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What to do if you hate your course?

After the first week you should have switched, but you didn’t. You were young and it’s likely that your university choices weren’t as well considered, as they should have been.

As you’re halfway or even more through your course and understanding that you’re going to be classified by the subject of you degree for the rest of your life turns fills you with despair and dread.

Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to say for sure whether or not you’ll enjoy a course until you’ve started it.

So as soon as you’re starting to realize that you absolutely don’t like what you’re doing, try not to keep it to yourself.

Having completed a one-year university course that was very unspecific, I started a degree in public policy at Cambridge City University that wasn’t university course it covers bits I like, the focus is on bits I don’t.

But with limited options available, it seemed childish and picky to not do a course just because it wasn’t perfect.

However, as time has passed, I’ve found it hard to motivate myself when the modules are things I don’t have an interest in.

In a way, I’m lucky – because at least I like some parts of my course. There are many students who hate everything about theirs.

A possible explanation is the pressure on students to go to university straight after they finish school, even if they don’t know what they want to do yet. Sarah Micklewright, a former student in fine art at Messiah College, Pennsylvania, experienced the trouble this can cause: “The common refrain in my house was, ‘If you don’t go now, you never will’.

“I went to college clueless about what to study, why I was there, and what opportunities I should be looking for.”

Micklewright realised the degree wasn’t going to get her a job and that she didn’t want to work in that field, but she carried on.

“When you’re done, you have a degree. Many continuing education programs only require a bachelors to enter, a specific type is not required,” says Micklewright.

“At this point, you could re-evaluate what your options are and see if you want to continue schooling in a different direction.”

Lesley Taylor, careers consultant at Birmingham City University, says: “Speak to a range of professionals within the university. When talking to your tutors, try to consider all the elements of the course that you dislike and the reasoning behind this.”

Remember that just because you don’t like it now, it doesn’t mean you’ll always feel this way. Find out about future modules to see if it’s worth enduring the classes you don’t like.

Fraser Keir, deputy academic registrar at City University London, says academic achievement at university is key. But this is also likely to be the only time you’ll have countless different groups and activities within easy reach.

Taking advantage of these will enhance your university experience and help you to feel better. It doesn’t hurt that it looks good to employers either. If you really don’t want to continue with a course then there are other options besides dropping out.

Elizabeth Tudhope, senior academic adviser at Edinburgh University Student’s Association, says: “We’ve heard of students who have applied for an authorised interruption of studies – where the clock effectively stops on their time at the university – when they are resolved not to continue studying their current course”.

This allows students to pause their studies for the remainder of the year while applying for a course transfer for the next academic year.

Not everyone who applies for an interruption is granted one, however, and this course of action can affect your student loan eligibility.

But even if you even up with a degree in an area you don’t like and further study is not an option, it doesn’t mean you’re stuck.

Karen Barnard, director of UCL’s careers service, says: “Don’t worry that doing a course you don’t enjoy will mean your career prospects will be limited to areas that don’t interest you.

“About 70% of graduate roles do not ask for a specific degree subject.”

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What to do if you hate your course? We will tell about that in the next article. 

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BAC 2015: Examiners’ secrets

As soon as the final tests for bachelor finish, they shut themselves into their houses due to the absolute prohibition to read the dozens of papers in public.

School-leavers are not the only ones to feel stressed as BAC exams are fast approaching. Their teachers are anxiously considering the heaps of papers left for their responsibility. "I have to check 165 papers in ten days, but it's hardly feasible to check one work per hour," says Eric, a professor of philosophy. In total, around four million papers will be examined in about ten days by 170,000 examiners.

"The month of June is a marathon, summarizes Violaine, professor of history and geography in the Hauts-de-Seine. What is hard that is to have to check candidates' writings, watch exams and have classes with my sixth, fifth and third-year students. "  Officially, classes end only at the end of June in the secondary school, although some institutions and examination centers are closing early.

Five Euros per work

About one teacher in two is "requested" for BAC. "Teacher of high school become examiners because they know the programs, says the Ministry of Education. For others, it’s difficult."

