Grade (II)

Am I bragging?

Yes.

Though I guess my bragging is not entirely undeserved - I managed to get another Distinction, for my Penology paper this time. And then not just a grade on the threshold - like my Understanding Crime paper - but a real, proper Distinction - 78.

One more like this and I'll have fulfilled the requirement of 60 credits at 70+ for the MSc with Distinction degree (the other two are no fails and 70+ on the dissertation).

Some of my friends and family at home may have their doubts about 70+, especially as Dutch unis usually grade on a 10.0 scale and UCR on a 4.0 GPA scale. However, as Cum Laude starts there at 8.0 and 3.5 respectively, I suppose then that I'll have something like 8.5 / 3.9 or so.

The critique is absolutely lovely, with the only commentary being that two sentences were not entirely brilliant (upon second reading, I agree) and, as with the UC paper, that my referencing was not entirely correct (due to RefWorks, I'll be keeping an eye on that in the future).

For the rest, "excellent piece of work", "range of literature [...] thoroughly digested", and, my absolute favourite, "a pleasure to read".

I argued that young people should not be treated the same as adults in the criminal justice system, but my assignment was to what extent the age of the offender should influence the punishment, so I also spent a paragraph explaining that the elderly should also have their age considered, of course, but only in terms of mental capacity and fitness to plead and are thus normally equal to healthy adults of every age. Apparently, this consideration was valued, because the marker explicitly mentioned it as a positive point.

I scored 'high' on each of the following nine points:

• structure of argument
• clarity of expression
• grammar and use of language
• referencing
• selection of material
• marshalling of evidence
• understanding of the theory
• linking of theory & evidence
• critical appraisal

So, uhm, yeah, I'm quite proud of myself here. I'm even thinking of uploading the paper to Academia.edu, but I'm not sure yet. 

Oh. And I won't have to see my tutor about my paper.

UPDATE: I just received notice that the ethics form I had to fill out for my dissertation has been approved (not that strange considering my dissertation is news-article-based)... Good News Week.