First second time around

I finally received the results of my Masters degree – not so much a delay as the appointed time, as the dissertation was handed in to the Politics and International Relations office on Friday 16^th August, two months after undergraduates finish.  After I finished my BA (with Hons) in Politics and International Relations with a year in Finland with a 2:1 as a result of getting an overall 68% - the narrowness from being separated from the highest mark prompted me at the time (back in 2005) to say that were I to do a Masters, I would get a first.  Despite coping with a newborn baby, a full-time job and various church activities, I achieved that.

Given the prevalence of undergraduate degrees, making a Bachelor award (especially in the humanities) more of a social finishing school, there has been a marked uptake of Masters courses, to distinguish oneself from the rest.  Given this, one of my tutors said, in a Masters course, it is all the more important to finish with a first – I liked him very much, he gave one of my essays 78%.  However, it all came down to my dissertation.  I had achieved 72% across all my modules, which were I to get a 68% (they mark in blocks of ten, on the two, the five and the eight) in my long, long essay (over 15,000 words), my overall mark would have been 69.4% and the authorities only round it up to a first if you have 69.5%.  Thankfully, that wasn’t an issue as I got 75% in my dissertation, making it something like 73% overall (I haven’t properly calculated it yet).  I still can’t quite believe it.