The Student Room Group

Silverwater's Road to Resits

Hi

This is a bit random and I guess I'm also incredibly early but I thought I might as well make a blog or something just so I can document the lows and highs of this academic year that I am effectively repeating (sadly).

The hope is I guess at the end of the this year, I can look back and see exactly how I felt regardless of the outcome.









Here is a little bit of background about me and my application for 2018


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A2 results

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I was so close last year to getting exactly what I wanted yet, I was just a little too short but I'm kind of using this as momentum as there are definitely improvements I can make in order to get the grades I should have got this year.


Aspirational grades


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Predicted/Realistic grades

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These are the uni's I'm planning on applying to for 2019 entry

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Firm

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Insurance

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I sort of already know what entails this year but I am going it alone (minus you guys lol). This again could be seen as advantage because I am technically exam readyish, know the content etc vs the new years 13s so logically speaking I am ahead of the curve? lol?

So yeah, if you have any questions feel free to shoot.
Not sure how often I will post on here but I'll try and keep it consistent

Groupchat

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My promise to you

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A2 2019 results

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(edited 4 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Let me know if anyone is interested in this :smile: Ngl I would love a few cheerleaders this year :lol:
Tuesday 21st August 2018

Crazy, its been 5 days since the day I looked at track and saw the huge red cross next to my firm choice Newcastle University. Once I saw this I just smashed my hand as hard as I could into the wall of the train.

I am surprised my hand was intact because I hit the wall so hard literally all the passengers on the train had their eyes on me. When I was getting off, the passengers gave way to me and let me off first because I was so visibly distraught that I had worked so hard over the two years just to crumble....

That 20 minute walk from the station to the school the felt almost never ending to me. All I could think was 'Where is my future headed? I surely couldn't have done that badly?'.

When I got to school I opened the envelope thinking 'the worst I have got is probably is BCC ands that's ok, clearing has loads of courses and I have already made a provisional list of back up universities if it doesn't work'.

I rip open the envelope and I was truly stunned. I had got CCC + B in the EPQ....
Not trying to sound cocky but I had not factored in doing that badly. At that moment I just felt numb. Like I worked so hard... For that???Just a solid row of C's?

I then tracked down the exams officer as I needed to find out my break down and it essential was this :

Spoiler


That made the situation worse imo because I was like wait what? I didn't do so well in one of the exam for each subject and that has cost me my place at Newcastle? I wasn't freaking out for the record on the outside but on the inside I couldn't help but feel ****ed over.

I applied for remarks for the Micro paper and Human paper as the exams officer was like 'they are the lowest so they are most likely to go up'. I wanted physical to be remarked but she was like 'one may go up and one may go down so it's best to do it one at the time'.

So I followed her advice and I guess we will see how that goes, I doubt the two will go up but I might as well try....

The next mission was breaking the news to my parents that I didn't get in which clearly saddened them. I then rang Newcastle if there was anything that could be done and I got an offer Chemical Engineering with a foundation year. Even though that is the uni I really really wanted to go to, chemical engineering isn't something I really want to go in to so I rang up other unis to see what I could get.

Even though good university's like Aberdeen, Heriot watt, Dundee, Sussex offered me something it they all (basically) encompassed a foundation year which is isn't something I want to do tbh and imo its not worth paying 9k in tuition fees +10k in living costs to go to a uni I didn't really want to go to in the first place . Imo I'm only going to have time for university once in my lifetime and ngl I think I would regret it if I didn't give this one last go. I KNOW I have the ability and I just have to work on my mistakes and get those grades :smile:

So here we are today, I know it will be a long year and with all my friends moving on to uni it is quite sad.

BUT, I know I can do this in academic sense. I was so close this time so surely I can work on my mistakes and get it right in June??? Right? I guess only time can answer that question....
(edited 5 years ago)
Hi SilverWater,

Sorry to hear things aren't going as expected for you. Don't worry though, there's lots of other people in the same boat. Check out #NoWrongPath on social media. Lots of people who are super successful now didn't do as well as they'd hoped in their A Levels.

I see that you have a Heriot-Watt offer in hand plus another few from Scottish Unis. As I'm sure you know, Scottish uni courses last four years, which gives you the opportunity to enter at year 1 with slightly slower grades. You mentioned paying an extra year of fees but this isn't actually the case as we offer a foundation bursary, which means you pay the same tuition fees as you would for a three year degree.

