Talk:Bachelor's degree/Archive 2004

United Kingdom classification system
Should the UK degree classification system mention the percentages associated with each degree? They are:


 * 70%-100% First Class Honours (1st)
 * 60%-69% Upper Second Class Honours (2:1)
 * 50%-59% Lower Second Class Honours (2:2)
 * 45%-49% Third Class Honours (3rd)
 * 40%-44% Pass without honours
 * 0%-39% Fail

Of course there is some variation between universities (mainly the Scottish ones), but the above system is generally used. Furthermore, we might have to explain to our American chums about the low sounding percentages (that a mark in the mid-sixties is actually very good and that marks above 75% are virtually unheard of).

I also think that this school be spun out into a seperate page (UK Bachelor Degree Honours System?), but it would need to be fuller than it is at present, including full details of the (Scottish) variations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.64.229.79 (talk) 18:54, 5 February 2004 (UTC)


 * Go ahead, be bold! --Menchi 19:02, 5 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * I was bold :-) - moved to British Bachelor's degree classification. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.225.5.175 (talk) 15:41, 8 February 2004 (UTC)

Terminal period after designations
In American English these designations are almost invariably written with the terminal period. Also, some universities (most notably MIT) call their B.S. an S.B. instead (and similarly for Master's degrees with S.M. instead of M.S.). Curiously enough, the doctoral degree Sc.D. or D.Sc., although issued much less frequently by American universities, when it is issued is usally abbreviated with "Sc." rather than just "S." as is used for the lesser degrees. Finally, what's the relationship between this topic and the Diplomate designations I see in some European countries?

(As an aside, MIT probably has one of the most complex degree structures of any US university. In electrical engineering, for example, for increasing terms of study one may receive an S.B. [four years], an M.Eng. [five years], an S.M. [six or seven years], an E.E. [same], and any one of several flavors of doctorate.  A former colleague of mine actually got most of those, although it took him the better part of fifteen years to do it, stopping for work along the way.)  18.24.0.120 01:50, 9 Feb 2004 (UTC)