STPM Baharu - Retaking, Explained!

Recently I came across a reader's comment in my 'STPM Baharu, Third Semester' article that asked me some questions about retaking :

And so, I've decided to write about this issue in this article. 

#1 - When will you retake your papers?

If there are no any big changes this year, Semester 1 & Semester 2 retake papers should be not long after Semester 3 exam. This means that straight after your Semester 3 papers, you'll still need to prepare for retakes. It went on like this for my year : Sem 3 > Sem 1 Retake > Sem 2 Retake. 

As for Semester 3 retake, it'll be a few weeks after Semester 3 results are out, probably in between March and April after you've graduated from Form 6.

#2 - When will you able to know your retake results?

For Semester 1 & Semester 2 retake, results will be out not long after you received your Semester 3 results. 

As for Semester 3 retake, results will be out sometime during the month of April/May. 

What does this mean? This means that unless you really did badly for your Semester 3, do not choose to retake your Semester 3 papers. Retaking Semester 3 papers will delay your university and scholarships application since you do not know your final results. In addition, most of the people lose their motivation and urge to study after a few months rest from Form 6, hence it is really, really hard to force yourself back to the library to study for your retake papers. 

#3 - How do the authority calculate the final result of a subject? 

Have you seen or heard of any friends or seniors of yours that encountered this? 

In a particular subject for all three semesters, while X and Y both got BBB- for their papers but in the end X got an overall grade of B for the subject but Y got a B- for the subject.

Sounds weird, right? Why are both students that got the same results for all 3 semesters in the end got different grade for their overall grade?

Well, this is because MPM is NOT using the accumulated grades for all 3 papers to determine the final overall grade of the subject, instead they are using the 'raw marks' (markah mentah, that means the original marks of your paper) of all 3 papers (plus some weird formulas) to determine the final grade of the particular subject. 

In this case, X might got a higher mark in the B- category that leads him to a B while Y got a lower mark in the B- category that brought him down to a B-. 

The question remains : How can I know about the raw marks thingy? No. All calculation are done internally, hence it is not possible for us to know all the details. (Sad case)

Hence, I hope I have answer Question 2 of my reader up there. 

#4 - Which result will be used in the case of weaker retake outcome?

The best result will be taken.

#5 - Retake or not?

Honestly, it really depends on yourself. It is really damn hard to cover retake papers, especially Semester 1 & 2 retakes because you need to deal with Semester 3 papers. Accumulation. This is the best word to describe retaking. If you cannot deal with 4 papers in Semester 1, how can you expect yourself to deal with more papers in your last semester? 

I have friends that screw many of his Semester 1 & 2 papers, thinking of changing the whole game with retaking the papers while mentally readied to retake all his Semester 3 papers. Well, this is a wrong mindset. Give it all out in every semester, do your best and get the best results and never bother retaking unless the outcome is really disastrous. 

So, a question to yourself before deciding to retake : Am I capable of doing this? 

As a conclusion.....

It has been sometime since I come out with an article, mainly because I was quite busy with some activities. I'll try to come out with more articles if possible in July or August because after that guess what I'll start my University life! Woohoo! Any other Form 6/STPM Baharu related issues that you want me to cover? Comment below and I'll try my best to bring the article up! Until next time, ciaoz and Selamat Hari Raya!