IB Students: What are your extended essay topics?

I like english, history and music best, but is music allowed?

did my ee in computer science... takled about MP3 data compression algorithms... prolly failed it anyway! hehe

Basically you can write on anything you are interested in, as the IB subjects can over almost all areas.

It's best if you choose a topic that the examiner 100% won't have a clue about. I did mine comparing Chinese and Japanese textbooks and I knew the chances of an examiner knowing both languages were slim. I got an A

On the other hand..

My very smart friend did her's on the Watergate scandal. The chances of an examiner knowing her subject were high. She got a C.

Btw, can I mention everyone's topics on the IB Website?

I completely agree. I did mine on the scale of the adventus Saxonum in England - a topic no examiner is going to know well - and ended up losing only one mark. However, in my year other people who also got 7s in history in the end, did history EEs but got Bs, partly at least because their topics weren't obscure enough.

My advice in history, and this very much is restricted to history, is that your bibliography is etremely important (especially if you are doing a popular topic, as you need to prove that you know more than the other candidates writing on it). Many examiners look at your bibliography first, and if you have one with say 30 or more texts it is bound to have a good first impression.

Beyond that I would say that consistency is of the utmost importance. It is easy for minor contradictions to appear when you are writing a long essay over and extended period of time. It is important to minimise these, and examiners will look for them, along with general logical weaknesses (most importantly never rely on an even vaguely circular argument).

Finally one thing which often impresses examiners but it not a prerequisite to do well, is dealiing with primary sources, particularly in their original language. I dealt with my mediaeval Latin texts in the original, and I know of others who have dealt with Chinese texts in the original, and this almost always impresses an examiner. If you don't have any languages that allow you to do this don't worry, but if you can do so it looks good.

Hey great info!! Do you mind if I quote you?