Horrible Dissertation Grade The Student Room

Please create an account or log in to access all these features This board is for university-based professionals. Find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further education forum. I know I am being very unreasonable posting this, hence why I have name changed and hence why I have come to an anonymous forum rather than tell anyone this in real life. I got my master's grades back yesterday and I am really annoyed at myself for being disappointed when the grades themselves are really good. I got a distinction overall which I am happy about and all of my modules range from 72-90%.

However, I am disappointed in my dissertation grade. The two assignments I submitted in the latter part of my master's got 85% and 90%. Then the final assignment was my dissertation which had a heavy weighting. I got 72% in my dissertation. I feel sad because it is >17% lower than the previous two assignments and that it is only "just' a distinction, it is also my lowest grade of the master's. I spent hours and hours in the lab and writing it up and I just feel like it doesn't show.

I am also disappointed as my undergraduate dissertation got 78% and I feel sad my master's dissertation grade is lower. I want to do on to do a PhD and I just feel disheartened that my research project was my lowest mark. I know I am being ridiculous and 72% is good and I should be happy about it in itself it is just when I consider the mark in context with my previous performance I... I am also frustrated with myself that my response to a distinction has been tainted by my perfectionism and I feel like I cannot celebrate my result as it is tinged with disappointment. I haven't even told my parents yet which is ridiculous as 72% is good. On the hunt for interesting dissertation topics?

Editing and Improvement of your dissertation available. Have an expert write a dissertation based on your exact requirements. Published by Aadam Mae at June 7th, 2024 , Revised On August 5, 2025 “How bad does a dissertation have to be to fail?” is a question that all those students ask who think that their dissertation appears to be below the acceptable academic standards. No matter how poor you think your academic research and writing appear to be, by understanding the key reasons and taking essential steps, you can be certain that your dissertation is written to an... failing mark and the possible actions you can take to ensure your dissertation does not look so bad that it fails.

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I recently completed my Ph.D. in Germany. I believe my dissertation was evaluated extremely unfairly. For my dissertation, I published seven papers in high-impact international medical journals (IF from 3 to 6). I used four of them as core papers and three of them as additional publications. I also have six conference papers.

My seven papers have been cited about 34 times so far. The first one was published in Oct 2017. You have /5 articles left.Sign up for a free account or log in. I am a barrister in London who specializes in helping doctoral students who have failed their Ph.D.s. Few people will have had the dubious privilege of seeing as many unsuccessful Ph.D. dissertations and reading as many scathing reports by examination committees.

Here are common reasons why students who submit their Ph.D.s fail, with advice on how to avoid such pitfalls. The lessons apply to the United States and the United Kingdom. Lack of critical reflection. Probably the most common reason for failing a Ph.D. dissertation is a lack of critical analysis. A typical observation of the examination committee is, “The thesis is generally descriptive and a more analytical approach is required.”

For doctoral work, students must engage critically with the subject matter, not just set out what other scholars have said or done. If not, the thesis will not be original. It will not add anything of substance to the field and will fail. Doctoral students should adopt a reflexive approach to their work. Why have I chosen this methodology? What are the flaws or limitations of this or that author’s argument?

Can I make interesting comparisons between this and something else? Those who struggle with this aspect should ask their supervisors for advice on how to inject some analytic sophistication to their thesis.

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