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The "I'm scared I'm going to miss my offer" thread

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Reply 100
I'm pretty scared about missing my offer.

I got ABCc last year, and I'm predicted ABB this year.

My original plan was to put down a university that wanted ABB as my firm choice, and one that wanted ABC or something as my insurance.

Unfortunately, physics is a really annoying subject. There are loads of universities that want AAA-ABB, and loads that want BCC and below, but I couldn't find any in between.

So I've ended up with Nottingham's AAB as my firm choice, and York's ABB as my insurance. So if I miss out on my predicted grates, I'm stuck.

My plan is to do a third year. I can resit whatever subject(s) let me down, do A2 chemistry (since I already did AS), and maybe pick up an easy third subject too (like, I dunno, computing or something). Then I can re-apply to the same places and try again.

But I really don't want to have to do that. I want to go to university this year. So the whole thing is quite scary, especially given how bad my January results were.
I need AAB for business management in queens + b in gcse maths. I'm not overly worried about my alevel grades but after totally messing up my maths non calculator paper yesterday I'm not sure I'll be able to get enough marks in paper 2 for a b. :frown: I'll need 75-80/105 if my first exam went as bad as I thought (which it probably did seeing as I had to make up answers for some of the question just so I didn't leave anything blank :frown:)
Reply 102
Original post by skibur
just make sure you get the B in maths if you think you will miss their offer, Maths will look a lot better at a Grade B as you're applying for Physics.


Ah yeah true i was thinking that as well, cool thanks
Wow. Reading through this topic has made me feel queezy. Some people needing As and higher for their courses. Ouch.

I've already achieved an A and a B, in product design technology and electronics respectively. The only reason I didn't get A*/A was because I was busy not giving a damn during that year and thoroughly messed things up for myself. But this year I'm resitting my physics (previously scored a C at AS, and brought it down to an E by the aforementioned predicament) and taking up AS maths. I need a BBC (including maths) at A2 for my first choice, and 280 points (with AS maths) for my insurance. However, I did speak with the admissions team, and my main choice seemed quite happy to offer me a place provided I can get a C at AS maths instead. So I just need to chase them up on results day to make sure they stick to their guns.


I'm honestly not too concerned about this stage of degree though. I've got a good friend who did a similar course at the same university without any maths (before they changed their requirements a few years ago) and he since went on to become successful with an international company. So long as I can get a bachelors, hopefully I can move onto my masters in my chosen subject area, and work from there. A lesser university is really not the end of the world for me, and I can continue my higher level studies somewhere else.


I just need the maths, which has been my downfall.
Original post by Tsunami2011
I'm so ****ed, and the strange thing is that I may end up with A*A*BB and still not get in despite my offer being AAA :frown:




Forgive me for prying but you have an AAA offer from Oxford for Medicine and 99.5% at AS for English Literature? What exactly are you worried about? :smile:


I know, it's just that English is my hardest exam by far and I just have a niggling doubt that I won't get the amount of marks I need to get an A overall :colondollar:
Reply 105
Original post by confused dot com
I know, it's just that English is my hardest exam by far and I just have a niggling doubt that I won't get the amount of marks I need to get an A overall :colondollar:


If the LITA exams are anything like the LITB ones, then you've scored 99.5% in exams worth 70% of your final score. You've essentially got a B already. All you'll need for an A overall is a high U in your final exam.

Really not sure why you're worrying...
Original post by Liam_G
If the LITA exams are anything like the LITB ones, then you've scored 99.5% in exams worth 70% of your final score. You've essentially got a B already. All you'll need for an A overall is a high U in your final exam.

Really not sure why you're worrying...


Wait, when you say exams so far, do you mean all of AS English and A2 coursework together? I don't know how AQA scoring works as all of my other exams are edexcel :/
Original post by confused dot com
Wait, when you say exams so far, do you mean all of AS English and A2 coursework together? I don't know how AQA scoring works as all of my other exams are edexcel :/


From all the modules you've completed (in your sig) and the % you've said you've achieved, to get an A you need 42 UMS, just over 33%


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone App
Original post by cpdavis
From all the modules you've completed (in your sig) and the % you've said you've achieved, to get an A you need 42 UMS, just over 33%


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone App


Thanks, so that would mean just over an E then.
Reply 109
Original post by confused dot com
Wait, when you say exams so far, do you mean all of AS English and A2 coursework together? I don't know how AQA scoring works as all of my other exams are edexcel :/


Each year of coursework is worth 20% of your final mark, and each exam is worth £30%.

You've sat your AS exam (30%), and finished two years worth of coursework (20% + 20% = 40%). So far you've completed 70% of your course, and of a maximum 70% you have achieved 69.65%.

To get an A you need 80%+ of your total A level, so you need to get 10.35% out of the maximum 30% in your final exam.

10.35 divided by 30 = 0.345, so you need approximately 34% on your final exam to get an A overall. A high U grade.

This all changes slightly when you take UMS into account instead of raw percentages. You might not even need to get as much as 34%.
Reply 110
Original post by confused dot com
Thanks, so that would mean just over an E then.


