Successful Cambridge Applicants Chat - 2006

90/90 in biology, 94/100 in maths and 88/90 in chem, yay.

Reply 942

**noooni**

I am so disappointed
I raised a grade in Biology and Lit, which is good. But didn’t change my maths grade! Now its 2 marks of an A. It really hurts. And Biology is even worse this year because we are so behind and changed teachers 3 times already.
I've lost all hope of making that AAA offer.

Don't give up Nooni :smile:

I was worried about Bio last year too, but in the end I just found a really good revision guide and learnt my option back to front from that. A combination of CGP and the Oxford Illustrated revision guides worked well I found.
As for maths, that's a concern for me atm too, though I haven't found out my grades for the Jan modules yet :frown:

What module was it that you retook?

Reply 943

KAISER_MOLE

7

Aired, how on earth did you get 88/90 on CR&S?!?! Damn you! I got 69/90 on that. My results have pushed me a bit further above the A grade boundaries in Chemistry and Physics, from 5 and 10, to 15 and 21...furthermore no more organic stuff in chemistry :smile:

Reply 944

dappleddawndrawndauphin

**noooni**

I am so disappointed
I raised a grade in Biology and Lit, which is good. But didn’t change my maths grade! Now its 2 marks of an A. It really hurts. And Biology is even worse this year because we are so behind and changed teachers 3 times already.
I've lost all hope of making that AAA offer.

Hey that's amazing, you raised two subjects by a grade - I'd be impressed with yourself if I were you, I'd never be able to make the effort to do something like that! & if the Maths is only 2 marks off, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't get an A - you're practically there already. Don't panic :smile:

Plus, if your quality of teaching has been that bad maybe Cambridge would make some allowances if you missed your offer by a little bit? I bet you won't though, if you've been able to pull yourself up a grade in 2 subjects in one set of resits, you'll be fine!

Reply 945

Aired

KAISER_MOLE

Aired, how on earth did you get 88/90 on CR&S?!?! Damn you! I got 69/90 on that. My results have pushed me a bit further above the A grade boundaries in Chemistry and Physics, from 5 and 10, to 15 and 21...furthermore no more organic stuff in chemistry :smile:

Organic chemistry has been one of my favorite bits of the a-level, and I just find it quite easy to learn the different reactions and link them all together :redface:

I worked out before that in the summer I need to get 50% in biology & chemistry and 60% in maths to meet my offer, so I'm feeling quite hopeful at the moment!

Reply 946

KAISER_MOLE

7

I need either 73% in Chemistry or 70% in Physics for the third A grade, need 52% in Further Maths for an A grade in that, is the difference between these percentages noticeable? :p:

Reply 947

afoneleri

Okay, I confirm - I really don't understand how the A levels work. For the IB we get one set of grades from internal assesment (i.e. coursework) and one set of grades from final exams...

Reply 948

sassygirl

I didn't really do re-takes, but I resubmitted some coursework because everybody's got marked down.. unfortunately, mine only went up by 4 marks, which is disappointing, but I never felt that my AS coursework was too good anyway! So now I've got 268. So I didn't reach the 90% mark (which I'd like to have reached). But I learned my lesson about coursework and my A2 bio coursework is now going very well.. things should be okay. Hey, at least my Imperial offer is AABC.

On the other hand... I'm turning 18 tomorrow!! WOOHOOO!!!

Reply 949

Happy Birthday! (in advance) :biggrin:

Reply 950

Thanks Apagg, jiglypuff and Perdition for being so nice. The main reason I was so disappointed is because I am what you call ‘mathematically’ challenged – (ie. Stupid at maths) and it will be very very hard to get the A this year. And with Biology I don’t want to tell Cambridge about the teacher change because I don’t want them to think I am making excuses. I just came back from parents evening and the plan now is to ‘try as hard as I can’ and maybe re-sit mechanics. What ever happens this summer happens.

Reply 951

sassygirl

I didn't really do re-takes, but I resubmitted some coursework because everybody's got marked down.. unfortunately, mine only went up by 4 marks, which is disappointing, but I never felt that my AS coursework was too good anyway! So now I've got 268. So I didn't reach the 90% mark (which I'd like to have reached). But I learned my lesson about coursework and my A2 bio coursework is now going very well.. things should be okay. Hey, at least my Imperial offer is AABC.

On the other hand... I'm turning 18 tomorrow!! WOOHOOO!!!

Hope you have a great 18th!

I still have 2 more months of being 17. :cool:

Reply 952

**noooni**

Thanks Apagg, jiglypuff and Perdition for being so nice. The main reason I was so disappointed is because I am what you call ‘mathematically’ challenged – (ie. Stupid at maths) and it will be very very hard to get the A this year. And with Biology I don’t want to tell Cambridge about the teacher change because I don’t want them to think I am making excuses. I just came back from parents evening and the plan now is to ‘try as hard as I can’ and maybe re-sit mechanics. What ever happens this summer happens.

:dito: practice makes perfect, they keep telling me, but...

Reply 953

Apagg

:dito: practice makes perfect, they keep telling me, but...

I do practice :redface:

while on the subject- do you know where i can get some M1, S1, C3, and C4 practice papers online?

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By the way everyone, if i decided to re-sit something that i didnt put on the SAQ (because i didnt think i would re-sit) do i have to inform Cambridge?

Reply 954

KAISER_MOLE

7

nooni, have a look at the maths academic subforum, there should be a sticky 'Ultimate maths resource' or something, has a bunch of past papers/mark schemes on there. If you get stuck on maths do come on to the maths subforum, there is usually someone lurking around to give some help.

On the second part, I don't know >.<

edit: The thread is actually 'Useful Links'

Reply 955

**noooni**

I do practice :redface:

while on the subject- do you know where i can get some M1, S1, C3, and C4 practice papers online?

------------------------------------------------------------
By the way everyone, if i decided to re-sit something that i didnt put on the SAQ (because i didnt think i would re-sit) do i have to inform Cambridge?

If you like Nooni, I can send you a few papers I have which don't seem to be on the "Useful Links" page. You have my heartfelt sympathies on the whole maths issue. I'm rushing through it in a year after a break of two years in which I've done no maths, and it isn't pleasant. I'm in the maths help forums fairly often :biggrin:

I don't think you should need to inform them of a resit, as it can only lead to a higher mark. If you're dropping a subject or something similar, they should be told, but as that's not the case, I wouldn't have thought so. Could always send the admissions tutor a brief email to check, of course :smile:

Reply 956

Thank-you so much Kaiser Mole and Apagg. I am going to check out the maths sub-forum.
And Apagg (only if you can and its not too much hassle) I would really appreciate the papers.

Reply 957

Just saw the 'useful links' bit on the maths sub-forum. There is so much!

Reply 958

Aired

The maths sub-forum is what's getting me through the a-level, lol :rolleyes:

Reply 959

parsleythelion