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cambridge: is 3 resits too many ?

im a year 12 hoping to apply for oxbridge for maths (i prefer cambridge as a uni but am considering oxford due to the absence of step exams)
i am resitting 3 exams from january in june (C2 82/100) (Bio 68/90) (chem 78/100)
other results were 95 and 96 in c1 and m1
it says one or two module resits are fine, although I think i may be pushing it here
any thoughts
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 1
Original post by yoitsro
im a year 12 hoping to apply for oxbridge for maths (i prefer cambridge as a uni but am considering oxford due to the absence of step exams)
i am resitting 3 exams from january in june (C2 82/100) (Bio 68/90) (chem 78/80)
other results were 95 and 96 in c1 and m1
it says one or two module resits are fine, although I think i may be pushing it here
any thoughts


Why are you resitting Chemistry if you were 2 marks off full marks? :confused:
Reply 2
Original post by wibletg
Why are you resitting Chemistry if you were 2 marks off full marks? :confused:


lol why would i :P
typo there was out of 100
Reply 3
Before anyone questions me, I've heard this right from the horse's mouth, (from Stephen Siklos, who is a fairly big cheese in both STEP and UG maths at Cambridge as a whole). He said that they understand it's possible to have one or more bad days while sitting exams. Therefore, if, on a resit, there is a significant improvement, eg from the high 70s to the mid-90s, they would understand that you had a bad day first time around. However, if you don't make much of an improvement second time around, it tells them that perhaps your understanding of A-level material is lacking.
Reply 4
Original post by yoitsro
im a year 12 hoping to apply for oxbridge for maths (i prefer cambridge as a uni but am considering oxford due to the absence of step exams)
i am resitting 3 exams from january in june (C2 82/100) (Bio 68/90) (chem 78/100)
other results were 95 and 96 in c1 and m1
it says one or two module resits are fine, although I think i may be pushing it here
any thoughts


Resits in June of the first year don't strictly count for UMS ranking at Cambridge. However unless the 82/100 was a complete disaster surprise result it might suggest Cambridge was a stretch too far as most serious mathematicians are bunching around the 95-100 mark. (They are less worries about your other results for maths.) Are you doing FM too? Without it they will want fairly convincing proof that your maths will be strong enough. However only 50% of offer holders actually do well enough in STEP to get in, STEP shows how well you can cope with less spoon-fed maths problems. Oxford is regarded (at least by Cambridge mathematicians) as easier to get in and I think they still don't ask for UMS unless it has changed recently.
Reply 5
Original post by Colmans
Resits in June of the first year don't strictly count for UMS ranking at Cambridge. However unless the 82/100 was a complete disaster surprise result it might suggest Cambridge was a stretch too far as most serious mathematicians are bunching around the 95-100 mark. (They are less worries about your other results for maths.) Are you doing FM too? Without it they will want fairly convincing proof that your maths will be strong enough. However only 50% of offer holders actually do well enough in STEP to get in, STEP shows how well you can cope with less spoon-fed maths problems. Oxford is regarded (at least by Cambridge mathematicians) as easier to get in and I think they still don't ask for UMS unless it has changed recently.


82 was definitely a blip
im doing fm, doing c3c4 this year and the rest next year
im considering oxford for that reason, because whilst it isnt cambridge, its only second or third down the line
thanks though

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