[KITKAT12STEP]

Basically I am an essay person, overall I am okay A grades apart from Maths which jumps from B to a C :'( I am applying for Hills Road Sixth Form and doing possibly: Economics, Modern History, French & G&P or Italian ( haven't decided yet).
Parkside sixth is opening up and it looks really tempting! My sister did the IB and she has warned me how hard it is. However, I think that IB will benefit me greatly as I want to apply abroad ( UK Unis are just too expensive!) I am thinking of Dutch Unis possibly Maastricht, Amsterdam or Ultrecht.
If I do the IB, judging from Parkside's prospectus I'll take :
Mathematical studies
Environmental systems and Societies
Music ( SL)
French HL
Eng Lit HL
History HL

I would really appreciate it if someone can share me their experiences. I am a bit worried as Parkside is very new and possibly inexperienced with the IB, whilst Hills Road is one of the best in the country.

I am not sure on what to do career wise, but as I am interested in languages and other cultures, working in an international organisation e.g UN/ EU really interests me. I am thinking that taking a business or politics/international relations degree in Maastricht might help me with this.
So basically I am really stuck so please help! Also any insights on any of the subjects above will be appreciated! Thank you

[Shehz94]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Basically I am an essay person, overall I am okay A grades apart from Maths which jumps from B to a C :'( I am applying for Hills Road Sixth Form and doing possibly: Economics, Modern History, French & G&P or Italian ( haven't decided yet).
Parkside sixth is opening up and it looks really tempting! My sister did the IB and she has warned me how hard it is. However, I think that IB will benefit me greatly as I want to apply abroad ( UK Unis are just too expensive!) I am thinking of Dutch Unis possibly Maastricht, Amsterdam or Ultrecht.
If I do the IB, judging from Parkside's prospectus I'll take :
Mathematical studies
Environmental systems and Societies
Music ( SL)
French HL
Eng Lit HL
History HL

I would really appreciate it if someone can share me their experiences. I am a bit worried as Parkside is very new and possibly inexperienced with the IB, whilst Hills Road is one of the best in the country.

I am not sure on what to do career wise, but as I am interested in languages and other cultures, working in an international organisation e.g UN/ EU really interests me. I am thinking that taking a business or politics/international relations degree in Maastricht might help me with this.
So basically I am really stuck so please help! Also any insights on any of the subjects above will be appreciated! Thank you

Hey, I do A- Levels, but was looking into doing the IB. Doing the IB will definitely provide you with the opportunity of applying abroad. From friends who have done the IB, it definitely seems harder than A levels, particularly IB maths. However, studying the IB will provide you the opportunity to really explore your subjects.

[GSD10]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Basically I am an essay person, overall I am okay A grades apart from Maths which jumps from B to a C :'( I am applying for Hills Road Sixth Form and doing possibly: Economics, Modern History, French & G&P or Italian ( haven't decided yet).
Parkside sixth is opening up and it looks really tempting! My sister did the IB and she has warned me how hard it is. However, I think that IB will benefit me greatly as I want to apply abroad ( UK Unis are just too expensive!) I am thinking of Dutch Unis possibly Maastricht, Amsterdam or Ultrecht.
If I do the IB, judging from Parkside's prospectus I'll take :
Mathematical studies
Environmental systems and Societies
Music ( SL)
French HL
Eng Lit HL
History HL

I would really appreciate it if someone can share me their experiences. I am a bit worried as Parkside is very new and possibly inexperienced with the IB, whilst Hills Road is one of the best in the country.

I am not sure on what to do career wise, but as I am interested in languages and other cultures, working in an international organisation e.g UN/ EU really interests me. I am thinking that taking a business or politics/international relations degree in Maastricht might help me with this.
So basically I am really stuck so please help! Also any insights on any of the subjects above will be appreciated! Thank you

Hey, looks like you are in the dilemma i was faced with last summer. Im currently in my final year of I.B. and I agree with your sister although I think that if you are willing to work hard, then with the determination you will succeed. They key to I.B. is organisation, if you stay on top of every subject then you will be fine. I think if your looking to study abroad then the I.B. would be worth considering as it is internationally recognised. Also if you find that maths is one of your weak areas, then just take up maths studies. I think the fact that your sister has already done the I.B. is a bit of a bonus as she could maybe help you in some areas. Although it is a bit risky if they are inexperienced to the I.B. and the other school is good at a-levels. Whatever you choose, wish you the best.

