Does repeating reduce the chance of getting into Cambridge

Hi guys, received my results yesterday was not good as I expected. I was thinking of taking a gap year if I did good but now it is impossible to apply based on my current results．　I wonder if I can repeat the final year and apply to study land econ at Cambridge this Oct. Many ppl have told me that repeating will severely reduce the chance of getting into Cambridge based on its competitive admissions. I wonder how bad it will affect my application? And do you have to let them know that you're a repeat?　Ｍａｎｙ　ｔｈａｎｋｓ

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Reply 1

perflous

You will have to let them know that you're repeating the year, and yes, it will negatively affect your application.

Reply 2

Candidate185

Original post by perflous

You will have to let them know that you're repeating the year, and yes, it will negatively affect your application.

Thank you for replying. Does this mean they will set higher conditions to meet if you're offered conditionally or you will have less chance of getting an offer?

Reply 3

Mutleybm1996

Original post by perflous

You will have to let them know that you're repeating the year, and yes, it will negatively affect your application.

Don't be silly. They would take someone who got A*A*A+(If the OP is looking at Cambridge) over 3 years rather than one who got A*AA over 2. Obviously if someone got A*A*A+ over 2 years then they would probably offer the place to them

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Reply 4

Candidate185

Original post by Mutleybm1996

Thank you for replying. I'm from Ireland got A1AAAA which is equivalent to A*AA in Alevel I thinK(not sure). The thing is I did very bad(B) in my math which is ridiculous cuz math is my best subject, going to paper recheck next week. I was aiming for 6A1s=4A*s in Alevel but you can see most of the grades dropped from A1 to A

Reply 5

Colmans

Original post by Mutleybm1996

No they won't. The average entrant to Cambridge gets 3A* for science degrees and 2A* for Arts at first sitting. Every year they turn away twice as many people who go on to meet the minimum grades required.
They specifically state that the grades have to be met from exams taken in one sitting. When I applied I already had an A from an A level taken two years early, but this was not allowed to be part of my offer. (Whereas Durham only asked for a further two A grades.)

Unless the OP does entirely new subjects Cambridge is not an option.

Reply 6

Candidate185

Original post by Colmans

Unless the OP does entirely new subjects - Hi does this mean I will need to redo every subjects I’d taken in this June and resit all the exams next June, thats how I am going to do anyway. Or, it means all the subjects I did this June I shall not retake them this Sept?

Reply 7

BJack

Original post by Candidate185

New subjects are subjects you haven't already taken. If you've already taken them, they're not new....

Reply 8

perflous

Original post by Mutleybm1996

That's not true, for the reasons that other posters have stated. If you're Cambridge material, you should be capable of getting the top grades within the two year period of yr12/13. Cambridge have enough applicants with excellent grades (A*AA+) that they can afford to turn down someone who took much longer to get the grades, especially if they did not have any extenuating circumstances.

Reply 9

perflous

Original post by Candidate185

Thank you for replying. Does this mean they will set higher conditions to meet if you're offered conditionally or you will have less chance of getting an offer?

Both, I think. But I'm no expert.

Reply 10

Candidate185

Original post by BJack

New subjects are subjects you haven't already taken. If you've already taken them, they're not new....

Well.. these subjects are the ones related to the course I want to do in Uni, I think that is weird if I can't retake them this year, any reasons?

Reply 11

Candidate185

Original post by perflous

Both, I think. But I'm no expert.

So let me conclude this discussion, if I retake the subjects I did this year, no matter how good I perform in my interviews, there is only a very small chance of me getting an offer? this is pure sadness :eek:

Reply 12

perflous

Original post by Candidate185

It will really just depend on the grades you got now, and the grades you would receive after retakes. It's hard to make a judgement without knowing the full circumstances, but if you perform well at interview and get excellent grades (in the region of A*A*A) you do stand a chance. I can't tell you how great that chance will be, unfortunately - try contacting a Cambridge admissions tutor? If your grades were really that bad this year, it probably is still worth doing retakes.

Reply 13

fluteflute

Original post by Colmans

They specifically state that the grades have to be met from exams taken in one sitting.

I'm not sure this is a general rule?

(I of course acknowledge your experience!)

Reply 14

Candidate185

Original post by perflous

Thank you. Btw, how can I contact a Cambridge admissions tutor? I emailed them once but they simply ignored me. The most recent open day is on 5th Sept but I need to make my decision about whether repeating before Sept ie.Contact my old school etc.

Reply 15

Colmans

Original post by fluteflute

I'm not sure this is a general rule?

(I of course acknowledge your experience!)

I believe it is:
"Where students are successfully taking qualifications early, we would still want to see evidence that they can cope with a workload equivalent to three A Levels taken simultaneously."

It is stated even more definitively on the Oxford, Imperial & UCL websites. My LSE offer also discounted my early A-level.

Reply 16

Colmans

Original post by Candidate185

Irish Leaving Certificate

A typical offer for the Irish Leaving Certificate is AAAAA at Higher Level. Applicants may be required to achieve A1 in the subjects most relevant to the course applied for.

So whilst not outstanding you have met the minimum offer for a course which is not one of the most competitive. If you apply they are going to judge you on these results.

"Resits
A student's application is unlikely to be adversely affected by their resitting one or two modules – we appreciate that even very capable students may have a 'bad day' when an exam does not go quite to plan.

On the other hand, there would be concern about an applicant's potential to be successful at Cambridge if they need to resit numerous exams, particularly where only a marginal improvement could be achieved. This is because once at the University, students are regularly assessed by examination and there is no opportunity to resit any exams.
Applicants should indicate their intention to resit any exams in their SAQ. Where there are particular reasons for underperformance in qualifications it is useful if these can be outlined in the school/college reference."

This statement is primarily aimed at people who are resitting AS exams in their A2 year, but the comments about resitting numerous exams and explaining under-performance do apply to you. So you have to decide if you have extenuating circumstances to explain your under-performance or did you have a large number of bad days? Will your school state in your reference that your work had suggested a better set of results were expected?

There is no way that you can just go back, resit the whole lot and then be judged on an equal footing with somebody who did better first time. But if you interviewed well and the school said they had expected better an unconditional offer is not impossible.

Reply 17

fluteflute

Original post by Candidate185

You know that (other than the B) your grades are very good? The Cambridge website says "A typical offer for the Irish Leaving Certificate is AAAAA at Higher Level. Applicants may be required to achieve A1 in the subjects most relevant to the course applied for."

If the B turns out to be wrong, there's no reason you can't apply to Cambridge. In fact, even if it was just a B, you're not even required to have taken Maths in order to study Land Economy. It's clearly not ideal, but not disastrous.

So it seems to me that you ought to apply (this year) and see what happens. Nobody can be sure of getting in, and that obviously applies to you too. But give it a go and you might get in.

Reply 18

Candidate185

Original post by fluteflute

Hi thank you so much for the encouragement. So if i go applying this year without repeating is better than i go applying this year while repeating(with new predicted grades)? Or does it make any difference。.

My plan was applying this Oct for sure and repeating my final year too so resit my LC next June cuz I honestly feel that I deserve a better result. I might take two or three different subjects this time.

Again thank you for encouraging cuz I’m kind of depressed now...

Reply 19

fluteflute

Original post by Candidate185

There doesn't seem to be much point in you repeating the year. (Of course I might be wrong, talk to your teachers!) Presumably what you've already got is enough for other universities? It would be nice to have higher grades, but once you've been to university, nobody will care about these results!

If you want to do some more subjects, for fun, in your 'gap year' then go for it, but just repeating for the sake of it will I imagine just be more depressing.