Edinburgh is beautiful and a fantastic city to study and live in. Plus, we're just up the road from Newcastle (90 mins by train), where you were originally hoping to study! Our campus is six miles outside of the city centre, so you'd have the best of both worlds - a beautiful green campus to study on and only a bus ride into the city.

If you haven't been to visit us, you can watch our new campus tour video and see our virtual tours. What course do you have an offer for from us? We have campuses in Malaysia and Dubai. Depending on the course, you might be able to 'Go Global' and transfer for a semester or year.

If you want to chat anything over with us, you can ask here or give us a call on 0131 322 3222.

Good luck with whatever decision you make!

Carole

Original post by SilverWater
Tuesday 21st August 2018

Crazy, its been 5 days since the day I looked at track and saw the huge red cross next to my firm choice Newcastle University. Once I saw this I just smashed my hand as hard as I could into the wall of the train.

I am surprised my hand was intact because I hit the wall so hard literally all the passengers on the train had their eyes on me. When I was getting off, the passengers gave way to me and let me off first because I was so visibly distraught that I had worked so hard over the two years just to crumble....

That 20 minute walk from the station to the school the felt almost never ending to me. All I could think was 'Where is my future headed? I surely couldn't have done that badly?'.

When I got to school I opened the envelope thinking 'the worst I have got is probably is BCC ands that's ok, clearing has loads of courses and I have already made a provisional list of back up universities if it doesn't work'.

I rip open the envelope and I was truly stunned. I had got CCC + B in the EPQ....
Not trying to sound cocky but I had not factored in doing that badly. At that moment I just felt numb. Like I worked so hard... For that???Just a solid row of C's?

I then tracked down the exams officer as I needed to find out my break down and it essential was this :

Spoiler


That made the situation worse imo because I was like wait what? I didn't do so well in one of the exam for each subject and that has cost me my place at Newcastle? I wasn't freaking out for the record on the outside but on the inside I couldn't help but feel ****ed over.

I applied for remarks for the Micro paper and Human paper as the exams officer was like 'they are the lowest so they are most likely to go up'. I wanted physical to be remarked but she was like 'one may go up and one may go down so it's best to do it one at the time'.

So I followed her advice and I guess we will see how that goes, I doubt the two will go up but I might as well try....

The next mission was breaking the news to my parents that I didn't get in which clearly saddened them. I then rang Newcastle if there was anything that could be done and I got an offer Chemical Engineering with a foundation year. Even though that is the uni I really really wanted to go to, chemical engineering isn't something I really want to go in to so I rang up other unis to see what I could get.

Even though good university's like Aberdeen, Heriot watt, Dundee, Sussex offered me something it they all (basically) encompassed a foundation year which is isn't something I want to do tbh and imo its not worth paying 9k in tuition fees +10k in living costs to go to a uni I didn't really want to go to in the first place . Imo I'm only going to have time for university once in my lifetime and ngl I think I would regret it if I didn't give this one last go. I KNOW I have the ability and I just have to work on my mistakes and get those grades :smile:

So here we are today, I know it will be a long year and with all my friends moving on to uni it is quite sad.

BUT, I know I can do this in academic sense. I was so close this time so surely I can work on my mistakes and get it right in June??? Right? I guess only time can answer that question....
Reply 4
Original post by SilverWater
Let me know if anyone is interested in this :smile: Ngl I would love a few cheerleaders this year :lol:


Best of luck! This sounds great, will be reading in :smile:
Also, it's great to see that you have Sheffield on your list! All of the uni's you've listed are very good, but if you have any questions about Sheffield feel free to ask me!
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Heriot-Watt University
Hi SilverWater,

Sorry to hear things aren't going as expected for you. Don't worry though, there's lots of other people in the same boat. Check out #NoWrongPath on social media. Lots of people who are super successful now didn't do as well as they'd hoped in their A Levels.

I see that you have a Heriot-Watt offer in hand plus another few from Scottish Unis. As I'm sure you know, Scottish uni courses last four years, which gives you the opportunity to enter at year 1 with slightly slower grades. You mentioned paying an extra year of fees but this isn't actually the case as we offer a foundation bursary, which means you pay the same tuition fees as you would for a three year degree.

Edinburgh is beautiful and a fantastic city to study and live in. Plus, we're just up the road from Newcastle (90 mins by train), where you were originally hoping to study! Our campus is six miles outside of the city centre, so you'd have the best of both worlds - a beautiful green campus to study on and only a bus ride into the city.

