I'm not sure this is as clear-cut as people are suggesting... according to my uni, students in their writing-up year aren't *automatically* exempt, though I think there's an understanding between the uni and the local council and they're *treated* as exempt.

(I think this may have to do with the difference between being 'registered' and being 'enrolled'... maybe you're only 'enrolled' for three years for full-time study, though you're still 'registered' while writing up... ?)

The first thing I'd say is - this is not about 'Maria1 versus the University', it's about 'the University versus the external examiner'. Your Uni is on your side - they think you deserve a distinction, and obviously it looks good for them if you get one too! So you certainly shouldn't hesitate in asking whether there's anything that can be done about this.

I would have thought that with a discrepancy that large - and especially since it makes the difference between getting a distinction and not - the Uni would be entitled to ask for some sort of second opinion from another examiner. But I suppose that's just a hunch - you'll have to ask.

If there's nothing that can be done, remember, that doesn't mean you look just the same as every other not-quite-distinction candidate out there as far as PhD admissions tutors are concerned - it won't be the person who marked your work at 63 who's writing your references, it'll be people who know you as a distinction-level student.

Surely the real problem here is that you're not interested in politics? Maybe studying film alongside it would make your MA a bit more palatable, but at the end of the day you're facing an uphill struggle in trying to get a distinction in a subject that doesn't particularly inspire you. Maybe you could tell us something about why you've chosen to study in this department rather than one that wouldn't require you to study politics, and what you're hoping to achieve with the distinction you're aiming for? I'd guess you're thinking about going on to study for a PhD, but presumably this can't be in politics, film or mass media since you seem to be in two minds about studying any of them!

(Not trying to have a go here, I'm just confused. I think you're doing the right thing by questioning your choice early on - you don't want to end up feeling stuck on a course that isn't grabbing your attention and where you know you're not going to get the result you want.)

Oops, right you are Bilbo... missed the education tab... I'll wait till I'm awake before I post next time:$

Looks like it's even cheaper from Pugh (.co.uk).

I did a part-time MA and got a distinction. I was in a different position from you - not working, but responsible for kids - but in your shoes I'd be inclined to devote your 'spare' two working days completely to your MA, and try to find some time in the evenings and at weekends to keep up with your reading (which shouldn't leave you too shattered!)

But I'd also suggest you be prepared to put extra time in where it counts, i.e. when producing assessed work. So you might find you're working over a weekend sometimes in order to get a draft to your tutor in good time, say.

And don't be afraid to spell out to your tutors that you want a distinction, and ask them to be clear with you about what you have to do to get one.

Best of luck anyway!

Assuming you've spelled out the importance of your research elsewhere (in your proposal/case for support), I'd focus on selling your ability and commitment... I wasn't asked for a 'personal statement' as such, but in the 'any relevant info' of my studentship application form I basically put my PhD in a long-term context (explaining why I'd wanted to return to study after 10 years working, summarising my MA marks, spelling out that I saw my PhD as the start of a new career to which I was 100% committed - 'having given up a successful career to pursue a lifelong ambition, bla bla bla...', suggesting some of the transferrable skills I was bringing with me...)

Of course it all depends what people are looking for - and I'm basing my advice on one successful application to one uni - but I'd say you basically need to explain what it is about YOU in particular that makes you worth investing in.

Yep, just starting out - first meeting with supervisor yesterday, first tutoring work next week... sitting here with a long reading list, a deadline and no library access or Athens password! (Not officially registered yet due to studentship info trickling through the system...) Thank goodness for Google books...

Exciting times!

I'm not techy enough to recommend a particular machine for your needs, but thought I'd just point you in the direction of the Argos outlet on eBay - always the first place I look for anything electrical now, as they're generally very competitive but offer proper 12-month guarantees even on refurb items. I got my laptop and my desktop there, both a good £100 cheaper than the same models anywhere else, and they always have plenty of models/brands in stock.

(Sorry, this seems to be my week for advertising on here!)