[KITKAT12STEP]

(Original post by GSD10)
Hey, looks like you are in the dilemma i was faced with last summer. Im currently in my final year of I.B. and I agree with your sister although I think that if you are willing to work hard, then with the determination you will succeed. They key to I.B. is organisation, if you stay on top of every subject then you will be fine. I think if your looking to study abroad then the I.B. would be worth considering as it is internationally recognised. Also if you find that maths is one of your weak areas, then just take up maths studies. I think the fact that your sister has already done the I.B. is a bit of a bonus as she could maybe help you in some areas. Although it is a bit risky if they are inexperienced to the I.B. and the other school is good at a-levels. Whatever you choose, wish you the best.

May I ask what you took and also what Uni you are planning to go to?

[GSD10]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
May I ask what you took and also what Uni you are planning to go to?

Im currently studying Chemistry, Economics and Physics at higher level. At standard level im studying English, Maths methods and Ab Initio Japanese. Im not looking to study abroad so looking at universities in England.

[teddypicker1]

I had the same decision to make last year! I chose IB and yes it is hard undoubtedly however if you practice and stay on top of things it's fine, and if you're not that good at Maths just do studies, I started off with SL maths for a half term and I've just dropped to Studies 'cause SL was just too much work, since I do 4 HL's as well. I think you might regret it if you don't take the opportunity to do IB, I know I would if I hadn't.. but then again this A level 6th form sounds really good, I think you need to look into how prepared for the IB this other place is perhaps?

I do French, Spanish, English, and Philosophy at higher, and Maths Studies and Biology at standard just in case you want to ask any questions about particular subjects. Good luck choosing!

[KITKAT12STEP]

(Original post by teddypicker1)
I had the same decision to make last year! I chose IB and yes it is hard undoubtedly however if you practice and stay on top of things it's fine, and if you're not that good at Maths just do studies, I started off with SL maths for a half term and I've just dropped to Studies 'cause SL was just too much work, since I do 4 HL's as well. I think you might regret it if you don't take the opportunity to do IB, I know I would if I hadn't.. but then again this A level 6th form sounds really good, I think you need to look into how prepared for the IB this other place is perhaps?

I do French, Spanish, English, and Philosophy at higher, and Maths Studies and Biology at standard just in case you want to ask any questions about particular subjects. Good luck choosing!

Can you describe to me a typical week for you? I have a habit of procrastination! Oh gawwd I really do not know what to do with my life :L
What's french Higher like? I was stuck with a crap french gcse teacher but i self teach to deal with that :l how can you think I can prepare for IB?
Also I am terrible at Maths! but many are saying that I should start at standard then drop to studies.. what is studies like? I am getting a C at Maths GCSE atm...
Is it really hard?

[Scribblet]

(Original post by Shehz94)
Hey, I do A- Levels, but was looking into doing the IB. Doing the IB will definitely provide you with the opportunity of applying abroad. From friends who have done the IB, it definitely seems harder than A levels, particularly IB maths. However, studying the IB will provide you the opportunity to really explore your subjects.

However IB does provide the option of Maths Studies which, whilst it does progress beyond GCSE maths, is a good option because it isn't as difficult as SL or HL and keeps your maths ticking over. If you don't need maths to go to university this is the choice for you.

OP - I am so glad now that I did IB. Yes it's hard but I've found that it's put me in a good position for my first year of university. I really would recommend you do it.

[chickenonsteroids]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Can you describe to me a typical week for you? I have a habit of procrastination! Oh gawwd I really do not know what to do with my life :L
What's french Higher like? I was stuck with a crap french gcse teacher but i self teach to deal with that :l how can you think I can prepare for IB?
Also I am terrible at Maths! but many are saying that I should start at standard then drop to studies.. what is studies like? I am getting a C at Maths GCSE atm...
Is it really hard?

Sup

procrastination is a killer so learn to block websites and work hard through out the year.

To prepare for a language learn loads of vocab, it'll help. If you don't need maths for uni it doesn't matter that much what you do. I didn't even know there were 3 versions of maths. My teacher just put me in for studies then i didn't change... oh well lol

I know i'm not the person you quoted by might as well try to help :P

[StarryInk07]

Hey I'm thinking of applying to Hills too... And debating whether to go for IB or A-level as well. Parkside does sound really good, but yeah, it's not really as established. Still, the fact that you can take six subjects at IB gives you a much broader range. (I'm finding it really hard to drop from 12 subjects to 4 or 5...)

We were told by our teachers that if you want to specialise then A-levels are preferable... But IB is great for keeping options open if you don't know what to do or if you want to go into something like Law. I don't know anything about Dutch unis (although I did go to a talk about uni admissions and a UK Maastricht admissions officer was there on the panel), however we were told that American unis prefer IB because it's much more similar to their education system and liberal arts. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

What I'm worrying about are my lack of organisational skills for IB... and the fact that it's all assessed at the end of two years whereas at A-Level you get modules which, to me, seem a lot less pressured. My friend in the year above is really enjoying IB at the moment though. She says the courses are a lot more varied than A-level, with a very international perspective (might be good preparation if you want to study abroad. As it's a qualification used worldwide, I assume it has a great universal quality to it...?).

