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Declining Grade's for Oxbridge.

I took 6 AS-Levels, and was only carrying 4 foward and wanted just to re-sit the other two subjects. However, I missed the decline deadline, so is there any way to still re-do two Unit's from both subjects, and not have my original grade shown?

I am applying for 2009 by the way, so maybe I can have time to do it next year?

Reply 1

Alewhey

I'm too drunk to comment sensibly but from the topic title it sounded like you were bemoaning the number of chavs and proles that are getting into Oxbridge and I was about to rush in to agree with you, oh yes.

Not really.

Grammar police!

x_LiNk_x

I took 6 AS-Levels, and was only carrying 4 foward and wanted just to re-sit the other two subjects. However, I missed the decline deadline, so is there any way to still re-do two Unit's from both subjects, and not have my original grade shown?

I am applying for 2009 by the way, so maybe I can have time to do it next year?

Much a's I'd like nothing more than to lend you s'ome a's'si'stance on thi's matter, if you can't be bothered to type properly then I'm afraid I can't be bothered to di'spen'se the relevant ~~advi'ce~~ advice.

(Go'sh, that wa's hard.)

Reply 4

Lidka

13

It depends wholly on which university you apply for. I think Cambridge will want to know all your modules, retakes and all. Not sure about Oxford.

Please, for the love of God, you do not need an apostrophe to make a plural of 'grades'. It is a perfectly regular plural as it is; stop hurting it. I recommend that you research basic grammar before you consider applying, because something like that is going to send your application down. If something has an s in it, it is already a plural. So you don't need one for 'units' either. See?

Reply 5

Profesh

20

hobnob

l'ol

Are you French?

Reply 6

hobnob

14

Profesh

Are you French?

No, I just thought the apostrophe would add a touch of sophistication when placed before the O rather than after it. lo'l looks so frightfully common...

Reply 7

Niccolo

6

x_LiNk_x

I took 6 AS-Levels, and was only carrying 4 foward and wanted just to re-sit the other two subjects. However, I missed the decline deadline, so is there any way to still re-do two Unit's from both subjects, and not have my original grade shown?

I am applying for 2009 by the way, so maybe I can have time to do it next year?

This really gets on my tits. 'Declining' grades as if you were declining an offer to go for a drink. Look, you're the one who got them, if you did badly in your AS levels then tough ****, it is more than fair that the admissions tutors get to know about it. You don't want them giving you an offer thinking you're smarter than you are, only to end up doing badly when you get here, do you?

Reply 8

Profesh

20

Niccolo

This really gets on my tits. 'Declining' grades as if you were declining an offer to go for a drink. Look, you're the one who got them, if you did badly in your AS levels then tough ****, it is more than fair that the admissions tutors get to know about it. You don't want them giving you an offer thinking you're smarter than you are, only to end up doing badly when you get here, do you?

How would that work?

Reply 9

Niccolo

6

Profesh

How would that work?

Well, imagine the person(s) assessing the application sees decent GCSEs, no AS level scores (just say we're talking Oxford, I know that in Cambridge these are now compulsory) and you perform better in the interview than a fair number of your rivals. Thus, they offer you a place, oblivious to the fact that you actually got ABBD in your AS levels. If you got that, then the chances are you will not get a 2.1 in the vast majority of Oxbridge courses, because you are either not that hard-working, not that intelligent, or a mixture of both.

Reply 10

Andy H

6

Niccolo - the OP would still be carrying forward 4 AS level grades, so the relavent Oxbridge college will be able to make an informed decision.

LiNk - I know it is a morale thing not putting down weaker grades, but how much weaker are we talking? If it is like AAAABB or even like AAABBC etc, I really wouldn't worry! As long as you have strong grades in the A-Levels relavent to your subject. Possibly expect questions at interview as to why you didn't do aswell in certain subjects... (I got asked why I got a B in a certain GCSE! :O )

Reply 11

Profesh

20

Niccolo

Well, imagine the person(s) assessing the application sees decent GCSEs, no AS level scores (just say we're talking Oxford, I know that in Cambridge these are now compulsory) and you perform better in the interview than a fair number of your rivals. Thus, they offer you a place, oblivious to the fact that you actually got ABBD in your AS levels. If you got that, then the chances are you will not get a 2.1 in the vast majority of Oxbridge courses, because you are either not that hard-working, not that intelligent, or a mixture of both.

Of course; but I imagine the fact of any ensuing offer being stipulated at 'AAA' would probably somewhat pre-empt that scenario.

Reply 12

Niccolo

6

Profesh

Of course; but I imagine the fact of any ensuing offer being stipulated at 'AAA' would probably somewhat pre-empt that scenario.

