IB Retakes

[vlindoso]

Hi to all,

I have received my IB exam results today, and even though I achieved quite surprising scores, I was let down by others.

Overall I achieved 34 points:

5 in Physics HL

5 in Maths HL

5 in Economics HL

6 in Business & Management

6 in French B

6 English A

+1 TOK & EE

I under performed greatly in Maths and Physics. I expected to achieve 6s in both subjects and was let down when I saw 5s next to them. In addition, my Bath uni offer required a 6 in Maths HL for Civil Engineering.

Thus, here I am asking for guidance on what to do next. I really want to go to Bath and I'd rather retake my exams in November and reapply than go through clearing.

It would be amazing if I could know your views on IB retakes, and how UK unis such as UCL, Imperial, Bath, or Edinburgh would look upon them.

Thanks!

Edited July 9, 2013 by Victor Muniz Lindoso

[n00b]

I think what the universities care more about the grades you achieved than whether or not its retake or original. As long as you showed the uni you learnt from you mistake, its not big deal. Who doesn't make mistake and screw up at one point in their lives? especially when we are this young, its no big deal.

But yeah, I screwed up physics and math as well (i too have them on HL). I normally get well above 7 boundary in Physics, and prepared quite well for the exam. I have no clue how I ended up with a 5.... So my plan right now is to get a remark, if not good enough, do a november retake.

in case you are curious, my results:

Math HL 5

Physics HL 5

Chem HL 5

Economics SL 5

German B SL 6

English A Literature 4

EE+TOK 3

Total 33.

But don't be dishearted though. Our subject combination are not exactly the easiest, so just because some others got higher than us doesn't mean they are any better. Let's nail the retake.

[vlindoso]

Yeah, they are sort of similar.

But it was Maths that got mostly into my nerves. All year along I achieved scores above 5, and I thought I had done well in the exam. Then I see the results and I'm just like whaat?

I barely studied for English and Business and I got better grades than the subjects I studied my a** off - Physics and Maths.

I do hope the Unis do consider the retakes!

Did you apply to Unis in the UK?

Edited July 6, 2013 by Victor Muniz Lindoso

[Arrowhead]

Hi to all,

I have received my IB exam results today, and even though I achieved quite surprising scores, I was let down by others.

Overall I achieved 35 points:

5 in Physics HL

5 in Maths HL

5 in Economics HL

7 in Business & Management

6 in French B

6 English A

+1 TOK & EE

I under performed greatly in Maths and Physics. I expected to achieve 6s in both subjects and was let down when I saw 5s next to them. In addition, my Bath uni offer required a 6 in Maths HL for Civil Engineering.

Thus, here I am asking for guidance on what to do next. I really want to go to Bath and I'd rather retake my exams in November and reapply than go through clearing.

It would be amazing if I could know your views on IB retakes, and how UK unis such as UCL, Imperial, Bath, or Edinburgh would look upon them.

Thanks!

Call Bath and ask them if it makes a huge difference/whether or not they will still consider you.

[Dr Dangle]

Hi all,

In a very similar situation to you two, and asking myself the exact same questions. My grades were as follows:

Maths HL: 5

Physics HL: 6

Chemistry HL: 6

English + French Lang & Lit SL: both 7s

Economics SL: 6

ToK: B and EE (physics): C

Total: 38 and disapointment

Re-marks were unsuccessful despite being 2% away from a 6 in maths... And Imperial wanted 6s in my HLs with 40 overall for mechanical engineering. Bristol wanted the same but with 38 overall. My UCAS track finally updated to rejected from both so now it's either clearing or re-takes in November and re-applying (I've already signed up for re-takes).

My coordinator and admissions tutor are quite busy at the moment and I've been given no real advice so I was wondering if you guys had any... Are re-takes worth it or should I head into clearing? If I manage to bump my maths up to >6 and my physics up to a 7 (something I did consistently in mock exams) then Imperial could still turn me down. Just looking for an outsider's opinion

EDIT: calling Imperial tomorrow to find out their policy on retakers.

[Sandwich]

If I were you I would investigate what's on offer in clearing as a priority whilst there are still spaces available. Some very good Universities are participating in clearing this year. If there's something you'd find equally acceptable then go for it, but if there's not then I'd go for the re-takes. I know people who re-took, pushed their grades up a bit and ended up doing what they wanted - just a year delayed, which is a pain but it may or may not be worth it depending on how important it is to you!

Work hard for the re-takes - and also check out how much of your grade drop was due to coursework. At the end of the day you can re-take and do better than before but still not be able to raise your grade because actually it was the coursework and not the exam which let you down. You'll be a better applicant if you DO raise the grades because Universities love students who are low risk. You'll be super low risk because you'll already have your results, so they don't have to worry about you not making the grade! So they'll give you an unconditional offer and it'll be sorted.

Also, consider what you might do with a gap year. They'll usually want to see that you used it constructively and if you can somehow strengthen your application on your gap year, that will go down a treat.

It's a horrible situation to be stuck in, but I know people who've been through exactly this and done well. I even know somebody who re-took in November and then again in May(!).

Best of luck with everything.

[Dr Dangle]

Thank you for your reply! I had a look through clearing and the best I found was Manchester Uni for Civil engineering, which is good but I know I can do better. So I'm going ahead with re-takes and I'll redo my maths IA. Looking at the component grades I realise that if my teacher's 'raw mark' on the IA hadn't been moderated down by 3 points then I would be at Imperial... So it's most definitely feasible, just got to work for it. A year isn't terribly long to wait especially as it affects what I do with the rest of my life.

I've found an internship in France's largest aeronautical engineering company (Safran) during the time after my exams, so that should go down treat with the unis I apply to in January.

Thanks again for your reply, this is a really good forum

[KarKar]

Hi everyone,

I have got 33 in my exams in May 2012 then retook and got 40 in May 2013. And you know what? I have got an offer from UCL and currently studying at UCL.

So just do it!