Jump to content

I'm considering a remark


Recommended Posts

I'm not happy with the results I got. I got my diploma, but still. I was predicted to get 36, I thought I could have even gotten more. When I got my results I was shocked and disappointed. When I checked the scores, I realised that almost all my subjects were close to their upper boundaries. These are the details as follows:

English A: Lang and lit SL- 5 (1 mark away from 6)

French Ab Initio SL - 4 (3 marks away from 5)

Geography HL - 5 (2 marks away from 6)

Physics HL - 4 ( 2 marks away from 5)

Chemistry SL - 5 ( 2 marks away from 6)

Mathematics HL - 3 (3 marks away from 4)

Geography Extended Essay - B (6 marks away from A)

Theory of Knowledge - C (5 marks away from B)

This overall amounts to 27, which is some way off the requirements for my insurance choice (35) on UCAS. Should I risk the remark or not? For all subjects, or for some? I already do not want to remark the E.E as it is just on the lower boundary, so that's a risk I don't want to take. Do you guys have any suggestions on which subjects I should remark? I would really appreciate it thanks.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, what do you need from these results? You're not going to make it to 36 even if every single one of them went up. All of them going up is very unlikely - the best 'chance' to go up is if you have a subjective subject that's just a single mark off, and you've only got English that fulfils that. 2 marks is pushing it and 3 marks and beyond, it's unlikely. A re-mark is saying "I think somebody made a technical error calculating my score". Chances are, they didn't - and to 'find' more than a couple of marks they'd basically have to have skipped a whole page of your answers or something. 

 

So yes you could re-mark some. Which ones is up to you - the probability is obviously highest for English and worse for everything else. However even if by some miracle all of them went up, you wouldn't make your insurance choice. In which case, why waste time and money on re-marking when you could take some re-sits instead and have a much greater shot of making it up back into the 30s? Especially as you will have to take a year out anyway (so you may as well spend a portion of it doing re-sits), and as you've missed your Uni offers by a large margin, you have very little to lose.

 

Obviously your technique & performance in the exams this time wasn't great compared to your ability in class (assuming your predictions were good), for the points to have gone down across the board. Doing well in exams is totally different from knowing things in lessons. My guess is there was something about the way you prepared for the exams that wasn't really good enough, and if you can identify what that was - not working hard enough, not revising from the syllabus properly, whatever it happens to be - that might be the key to getting a higher score. So, re-sits probably give you the best shot of a usefully higher grade. Re-marks may yield small gains, but there's no point in getting things re-marked if it's still not going to get you where you need to be. Basically ask yourself: if you paid several hundred pounds for re-marks and went from 27 to 29, would that be enough? And if the answer is no, then re-marking is probably not the answer - or at least not all of it.

 

That's my thoughts on it, anyway.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah but then, sitting at home for a year is out of the question. Worst case scenario I go into clearing. Doing a remark will boost my chances of still getting a top university during clearing. I emailed my choices and that's when ghe suggestion if a remark came in, as they said the closer I am to 35 the better for me when they make their final decisions. If I can get up to 32 from a remark then it's good for me, depending on if my choices take me or I enter clearing.... But with 27 I can only hope the average is so low, the good schools will still take me. But as for a gap year or retakes? That's already out of the question, even for my parents. So, I'm still trying to look at all the possibilities before settling on a remark.

Edited by Dark Variety
Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally I think the chances of getting more than 2 additional IB points from re-marking the papers you listed is very unlikely, as you're only really close to the boundary in a single subject that's subjective, and I wouldn't remark papers that were 3 or more points off, but at the end of the day it's your money and obviously I would be happy to have my prediction proved wrong for your sake :P I hope you manage to sort it out, either way.

 

If it does come down to not finding anything through Clearing, remember that actually a gap year doesn't have to be all that bad. You can work, you can find stuff to do that will make it more likely for you to get in the next year. Not trying to sell it to you if it's inconvenient, just saying that it's not a total negative if it comes to it. My little brother took a gap year (planned, admittedly) and has had an amazing time. Worked half of it, travelled the other half using the money from working. Plenty to go on the CV and Uni applications from that. Or you could even work the whole year if you wanted. So chin up! ;) And good luck!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks you guys. Just a few more questions. I talked to my principal and my parents. It seems we're gonna take the remark option, for Physics, English, Chemistry and Geography. French and Math are 3 marks away, so it's more unlikely that they will increase. But then most uni's actually specify a score of 6 or 5 in Math HL, and while a 4 is still not that, I feel it may be good enough for consideration with other subjects. So should I risk remarking Math in the hopes of gaining those 3 points or say goodbye to a host of the best Universities for computer science? Also, if God forbid, my Math HL drops to a 2 (very very unlikely) then I lose my diploma. again this is very unlikely. So do you think I should risk math as well as the other 4? Thanks.

