my IB grade is terrible compared to my predicted grade

[somethingrock]

I'm a student studying in Asia.

3 years ago, my TOEFL score was about 100, and I have HSK 6 degree and my GPA is about 3.97/4.00

I got a conditional offers from Newcastle, Exeter, York, QMUL which demand around 36s in actual exam.

My predicted grade was around 38 but my actual IB grade is 27. (I was shocked when I checked it)

Should I retake my IB exam? I'm afraid I'll get even lower mark.

Btw, my ib subject was English A Lang Lit SL, Chinese B HL, Japanese A HL, History HL, Biology HL and Math Methods SL.

[bluedino]

Well, it depends on a number of factors.

 

Firstly, why was your actual IB grades so much lower than your predicted grades? Did your IAs get moderated down a lot, did you not prepare well for the exams, was it one subject that dropped a lot, or all of your subjects that dropped a grade or two? Have you taken a look at your breakdowns to see if there's any subject where you could possibly get a remark?

 

Secondly, what are your future plans? What course/degree do you want to study? How much do you want to go to the unis where you got conditional offers from? Did you apply to any other universities where you can get in with your score of 27?

 

There's no point retaking your IB exam unless you are mildly confident you will do better in it, and you really need/want a higher score. Hope this helps

[flinquinnster]

With all these UCAS conditional offers, the first thing you should be considering if you've missed your offer is calling up these universities, explaining your situation, and seeing if they're still willing to admit you. There is often some leeway if you're off by a few marks, but I get that in your case the difference is quite big. Still, it's worth trying - international students are a good catch finance-wise because of all the tuition fees they have to pay. Otherwise, I don't think I have any other advice that bluedino hasn't already given! 

[I3lackAngel]

I face a similar problem. I was predicted 41, but got 34. It is mainly because of my EE, which was predicted an A from my IB coordinator, but it ended up getting a D. I have no idea why the grade changed that much, because I was strictly following the grading criteria when writing it. I assume that the examiner strongly disliked Dracula or something like that, so I will definitely get it remarked. My TOK grade needs one mark to be a B, so I will try to get it remarked too.

 

If you only need one or two marks to get a better grade, you should definitely try getting a remark. But it is better to get your non-science stuff remarked, as it is more subjective, whereas sciences are more objective and have more "right or wrong questions".

[Vioh]

Hi, somethingrock, I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Since regrading the exams won't get you from 27 to around 36s (it's such a long way), so I don't recommend wasting money for regrading. Now i think you really have 2 choices. Either you try to call different universities (both in Korea and abroad) to see if any of them take 27 points. I know lots of decent universities (like UBC), which accept students unconditionally as long as they have good reference letters, a long list of CAS activities, and an excellent personal statement. You can maybe take a gap year, do some charity works, focusing on writing your personal statement, and re-apply to these unis next year, which I think you might have a good chance of getting in.

 

The second option is to retake exams next year. If I were you, i would definitely choose this option. This is because I believe you can do much much better compared to this year, considering your ability to get that high score in GPA, and that you were predicted a 38. Besides, you have gained lots of experience when you did the exams, and thus will be able to fix your mistakes next year. However, this really depends on whether you want to go through all that pressures again. Only you can choose, so try to make a good decision! Good luck!