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I just need to vent a bit - I'll try to keep it short.
I'm currently in my 2nd semester studying abroad in England. Last semester, I had to write an essay as part of my political science course. I'm not that much into politics, but I chose the course as a kind of challenge, forcing myself to adapt to new topics. I start researching and writing, and after two weeks I'm finally finished. Several weeks later, I receive my mark - 70%, which is basically a straight A in the UK. I'm very happy.
Four days ago, I received an e-mail by my uni's administrative centre, telling me that my essay will not be counted towards my grades and that I "maliciously" tried to avoid "the exam in May" by submitting an alternative assessment that was meant "for exchange students only."
I re-read this several times, at first genuinely believing that there had been a mistake and that I received an e-mail meant for someone else. I am an exchange student and this strange exam in May surely has nothing to do with me, since I have a whole new set of courses this semester - mind you, my political science course ended last year. To double check, I log on to my uni's intranet and re-read the assessment terms for the course. Then it hits me.
Basically, I misunderstood the assessment terms because they were phrased ambiguously. I definitely don't want to play the "I'm a foreigner" card at this moment, but I'm somewhat irritated, to say the least, that my university insinuates that I was trying to avoid this exam in May, several months after my initial course (which is apparently normal in the UK) and that my work of two weeks is for nothing. I say so in my response to the uni's administration.
The response arrives within half an hour. It is basically a copy of their first e-mail, worded differently, the same paragraphes quoted. They did not even really address the points I made. It is in that moment that I truly start to become pissed off. I would not really mind writing that exam in May, but accusing me of avoiding it deliberately - their euphemism for cheating - and basically ignoring my plea altogether is too much. I furiously start writing my response, saying that the whole issue would not have happened in the first place if the assessment criteria were phrased more clearly. I also quite openly accuse them of stonewalling me on purpose, what not with paying no mind to my explanation.
All the while, there is a voice whispering in my head, telling me that this is probably not a good idea and that I should wait for an response of my professor, who also had been informed. I ignore it and send the e-mail.
Today, I met with my professor. He tells me that he managed to turn the issue in my favour, me not having to write the exam in May but instead my essay mark counting towards my grade. I smile. Justice prevails.
Then he tells me that my uni's administrative centre took offence of my latest e-mail. My smile vanishes faster than Korean pro teams after the release of SC2. While my response was indeed rather strong, I still kept it civil and formal. In Germany, this kind of e-mail would not get me into trouble.
Unfortunately, I'm in the UK.
Long story short: While my professor managed to resolve the situation, I had to write an apology to the administration. This was not the worst part. It was "admitting" that I did the whole thing on purpose, that I was well aware of the assessment criteria and that I "_maliciously_" decided to interpret them in my favour. I meekly try to talk my way out of this, but I like my professor a lot and he stuck his neck for me out. So I "admit" my "malicious" wrongdoing. And the person of the administration, of course, just had to dig into this, gracefully forgiving me, the scum of the earth, worse than Hitler and twice as evil.
I'm disappointed and angry. Angry at my university, for making my life harder, angry at my professor, who could have worded the assessment criteria more clearly, and especially angry at myself, for not keeping my cool yet again. The whole situation would probably have resolved itself if I had never responded to the e-mails in the first place. I came to the UK not only to study, but also to change, to keep myself from falling into the same holes over and over again. This is what I think about when I wait at the tube station for my train. This is the thought that haunts me when I see the "Mind the gap" warning on the wall - because I had ample warning, but chose to ignore it.
  
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Out of curiosity, does the UK have a reputation amongst European nations for bureaucratic bs? How is Germany different? I ask because I really have no idea :D
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That's terrible that you got screwed x.x
Are there any long-lasting effects of you having to admit that bullshit, besides your pride being hurt?
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What I don't understand is why, if your professor is accepting the essay and informed the administration of said acceptance, you still had to write an apology. If the professor didn't give a shit, that should have been the end of it.