Nope. < 40% is a U grade.

I really, really don't know why you're worried :p:
Original post by Liam_G
Nope. < 40% is a U grade.

I really, really don't know why you're worried :p:


Ohhh, totally forgot it is out of 120 not 100. I probably sound completely neurotic now :colondollar:
Panic panic panic. Need 90% in my exam tomorrow to get an A* or goodbye Warwick:frown:
Reply 113
I need A*AA for Cambridge (with the A* in French or Spanish), and I'm absolutely peeing myself over whether or not I've got the A*. I know I ought to get an A (touch wood!), but the A* is a completely different matter. Waah
Brought here by Edexcel Biology :frown:
Reply 115
Original post by confused dot com
English Lit Unit 3 :'(


:cry:
Edexcel? Same.
Original post by Gawjuz.x
:cry:
Edexcel? Same.


AQA unfortunately, they seem to have a thing for ambiguous texts :redface:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 117
Original post by Minerva
At this time of year many people worry a lot about whether they are going to make their offers. For some people it's simply a loss of confidence, while others are panicking about that exam that they are sure went really badly and can’t imagine how they will get the grades they need. This thread is for you :smile:

Extenuating Circumstances
If you have been ill or there have been other things going on in your life (eg bereavement) which may have significantly affected either your revision or the exam itself, you should make sure that your school/college informs both the Exam Board and your firm/insurance unis well before Results are published. There is no guarantee that this information will be taken into account, but on the other hand it can’t be if the Exam Board/unis don’t have it in the first place. Bear in mind, however, that you are very likely to be expected to provide some documentary evidence of the issue, whatever it was.

If you have had a teaching disaster - wrong syllabus, absent/incompetent teachers - the school/college should be prepared to write to the unis concerned to inform them about it. Again, there's no guarantee the uni will take any notice, but it can be helpful.

I’m panicking I don’t know enough/the work is going really badly/I don’t understand a key topic
Easy to say, but really important: stay calm. Freaking out is not a good strategy for exam preparation. However bad things may seem, unless you’ve been bone idle you certainly know more than you think you do, and you’ll be surprised how much surfaces when you need it in the exam.

Try and be organised in your approach to revision, but don’t beat yourself up if the timetable doesn’t work out quite like that. Most revision timetables are works of fiction worthy of the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you are too distracted at home, go into school/college or a library and work there instead.

If there’s a topic you absolutely have to understand and you don’t, contact your teacher and ask for help. It's not a good idea to rely on your friends unless you are absolutely certain they know what they’re about :smile:

Keeping well...

Looking after your health is really important. Don’t stay up all night on TSR; try not to sleep late in the mornings (yeah, yeah, I know) and make sure you get out for some fresh air every day; a brisk walk beforehand is excellent preparation for an exam. Seriously.

Try not to eat too much random rubbish; keeping the fruit and veg and plenty of water going in will improve your ability to fend off the bugs, and generally help you to cope with the stress more positively. Remember to take some plain water into the exam with you as your brain works better if you have enough fluid on board!

I’m sure I failed/won’t have got the grade I need
Whatever happened in yesterday’s exam, however disastrous you thought it was, don’t be distracted from the exams you still have to do. You are likely to have done better than you thought, and there will be very little more annoying than to find out in August that it was the exams after the ‘disaster’ that actually let you down.

If I do miss my offer, what are the chances that my firm/insurance uni will let me in anyway?
No-one can say what your chances are. The higher ranked the university, and the more competitive the course, the more likely it will be that they won’t take you if you don’t meet your offer. HOWEVER this is not definite, by any means. In previous years, many unis have accepted people who’ve missed their offers, even for competitive courses, so do not assume that all is lost. The only time when you will know for sure either way is on Results Day, so there is little to be gained by worrying about it now, and it is a terrible waste of energy if you still have exams to do.



Can I apply for a foundation year if I'm that worried that I may not get my offers? Or must I apply for a foundation year beforehand..it's not like I can call a university on results day asking them to take me in for a foundation degree? QMUL are asking for AAB for BSc Mathematics and I have a feeling I might get AAC or ABC :/ - is that a sensible option for me?
Politics is my make or break subject. My first choice offered me the lowest out of all 5 (ABB) so if I don't get that I'm screwed. I'm confident I can get As in French and German as I got strong As last year and I'm confident with the content, but I was 2 marks of a B in politics last year, so if I don't get a B in my A2s to bring it up to a B overall I'm screwed!!
Reply 119
Hey I got BCDe with my AS levels (quite dissapointing) but after January resits I have achieved AAB at AS level.
My firm choice of Sheffield is looking for ABB and I think it is likely that I will be getting BBB just missing out on the A.
I was wondering how you determine if a situation is extenuating or not, because I am having some pretty serious thoracic surgery in July, which is obviously scaring me half to death. I have a pre operation meeting/x rays and stuff on the day of an exam, I'm not sure how it will effect my performance. Do you think it's worth letting anyone know about these worries or should I just wait until results day?
Who knows maybe I will do better than I think I will?

Thanks :smile:

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