Perfect 45 points

Ibid book maths!

Allright nice, what were your subjects and how much did you study on a regular basis/daily?
My main concern is English Sl

I sat my exams in English A1, Mandarin B, Maths, Bio, Chem and History.

I think the most important thing is to study with consistency. Study a little everyday and do NOT cram the night before a test or try to finish an assignment the day before its due date. Make a list, make a plan and stick to it!

Hmm English SL, what are you mainly concerned about? English is definitely something you can't cram study as it is mainly a literature based subject. Read your texts several times to really understand the deeper meanings implied. Don't just read, make notes as you read. Be original in your thoughts and ideas (Sparknotes/Cliff notes won't work xP).
Practice essay writing with well, writing essays after essays after essays... Same goes with unfamiliar commentary writing. Learn your literary techniques really well and know how to spot them in context and comment on them in relation to the themes and ideas.

Original post by Ibforlife

THanks for all the feedback!, Any help for chem HL, Bio HL ,Econ Hl textbooks and most important Maths Sl textbooks...?
Are revision guides any good ?

Thanks!

I´m excited for my IB program this August :biggrin:

Chem HL - !! The IBID book and PEARSON'S HL BOOK (lol I can't believe I'm getting excited over a text book but that book saved my life) and the Oxford study guide.
Bio HL - Again, IBID book and the Oxford study guide. I didn't really like the Pearson's biology book as I felt it didn't stick to the syllabus very well but it was great for extension/background reading.
Maths SL - Haese and Harris textbook and the thin ring - binder exam preparation booklet!!! And this is going to sound very vague but my memory is fading!!! (I sat my SL exam 2 years ago!!) That textbook with a shell at the front? Colour code: Blue/Red.

And for all .......
QUESTIONBANKS!! PAST EXAMS! <-- The usual! Don't just learn the theory, try to practice as much as you can!
Good luck! :smile:

Reply 42

Tetris-Blocks-For-Brains

3

Don't expect to leave the house, ever.
I think the place where you do it has an impact on it as well. If you go somewhere where you'll be surrounded by uber-geeks, you can get into competition and all go for 45 together. That would be fun.
But seriously, I'd buy yourself one of those SAD lamps that emulates sunlight before you even start. :P
I'm in first year IB, currently predicted around a 38.
I'm an uber-geek for my college. :biggrin:

Good luck, noble IB of the future. Good luck.

Reply 43

Aeschylus

17

Work and be very clever

I got 42 and I swear to god I didn't sleep in 6 months

Reply 44

Aeschylus

17

Higher: English, Latin, classical greek
Standard: history maths biology

Reply 45

Scribblet

11

TOKs probably the hardest part of getting your 45 :\ Just question how you came to your views on anything and everything ALL THE TIME and you should be fine :biggrin:

I want a 45 too!

Nearly got it...

Got perfects everywhere except damn English A1 SL....
I studied lots for English, tried to learn how to analyse these damn poems, and didn't even manage a 6.... :frown:

Oh well....

Reply 48

CocoPop

18

Original post by radicality

Nearly got it...

Got perfects everywhere except damn English A1 SL....
I studied lots for English, tried to learn how to analyse these damn poems, and didn't even manage a 6.... :frown:

Oh well....

Damn that's annoying. In a way though it's better than getting all 7s and losing 2 bonus points (happened to a friend of mine). Bonus points are supposedly the "3 easiest points" you can pick up, so missing out on those is like a wasted opportunity...

Lesson for current IB peeps: do you extended essay in the subject it's easiest for you to get an A in. You'll regret it otherwise, trust me.

Reply 49

laryxle

7

Original post by radicality

Nearly got it...

Got perfects everywhere except damn English A1 SL....
I studied lots for English, tried to learn how to analyse these damn poems, and didn't even manage a 6.... :frown:

Oh well....

