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Panicking for my final year in IB!

I finished DP 1 just now in June. We had our mini-mocks and my grades were terrible.

My chosen subjects and grades:
English HL - 4/7
Geography HL - 4/7History HL - 2/7
Biology SL - 3/7Swedish SL - 6/7Math Studies - 1/7
= 20 points

Basically I am currently failing the IB with the 20 points that I got. Now I'm in the summer and I'm stressing out about DP 2. I was always terrible at exams and a lot better with essay's and presentations, however the IB grade is mainly determined by exams. I can never follow a good study method and I just end up panicking, making a fool out of myself. Furthermore I'm very lazy and I keep procrastinating and I end up never studying. For most tests I sit 1 week before the test and lay out a plan on how I'm going to study, but I end up never following the plan and time flies until the day before the test and I just mess everything up! It's also hard for me to understand concepts and then remember them.

My biggest concerns are:

- Math
- Biology
- History

I really want to do well but it's my mentality that's ruining it for me and that I never study because I don't know where to start, due to the fact that there is so much one needs to know.

How should I study for Math, Biology, and History? What are some effective and more fun ways to do it? Please share me your study methods for these 3 subjects.

Thank you!
You really need to work out what works best for you. Some people (like me) like to work at a steady pace throughout the year while others (my other half) like to work to deadlines under pressure and in the last few days before the deadline.

The procrastination is something that you have to stop doing yourself. No one can help you with that.
Hey, I have passed IB this may with 32 points which was just what I needed for the course which I wanted to study. And to be honest I was in the same boat as you at the end of my first year. I have pretty much failed my mocks, although I have revised and over my summer holidays I just felt so depressed, because my friends seemed to be doing better than me, I felt that the teachers were useless and I was actually considering to change from IB to A levels. I'm glad that I didn't in the end!

So you have said that you are terrible at exams and that's okay, I am terrible too, I always panicked and waffled like crazy. The best bit of advice here is to do everything that you can to smash those coursework grades, so you will have something to fall onto if the exams won't go well.
The reason why you are not doing well in subjects such as maths, history and biology is because you are not fully enjoying them. I've had that with maths studies at the beginning of my course. For maths, I would advise watching youtube if you really don't get something- Richard Parina is your guy, he explains pretty well and there is also yaymath channel. Additionally do practice papers. And I mean, a LOT of practice papers. They really help, because what you will find is that your final exam paper is going to contain questions that are exactly like those that you'll find in past papers. I haven't done biology nor history, but I did DT and psychology and I would advise using quizlet where you can build online flashcards and test yourself using your phone. Create posters with key ideas and stick them on your wall, the earlier you do it the better for you! The IB workload sucks but you can embrace it! I was a procrastinator and I can tell you that if you have picked to study IB you really cannot let yourself go, and I now wished that I haven't wasted my time like I did, because come march time and you will be stressed out, going bed 2,3,4 o'clock in the morning trying to get everything done! Good luck and hope that was helpful
Reply 3
Avatar for DukeNuke
DukeNuke
OP
Original post by cats_and_music
Hey, I have passed IB this may with 32 points which was just what I needed for the course which I wanted to study. And to be honest I was in the same boat as you at the end of my first year. I have pretty much failed my mocks, although I have revised and over my summer holidays I just felt so depressed, because my friends seemed to be doing better than me, I felt that the teachers were useless and I was actually considering to change from IB to A levels. I'm glad that I didn't in the end!

So you have said that you are terrible at exams and that's okay, I am terrible too, I always panicked and waffled like crazy. The best bit of advice here is to do everything that you can to smash those coursework grades, so you will have something to fall onto if the exams won't go well.
The reason why you are not doing well in subjects such as maths, history and biology is because you are not fully enjoying them. I've had that with maths studies at the beginning of my course. For maths, I would advise watching youtube if you really don't get something- Richard Parina is your guy, he explains pretty well and there is also yaymath channel. Additionally do practice papers. And I mean, a LOT of practice papers. They really help, because what you will find is that your final exam paper is going to contain questions that are exactly like those that you'll find in past papers. I haven't done biology nor history, but I did DT and psychology and I would advise using quizlet where you can build online flashcards and test yourself using your phone. Create posters with key ideas and stick them on your wall, the earlier you do it the better for you! The IB workload sucks but you can embrace it! I was a procrastinator and I can tell you that if you have picked to study IB you really cannot let yourself go, and I now wished that I haven't wasted my time like I did, because come march time and you will be stressed out, going bed 2,3,4 o'clock in the morning trying to get everything done! Good luck and hope that was helpful


Thanks a lot! It's funny because I also need 32 points to get into the course I want to study :smile: PSYCHOLOGY! Thanks again!
Reply 4
Avatar for nikknokk
nikknokk
2
Original post by DukeNuke
Thanks a lot! It's funny because I also need 32 points to get into the course I want to study :smile: PSYCHOLOGY! Thanks again!


I finished the IB this May and am going to start studying psychology in October :smile:
I don't know much about history, but I took biology and obviously maths so I can give you a few tips that worked for me.
For biology, I recommend you get a tutor if you can afford it. If you're afraid you won't be motivated to study, a tutor is a great way to ensure you review your material and have someone to ask questions that might sound silly. Although biology is very memory based, to get a good grade in it you really need to also understand the concepts involved, and a tutor can help teach you in a way different to your teacher, making it more likely for you to understand.
For maths, you really do need to use as many past papers as possible, as at least 50% of the questions are generic formula insertion types that are repeated every year. The more comfortable you'll get with the questions, the less likely you are to panic in the exam!
Lastly, you need to not underestimate the IA and other coursework for your subjects, which constitutes a very large percentage of your overall grade! Make sure you put in a lot of effort, especially as exams are your weak point. You'll be very grateful if you mess up some of the exams, as your IA can still significantly increase your overall score! Out of all my subjects, only 2 of my IA's were lower than what I received for the subject.
By the way, if you can't get a tutor for biology, try to use YouTube instead, or interactive websites such as Kognity, which have IB type questions and resources that can greatly help your understanding.

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