I was absolutely gutted when my IGCSE results came in and I ended up with 5Astars, 1A, 1B and 1C (in mathematics, unfortunately), largely because my schooling was disrupted thanks to COVID, and then I went down with dengue fever eight before my examinations, so I had to prepare and give my exams when I was extremely sick.
I am now going to give retakes to get my grades back to my standard A stars, but I'm worried about how badly it might affect my chances, especially since schools in my country already make us give IGCSE exams small chunks over the span of three years.
I'm aware that applications are considered holistically, but still, will retakes put me at a disadvantage? Please note that my dream school is UPenn, closely followed by Oxford, Yale and Columbia. Also, AP and Honors are not offered in Pakistan which puts me at yet another disadvantage.
Thank you.
Retakes will not hurt your chances if you can get your grades back to standard A stars. Colleges would only see your improvement as impressive, since it would demonstrate a strong work ethic and motivation to learn. Hope this helps!
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