AS Maths lower than expected, Cambridge application

Kfar2018

I took CIE maths and it was 10% lower than expected, 84. I'm very confident in my maths skills and i think i couldn't mess it up that bad. I have two questions, if I recheck it what are the odds that it would increase? And let's say if i did mess it up, but I'm still confident in my maths, should i still apply Cambridge for engineering? My argument for I should would be that i could ace the admissions test, I've tried them before. Plus, my physics and chem are 88 & 92. I only took those three for now.

Reply 1

Kfar2018

OP

2

Please help. My results just came out yesterday and Cambridge ucas application is by the end of this month in my country

Are those marks your Percentage Uniform Marks for CIE? Those seem to be equivalent to A*AA http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/209304-a-guide-to-percentage-uniform-marks.pdf

If you can get your school to predict A*A*A then it's worth applying, although with 7 applicants per place, it's a very competitive course.

Reply 4

marupe

16

Original post by Kfar2018

I took CIE maths and it was 10% lower than expected, 84. I'm very confident in my maths skills and i think i couldn't mess it up that bad. I have two questions, if I recheck it what are the odds that it would increase? And let's say if i did mess it up, but I'm still confident in my maths, should i still apply Cambridge for engineering? My argument for I should would be that i could ace the admissions test, I've tried them before. Plus, my physics and chem are 88 & 92. I only took those three for now.

can you see what you got for each module?

Reply 5

Kfar2018

OP

2

Original post by marupe

can you see what you got for each module?

I got 68/75 for P1, 44/50 for S1.
But how do you measure UMS score? Is it the ones given in the results website or is it the sum of raw marks?

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 6

marupe

16

Original post by Kfar2018

I got 68/75 for P1, 44/50 for S1.
But how do you measure UMS score? Is it the ones given in the results website or is it the sum of raw marks?

Usually raw marks are converted to UMS, which are added together to provide your final grade. The two marks shown here are your raw marks. From looking at the weighing factors (this is 1), your total can be found by adding together the two so your total is 112/125

http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/206341-syllabus-component-weighting-factors.pdf
http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/500617-maths-9709-june-2018.pdf

104/125 was needed for an A (your option is S3) so you're comfortably in the A boundary and you have 89% total for UMS

The 84 is percentage uniform marks which you can read about here:
http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/209304-a-guide-to-percentage-uniform-marks.pdf

Reply 7

Kfar2018

OP

2

Original post by marupe

Usually raw marks are converted to UMS, which are added together to provide your final grade. The two marks shown here are your raw marks. From looking at the weighing factors (this is 1), your total can be found by adding together the two so your total is 112/125

http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/206341-syllabus-component-weighting-factors.pdf
http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/500617-maths-9709-june-2018.pdf

104/125 was needed for an A (your option is S3) so you're comfortably in the A boundary and you have 89% total for UMS

The 84 is percentage uniform marks which you can read about here:
http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/209304-a-guide-to-percentage-uniform-marks.pdf

Thanks a lot for your advice. Felt better and reassured now. Though, many in my school had their maths grades lower too, and they deduced that stats paper pulled it down. Is this actually common in other AS subjects? I thought maths had very little weightages unlike physics and chem, its just a simple addition of raw marks over total to get our scores,but this doesn't seems to follow that notion apparently.

Reply 8

marupe

16

Original post by Kfar2018

Thanks a lot for your advice. Felt better and reassured now. Though, many in my school had their maths grades lower too, and they deduced that stats paper pulled it down. Is this actually common in other AS subjects? I thought maths had very little weightages unlike physics and chem, its just a simple addition of raw marks over total to get our scores,but this doesn't seems to follow that notion apparently.

your total is the sum of both your papers, but as you can see your raw mark for stats is a lot closer to the A boundary than for p1, so you're right in saying s1 will have pulled your grade down. I don't know much about CIE, but in other exam boards all the modules in maths are equally weighted

Reply 9

Doones

21

Original post by Kfar2018

I took CIE maths and it was 10% lower than expected, 84. I'm very confident in my maths skills and i think i couldn't mess it up that bad. I have two questions, if I recheck it what are the odds that it would increase? And let's say if i did mess it up, but I'm still confident in my maths, should i still apply Cambridge for engineering? My argument for I should would be that i could ace the admissions test, I've tried them before. Plus, my physics and chem are 88 & 92. I only took those three for now.

Original post by ageshallnot

@Doonesbury

Sorry - I saw the tag but it then got lost in Results Day busyness :frown:

Original post by Kfar2018

I got 68/75 for P1, 44/50 for S1.
But how do you measure UMS score? Is it the ones given in the results website or is it the sum of raw marks?

PUMS isn't the same as UMS (UMS only applies to UK A-levels). Cambridge knows that PUMS is "harder".

If you do well in the ENGAA I think you can still be competive.

Reply 10

Kfar2018

OP

2

Original post by marupe

your total is the sum of both your papers, but as you can see your raw mark for stats is a lot closer to the A boundary than for p1, so you're right in saying s1 will have pulled your grade down. I don't know much about CIE, but in other exam boards all the modules in maths are equally weighted

Ah, i see. Its a shame though discussions about CIE A levels is far less common compared to others.

Reply 11

Doones

21

PS. I've moved this to the University of Cambridge forum. :smile:

Reply 12

Kfar2018

OP

2

Umm, i have another question. I wanted to apply to Peterhouse, but what's important to me is still Cambridge's engineeeing course. I found it appealing to me. Considering my results like that of a weak applicant, should i apply directly or make an open application?

Reply 13

Doones

21

Original post by Kfar2018

Umm, i have another question. I wanted to apply to Peterhouse, but what's important to me is still Cambridge's engineeeing course. I found it appealing to me. Considering my results like that of a weak applicant, should i apply directly or make an open application?

It makes no difference to your overall chance of getting a Cambridge offer:

"Careful ongoing analysis of our admissions statistics shows that, for equally well-qualified applicants, making an open application or applying directly to a College does not affect your chance of being made an offer of a place. This is because we have rigorous procedures in place to compare all applicants for each subject before selection decisions are finalised. Strong applicants who’ve been squeezed out by the competition at their original College can be made an offer by another College through the pool. Colleges would rather admit a strong applicant from the pool than a weaker applicant who applied directly to them. See further information regarding how to choose a College."
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics

AS Maths lower than expected, Cambridge application

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