I was in a similar position, except for Japanese (got a 6 in that but 7's A/A in everything else), it was the subject I did the most work for and I thought the writing was my worst so I mainly focused on that but I got 28/30 for my P2 and only 30/40 for P1, which I had always consistently gotten 34+ for :/ Plus Japanese was the only subject my IA didn't get moderated down for, adding insult to injury :P

Reply 50

nota bene

15

Original post by CocoPop

Damn that's annoying. In a way though it's better than getting all 7s and losing 2 bonus points (happened to a friend of mine). Bonus points are supposedly the "3 easiest points" you can pick up, so missing out on those is like a wasted opportunity...

Lesson for current IB peeps: do you extended essay in the subject it's easiest for you to get an A in. You'll regret it otherwise, trust me.

Happened to one of my classmates as well. Got B in TOK (fair enough) and a D in the EE (predicted A). The EE was in one of his best subjects, which is directly related to his university degree.

As for this whole thread - getting 45 is not important at all, getting good enough grades to get into the university you want is the key... Often anything around 38 will be enough for that, sometimes they ask for up to 40-42, but it is rare. And luck is an underestimated factor, especially in certain subjects. E.g. sometimes you just get a poem to analyse that you're just not understanding very well, and consistently getting 7s previously will not help you then...

Reply 51

CocoPop

18

Original post by nota bene

Happened to one of my classmates as well. Got B in TOK (fair enough) and a D in the EE (predicted A). The EE was in one of his best subjects, which is directly related to his university degree.

As for this whole thread - getting 45 is not important at all, getting good enough grades to get into the university you want is the key... Often anything around 38 will be enough for that, sometimes they ask for up to 40-42, but it is rare. And luck is an underestimated factor, especially in certain subjects. E.g. sometimes you just get a poem to analyse that you're just not understanding very well, and consistently getting 7s previously will not help you then...

I absolutely agree with you in every respect here. The IB serves predominantly to get you into university. Getting the grades for your university of choice = success. Being predicted higher raises your chances of getting an offer and scoring higher than you need is just a personal goal (and a very good one at that), but they don't serve for much beyond that.

Luck, again, is a big factor. Especially once you get into the 40+ range.

Reply 52

Aeschylus

17

Ha I needed 40 points to get in. Originally got 38 points. Sent them off to be remarked. By the time they came back (with 42) the deadline had passed and I was rejected by my firm university. Not impressed.

Often it depends where your coursework was marked. My english coursework I think was marked in Uruguay, and my english exams in Croatia. Went from a 5 to a 7 on the remark, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence...

Reply 53

bluesky42

9

Original post by Aeschylus

Ha I needed 40 points to get in. Originally got 38 points. Sent them off to be remarked. By the time they came back (with 42) the deadline had passed and I was rejected by my firm university. Not impressed.

Often it depends where your coursework was marked. My english coursework I think was marked in Uruguay, and my english exams in Croatia. Went from a 5 to a 7 on the remark, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence...

You've really freaked me out now. :eek:

Edit: Which university?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 54

Aeschylus

17

Original post by bluesky42

You've really freaked me out now. :eek:

Edit: Which university?

Which university was I rejected from? Oxford. The most embarrassing thing was talking to people afterwards and having to correct them about where I was going and then them going "oh... I thought you were intelligent?" HA.

Reply 55

bluesky42

9

Original post by Aeschylus

Which university was I rejected from? Oxford. The most embarrassing thing was talking to people afterwards and having to correct them about where I was going and then them going "oh... I thought you were intelligent?" HA.

Oxford did that to you?! ouch. You have so much of my sympathy.

Your insurance can't have been that bad?!! lol

Reply 56

Aeschylus

17

Original post by bluesky42

Oxford did that to you?! ouch. You have so much of my sympathy.

Your insurance can't have been that bad?!! lol

Haha thanks. It was slightly gutting but you can't really define yourself by what university you go or don't go to.

No It was a tossup between York and UCL for my insurance and I chose York because I couldn't afford to live in London. I'm very happy here.