The "lucky ones" have very strict guidelines. "We have not the right to examine papers in public and while watching exams, it is forbidden to do something else, Violaine continues. I will spend my nights and my weekend to check 75 papers." On average, each teacher gets between 70 and 150 papers. All for five euros per work.

The "doable" task gets Valerie, Teacher of life sciences, to Paris. According to her, it is not the number of papers that is challenging, but "neither good papers nor bad. Those in-between make it very difficult for the examiner to apply the rating scale. That can take much time to decide."

Marking is often debatable

Handling the candidates' work, we should be as impartial as possible. However, each year critics question the subjectivity of the marking of original works. "On the first day, we scan some random works and eight teachers anonymously check them: differences in scores sometimes vary from 8 to 16," said Eric.

In order to cut short the arguments of the detractors of this exam, harmonization commissions are set up at the end of the sessions. And the harmony here is only the name: "It's very explosive, no one agrees, says Eric. There are those who do not want to increase points and others".

After these commissions, it’s the turn of the jury to hold another meeting. The anonymity of the candidates is removed. The jury can decide, taking into consideration the school academic record, to give "a point or two to reach the BAC," explains Violaine.

Not to alienate your Examiner.

The scales are also subject to debate. The examiners are often suspected  of giving marks more than 20 to encourage the weaker candidates. "This is a rumor, ensures National Education. All of our rating scales are about 20 but with a couple of options, a student can have 21 to reach BAC."

If there is no magic formula to coax your examiner - apart from an impeccable work - Valérie willingly gives advice for not to get upset. "It is often said but you have to write and draw schemes legibly using dark ink. Poor quality of writing can be penalized even if teachers make an effort not to go in that direction. After an hour of reading, if, being in doubt, we do not decide in favor of the candidate”.

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I have always had the greatest respect for students. There is nothing I hate more than condescension—the attitude that they are inferior to you. I always assume they have good minds.

Mark Van Doren

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Don’t be afraid to be innovative. 

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Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, wallow in self-pity, stew in their own —” “That’s enough, Phineas,” said Dumbledore.”

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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When it is your final exams week. 

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How to write a good essay?

History, geography, economics and social sciences, and of course philosophy - whatever bachelor degree you do, once you'll have to do an essay. To help you to succeed in it, we asked Caroline Binet, teacher and author of  "The written tests and essay composition", to give a piece of advice.

What is the first thing to do when addressing the issue?

Caroline Binet: First, take the time to understand it. Too many students rush and start writing even though they have not tried to define the terms of the subject and to delimit the area of research. If we have 4 hours to complete a test, I think we need to spend at least 1 hour to do this work for understanding, definition of the concepts and organization of ideas before starting to write. That is the safest way to avoid off-topic.

What distinguishes a good copy from a bad one?

The student who has understood the subject, made it accountable and succeeded in expressing his personal thoughts based on his knowledge and examples, produces a good copy. In a good copy, by the end of the reading, the examiner has a feeling that he has met the student and talked to him. For student, that means to be organized, clear, and aware of the direction. Above all, it is a well-written copy. On the contrary, a bad copy is one, which merely paraphrases accumulated knowledge without logic and consistency.

We often hear that we must first handle the introduction and conclusion, is that true?

It is true because judging by the beginning and the end of the essay, we can assess how the student organizes his thoughts, and this is very important. But it's also relevant for the rest of the content. That's naïve to think that the examiner won't read beyond the first and the last sentences and just skim the main body. So do not disregard a good sequence of ideas, the relevance of examples, the explanation of concepts and so on.

Is it possible to practice how to write a good essay?

Not only is it possible, but also necessary because the essay is primarily a writing exercise. At the beginning of the year, students often receive a methodology for writing a course essay, so I think that is pretty enough.  But learning is based primarily on the regular practice, what means doing exercises - no matter how good a student is already at this. Therefore, I can only advise candidates to start to practice with student books topics to find the right rhythm, the right style, which will let your thoughts flow naturally. To sum it up, the essay is a conventional method and original thinking