What to do if you don’t get the mark to access the university?

Going to university is not an easy task and you may not get it the first time. If so, do not despair, we explain what options you have at your disposal to achieve your goal.

Alternatives to consider if you don’t pass the selectivity

Sometimes, despite the effort made, there are some students who don’t achieve the cut-off mark they need to access the degree they would like to pursue.

Next, we present a series of scenarios that could occur:

1. Suspend the June and September exam calls. If you cannot pass any of the calls for the year, you have two options: a) Wait until the following year to repeat the tests. You will have to wait a whole course, but you will also have enough time to prepare better. b) You can enroll in a Higher Level Training Cycle. If you get a good average grade for the course, you can see if it is enough to access the career you want (so that you would avoid doing the selectivity) or, if it’s not enough, you can take the specific tests to raise your mark.
2. Pass the selectivity, but not reach the cut-off mark for the career indicated as the first option in the pre-registration. In this case, from Academia Guiu we always recommend to our students that the first four options of their pre-registration are degrees that they want to take and that the rest of the degrees have something to do with what they want to do or that they share the same subjects during the first year . In this way, they can opt for access to the degree they want through the validation of subjects. If they don’t enter any of the 8 careers indicated in the pre-registration, they can always try to raise the grade in the extraordinary exam call.
3. Take into account the offer of the private university. Private universities are required to have approved selectivity, of course, but they are not usually governed by cut-off mark, rather each center defines its own access system. In this case, you should check with the university of your interest about the access procedure, since some centers carry out their own entrance tests.

Our advice

As you can see, failing selectivity does not mean running out of options. If the entrance mark that you have obtained between the mark in Selectividad and the average mark of the Baccalaureate is not what you expected, or the cut-off mark of the career is higher than the one you have, the first thing you should do is keep calm, a positive attitude and an open mind.

These options that we have presented are always a good plan B and, of course, they have their pros and cons. For example, if you suspend the June call and sit for the examination in September, you will have the advantage of having extra time to prepare the tests and you will have the freshest concepts, but in return there may no longer be places in the career you wish to access.

In any case, if you want to be more likely to go to university on the first attempt, there are a number of mistakes that we recommend you avoid:

• Studying little and badly during high school. The entrance to the university is a long-distance race and you should not risk your academic future on a single card with selectivity.
• Prepare the selectivity on short notice. Start from the beginning by taking  good notes, review and organize yourself methodically so as not to be rushed in the weeks before the exams.
• Not seek academic guidance. If you have doubts about which itinerary to choose, if you need information on what steps to follow when accessing the university or if there is one or more subjects that you can deal with, it is recommended that you seek help.

At Academia Guiu we can help you with any of these problems. We have a psychology service for academic guidance and study techniques that will solve all your doubts about the university entrance process.

If you also want to make sure you not only pass but also reach the cut-off mark you need, our UNED selectivity courses will prepare you to face the exams with a guarantee of success.