Good luck with your choices!

[KITKAT12STEP]

(Original post by StarryInk07)
Hey I'm thinking of applying to Hills too... And debating whether to go for IB or A-level as well. Parkside does sound really good, but yeah, it's not really as established. Still, the fact that you can take six subjects at IB gives you a much broader range. (I'm finding it really hard to drop from 12 subjects to 4 or 5...)

We were told by our teachers that if you want to specialise then A-levels are preferable... But IB is great for keeping options open if you don't know what to do or if you want to go into something like Law. I don't know anything about Dutch unis (although I did go to a talk about uni admissions and a UK Maastricht admissions officer was there on the panel), however we were told that American unis prefer IB because it's much more similar to their education system and liberal arts. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

What I'm worrying about are my lack of organisational skills for IB... and the fact that it's all assessed at the end of two years whereas at A-Level you get modules which, to me, seem a lot less pressured. My friend in the year above is really enjoying IB at the moment though. She says the courses are a lot more varied than A-level, with a very international perspective (might be good preparation if you want to study abroad. As it's a qualification used worldwide, I assume it has a great universal quality to it...?).

Good luck with your choices!

Thanks so dyo live in Cambridge? I went to the Parkside open evening and it totally confused me cz since i was like yr8 Hills has always the place to be !
Another thing is Im worried that parkside is no established enough..that is Hills Road offers amazing extra curriculars and Parkside well...nothing really.

[KITKAT12STEP]

(Original post by GSD10)
Im currently studying Chemistry, Economics and Physics at higher level. At standard level im studying English, Maths methods and Ab Initio Japanese. Im not looking to study abroad so looking at universities in England.

I'm really annoyed that Parkside doesn't offer Economics at IB :'( Which subject dyo think I can take to substitute it? I guess ESS kind of does cuz it's about scarce resources...
Would UK Unis also like IB or A levels?

[KITKAT12STEP]

(Original post by chickenonsteroids)
Sup

procrastination is a killer so learn to block websites and work hard through out the year.

To prepare for a language learn loads of vocab, it'll help. If you don't need maths for uni it doesn't matter that much what you do. I didn't even know there were 3 versions of maths. My teacher just put me in for studies then i didn't change... oh well lol

I know i'm not the person you quoted by might as well try to help :P

Thanks for the help
Is doing two languages at IB too much? I was thnking of learning Dutch for my CAS...
also is it true that IB students don't have time to have fun? Because seriously I am a hardworker but I need to party too ( I'm a very sociable person).
Parkside is really small ( it's only been opened for a year) with about 80 students in the first yr...which is a good thing i guess as you get more 1 on 1.
I guess I'm really asking is whether IB will mean 2 years of hell. I mean yes it prepares you for Uni but I'm young and I want to have fun too as well as being educated haha. How do you balance your work/time or can you not?

[chickenonsteroids]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Thanks for the help
Is doing two languages at IB too much? I was thnking of learning Dutch for my CAS...
also is it true that IB students don't have time to have fun? Because seriously I am a hardworker but I need to party too ( I'm a very sociable person).
Parkside is really small ( it's only been opened for a year) with about 80 students in the first yr...which is a good thing i guess as you get more 1 on 1.
I guess I'm really asking is whether IB will mean 2 years of hell. I mean yes it prepares you for Uni but I'm young and I want to have fun too as well as being educated haha. How do you balance your work/time or can you not?

I've just started as well but people are struggling more than myself.

It is 2 years of hell if you don't work... it's when you put off work and leave things to the last minute. That results in poor quality of work.

You can learn dutch for CAS actually but whether you want to take 2 languages is up to you... if you think you can handle it but i wouldn't really recommend it. ( i suck at languages so yea lol )

A levels are an english qualification so i think unis would find them easier to look at. 42 points = A*A*A i think i'm not sure there's probably a thread on it somewhere.

so ... the biggest tip for IB is work hard and be consistent

[StarryInk07]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Thanks so dyo live in Cambridge? I went to the Parkside open evening and it totally confused me cz since i was like yr8 Hills has always the place to be !
Another thing is Im worried that parkside is no established enough..that is Hills Road offers amazing extra curriculars and Parkside well...nothing really.

Yeah, I live in Cambridge.

