The Big "Are My Grades Good Enough for Cambridge?" Thread (Mk1)

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Thanks everyone. But, considering that the subject that I would retake the module in, Maths, is not one that I will be carrying on next year, and therefore won't be part of any offer I get (if I do get one), do you think really think it would matter if I retook it? Thanks

Reply 981

Tyrotoxism

Darkest Knight

How relevant is Maths to the course you want to apply for?

Reply 982

Darkest Knight

Tyrotoxism

How relevant is Maths to the course you want to apply for?

Not at all.. well I don't think so. I'll be applying for Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge, and International Relations everywhere else.

Reply 983

Tyrotoxism

Darkest Knight

Not at all.. well I don't think so. I'll be applying for Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge, and International Relations everywhere else.

Well then one bad (relatively) poor result in maths shouldn't harm you. :smile:

Make sure you ace all your History/English/Politics modules, though.

Reply 984

SouthernFreerider

if its a B in a non-critical subject, then its better to make the marks up elsewhere and not have to claim a retake in my opinion.

Reply 985

Tyrotoxism

SouthernFreerider

if its a B in a non-critical subject, then its better to make the marks up elsewhere and not have to claim a retake in my opinion.

They'd see your original mark whether you retook the exam or not. It's better to ace the retake to show them what you're actually capable of, rather than let them believe you were only capable of a B.

Reply 986

Tyrotoxism

typewriter

I'm in the same situation, but Maths is something that, for me, will count towards a Cambridge application... Does that make resitting a definitely no-no?

No. They're going to see a poor maths mark whether or nor you retake it, if you believe you can achieve a substantially higher mark on the retake - say close to 100% - then you should retake.

Reply 987

proudclod

I applied for SPS successfully in 2005, and by the end of my A Levels had done probably five or six Maths resits.

So yes: don't worry, just apply.

Reply 988

SouthernFreerider

i guess it depends exactly how bad the mark is lol.

Reply 989

C4TW

pretty certain won't matter at oxford unless you haven't done the retake by the time you apply but by then it is kinda late anyway...if you are dropping it only bother with the retake if you reallly want to.

Reply 990

Emma_Br

I've recently received an offer for Law at Cam, Magdalene 2009.

I've only got 5 GCSEs, 2 A*s, 2 As and a B (intermediate tier paper) so it would appear that there isn't a hard and fast rule for expected grades. However, on balance, I sat these at a college in 1 year, so that may have been taken into account.

Reply 991

Virgil

Hi well I've just done my core 1 maths and didn't go too well so going to resit it sometime, my school will only allow it to happen in summer of upper sixth when I have my other AS and A2 exams so I'm trying to organize it out of school is this possible? I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge for natsci will I need to declare all my results even the resits? Do they discriminate against you because u didn't make the grade first time? Thanks sorry of this has already been answered

Reply 992

FadedJade

You might aswell just retake it then, C1 will be dead easy as you will have done further core modules. You iwll have to tick to say you are resitting it. You must declare all results, including resits.

Reply 993

Moogen

On paper, they will of course favour a candidate that did well first time over one that had to resit. You will have to declare your C1 result on the Cambridge SAQ but can also state that you intend to resit it. What you should be doing now though is just concentrating on your maths modules in the summer. If you do extremely well in the other modules you can demonstrate to them that this C1 was result was anomalous.

Perhaps it might not even be as bad as you thought - wait for the results in March. If you want some reassurance about resits though then I was invited to interview and made an offer after resitting C1. If you do decide to resit this summer and manage to arrange for that then make sure you really nail it though - one bad result could be an anomaly but two doesn't look to good.

Reply 994

Virgil

im thinking of Nat Sci and I didnt do too great on y C1 either, I got an A but its not a high one which is what my teachers have said I need. My teacher said it is better to get 100% in core 1 so you can afford to lose marks in harder papers. Should I retake? I definitely didnt get over 90% Id say 80-85%. Should I retake?

Reply 995

somemightsay

Virgil

If you get less than 90% then yes retake, the amount of work you will have to put in for the retake will be minimal. Otherwise I would say it really isn't worth bothering, just focus on getting close to 100% in C2 (if you show them you can get 100% in C2 they will probably ignore your lower C1 mark anyway).

Reply 996

BrightGirl

Does it really matter about getting 100% in maths? For any Cambridge course? Isn't just over 90% sufficient?

Reply 997

XENOCIDE

getting over 90 % is fine, but if your not scoring above 90% in C1 then you might struggle to get the A grade after C3 and C4

Reply 998

Mithra

Virgil

Why post essentially the same thing twice?

You don't know what grade you got yet, wait until they come before deciding anything. However your school is right, if you wait until next summer C1 will be ridiculously easy, plus if you have already got an A thanks to your A2 modules theres no need to retake it.