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On February 22 2012 04:34 bonifaceviii wrote:
What I don't understand is why, if your professor is accepting the essay and informed the administration of said acceptance, you still had to write an apology. If the professor didn't give a shit, that should have been the end of it.
Probably so the administration can save face x.x
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Netherlands1552 Posts
Adults acting like kids...... Nothing new ^^
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Be glad you're not in France: I heard they refused to give diplomas to foreign students because they're foreign students.Because of a stupid law that was passed not long ago, and that is applied through the "prefets" which can interpret it like they want - especially in such a stupid manner.
Sordid story though. I can't express the disbelief that fills my veins when you write you had to apologise and admit doing exactly the reverse of what you did. Silly bureaucratie.
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On February 22 2012 04:57 Luminox wrote:
Be glad you're not in France: I heard they refused to give diplomas to foreign students because they're foreign students.Because of a stupid law that was passed not long ago, and that is applied through the "prefets" which can interpret it like they want - especially in such a stupid manner.
Sordid story though. I can't express the disbelief that fills my veins when you write you had to apologise and admit doing exactly the reverse of what you did. Silly bureaucratie.
The law is regarding visa for foreign students who get their diploma and want to work in France. It's pretty stupid and almost as sad as the fact you're spreading bullshit.
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On February 22 2012 05:26 sAsImre wrote:Show nested quote +On February 22 2012 04:57 Luminox wrote:
Be glad you're not in France: I heard they refused to give diplomas to foreign students because they're foreign students.Because of a stupid law that was passed not long ago, and that is applied through the "prefets" which can interpret it like they want - especially in such a stupid manner.
Sordid story though. I can't express the disbelief that fills my veins when you write you had to apologise and admit doing exactly the reverse of what you did. Silly bureaucratie.
The law is regarding visa for foreign students who get their diploma and want to work in France. It's pretty stupid and almost as sad as the fact you're spreading bullshit.
Sorry then for being misinformed. I'm actually just repeating what I read in the press, "Le nouvel observateur" of December. may not remember it correctly though, so if i'm mistaken, I'm glad you corrected my mistake in such an elegant and toughtful way 
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You did the only thing you could. I bet the whole thing is just a series of pre-programmed responses from the university in response to possible cheaters, applied without any thinking regardless of the level of evidence. First they threaten a ridiculous punishment to discourage what they percieved (wrongly or rightly) as cheating. If there is no pushback, the punishment stands as a warning to cheaters. If there is pushback, then they play the bad cop and they coral the professor into playing the good cop so they can obtain a confession (they again don't care if its true or false) in exchange for a reduction of the penalty.
Don't feel bad about sending the angry e-mail. It is a far better response than meekly accepting the lower grade. Maybe the fact that you showed some anger is the only reason that they reduced your penalty so much.
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Arh, I hate when you get wrongly accused of something. It is really the worst feeling I can think of. And have to admit that you knowingly cheated when you actually did not is even worse.
What would hjave happend if you didnt write that apology?
This reminds me a bit too much about all the time I got in trouble in school for similar reasons. Like when we hade to sign up for our third language each semester. Noone ever changed the 3rd since you could not start from scratch again so every single student filing forms was just silly. So I refused, got into trouble, got inte even more trouble and next semester thay proudly declared that they had come up with a brilliant idea that you only had to file for change if you actually wante to change.
Sorry if there are typos. Just got a new keyboard.
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what i got out of this is that you got what you wanted, but borked it a little by making the people in charge of your life see their own mistakes instead of nicely letting it slide away. so they're making you pay for that. if you got what you wanted, just write the letter, smile and wave. understand this is to soothe their egos and whether its "right" or "wrong" its neither, its just the terrain and what you gotta do
and no not worse than hitler and evil either. they do so much paperwork and so much shit, probably never get thanked by the students and looked down on. understand theyre people too. they fucked up, you reacted wrong, you fucked up, but its all ok and thats it
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EPT