I downloaded the Hills prospectus and, yeah, the enrichment programme looks incredible. There's so much you can do! And then you see the Parkside prospectus... Only thing is I'd quite like to have more than 4 AS and 3 A2 without having to do F. Maths (my idea of hell lol). I'm looking into other sixth forms too atm but it's really hard to choose! I keep changing my mind about where I want to go.

Yeah, parkside is so new that you can't really measure how good it is... (but the IB looks really great!) Same goes for Comberton. Whereas for as long as I can remember, Hills has always been one of the top sixth forms in the country... Still, I guess it depends on a lot of factors.

[teddypicker1]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Can you describe to me a typical week for you? I have a habit of procrastination! Oh gawwd I really do not know what to do with my life :L
What's french Higher like? I was stuck with a crap french gcse teacher but i self teach to deal with that :l how can you think I can prepare for IB?
Also I am terrible at Maths! but many are saying that I should start at standard then drop to studies.. what is studies like? I am getting a C at Maths GCSE atm...
Is it really hard?

Sorry i didn't reply for ages, haven't been online for ages! Hope you've been able to make a decision but I'll answer your questions anyway

a typical week? hmmm it's hard to describe but tbh with you the workload varies a lot for me, maybe that is just my school or just my subjects, but for instance at the start of the year i had piles of stuff to do, i think that was just to put the pressure on tbh, but now i really don't have that much to do and it's not that demanding.
French higher.. I think you have to have quite a good level of french tbh, although you can catch up, my spanish was pretty bad at the start of the year but having a good teacher and working hard at it now i'm up to standard with everyone else in the higher class so if you work hard i'm sure it'll be fine. Don't always go on what you got in GCSE for how you will do at IB, it has some reference but not loads, eg I actually struggled with english gcse and now it's one of my best subjects and i'm getting 6's and 7's so it doesn't mean too much.

You can't really prepare that much for IB but I would say don't complete stop thinking about work during the summer holiday it's surprising how much you forget over like 2 months.. definitely work on your languages if you have the chance and are going to be doing french higher because they'll be the first you'll start forgetting probably.
I started in Standard maths and dropped down after 1/2 a term, not because it was really difficult but because the pace was too fast for me, it didn't help that they had an awful teacher, i would say with maths you really need to like it and be interested if you're not forget it and do studies, also there is really no point doing standard if you don't need it for what you want to do in the future, there's no point putting the extra pressure on yourself, if you do maths studies you can focus on other things. Studies is really easy tbh, but I did get an A at GCSE and i have a good teacher but I hardly do any work.. which is bad, but I don't feel like I need to, I know people in my class who got C's at GCSE and they're doing fine, so don't worry! hope this helps even if you've made your decision already

[saachi]

(Original post by KITKAT12STEP)
Basically I am an essay person, overall I am okay A grades apart from Maths which jumps from B to a C :'( I am applying for Hills Road Sixth Form and doing possibly: Economics, Modern History, French & G&P or Italian ( haven't decided yet).
Parkside sixth is opening up and it looks really tempting! My sister did the IB and she has warned me how hard it is. However, I think that IB will benefit me greatly as I want to apply abroad ( UK Unis are just too expensive!) I am thinking of Dutch Unis possibly Maastricht, Amsterdam or Ultrecht.
If I do the IB, judging from Parkside's prospectus I'll take :
Mathematical studies
Environmental systems and Societies
Music ( SL)
French HL
Eng Lit HL
History HL

I would really appreciate it if someone can share me their experiences. I am a bit worried as Parkside is very new and possibly inexperienced with the IB, whilst Hills Road is one of the best in the country.

I am not sure on what to do career wise, but as I am interested in languages and other cultures, working in an international organisation e.g UN/ EU really interests me. I am thinking that taking a business or politics/international relations degree in Maastricht might help me with this.
So basically I am really stuck so please help! Also any insights on any of the subjects above will be appreciated! Thank you

I'm doing the IB, and take 4 out of those subjects- English HL, Math Studies, EVSS SL, and French (though at SL). I'm horrible at Math too, but I get by with a 6 with some effort. That's only because I'm really bad at it though, you could probably get 7 even if you take it lightly. EVSS is underestimated, it's a really vague subject so seems easy at first but loads of people miss 6's and 7's in the finals.

IB is well- recognised only in American and Canadian universities. Anywhere else will still ask you for a ridiculously high score of 38-42 points. I don't know about Dutch unis, though. I'm warning you, though, my school is inexperienced with the IB AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE!! Do NOT do IB if the school is inexperienced, it could mess up your whole career!

CAS is majorly annoying too. TOK's fun (for me) and EE is interesting too, and I love English HL There's many times you will kick yourself for taking the IB, because it tends to haunt you even in your free time. At the end of the day it's your call. If you're hard-working you'll do well in any system.