So, I am starting this discussion simply because I would like to get some opinions about my situation with the University of Edinburgh.
First of all, I am a student from Switzerland that has unfortunately decided to take the Federal Swiss Matura as a high school diploma (I took this decision 4 years ago and I was not really planning to attend university outside my mother country at that time). I said unfortunately since not only it is very difficult to take good grades in this diploma (there are too many subjects to study and exams are too much demanding), but also because it is a very un-international qualification. The biggest problem is that UoE fellows think that they know my diploma when this is clearly not the case. Indeed, they have standard entry requirements for the Swiss Matura but they do not make distinctions between the different versions of the same. To make a long story short, the fact is that they are asking for grades that not even Oxbridge would ever ask for (and I am not joking about that, you can check their website later if you do not believe me). They came to the (absolutely wrong) conclusion that grade A in A-Level is the equivalent of a grade 6 in my diploma (this is the maximum grade), whereas the majority of the other universities tend to compare grade A* with a 5.5 (the mark that comes before 6 in my diploma). So they told me that I am not good for their entry requirements since I have 5.5 in Maths in the Federal Swiss Matura as they ask for an A in A-Level. In addition to that, I have also to say that I have undertaken the higher level examination in Maths and, to be honest, this one is more similar, in both difficulty and level of knowledge required, to FM A-Level papers rather than standard level ones (I have seen past papers online for both so I know what I am talking about).
The big problem is that the people working at UoE admission office do not really understand the above facts and subsequently told me that my qualification is insufficient. I have tried to convince them, but they are more stubborn than a wiener dog (or a mule, you choose the word here). So they basically told me that they would have considered my application only if I had decided to take AP Calculus BC this May, and so I have accepted their request. Anyway, I would just like to point out the fact that AP Calculus BC is an examination way easier (and I mean a lot) than the one I have undertaken for maths in my diploma... and they only ask for grade 4 out of 5 here. But hey never mind, I can waste an entire day of my life and also some money earned by my parents just to take a standardized test to prove to them that I know something about maths... why not after all? So this was the plan until 2 days ago. That day, they have contacted me and asked for a predicted grade in order to be able to further consider my application. As I will take AP Calculus BC only because they insisted on that I obviously can't give them predictions as no one is teaching me anything!!! They already knew that as I have told them I am no longer in high school in our email correspondence and they confirmed me that it was okay... and now it seems like they have completely changed their mind.
What should I do? Do I have to insist by saying that they do not really need predictions since I cannot give them anything? Should I contact my maths high school teacher and ask him to guess a number (he does not even know what APs papers are)? Or should I convince UoE friends that a 5.5 in maths higher level in my diploma is actually a very good grade and well beyond their minimum entry requirements, for example by sending them a copy of my examination papers and school program description for maths (even if these documents are only available in Italian)?
Any suggestion would be appreciated.
Ps. I would also like to say that the only reason I am still here dealing with them is that they are the only one (of my choices) that offer a joint degree in CS&Physics, and I would really appreciate being able to get in a program like that.
Ps2. I apologize for the long text, it was not my initial plan to write that much.