I've heard some other shocking stories about Oxbridge in general. One teacher (and this is merely anecdotal, not gospel) said that an Oxbridge admissions tutor had admitted that they ask for marks for IB students that are harder to get than A level students, because they can. This, however, was before the A* grade came in, so dunno how relevant it is now.

Reply 57

bluesky42

9

Original post by Aeschylus

Haha thanks. It was slightly gutting but you can't really define yourself by what university you go or don't go to.

No It was a tossup between York and UCL for my insurance and I chose York because I couldn't afford to live in London. I'm very happy here.

I've heard some other shocking stories about Oxbridge in general. One teacher (and this is merely anecdotal, not gospel) said that an Oxbridge admissions tutor had admitted that they ask for marks for IB students that are harder to get than A level students, because they can. This, however, was before the A* grade came in, so dunno how relevant it is now.

York's lovely! My mum lives there. Wow "just because they can?". Yeah I asked a Physics tutor about Maths requirements, and he asked me how the IB grading system worked. After I explained he said "Well we ask for an A at A level so we'll probably want a 7 at IB". My reaction: :headfire:

Anyways, I guess I just have to keep working for the next weeks to get my 39!

Reply 58

FiniteMr

13

Original post by bluesky42

York's lovely! My mum lives there. Wow "just because they can?". Yeah I asked a Physics tutor about Maths requirements, and he asked me how the IB grading system worked. After I explained he said "Well we ask for an A at A level so we'll probably want a 7 at IB". My reaction: :headfire:

Anyways, I guess I just have to keep working for the next weeks to get my 39!

There was an interesting link I read on comparisons between IB and A level subjects in the eyes of Cambridge, who are remarkably good at balancing their IB-A Level offers. They consider a 7 to be a student with "remarkable insight" and slightly higher than an A/A* in maths+FM in terms of the ability of the student, but not the amount of material covered, which is why they value the A* more than the 7.

In the sciences, they are very pleased with the scientific sophistication of IB students, but not so much with the breadth of the course in some cases. In chemistry, they said the organics section was a little limited (unless you take Further Organics, in which case IB streaks ahead) and but the majority of the course is better than A-level for chemistry. In physics, the course is lacking in width but goes into further depth. In both cases, the mathematical or logical part of the course is worlds better in IB (I am talking about questions that are not on syllabus, but related to the syllabus).

All in all, I think the offers most of the top universities make are balanced between A-level and IB (although IB offers are harder to get due to the non-modular nature of the course), but at the lower levels IB students are at a disadvantage. For example my offer from Manchester is basically the same point total as my Cambridge offer (40 points incl core for Cam, 37 not incl core for Manchester), obviously not a fair comparison between their A-level offers which are significantly lower.

Reply 59

val0501

I wouldn't necessarily say IB students are always asked for higher grades though - for example, some unis like Warwick want STEP from A levels if studying maths, whilst they don't need this from the IB student - a 7 in HL maths is enough. I'm not saying a 7 in maths is definitely easier than passing STEP, but I reckon it potentially is easier to study for... it all depends on what type of person you are. I remember going to their open day, though, and asking why it was the case that they don't need STEP, and I remember him saying something along the lines of "because in the past, all the IB students we've gotten have been very, very good."

Overall I reckon I maybe maybe might have done better with A levels - ha, I haven't even taken my IB exams yet but they're in 2 weeks and I'm just estimating - because they're modular and if you're the type that's good at memorizing, and studies hard for each exam you do, etc etc then you maybe could achieve the top A* level grades easier than getting a IB 7 - but I personally think the IB gives a more rounded education.. and I really did like CAS now I look back on it, as much as I whinged and whined at the time. So if i went back in time I don't know which I'd choose again. In 10 years' time hopefully I'll be saying IB.

Aside from all this though, that comment about grades getting remarked 4 marks higher scares me a bit..

(edited 13 years ago)

Perfect 45 points

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