I would probably contest that, on the grounds that the pathetic re-sit culture that pervades the educational system at sixth-form level actually makes getting AAA at A2 a piece of piss in comparison with getting AAAA at AS, despite AS levels obviously being easier (remember at the time that you take them, with regards maturity and academic development they probably aren't any easier than A2s are in year 13-these things are relative). I have seen people who only deserve a C in A-level Maths, Spanish, French and History end up with an A or B overall, despite getting a C/D in the A2 portion of the exam, simply because you can resit the three AS modules and what seemed difficult then seems facile now, simply because you have been taught to a higher level, irrespective of ability.

Reply 13

Jigglypuff

16

If you've missed the decline deadline, I don't think there is any way you can prevent universities seeing your grades on UCAS.

This might affect your application to other universities, but you would have had to disclose your marks for each unit in the form Cambridge send you anyway (not sure on Oxford's policy).

Niccolo

I have seen people who only deserve a C in A-level Maths, Spanish, French and History end up with an A or B overall, despite getting a C/D in the A2 portion of the exam, simply because you can resit the three AS modules and what seemed difficult then seems facile now, simply because you have been taught to a higher level, irrespective of ability.

Indeed. The A2 results are always so much better than AS in my old school, especially in languages as students are encouraged to re-sit as many language modules as they can. I even managed to get a few more marks in the January of Year 13 by re-sitting a German exam, and I hadn't even spoken, read or written the language since June (I dropped the subject after my AS exam). I definitely think the re-sit system needs to be revised, or even dropped completely. I'll admit I used it to my advantage in order to get a high C (one mark away from a B) up to a low B, so I could accept an AABb offer from Warwick as my insurance, but it's going a bit too far when people start re-taking a whole AS in order to do well at A2.

Reply 14

coldfish

12

A quick (vaguely related) note: I wish people wouldn't continually lambast how easy A-levels are due to resits. Most schools don't allow people to resit whatever exams they please, as it costs them entry money. It is the minority of schools (afaik) that abuse the system so extensively.

Edit: And building on what Jigglypuff said, I think there's a world of difference between resitting a module or two which you should have done much better in, and a blanket re-sit of all modules.

Reply 15

Craghyrax

17

Additionally, grades are not always an indication of a person's capacity in the subject. Take a dyslexic friend of mine who repeatedly scores poor grades in his exams, yet is very gifted in understanding and applying science :s-smilie:

Such people should be allowed to resit papers without it negatively reflecting on their ability or intelligence.

Reply 16

Jigglypuff

16

coldfish

A quick (vaguely related) note: I wish people wouldn't continually lambast how easy A-levels are due to resits. Most schools don't allow people to resit whatever exams they please, as it costs them entry money. It is the minority of schools (afaik) that abuse the system so extensively.

Edit: And building on what Jigglypuff said, I think there's a world of difference between resitting a module or two which you should have done much better in, and a blanket re-sit of all modules.

My school made us pay ourselves for re-sits, I always assumed this was the case in the majority of schools. :s-smilie:

Reply 17

Niccolo

6

Jigglypuff

My school made us pay ourselves for re-sits, I always assumed this was the case in the majority of schools. :s-smilie:

You are right. This is the case in the vast majority of schools. I don't know where exactly anybody who suggests otherwise spent their A-level years...

And to people suggesting that exams do not always reflect people's ability (Cragyhrax): No, I suppose that in a very small minority of cases, they don't. But it is by far the best measure that anybody has, and AS levels will be the most advanced/challenging exams anybody has sat before applying to uni in a majority of cases. Playing for Barcelona does not automatically mean you are a better football player than somebody playing for Bolton. But it certainly suggests that you are to any logical observer who doesn't have much else by way of other information on which to assess you. Deal with it.

And by the way, I'm not saying you should automatically be penalised for doing badly in your AS exams or doing resits, in the way that top law firms and investment banks auto-filter applications with less than AAB at A-level. Rather, I just think that your grades and the amount of resits you have done should be up there for all involved in the application process to see, to make sure that your ability can be assessed against that of people who have got AAAA and do not need to resit modules in order to do well. Again, the interview gives you a chance to prove you aren't that dim if this is genuinely the case. That is all.

Reply 18

x_LiNk_x

OP

13

Bloody hell, I didn't really know you guys cared so much about grammer. I don't actually know why I put an apostrophe on grades, I was probably rushing because I was really nervous waiting for a reply.

Anyways, I don't really think I'm dim seeing as I got 4A's (history,english, maths and business), I just messed up in PE (C) and our sociology teacher took the last 3 months of school off because she figured out she had breast cancer :eek:

Reply 19

Good bloke

19

It always worries me when people who study English to a high level cannot spell "grammar" and don't know about punctuation.

Declining Grade's for Oxbridge.

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