If you haven't been to visit us, you can watch our new campus tour video and see our virtual tours. What course do you have an offer for from us? We have campuses in Malaysia and Dubai. Depending on the course, you might be able to 'Go Global' and transfer for a semester or year.

If you want to chat anything over with us, you can ask here or give us a call on 0131 322 3222.

Good luck with whatever decision you make!

Carole


Thanks for the Response Carole :smile:

At the time I didn't really think Heriott Watt was for me and tbh I really set in going to an English uni so I have made the decision to resit and I am not going back on it. :h: I thought I might as well give one final role of the dice with A levels because I know I can get the grades I just need a little bit of luck and things may work out.

With that being said if next year things don't work out again I will definitely consider going to Scotland :lol: Don't think a fourth year of A levels is on the cards :lol:

Original post by Simbess
Best of luck! This sounds great, will be reading in :smile:
Also, it's great to see that you have Sheffield on your list! All of the uni's you've listed are very good, but if you have any questions about Sheffield feel free to ask me!


Thanks , nice to know I'll have a reader :biggrin:

Yeah I got an offer for University of Sheffield last year but I didn't want to firm it because Newcastle's offer was too tempting and I thought to myself there is no point having an insurance higher than your firm so I put Hallam as my insurance :lol:

Hmmmm, what is the best accomodation the Sheffield in your opinion? Endcliffe, Ranmoor or the city?
I remember us supporting you on A-level results day. Subbing.

You're an inspiration::congrats:
Wednesday 22nd August 2018


Got my remark back for Geography paper 2 and it went up! -(on Tuesday)
By one mark.... So now I am officially one mark off a B.

On Tuesday I applied for a priority remark for paper 1 and got in back today and it didn't budge :frown: as a result of this I will have to retake a level geography :cry:

When I saw this I was so annoyed for like 10 minutes then I sort of realised I just need to let go off what happened with these sets of results. I can't change them but I can improve on them for next year and this time I will hopefully be a lot more confident in smashing these exams.

I can't redo the geography NEA and even though I was a low B it should be ok provided I don't have a mare on the day of exams. My sixth form has agreed to let me retake my a level exams there and be my reference for UCAS (I 've heard stories of them being really difficult before so yay lol).

With that being said I have also registered on to UCAS again! - God the nostalgia... its feels like its de ja vu but this time I actually know the process :smile:
Plan is to send off the application around November time as this was the time I sent it off last year. I got all my offers back before the New year so I am hoping for the same this year. I just need to make one sexy personal statement :smile:

I'm off to Dubai for a week just so I can chill out for a bit and be totally refreshed for what lies ahead. It will be a hard year but I know I can do it and I more motivated than ever to achieve those grades!

Besides, the worst case scenario is that I go to Heriot Watt through clearing next year :lol:

Spoiler

(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by She-Ra
I remember us supporting you on A-level results day. Subbing.

You're an inspiration::congrats:


If anything, you lot on TSR are :jumphug:

I remember thinking on results day "**** the sky is falling down WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!!11!!!1!" but you lot (and the people irl) really did help me in a moment of crisis and for that I am forever grateful :h:

Thanks for the sub, hopefully, it will all work out at the end of it!
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by SilverWater
If anything, you lot on TSR are :jumphug:

I remember thinking on results day "**** the sky is falling down WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!!11!!!1!" but you lot (and the people irl) really did help me in a moment of crisis and I for that I am forever grateful for that :h:

Thanks for the sub, hopefully, it will all work out at the end of it!


Awww, well it's been a privilege to help you.

I had to retake GCSEs and an AS-level.... it made me much more resilient and I believe in myself :heart:
Original post by She-Ra
Awww, well it's been a privilege to help you.

I had to retake GCSEs and an AS-level.... it made me much more resilient and I believe in myself :heart:


Yeah, this was really the first time I have 'failed' in an academic sense. Normally, when I set my sights on something I get it.

I can see how it made you more resilient and I hope it has done the same for me :lol:

Crazy that you had retake your GCSE's and you ended up at Birmingham :smile:

A good example of how life may be bad in a single instant but thankfully, time is not static but forever changing.
No worries. Good luck with your resits! :smile:

Carole

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Original post by SilverWater
Thanks for the Response Carole :smile:

At the time I didn't really think Heriott Watt was for me and tbh I really set in going to an English uni so I have made the decision to resit and I am not going back on it. :h: I thought I might as well give one final role of the dice with A levels because I know I can get the grades I just need a little bit of luck and things may work out.

