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Missed my Conditional Offer by 1 Point - IBDP; what to do?

Hi,
I graduated the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme with a total score of 40 and a HL score of 18 (5, 6, 7) in Maths, Chemistry and Physics respectively.
I endeavour to read Computer Science (MEng) in UCL, and have a conditional offer of 39 points with 19 in HL and 6 in HL Maths. I've contacted both my choices (with similarly high requirements) and have already been rejected an offer by my Insurance. UCL, my Firm choice, is my last resort.
If relevant, I am an International Student. I have contacted UCL via email and they said that they have forwarded my email to the head of faculty. I am slightly pleased that they haven't made a decision yet (Schrodinger's lol).
As cited in my Personal Statement, I have a deep-rooted passion for Computing and hope to take this a step further by doing it in Higher Education (yes I know people say this, but my portfolio - I believe - demonstrates this). Unfortunately I've not applied to any other universities so I do not know what to do if I don't get in. Hopefully you'll see the panic haha, coming from an Asian family.
What's the best thing I can do right now?
P.S. I wouldn't like to delegate responsibility to a third party, but it really is unlucky that my institution has recently converted to the IB Diploma Programme and have taught us the wrong syllabus. Consequently a 5 in HL maths is the highest we've gotten. Everyone messed up Paper 3 in Maths as we were clueless to what was in there.

I read that if it's the school/teacher's fault that a letter could be written. Would this improve my chances of getting in at least?

Thanks.
In general, mentioning extenuating circumstances after you've got your results means they are given little weight by the university. If there was a big issue with the teaching, your referee should have informed your university ASAP. However, at this stage, they are still considering you, so you have nothing to lose by submitting such a letter if the school will write one.

At this stage, there's probably not much you can do to sway the university. Your outcome will probably depend on what happens after the UK results day.

The only other thing you might be able to do, if they reject you, is apply to other universities via clearing. Have a read about the clearing system, and see if this is something you will be interested in.
Reply 2
Avatar for euphorie
euphorie
8
Be aware of the universities in Clearing and make back up plans immediately. You should always be ready for the worst case scenario. Hopefully though UCL will accept you. Good luck!


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Reply 3
Avatar for star999
star999
Original post by GreenSlime96
Hi,
I graduated the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme with a total score of 40 and a HL score of 18 (5, 6, 7) in Maths, Chemistry and Physics respectively.
I endeavour to read Computer Science (MEng) in UCL, and have a conditional offer of 39 points with 19 in HL and 6 in HL Maths.

Thanks.

Given the course I would guess that missing by one point will be less of an issue than the fact that it was a HL Math 5 but good luck.
Your insurance was the same offer as firm?
I'm sorry to hear that you've had a difficult time in the last couple of weeks. It is quite unfair that a lot of universities will ask IB students to wait until A level results day, but at the same time, that's the only way that they can ensure that they balance their numbers.

At this stage all you can do on the UCL side of things is wait. It's likely that your track will update tomorrow morning as they will have made a decision alongside other people who missed their A level Maths result by a grade, for example. One thing that may happen is UCL offer you a place on their BEng course (if it has lower requirements) and then you would probably be able to move back to the MEng course following a satisfactory first or second year of study.

What you can be doing now is looking into options for clearing. If UCL doesn't work out and you would still be interested in going to university this year, then this is something you need to be focusing on tomorrow morning. I would look at the guides we have on TSR and generally start considering where you might want to contact - what about your other choices, for example, do you still have an interest in them? As above, if you applied to all MEng programmes then you could consider if you meet the requirements for the BEng but it is likely that the 5 in Maths is likely to be your biggest hurdle for computer science.

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