Is having one fail in a first year subject on your academic record a big deal?
 

I ask this because I am probably going to fail one of my subjects. The supplementary exam is on Saturday but I can't really summon up the effort to study for it. The subject (macroeconomics) was complete and utter crap (poor teachers, weak course etc). Ironically I aced economics in yr 12 and really enjoyed it, but uni economics (at Adelaide Uni) is just a mess. So my question; is failing one subject going to be problematic? Will it make my academic record look terrible to have one fail? Keep in mind that for the semester I got two distinctions and a pass, along with this (almost imminent) fail. Also keep in mind that I generally do fairly well, and that I will not get another fail. Thanks a lot, hopefully someone can put my fears to rest...or I'm going to be very stressed for the next few days...:(

Quite a few people I went to uni with picked up a fail sometime through their time at Uni.. I wouldn't stress about it too much. You can always take it again.. or do another class (if you don't want to do macro again ;) ). Most uni's even have a summer school program so you can pick up that extra credit (besides taking on an extra unit during the year).

Still, if you have the opportunity to sit the Supp.. do what you can.. put in the hard yards for the next day or two.. and hopefully you'll scratch by w/ a 50 ;)

Edit:

Also, if macro is a core subject for your course, I'd definitely try to pass this supp exam.. as cores are usually cores for a reason.. and you may end up not being able to get into other classes because that one's required. I don't know if this is the case, as I was a comp nerd, not a Commerce student hehe.

No, it's not core. I'm an Arts student (yeah yeah :D). But I won't be remaining an arts student...I think I'll do journalism next year, or a double degree of Arts-something...but okay, so it's not that big of a deal then...the other problem is I suffer from low level depression (have done for years), which has always made it difficult for me to work unless I take stuff like hypericum (St. John's Wort) and other stress relievers...

...the other thing I'm worried about is whether the fail would affect my chances of changing into Journalism (this year the cutoff point was a TER of 92). Apparently I can still use my yr 12 score (93.3) to get in to courses next year, but I'm not sure whether the fail would affect that or not.

That depends. A series of fails/just passes for your first year would look bad... but you have 2 distinctions, a pass, and a fail (in a unit that doesn't have much to do with Journalism). Plus, you had a high enter. I don't think you'd have too many problems changing. And if they interview you for the chanage and ask about the fail, just explain that it was your first year of uni, independence, and you took it a bit far. Now you're back on track, and focused on what you want to do. Some BS like that always works well ;)

By the way.. I'm no professional of any kind in these fields.. I was at uni for my 3 years, and an RA for two of those years (so I heard quite a few stories of how people did / their marks / what happened to them).. everything I'm saying I'm basing off what I'd heard/seen myself at the uni I went to (not Adelaide). So yeah.. no gaurentees.. but I wouldn't be too stressed about it anyways ;) Now go study for the Supp. hehe.

Fails always look bad on your record. Usually a first year fail isn't _that_ bad, but if you want to change degrees, you generally need pretty decent grades. If you're serious about changing in to journalism or a double, I'd get studying. 93.3 isn't bad, but it wouldn't hurt to back it up with a decent first year of arts.

Might also be worth getting a letter from your shrink and applying for special consideration on your exam. It can be the difference between a 49 and a 51 more often than you'd think.

most schools require at least one econ course for journalism majors - all part of being a well-rounded journalist ;)

Here's a trick, though, and it's no bullshit. Especially in the broadcast world (both radio and TV) employers don't really worry too much about your grades. They want to see that you graduated and that your extra-curricular activities indicate a wide variety of interests. In other words, it's more important to join Habitat and the debate team than it is to get an A in everything.

Also, intern intern intern. Get as many internships under your belt as you possibly can. Many stations will take any intern that wants to come - they just won't pay you because they're small-market and can't afford to. Those are the stations you want to go to. They'll let you do just about everything (sometimes they'll even put you on the air when you're ready) whereas the larger market stations that can afford to pay you pretty much limit you to getting people coffee and maybe running through archival footage to find something for someone's stories.

Shit I hope not... I had three. Then 5 in second year. Maybe that's why I was there for 6 years ;). I did pass Macro though :p

As far as getting a job goes, as soon as you have the degree employers tend not to even look at ur transcript, bit different changing courses though. A credit average will be plenty for you to change... once you're in the system it's all good.

So you got 93 and started an Arts degree? :hmm:

...yeah. The reason being I just wanted to see what university was like, dewcide what I wanted to do while sampling a wide range of different subjects. That, and I wanted to keep relatively busy without doing anything that's too full on, heh.

Thanks for the advice people. I studied for it last night and I'm going to study for it today, but I'm still going to a party tonight ffs. :D

thanks for instilling belief that I can pass macro this semester :p
Nah I'll do alright, I got a HD (High Distinction) in mirco, and 48% of the people failed that subject

Yeah don't worry, the course is easy, it's just unsanely boring. It's like in year 12 I got a 19/20 for English at the end of the year and only a 15 for business maths - a far easier course but so boring I didn't treat it seriously. Macro was business maths time 100 for me.

Heh.

Macro is a cakewalk compared to Micro.

I haven't failed a subject yet, so I got my streak going :thumbsup:

if you want to be a journalist, then no, one fail on your transcript isn't going to be a problem.

the most important thing about getting a job as a journo is experience.

start writing, get your name in print, build up a portfolio. no editor/cos/ep is going to give a fuck about the time you failed Macro in first year.

I'm not sure being South Australian will help your career though...

STFU. :p

Well I passed! HAHAHAHA, and I still went to the party the night before. My overall economics score is 50/100 now! HAHAHAHA, only just but...ahahahaha!!! :D

Congrats.. now all that shit you've been worrying about just goes out the window.. at least the bit about making up the credit/having a fail.

so.. macro is easier than micro?

that makes me a happy, happy man.

i know a doctor who used to fail every second semester at uni. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it, the main problem is the waste of time and money it was.