Exams: done.
IB: completed.
Month before results: over.
So what did I get? I did Geography, Biology and Chemistry, at higher levels, and Maths Studies, English and German at standard.
7, 6, 5 in Highers (respectively) and 7, 6, 5 in my standard subjects, respectively. With a B for my EE, and a
C for my ToK grade. For anyone who doesn't know how the IB system works, a B and a C combines to give you a 'bonus' point grade, or Core grade as the IB like to call it. there is a beautiful table telling you all the combinations and what you get from each of them, but put it simply, i got only 1 of a possible 3 bonus points with my combination. This, for all those budding mathematicians, gave me 37 points - a fine grade at IB.
Initially, I was over the moon about these results. I thought I had screwed up my Biology exam, as I missed out a question worth 19 marks. After that exam, I thoughtIi was going to cry. I sat on the bus doing the calculations and seeing what I'd need to get in order to reach a 5 (then I was hoping for a 6 in chemistry). So I was well and truly blessed by my results!
But there was a catch.
UCL and KCL, two very reputable universities, were on my list as firm and insurance options. KCL would let me in, as they only wanted a 6,6,5 with 36 points total, but UCL were a little tricky. UCL wanted a total points score of 38, with no less than a 5 in my highers, which should total 18. This gave me two options: 6,6,6, or 7,6,5.
I had 37. And I wasn't going to let my one point get in the way of trying to get to UCL.
I scanned over my results breakdown, and realised that I was 1 points of the next grade boundary with regards to my Extended essay, and 2 with my ToK. An increase in any of them would mean that I get another bonus point, and get 38, and ultimately: UCL.
So, I got both remarked. This classed as a Category 1 remark. Category 2 is for something else and 3 I believe is a whole class remark. A silly idea now I look back, but also a good idea too. Why was it silly? Because the EE took about 3 weeks to be remarked, the ToK took 3 days.
My ToK went from a c to a b, giving me the extra point that I needed. But this is where the problem arose. I now didn't know when I was going to get my EE result back, and with a Category 1 request, your mark CAN go down. So, I was one mark from the next boundary up, and 7 from the one below. To most sane people, this is a no brainer - the chances of the result having decreased is very small. But regardless I was worried!
But, everything turned out fine in the end. My advice? Get whatever you can remarked. You only want to do your IB once, and make it a good one!
As for me: I'm off to UCL! I eventually got my EE remarked up, giving me 39 points, equivalent to about 4 A*'s at A-level!
So you'll hear much more from this blog about UCL in the near future.
:)