The Moment of Truth

Today, I received the dreaded e-mail that I was anxiously awaiting (if that makes sense?)…Block I and II grades were released this morning. Reading the e-mail announcing that grades were ready for pick-up was one of those moments when I was a bit unsettled. It’s been 7 years since I took an exam…how would I do?

Good news. I passed! As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts, the UK grading system is a bit different from the US. Here, anything above a 40 on the exam is passing…and anything above a 70 is fantastic (distinction)..the equivalent of an A+ or 4.0 GPA in the US. As long as your coursework and exam (each worth 50%) for each course totals at least 50, you pass. And (I’m unsure of whether this is specific to the MBA, or to British grading in general), they don’t consider gradepoint average. Coming out, I could earn only “distinction”, “pass” or “fail”. And in order to graduate with distinction, you MUST have above a 70 average in every block and assignment along the way (nearly impossible).

Going into exams, I had distinction in 5 of the 6 courses in Block I and II. And coming out, I earned a distinction in Block I and a Respectable Pass in Block II (65–equivalent to a B+). (They average the grades for all courses in a block in order to determine your block average). I don’t know that I’ll ever adjust to this new grading system…thank goodness the program’s only one year 🙂

An interesting angle on this hints toward the British culture. In America, we strive to reach high and need to see the carrot in the distance. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that excellence is attainable at all points in your education (hence, GPA). If you consider doing badly or “letting this one slide”, your GPA’s at stake. Here, however, there’s a long history of the “haves” and the “have nots” and hence, there are no carrots. Only pass, fail, and distinction. I miss the carrot and the American grading system!