Hey Everyone!

Did I mention that sometimes I am late writing the blog when I get busy? Well it finally happened. Midterms are taking up all of my brain power and extra time. (I’ll be better for next week)

Midterms (but not really)

Midterms in this vet school are different than what I’m used to. They are worth about about 20% of your final grade. You call them in course assessments (ICA’s) here instead of midterms. You usually have about 20 multiple choice, and sometimes some short answer, but not always. So this was an adjustment. My exam last week was in Veterinary Public Health (VPH) which is all about legislation in the abattoir and how to do things correctly. Not to mention all the diseases that you see and have to pick out when they come through the system. Next Monday I will be facing my Farm ICA, which is daunting. We have 50 lectures worth of material, they ask 20 MCQ and 2 short answer, and one hour to do it. So it can be a bit nerve wracking wondering what they may ask from all that material. So you just bust it trying to learn it all, knowing that you need it for the final no matter what.

Is grading the same in the UK?

I can only speak for the vet school, as that is the only experience I have. When comparing it to America, things are different. It took some getting used to not getting a letter grade. We are so used to getting A, B, C grades whereas here you focus on pass or fail. You only need to get 50% to pass the exam and move on. They don’t give you a letter grade. Then on top of that, getting 100% is almost impossible (I say almost because people have managed it I’m sure… I haven’t managed it…) Getting a 50% or above is considered satisfactory, and they have different levels of distinction for higher grades. So basically you get your results and just hope for a pass. 55% becomes a good score. It’s an adjustment for us all. However, I have found that I enjoy the grading system here. For someone like me who struggles with testing, I like the fact that I am only focused on passing, rather than the A. And then feeling bad when I learn I got less than everyone else.

Do you have assignments?

Occasionally you will get an essay or two in the semester, but it isn’t the normal. The University realises that we need to spend a lot of time and energy studying the material from lectures, rather than doing busy work. Sometimes you will have assignments for your practical classes, but they aren’t graded. It is just for your benefit. So in that sense, things are also a bit different from other vet schools.

All in all, I find that I enjoy the learning environment and the way they assess us here. Passing is all that is asked and you just strive for the best you can be. It seems to lessen the amount of competition between us as students and we can better focus on being friends and encouraging each other to pass.

Any other questions about vet school? Pop them below and I will be happy to answer in my next post!