With that being said if next year things don't work out again I will definitely consider going to Scotland :lol: Don't think a fourth year of A levels is on the cards :lol:
Original post by SilverWater

Thanks , nice to know I'll have a reader :biggrin:

Yeah I got an offer for University of Sheffield last year but I didn't want to firm it because Newcastle's offer was too tempting and I thought to myself there is no point having an insurance higher than your firm so I put Hallam as my insurance :lol:

Hmmmm, what is the best accomodation the Sheffield in your opinion? Endcliffe, Ranmoor or the city?


I can understand your thinking - I applied to Newcastle as well :colondollar: But I'm so happy I came to Sheffield :smile:
Hmmmm, tricky. I lived in Endcliffe (right in the village centre) and I loved it! Busy, close to the Edge, but also not too noisy. City is also apparently really good (and also cheaper), but Ranmoor apparently is just a bit dead, and because of how the buildingd are shaped, noise travels easily. With that said though, it's literally two minutes away from Endcliffe, and if you live in either of those two villages then you'll likely spend time in Endcliffe anyway.
So yeah, Endcliffe or City, depending on which other factors you take into account (distance from university, what kind of vibe you want, cost).
I'd definitely recommend an open day - we've got a couple coming up before November and a few offer holder days - all of which give you the chance to look at the accommodation. In terms of the economics school, City accommodation is definitely closer. Hope this helps?

Super excited to read your updates - I'm still on PRSOM :frown:
Original post by Simbess
I can understand your thinking - I applied to Newcastle as well :colondollar: But I'm so happy I came to Sheffield :smile:
Hmmmm, tricky. I lived in Endcliffe (right in the village centre) and I loved it! Busy, close to the Edge, but also not too noisy. City is also apparently really good (and also cheaper), but Ranmoor apparently is just a bit dead, and because of how the buildingd are shaped, noise travels easily. With that said though, it's literally two minutes away from Endcliffe, and if you live in either of those two villages then you'll likely spend time in Endcliffe anyway.
So yeah, Endcliffe or City, depending on which other factors you take into account (distance from university, what kind of vibe you want, cost).
I'd definitely recommend an open day - we've got a couple coming up before November and a few offer holder days - all of which give you the chance to look at the accommodation. In terms of the economics school, City accommodation is definitely closer. Hope this helps?


Hmm yeah, I actually visted last year and saw the economics school and Endclife but didn't really look around as properly as I could of :lol:
If I get an offer Sheffield will definitely be a place that I will consider :smile: - Sheffield do discriminate against resit applicants so I'm not really expecting an offer

Original post by Simbess

Super excited to read your updates - I'm still on PRSOM :frown:


Haha thats fine lol. The fact that you and other people are participating this with me is more than enough :biggrin:
Do I need to move this thread somewhere just in case it gets closed????:confused:

Got this
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5549798&p=79535488#post79535488
Original post by SilverWater
Do I need to move this thread somewhere just in case it gets closed????:confused:

Got this
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5549798&p=79535488#post79535488


It's been moved now :smile:
Quite a long post imo brace yourself.


Thursday 31st August 2018

Last Thursday (23rd August 2018) I was waiting for my flight (which was delayed AF) so I just thought I make my first draft for the personal statement. Read through my original PS which I sent off last year and I thought my God this is absolute **** how did I even get offers? :lol: Now it seems a lot more fluid and I'm actually quite proud of it. Just before I boarded my plane I got my remark back for my paper 1 Microeconomics the paper which I got an E in. After my priority remark, it went up 18 marks! I don't know how it was possible for an examiner to miss that many marks but somehow he/she did. As a result, I got a B in economics this year:woo:. Bit weird to celebrate a B but like it really does bolster my UCAS application next year which is great.:biggrin:


I started sending messages to people who I met at the Partners summer school (who would have been on my course/in the business school etc) and one of them told they got in with BCC. In that moment I felt so pissed off because like if that examiner had marked it properly I would have probably got into Newcastle this year and I think its BS that AQA ****ed up that much.

Assuming I didn't get in. In clearing, I rang up soooo many uni's and they were like "you are just under the requirements as you do not have any B grades we will put you on our waiting list but don't expect to be made an offer". Like, I could have got into Leicester this year via clearing :/

It really does make me wonder if I had BCC on results day what decision would have I made? Would I be on the uni hype train? Or would be still be writing this blog that you are reading now??? Its interesting how a lapse in judgment of one person can the course of someone's decision making in regards to their own future. Makes me also wonder like that examiner probably did the same to other candidates and they probably are in the same position as me or changed their course of life because of this.
Its a little crazy imo :lol:

The rest of the Dubai trip was fun did a bunch of random things but the most interesting part of the final night (Wednesday 29th August 2018).