I know some people swear by Macs but I don't get it - they're very expensive, have a much more limited range of software (also expensive!) available, and in my experience are just as prone to going wrong as PCs. I used a Mac at work and a PC at home every day for nine years and noticed no real difference in reliability, ease of use etc. - but for availability of cheap & free software, compatibility etc. the PC won hands down.

I generally got on with OpenOffice OK (never used it that much), but formatting went a bit skewy between that and Office occasionally. And I suspect you'll struggle with newer Office document formats.

Personally I'm planning to buy the new version of Office as soon as I get set up with an ac.uk email address (any day now!) to prove I'm eligible for the 'Ultimate Steal' offer... hae you seen this? Under £40 for the whole suite seems pretty good when you consider what the basic Home & Student edition normally costs.

(Sorry if this counts as advertising - I'm not a Microsoft stooge or anything... am I allowed to link to a web page?)

http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-uk/default.aspx

No probs Eska - I said 'I suppose men especially', cautiously, in brackets, just because I get the impression my wife's not alone among women in not thinking of that many people 'that way', and I'm not alone among men in thinking of loads of people 'that way' to a lesser or greater extent!

Cobweb - I'm not personally offended, but you did say you wanted some controversy! Didn't realise quite how much you were playing devil's advocate though - surprised to hear you talk about wishing your boyfriend could be more open with you. (You might not want to show him that last post!)

Cobweb - that's a pretty hard line to take! You'll excuse me, I'm sure, if I don't - as you seem to suggest I should - leave my wife of 15 years, the only woman I've ever loved, just because I still have naughty feelings about other women.

I'd be curious to hear what people on an anonymous forum think of this one. I always tend to assume that people (and I suppose men especially) who claim/act as if they're no longer attracted to people other than their partners are faking it for the sake of an easy life. Am I wrong? Are there people in whom some sort of switch gets flicked when they're in a relationship?

I don't want to start patronising Cobweb (although she did just, in effect, tell me I shouldn't be married, so maybe I shouldn't go too easy!), but I get the impression a lot of perfectly strong relationships get thrown away by people in their teens and twenties just because they haven't yet come to terms with the fact that their partners are human beings with natural responses to other people that are never going to go away.

(This is not an attempt to justify cheating on your partner as something natural and therefore morally OK... as everyone outside the New Testament knows, there's a world of difference between having feelings and acting on them.)

I wonder who Benm's favourite imperialist is? I've always thought Caesar is a particularly formidable example - that single-minded and ruthless way he had of welcoming Gauls into Roman schools and then charging them for the use of pencil sharpeners.

Benm, I'd like to pin you down on this:

Do you think any international student, doing research on any topic whatsoever, should be subsidised by the UK government to do that research? Or only those whose work is of particular benefit to the UK?

If the latter, what criteria did you have in mind? Is cancer research of particular benefit to the UK? Research on the effects of alcohol? Research on Shakespeare's sonnets? European History? Autism? Caterpillars?

For what it's worth:

What struck me about the marking of my MA dissertation (in Philosophy) was the very strong emphasis on ticking the 'Research Skills' box above all else. My supervisor suggested the first draft I showed him would have received a mark in the mid-60s - well below what I was aiming at. But the problem wasn't with the content as such; he didn't pick my argument to pieces or anything like that. Instead he told me to do something I'd deliberately *not* done - go off at lots of tangents (in footnote form), to demonstrate my knowledge of the wider context of my research. A dozen footnotes and some general tightening-up later and I got a final mark in the mid-70s.

Even though I understand that research skills are an absolutely essential part of doing postgrad work, it still seems a bit weird that something so (relatively!) quick and by-the-numbers could make the difference between a so-so pass and a good distinction... I'd expected to be judged on the dissertation's qualities as a piece of philosophy first and foremost, with just a few brownie points for the 'wider context' stuff.

But then who knows how those marks really broke down... maybe the tightening-up accounted for a jump from 66 to 70, and the research skills stuff for the jump to 74, which seems reasonable. Or maybe my supervisor was deliberately giving a very conservative assessment of the first draft's merits, in order to scare me into polishing it within an inch of its life!