Honours grades

Since my little snippets in our chatbox aren't very well organised, let me restate my thoughts on the matter here:

Math has always been different from the other sciences in this school, mostly because it's a compulsory subject. This extends through to the honours curriculum.

In my year, batch of 09, all you had to do to qualify for math honours was to have a math CAP > 3.5, and get at least an A- in the Polar Coordinates module. Even if you didn't get the requisite A- grade, you could appeal as long as you had something "respectable", i.e. at least a B or B+. Most of those appeals went through.

Therefore, the weakest student in the current Year 5 math honours class is far, far stronger than the weakest student in the math honours class for the two graduated batches.

My main thread is that you should not worry yourself over statements that the average grade will be a B. Everyone who has been approved to take math honours under the revamped "appeal for honours" system will get a B in their honours modules -- if they continue coasting through. I believe that if you work hard and push yourself, an A is not impossible.

The math department will not allow you to take honours unless it is reasonably sure that you are capable of getting at least an A- if you apply yourself.

The same philosophy is applied to the science subjects -- if you are reading honours, you should be good enough to be getting straight As. In fact, this was the case for most honours students of the class of 09... at least for the science subjects.

Math may have gotten more Bs in proportion compared to the science subjects but keep in mind the "lower quality" of the students and the fact that there was no proper review system to judge if the student could cope with the honours modules.

I believe strongly that everyone reading honours this year will do well, not only because your teachers obviously think you are capable of doing so (their actions speak for themselves, no matter what they say), but also because you want to keep your CAP up. Talent and good motivation -- a potent combination.