally. So if you want to transfer externally the above method would be used.

Anyway:

HD, D = 4
Cr = 3
P = 2
F = 0

I didn't think about my post-grad chances when I thought a D for everything is more than enough.




And yes, bell-curved. Despite what they say about everyone being able to get Ds (and Band-6s .. comparison to BOS), it's bell-curved. So you will get more people on Ps, than Crs, than Ds, than HDs.

so what is it like getting a credit avg? ie- marks?

 

[Lazarus]

For a comparison, here're the distributions of grades awarded in law subjects -

HD: 0 - 10%
DN: 25 - 35%
CR: 40 - 50%
PS: 15 - 25%
FL: 0 - 5%

e.g. Somewhere between 0% and 10% of the candidature receive HDs, somewhere between 25% and 35% receive Ds, etc. The exact number is determined by the course convenor after assessments have been completed.

But it means, for example, that being in the top 25% of a subject will guarantee you a D.

And this only applies to law subjects - may be different for other faculties (but I suspect not too different).

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by Rahul
so what is it like getting a credit avg? ie- marks?

The marks are the same as the other unis (with the exception of ANU).

HD: 85 - 100
D: 75 - 84
Cr: 65 - 74
P: 50 - 64
CP: 45 - 49
F: 0 - 44

Havin' said that, the marks were receive are SNGs, that is - Standardised Normal Grades, which in other words is just scaled marks.

 

[Aj10001]

Hey Laz, im not trying to be petty, but doesn't your mark distribution add up to well over 100%

 

[...]

are there scaling?