true, have u taken those classes b4?
avg are low so u pass with a or what not, that is common for a 400/500/600/700 level class my dear. tour UMICH ann arbor EE dept and u see ppl getting a a for 60%!

in red, not an American , not holding a greencard, its them that get a darn job. not those with need H1.
http://www.economist.com/business-educatio...ory_id=13724599
that statement in bold isn't true, it vary from uni to uni.

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Added on September 23, 2009, 10:49 pmany data to back this up? Sheffield Uni does that?

according to this your claim isn't accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_under..._classification
http://www.internationalstaff.org/degree_classification.php
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Degree_Classifications

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 10:24 PM

No, but I have a lot of friends in the honors program and most regret it. Based off what they tell me, the only thing they really get out of it is bragging rights. The cumulative high school GPA of 3.6 may vary from university to university, but in general, you need to be of at least a 3.5 to even consider it. Anything lower than that is charity honors. There's a reason why honors students get bragging rights you know, they get in with their GPAs!

First of all, 500 level classes onwards for my university are GRADUATE classes. It is not uncommon for 300/400 level courses to have low averages such that a 60% is an A in the class ... but I'm talking about first year engineering classes at my university. 40% is a passing grade. FIRST YEAR.

Honors is really a waste of time, blood sweat and tears, at least where I am.

This post has been edited by spunkberry: Sep 24 2009, 04:27 AM

For the US system, as Spunkberry mentioned, each college is different and each class is different too.

I took a few honors classes and what I can say is you don't really get bragging rights for taking an honors class. People did realize that getting a good grade required much more work and sometimes brains too. However, everyone was always very busy. If they weren't studying nuts to get a A+ they would be working part time and doing clubs and volunteer work on top of that. So doing an honors class was just choosing a different way to spend your time.

The maths honors classes are very different from their normal counterpart. In the honors class we would learn in depth theory on the topics, a lot proving and generally we were interested in whether the 'problem' can be solved or not. The normal class on the other hand was though how to solve 'problems' and 'equations' and how to apply what they learn into real life problems.

For humanities and social sciences honor classes, you would study roughly the same topics but much more in depth. You will have to do a lot of research and normally you'd have to do something like a mini thesis on a topic you choose yourself. There will be a lot more discussion and I guess this is the part that really pays off.

And I think my faculty required a GPA of 3.75 and above calculated only on courses required for my major, excluding general requirements and electives. I supposed this is true for the whole college as well.

Also as Spunkberry said, everybody gets a job in the end. It'll probably matter more when you're trying to impress a CERTAIN prof to get into his stead for a masters.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Sep 24 2009, 06:31 AM

Yes that is right.

well, undergrad in their senior yr can take 500 or graduate level class lah...
1st yr engineering student and they already curve so much huh... felt U like in UC-berkeley or wat not.. Wow!

I hope ppl don't take low passing grade = hard class, at times its the students not the class. else ppl taking classes from OZ/NZ will get more bragging rights... US grade Inflation!!!
there are Prof failing 60% of the students and refuse to curve esp for freshman classes. no sound foundation how to do well in upper division classes?

again things do vary alot in US, can't help there are well over 3500 Uni and colleges.

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Added on September 24, 2009, 9:29 amnot seen any Prof getting impress with student doing Honors classes.. the CERTAIN keyword certainly makes a world of diff.
only met prof impress with students doing research and getting work publish.

ya.. everyone gets a job in the end of the day, may it be in US or Malaysia or AYZ country even those who go with those degree mills. whats new these days. heck! a Stanford Phd on the papers recently after working over 15yrs in the industry today also got a job as taxi driver in singapore.

the ladies here seem to do alot better than the guys that showed up in the US thread.
seem like we have another elite in the house!