Link to post
Share on other sites

If the money is no issue, absolutely. There is no way you're going down to a 2, but there is a very small chance you'll go up.

 

I'm sorry to have to say this, but I think you have to drop your expectations a bit. With your prediction, as it seems, you absolutely had a chance to get into the unis you appear to be heading for. However, if they require minimum 35 and you barely passed, you'll really have to alter your expectations. The only options I see are either retaking, or lowering your university standards. If retakes are out of the question, you'll have to go with the latter.

 

Look at not only the upper boundaries, but also the lower ones. If finances are a complete non-issue, remark any where the upper boundary is <1/3 as close as the bottom one; there's nothing to lose. This especially includes French.

 

TLDR: If finances are not a problem, remark all subject scores, but don't expect too much.

Edited by Negotiation
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks you guys. Just a few more questions. I talked to my principal and my parents. It seems we're gonna take the remark option, for Physics, English, Chemistry and Geography. French and Math are 3 marks away, so it's more unlikely that they will increase. But then most uni's actually specify a score of 6 or 5 in Math HL, and while a 4 is still not that, I feel it may be good enough for consideration with other subjects. So should I risk remarking Math in the hopes of gaining those 3 points or say goodbye to a host of the best Universities for computer science? Also, if God forbid, my Math HL drops to a 2 (very very unlikely) then I lose my diploma. again this is very unlikely. So do you think I should risk math as well as the other 4? Thanks.

Math is the least of any of the subjects to change in a remarking. Seriously, it is very objective. Method points are your only chance of something changing, because the answer points are simply you got it or you didn't. And method points in the mark schemes are pretty prescriptive as well. I doubt you'd drop to a 2, for the same reasons. Of those courses, the first to rule out for getting remarked is math. They would have literally had to miss some of your answers for a remarking to make a serious difference.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

In all honesty, the "best universities" as you've put it are out of reach. You need 36-38 for anything in the Top 15 in the UK, and for the Top 5 I'd be looking at 38+ for sciences courses. Your best bet is to try and find a middle ranked uni that doesn't have subject specific requirements. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, right now I already know that even remarking 5 subjects is still probably not going to reach the 35 or 36 required. But my question isn't about reaching 35. But the closer to 35, the better for me. Depending on how much space is left, they could still consider and keep the offer. I do have a friend who got 33 and needed a 36, his offer was confirmed still just a few days ago. What I need to know now is if French and math are worth remarking. Although math is very objective, a 3 may not even allow me look in the top 30 or even in Canada. But if there's a slight chance there could be a 4 it betters my chances. French is 3 marks away as well, so I don't know if I should take that risk. French is a bit subjective as well and seems more realistic than math, only I require math more.

If both my uni's still reject me after a remark and my marks go up? I would still have a much better chance during clearing with a higher grade than 27 ( say 30+). It's also quite expensive to remark all subjects. So what do you guys think?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, right now I already know that even remarking 5 subjects is still probably not going to reach the 35 or 36 required. But my question isn't about reaching 35. But the closer to 35, the better for me. Depending on how much space is left, they could still consider and keep the offer. I do have a friend who got 33 and needed a 36, his offer was confirmed still just a few days ago. What I need to know now is if French and math are worth remarking. Although math is very objective, a 3 may not even allow me look in the top 30 or even in Canada. But if there's a slight chance there could be a 4 it betters my chances. French is 3 marks away as well, so I don't know if I should take that risk. French is a bit subjective as well and seems more realistic than math, only I require math more.

If both my uni's still reject me after a remark and my marks go up? I would still have a much better chance during clearing with a higher grade than 27 ( say 30+). It's also quite expensive to remark all subjects. So what do you guys think?

Simple: If your goal is to get as many points as possible, then you should probably remark them. That being said, we've already said that math is unlikely to change, and that you have nothing to lose in changing french. Really, the only object here is money. Do you want to throw money down the drain for a chance it will get you an extra point? If so, here's your chance! That's all there is to say at this point. You need to choose if spending the money that way is worth it for you at the chance to get more points, knowing very well that it is unlikely for any marks to change.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...