Basically we were going sand duning and it was pretty fun but we sorta got stuck pretty high up on this really steep dune like the car was at a 45 degree angle I would say. However, there was a car behind that didn't get stuck. The car ROLLED three times down the dune and then finally landed on its wheels. in that split second of it rolling, our driver tried to get out to help but the other driver was in shock and drove full throttle into our car almost crushing our driver's legs.

Because we were at the top of the dune it was so lucky we didn't fall off the dune as we would have started rolling as well. its crazy because there was a family in the other car and they all could have easily died. It almost feels surreal like I swear its something you see in the movies but when you see it right in front of you it is scary AF.

The family was (eventually) taken to the hospital. They just looked really shaken but I couldn't really tell because I'm not a doctor :lol:
It gave me a lot of perspective in the sense that I thought my life was over by not getting into Newcastle or a uni I really wanted to go to and AQA ****ing up and basically costing my place at Newcastle/Leicester.

But life is too short. Could have easily have been me in that car or could have pushed me off the dune or something. My life and, more importantly, that family's life could have ended right there and then and there is no way in hell that I think I have truly lived yet. It really has bought me a little bit of perspective like maybe things are just meant to be this way? Because I have BCC I can actually apply to a few good uni's next year by clearing alone if I want to and even though initially, I missed my offer for Newcastle by miles, the difference is now just 10 marks 1 mark in Geography and 9 in Chemistry. :smile:

This year is still gonna be a huge hill to climb but I now know I only missed out on getting what I want by just a few marks and I have basically 9 months to find them. I know I can do this academically but I still need to use this year to work on myself and improve as a person because I am so naive about myself and the things around me in general. The social aspect is a fear, but I know I will be moving on to something better next year even if I don't improve my grades which sort of puts me at ease I guess.

For the record I don't fell true contentment, which is a good thing imo because I want those grades :lol: and I will try my best to get them :smile:

Spoiler

(edited 5 years ago)
Tuesday 4th September 2018 -LATE POST

Might as well have a little update since a few things have happened.


First things first, I have made a group chat for the people planning on resitting/re applying etc so if you want to join drop a PM :smile:


My sixth form has 100% agreed to let me resit Chemistry and Economics but they are being a bit awkward about Geography still about whether I can carry the marks forward or not which is a bit annoying. I have rung up Edexcel and they are saying its fine you can etc but the school is still waiting for complete confirmation on Edexcel side if it is possible because apparently, the proof Edexcel has provided is provisional

I can understand why my exams officer doesn't want to give me a total green light because I could start revising really heavy, getting tutors etc and then I can't resit will be really annoying. The worst part is if I can't resit at my sixth form what will I be able to do as you can't carry the NEA over to other centres:/

She said, "I'm 80% sure everything will be fine and I will let you know exactly next week". I think it will be fine, but its not nice hearing
something isn't confirmed :/ If I can't resit A level Geography here it really dents my prospects of applying to the uni's that I want to as all of them require grades above a B :frown: Something is telling me it will be ok. - If anyone can offer some reassurances then that would be great :lol:


My sixth form has also agreed to be my reference which is great and they are willing to arrange appointments to see if my UCAS application is perfect which is nice of them. My economics teacher has agreed to help me out too. The plan is I can post him my essays and he will post them back to me with feedback and he is willing to do this for FREE!. He has literally saved me like £600 that I would have spent on tutors just to mark my work and ngl, money is getting sapped really, really quickly. More about that in a bit. :smile:


I haven't contacted my other teachers because quite frankly, they were absolutely useless so I am going to try and find tutors once I have revised the topics a bit more and got my scripts back.

I have applied for one final remark for Geography (the synoptic paper) in the hopes of finding that elusive 1 mark which is the difference between me resitting the A level or salvaging that B. So far I have spent £170 on remarks just to get it and I really hope I do get it. On top of this, I have spent £132 on attaining my scripts back :frown: money is just evaporating so quickly but this is still in effect cheaper than doing a foundation year (plus I get the choice of uni too).

Things are just looking a little hazy at the moment and I know it will eventually clear out in time. I just wish time would proceed a little quicker :lol:
(edited 5 years ago)
We are rooting for you 👌🏾.
Original post by MajorFader
We are rooting for you 👌🏾.


:jumphug:

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