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What's your WAM and GPA? (2 Viewers)

loquasagacious

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This is abit of a random offshoot but:

What effect does retaking a course have on your GPA?
eg if you fail a course this obviously has a pretty adverse impact on your GPA and if its a compulsory course you have to retake it. However once you have retaken the course does your later result replace your original one or does your GPA incorporate both results?
 

stazi

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fail = 3.0 for GPA and 40 for WAM.
It doesn't replace the other results, but rather gets added on
 

SoCal

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I am pretty sure that an F contributes a grade of 0 to your GPA. A PC usually is given a 3. I also doubt you just get given a 40 in the calculation of your WAM if you fail. I would assume they use the mark you received, i.e., if you got a mark of 35, 35 is used in your WAM calculation, not a generic 40:).
 

stazi

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socal, sorry, not 3 but 2.0
and yes, you get a wam of 40 for a fail.
 

hipsta_jess

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I've heard that FF gets a 2.0 or something as well, they give you some credit for sitting the unit, coz well, thats a lot of time and money and [supposed] effort...
 

stazi

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oh wait, wierd. just found something saying that it really is 0 for a fail. I remember reading somewhere it's 2 for a fail and 40 for a fail (wamwise). hmmm...maybe that's for usyd?
 

Lundy

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Generator said:
It can be a good thing if you're insecure despite having a good average.

Personally, I would prefer to not shame myself in 'public' in order to help stazi feel better about himself.
Agreed .
 

loquasagacious

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Well everything I've seen suggests that: f=0, cp=3, p=4, c=5, d=6, hd=7.

So then a fail remains despite later recieving a D for the same course?
 

Omnidragon

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withoutaface said:
Yeah but TER isn't necessarily indicative of uni results, like the majority of 98ish students I know are now on credit or very low distinction averages.
I guess you're right. ENTER isn't conclusive of how well you'd perform in uni. I think most people would agree on that.

However... when you're left with the few scholarship-holders on 99.85-99.95, then it's more likely than not you'd find people with strong averages. At least in my experience and among my group of friends, that's the trend that's emerging.

I'm sure there's a group of elite of the elite at Sydney Uni and UNSW. Maybe some of you guys just haven't come across them yet. I just happen to know most of them the moment I joined uni because of the scholarship ceremony.

I think of the top scorers in VCE doing commerce, 5 out of 6 top-scorers, including myself, would average 90+ in COMMERCE (not the combined degree). I think 2 would average 90+ in combined degrees, at least one will for sure, since her lowest mark was 88. The last 1 I know who does commerce and topped W.A-equivalent HSC bludges... so I think he averages around 77... excluding this semester, b/c I haven't spoken to him since holidays.

BTW: A lot of people would agree that 98 TER/ENTER is pretty low. It can't even get you into all courses at all unis.
 
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clive

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SoCal said:
I am pretty sure that an F contributes a grade of 0 to your GPA. A PC usually is given a 3. I also doubt you just get given a 40 in the calculation of your WAM if you fail. I would assume they use the mark you received, i.e., if you got a mark of 35, 35 is used in your WAM calculation, not a generic 40.
taken from http://www.eng.newcastle.edu.au/cur...eng-ugrad.html#The WAM when Repeating Courses

10. Calculation of WAM

The WAM is calculated from the results of all courses that are counted towards the degree in which a student is enrolled, in the following manner:
WAM = SUM( m*v*w )/SUM(v* w)



Where:
m = the mark as defined below;
v = the unit value of the course concerned
w = the weighting of the course concerned as set out below.

The value of 'm' is defined as follows:

* where the result in a course is given in the range 50 to 100 inclusive, 'm' is equal to that percentage mark;
* where the result in a course is a failing grade, in the range 45 to 49 inclusive, 'm' is equal to that percentage mark;
* where the result in a course is a failing grade, in the range of 0 to 44 inclusive, or is given as a FF (Fail) without any mark, 'm' is equal to a mark of 44;
* where the result in a course is a passing grade (rather than a percentage mark), the mark 'm' will be deemed to be the relevant number listed below:

Grade m
HD 93
D 80
C 70
P 58
UP 58

The weighting for each course is indicated by the course code. The first number of a course code indicates the level at which the course is offered regardless of the year of study in which it is undertaken and, in relation to undergraduate Engineering, Surveying and Computer Science students, also indicates the weighting of the course in terms of the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) calculation. For example, if the course INFO1010 is taken in the fourth year of study, it is still considered a 1000 level course and the weighting will be 1.

The following will be taken into account when calculating the WAM:

* students re-enrolling after leave of absence will retain their previous WAM as the basis of future calculations;

* if a student transfers from one Engineering specialisation to another, the current WAM will also be transferred and will apply in the new specialisation, provided the credit granted towards the new specialisation is the same as the units completed in the previous specialisation;

* in all other cases, students admitted to a program shall commence calculation of their WAM from the year of their admission or re-admission, whether they are granted credit or not.

* if grades of 'Incomplete' (I) or 'Special Consideration' (S) are awarded to a student, the WAM will remain uncalculated until final marks are awarded.

(You can use this calculator to help you calculate your WAM.)

Top of page
11. The WAM when Repeating Courses

Students are required to repeat prescribed courses in which they received a failing grade. In the case of elective courses, the student is permitted to either repeat the course in which they received a failing grade or select an appropriate alternative course.

In such cases:

* the course originally taken remains part of the student’s academic record and continues to be included in the calculation of the WAM;

* the repeated course is included in the WAM calculations of the year in which it is taken;

* if the student is awarded a failing grade in the repeated course, the failure is treated in the same way as if the course were attempted for the first time and the course must be repeated. In this case, both failures will remain in the WAM calculation.

Note: Students will not normally be permitted to repeat courses in which they were awarded a final result of a passing grade. Special permission must be requested from the Pro Vice Chancellor. The new grade will be recorded, but will not necessarily increase the calculated WAM.
 
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SoCal

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Hmm, the Engineering Faculty seems to be more organised and informative with regard to marks and how to interpret them to my faculty. My faculty doesn't have much on anything (not really even how to get into Honours by memory). When I calculated my WAM before I didn't take into account the weighting of the courses but it turns out it doesn't really make a difference in my case if my faculty uses weightings because my WAM only decreases from 80.75 to 80.71:p.
 

clive

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another thing, newcastle rounds WAMs (well at least in engineering it does) so a crappy 81.64 becomes a manly 82 :D
 

Templar

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clive said:
another thing, newcastle rounds WAMs (well at least in engineering it does) so a crappy 81.64 becomes a manly 82 :D
I don't see how 82 is good when 81.64 is crap.
 

Generator

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Templar said:
I don't see how 82 is good when 81.64 is crap.
Well, one is clearly better than the other... Then there's the fact that clive ended the post with a cheesey grin.
 

stazi

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i don't see how 81.64 is crap either. it's very high.
 

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