Life in Crisis- Retake and Gap year or move forward in life

Hello fellow IB studentsFirst of all, Congratz to all of you for passing the IB and especially for those of you who scored decent enough score to meet your well earned uni offers and those who get to attend their dream uni/desired uniwell, my story is a bit different.Many of you may be in the same boat as meOK. I know how ****ed up the IB predicted score system is. I was predicted a 43. I took: Eng A SL, Spanish Ab, Econ SL, Physics HL(bloody hell), Math HL, and Chem HLwell here is the thing. I never missed a 7 in Math HL and Chem HL, and I always ended up with either 6 or 7 at school - and most of the test questions were off I think off past papers maybe.English I normally scored around high 5 or low 6, Spanish 6, Econ I always scored 7 or high 6Well that doesn't matter now because I ****ed up my exams and don't know what to do.Ok, I want to study electrical & electronics engineering in Uni because I want to do robotics for my job. I want to go do postgrad in US at heavy funded schools like MIT/CalI had offer from Imperial with 6's in Math and Physics HL with an overall of 39 pointsHad an insurance offer from Bristol with 6's in Math HL and Physics HL with an overall of 36 pointsWell surprise surprise, my **** IB with 33 will never reach there with math being a ****ing 5 and physics being 6.(My score breakdown is Eng 4 Span 5 Econ 6 Math 5 Phy 6 Chem 6 - C and C in TOK/EE)Cried for few days, sent few subjects for remarks as they were liike 2 or 3 points off the boundary - Math, Eng and TOkhoping to reach 36 so I can at least attend BristolWell I'm not sure what to do. Thinking of taking a gap year in November, but that means I have to go through the crazy US/UK **** all over again - which I could manage I guess - but they will be asking me why I took a year out and I can't be like 'Cuz I messed up my IB Exam' up to your standard.I tried UCAS clearing, which didn't really help as with my current score, the unis I want to go to are pretty unfulfilling to me. I called Imperial and Bristol; all they told me was to wait until A level and if they have extra space, they'll let me in- which I heavily doubt for Imperial and Bristol (too much competition man)Resitting all my subjectsDon't know what to do or where to start - need advice for those who have resit and have succeded. (Can't even access my exam result- on the side thought, I write messy and big answers so used like 2 refill booklets for every exam - excluding Eng and Econ. Could that maybe affect how the examiner might mark as he/she could rage quit?)Even I take a gap year, have to wait until next September to attendSome people suggested me Australia, but hate the weather- especially Melbourne (no offense to Aussies man)My other option is to go to uni in my country (NZ) which is UoA, but **** don't really wanna go there - UoA vs Imperial at trying post grad for fancy US unis - I would pick ImperialI am open to all advices/uni/tips on what to do with my life. Sent emails to IB coordinator an email to ask for advice/ asked this massive uni consulting company in NZ (for those Nzers, you know which one I am talking about) and they come back to me with an invoice of $25000 NZD to give me advice and telling me what to do. I am literally confused, want to get motivated, but can't because so confused with what to do in my lifeI was considering transfer until I found it is near impossible for such places like ImperialHELP ME OUT FELLOW IB STUDENTs. Although this may not count towards your CAS hours, I appreciate your time for reading my story and would even appreciate further if you could help me out to find a solution.Thanks everyone!

Reply 1

Legendary Quest

Paragraphs next time. :wink:

I'm not an IB student but I can tell you that gap years are not bad. Use that time wisely. If you want to retake a couple of exams then go for it but also get yourself a job, do work experience, take part in new activities, etc. Don't go to a university or a country if you don't want to. You will regret it.

As of Imperial and Bristol, keep a very close eye on them. Some people will definitely miss their offers meaning they *might* be able to squeeze you in. If not, consider having at look at clearing. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=4647-How-to-find-the-course-you-want-in-Clearing