IB

FINALLY found the IB forum, sorry, I'm new!

Again, I'm in YR11 and I want to do medicine at uni..

Anybody that has done/is doing IB want to help me?
1) How big is the work load?
2) Can one maintain a social life?
3) How hard is 38 points

If I did IB I would do
HL MATH CHEM BIO
SL ENG ECONOMICS SPANISH

I think I'm heading for mostly A* Stars at iGCSE's

ANY advice would be lovely! :confused:

Reply 1

danny111

3

You want to do medicine and ask about workload?

I would say it's the best possible preparation for a medicine degree you can get.

If you are 100% sure on doing medicine though, don't take maths HL. It is not as hard as most people will make you believe, but it undoubtedly requires a lot of effort to get a 6/7. I would swap it with economics.

Reply 2

kuks

1

1 The work load really isn't all that people make it out to be...and I had 2 sciences and Economics and Math Hl so don't worry. I don't think I pulled even one all nighter.
2. Definitely. I still went out alot and met my friends.
3. Its not the easiest thing in the world but with consistent work and hard work during your finnals, I don't see a reason why not.

And like danny said, if you're sure on medicine, don't stress yourself with Math HL. I took it and really enjoyed it and ended up with a 7 but it really isn't worth it if it's not contributing to your degree.

Reply 3

timothyravinder

OP

Oh right, I have heard that HL Maths is like A Level Further Maths, but harder!

Also, in terms of internal assessments, how hard are they?

Thanks guys

Reply 4

cynthialf

2

The internal assessments are, for the most part, fairly easy. As long as you follow the criteria closely it's not that hard to get close to full points.

Reply 5

timothyravinder

OP

Okay thanks..

So nobody recommends HL maths haha?

Reply 6

danny111

3

Original post by timothyravinder

Okay thanks..

So nobody recommends HL maths haha?

Not to you.

You made a thread that clearly shows you are worried about the workload. Economics HL is not as much work as Maths HL. You plan to do a degree for which maths HL is not a requirement, nor necessarily a must-have even if not a requirement.

I would recommend it in other cases for sure.

Reply 7

timothyravinder

OP

I'm not bothered about the workload, I'll just need to know what it is, to incoporate CAS etc..

and if maths is a favourite subject or whatever, is it still not wise?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

danny111

3

You had 3 points and the first two are basically asking about work load, so I assumed that was what you were worried about.

If maths is your favourite subject, then I would go for it!

Although check what extension topic your maths teacher plans on doing. It could be one you won't like.

Reply 9

timothyravinder

OP

Thanks!

Reply 10

timothyravinder

OP

Also, has anyone gone from iGCSE English to IB?

Im concerned as English is my weakest subject?

And is it possible to do your EE and CAS hours done over summer?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 11

cynthialf

2

Original post by timothyravinder

Also, has anyone gone from iGCSE English to IB?

Im concerned as English is my weakest subject?

And is it possible to do your EE and CAS hours done over summer?

You need to have at least one long-term project in CAS at the moment, but ultimately you should aim to be done with most after the summer of your IB1 year. It is recommended to do at least the research process for your EE during the summer between IB1 and IB2, it will make your life in IB2 very much easier.

Reply 12

loonyplatypus

1

DON'T DO IB!

:woo:

Reply 13

Eldedu

12

Original post by timothyravinder

FINALLY found the IB forum, sorry, I'm new!

Again, I'm in YR11 and I want to do medicine at uni..

Anybody that has done/is doing IB want to help me?
1) How big is the work load?
2) Can one maintain a social life?
3) How hard is 38 points

If I did IB I would do
HL MATH CHEM BIO
SL ENG ECONOMICS SPANISH

I think I'm heading for mostly A* Stars at iGCSE's

ANY advice would be lovely! :confused:

If you can do another program for your last two years (A-levels, for example), do that and not I.B. You'll get better results, have just as good a chance at getting into top unis, and you'll thank me two years from now.

However, assuming you're set on I.B.

1.) First year, not very. Second year, I'll get back to you.
2.) At times yes, at times no. During exams definitely not. Depends how much work you put in during the week and over holidays.
3.) Depends on your intelligence, organization, study skills and the effort you put in, but its not a superhuman effort by any means.

Reply 14

timothyravinder

OP

Is it worth making notes early?

Where can i get hold hold of syllabi?

Reply 15

Eldedu

12

Definitely, if you keep your memory fresh you won't have to revive it later which is much harder.

Syllabi, not sure, I get them off my school intranet but you can probably find them with a little google searching

Reply 16

Sorenfors

Original post by timothyravinder

FINALLY found the IB forum, sorry, I'm new!

Again, I'm in YR11 and I want to do medicine at uni..

Anybody that has done/is doing IB want to help me?
1) How big is the work load?
2) Can one maintain a social life?
3) How hard is 38 points

If I did IB I would do
HL MATH CHEM BIO
SL ENG ECONOMICS SPANISH

I think I'm heading for mostly A* Stars at iGCSE's

ANY advice would be lovely! :confused:

I'm halfway through IB2 now and here are my impressions of the IB:
1) I think it's a big work load and I have pulled all-nighters a few times, but that is partially due to poor planning.
2) Absolutely, your social life won't be a problem if you decide to take the IB.
3) I never know what to say when people ask me questions like that. 38 points is the average at my school. So half of my classmates think it's anywhere from dead easy to moderately difficult to get 38 points and the other half would consider it a challenge. Personally I think 38 points is easy to achieve.

If you're clever when choosing your subjects the IB can be made quite easy. E.g. if you don't need Math HL don't take it (unless you're really into math). Do Economics HL instead, it's practically the same as SL.

Reply 17

francescafrancesca

1

True what the person above said. Econs HL and SL are basically the same (sucks that i take standard :/ )

I guess what can really bring you down is languages.

tbh I don't find CAS a problem at all though, it was never really like forcing myself to do stuff for the sake of CAS. If you're a well-rounded person CAS should be no problem really.. I know they don't use the hours thing anymore but it used to be like 50 hours of sport and thats over two years, its fine.

Reply 18

jc_bach

7

Original post by Sorenfors

I'm halfway through IB2 now and here are my impressions of the IB:
1) I think it's a big work load and I have pulled all-nighters a few times, but that is partially due to poor planning.
2) Absolutely, your social life won't be a problem if you decide to take the IB.
3) I never know what to say when people ask me questions like that. 38 points is the average at my school. So half of my classmates think it's anywhere from dead easy to moderately difficult to get 38 points and the other half would consider it a challenge. Personally I think 38 points is easy to achieve.

If you're clever when choosing your subjects the IB can be made quite easy. E.g. if you don't need Math HL don't take it (unless you're really into math). Do Economics HL instead, it's practically the same as SL.