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 11:14 AM

not where I am. you have to be a grad student to take grad classes.

hmmm let me guess... U're in Purdue?

if thats the case.. hmmm according to this EE student can what.. even their top ranked program also can what, maybe not be Purdue.
http://posserver.ecn.purdue.edu/eceugo/deg...asp?degree=bsee
http://posserver.ecn.purdue.edu/eceugo/pdf/eee.pdf
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/InfoFor/...m_handbook.pdf/

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 10:55 AM

mm hmm

as far as i know, UPM and UTM are creditable for their architecture degree. but when i go to the website, i noticed that they only mention as Bachelor of Architecture. Din mention the word 'honours'. anybody know y?

I don't think it works like what the thread starter said in the UK.

I'm doing a BSc (Hons) in the UK and my degree does not have any research component. Thesis is optional and replaces two examinable modules if you choose to take it.

At my uni (and majority of other unis in the UK as well) ordinary degree simply means you have not attain the lowest honours degree classification - Third class honours.

Simply put, ordinary degree shows that you have passed the course at minimum level and basically a certificate to show you have attended the uni.

The order goes like this:

First class (Hons)
Second upper - 2:1 (Hons)
Second lower - 2:2 (Hons)
Third (Hons)
Ordinary/General degree

Of course, it might differ in Malaysia but in the UK i don't think you can apply to enter ordinary degree, they are all honours. If you can, well... maybe you shouldn't becausen chances are it's a crap uni and you'll just be wasting money...

This post has been edited by verticalforce: Dec 19 2009, 08:16 AM

the information were correct at the time of writing. thanks for bringing that up. there are still arguments whether 3rd class is considered an honours or not. quite a large number of universities dont anymore simply because the number of graduates with 3rd class is minuscule. people just opt to repeat to get better grades or fail the course entirely.

and yes, some hons degrees in the UK have shifted to make research components more of an option rather than compulsory. they started this mainly for BSc courses a couple of years back, but it wasnt publicly known.

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Added on December 19, 2009, 9:49 ami dont know about UPM, but UTM's degree is with honours.

be extra careful when checking for architectural courses. most part 1 degrees (normally known as BSc in architecture) does not come with honours. this is normal. but part 2 degrees (known as BArch) does.

This post has been edited by azarimy: Dec 19 2009, 09:49 AM

poor international how to afford that? repeat a course just wipe everything clean... thats nice.
I wonder which are the Uni in UK that is moving away from the research components.

thanks for the advise. i supposed USM is one of the type like u mention. coz i notice USM states as BSc in Architecture...

At my uni resit in capped at 40% so failing is not an option unless you are happy with a third.

You need good reason to repeat the year, if you fail too many modules they'll just kick you out.

Of course this differs between uni to uni.

very informative thread indeed.


PS: at some point accreditation is much more important =D

This post has been edited by lugiamcg: Feb 19 2010, 04:25 PM

Serious?? Don't scare me..

Under Australian/NZ system,

Is it possible to jump to PhD straight if you get 1st class honours? Or still have to go through Masters.

The lack of actual contact hours is something that is extremely deceptive. In addition to your own thesis work, you'll be given a whole bunch of reading materials for you to analyze and write on on a weekly basis.

Getting a 1st class honors is merely one of the requirements needed to do your PhD without a Masters. However whether you're accepted or not still depends on your area of research as well as choice of supervisor.

To put it simply yes.You can go and do a PhD if you have a First class or or certain unis also allow Second Class Upper too go into PhD programs.But yeah there are a lot more factors that is needed to be considered to get you into a PhD program your Honours degree is just one of the requirements ^^

I stand corrected. as an undergraduate you CAN take graduate level courses but only if you qualify for them. I'm taking a 500 level course my final semester. lol

glad U admit to the mistake!

when U say qualify what do U mean? Prerequisites? or only the cream can take those?

congrats u are in your final term! Going to apply for OPT? any leads? or U returning after u grad?
although the job market is tough, there are company hiring and are willing to sponsor.
depending on which are U wanna go to.. I may be able to provide U with some names. PM me for info.

This post has been edited by patryn33: Mar 1 2010, 12:58 AM