To CAP it off

but that's not what they call it in NIE. in NIE, they call it Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). and this is how they calculate one's CGPA. each module has a certain number of Academic Units (AU). so they take the GPA that you scored for that module (A is 5.00, A- is 4.5, etc etc) multiply by the AU of that module. do so for all the modules you take and then add them all up. then divide by the total number of AU's of the course (in this case it's 30). if you get 4.50 and above, then you are in the running for a Distinction. but you still have the practicum to contend with.

now the Practicum is supposedly 10 AU's. however, it seems that the practicum doesn't contribute to your CGPA cos the only grade given are Pass, Credit and Distinction. no GPA there (or so i understand).

so i was thinking... now i'm done with 20 AU's already from last sem. given my CGPA from last sem, would it still be possible to get a distinction. the answer is... NO. even if i get all A's this sem, because there are only 10 AU's worth left, there is still no way i can hit 4.50.

so what does that mean?

it means that i should not work that hard for my assignments and put that time to better use. we all know that in order to get a B+ from a B means a lot more effort than to get a B from a B- (one form of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility perhaps?). and so that amount of time i save from not trying to get a B+ from a B means that i can go do a lot of other things. like... builiding my stockpile of... :)