Honours, Undergraduate or Postgraduate

Anyone kindly advise that BSc (honours) is under the Undergraduate or Postgraduate program?

Postgraduate.

Thanks, MotaBoy!!!

Postgraduate yes, meaning you have to have an undergraduate degree before you are admitted to do it.

Well, what confuses me is that Honours is still a Bachelor degree, only Master degree is Postgraduate, but I think I was wrong. Thank you for the information.

Postgraduate does not refer to a specific degree but the fact that you already have at least one degree, hence post- (after) graduate (graduation?).

Honours is a honorary bachelors degree, so technically it is not just a bachelors degree....

Only the first step is undergrad:

1 - Undergrad (bachelors)
2 - Honours
3 - Masters
4 - PhD

in south africa honours is postgrad, in other countries it is still seen as undergrad - or somethign along the lines of a bsc being 4 years and then you do your masters. they skip the formal speration of a bsc and bsc honours.

Engineering degrees in South Africa don't have an honours part - they are of 4 year duration for a B-degree and then you do the M-degree. They are equated to a B-honours degree which also theoretically takes 4 years to complete.

Motaboy, I am not so sure about that. It is one level up in terms of quality and recognition. Fro example, I can do an undergraduate Bcom....and then if I enrol for an undergraduate BSc, I wont be able to call it a post graduate qualification...

Motoboy is right. a B-eng degree is 4 years and they equate it to getting a normal bsc honours. Right after you get your Beng, you do your masters

I was refering more to the fact that you must already have a degree to do a postgraduate degree.

I have heard that you can do a masters with any kind of undergrad degree, but I have never heard that you can do an honours after any normal degree eg I had a bsc with chemistry and geology but I was not allowed to do computer science honours. I had to get comp sci undergrad. BUT, if I had wanted to, I could have done a masters in some weird geology/computer science cross related subject because I had an honours in geology. I would probably then have had to do it with permission from both departments though and the M would probably have been granted as a geology one and not a computer science one...

MotaBoy Wrote:
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> Postgraduate does not refer to a specific degree
> but the fact that you already have at least one
> degree, hence post- (after) graduate
> (graduation?).

I get your point, just scared people would confuse it and think ANY second degree is post graduate....

*cackle*

...

Celene, you are right, you have to "qualify" for a honours In a way that is linked to your undergrad. With masters, you can also not just do any masters, as the department that you are applying to must approve you, and they look at experience and at least a post grad qualification. They wont admit someone they think cant do it, so if you did honours in economics, and want to do masters in applied physics, chances are you wont get in. That is why, even at unisa, you have to have a BSC hons before being admitted to do a MSc, unless you did something like a BCom IS.

From what I know, the only "masters" you can do with only undergrad is a MBA. This excludes the engineering and medical disciplines though. At a research conference I was at, it was discussed if SA computer science degrees should be adjust to be aligned with other countries....it is still in discussion...

I'm not sure what zulu culture has to do with anything.

In most of the world, a bachelors degree is 4 years, ours is only 3. Which is why if you apply for Masters degree overseas, the requirements is often specified as a '4 year bachelors degree' or in our case, a degree with honours.

I am applying the BSc Honours to UCT, but I am still waiting for my final results of the four subjects I just wrote, according to UCT, the application deadline is Dec. 4th, but I don't think the UNISA will give me the results early than Dec. 4th, is there anyway for me to get my results earlier?

A PhD is a doctor of science, same thing here...

And no, it is not zulu culture, and our degrees are some of the best in the world. Each coutry is structured differently, the one is not better than the other, just different.

Thank ruen, some sense here

I did take offence to the zulu culture thing.... there is nothing wrong with zulu culture, so using it to describe something as bad is not on. Also, our setup of our degrees are not bad either.

And also, define the rest of the world? If by that it is mostly the USA, then it is not the rest of the world. Most of South Africa is alligned with europe (legal and educational systems), would be interesting to see what they do...

Also, some institutions are changing to do 2 year full time honours now....or so I have heard. That means we are actaully one step ahead.

Also, a part of honours is research. This way, this structure allows you to be introduced to research and dissertation writing even before you start your masters, which is better than just 4 years of study and write exams....

1. The DSc is the highest and most prestigious degree awarded in the Faculty of Science; it is of higher status than the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree and is awarded rarely. In these respects the DSc at UCT is based on the DSc tradition followed by many universities in the United Kingdom. (Some South African universities, and others elsewhere, have a DSc degree which is the equivalent of a PhD - this is not the case at UCT.)

2. The DSc at UCT is awarded on the basis of published research work in a specific scientific field in which the supplicant has been active and productive for at least ten years.

3. The work submitted for the DSc must constitute an original and important contribution to learning in the sense that

(a) it is likely to be regarded as 'benchmark' research in the relevant field in years to come, and

(b) it demonstrates that the candidate has achieved a leadership role internationally in that field of scientific research.

4. The emphasis in assessing the work of a DSc candidate will be on originality, substance and excellence.

rklopper Wrote:
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> A PhD is a doctor of science, same thing here...

No, it is a Doctor in philosophy. A DSc is a more advanced degree given for accomplishments in your field of research or some such criteria.

O.k. Ignore that - Nancy has replied with some info.

doctor of philosphy = DPhil

Nancy Wrote:
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(Some South African universities, and
> others elsewhere, have a DSc degree which is the
> equivalent of a PhD - this is not the case at
> UCT.)
>

exactly what I am saying. Maybe not at UCT then, but at most universities it is the case....