Original post by qewrtyu
I don't know how I'm going to be able to cope with all the hard work doing the IB requires 
Help!
Help!Time management and organisation are key. Avoid procrastination as much as possible. Do any work you get the day it's assigned to get it out of the way. Get binders for all your subjects to store your notes, handouts etc. Take a folder with you to school to store any homework sheets/handouts you get. Transfer them to their respective subject binders when you get home to keep everything organised. Write notes on everything you are taught in class. Do this on a weekly/monthly basis so you won't need to cram during exam time and review everything on a daily/weekly basis to keep everything fresh in your memory. Study in advance for any tests/exams. Prioritise your work. Don't do homework if you've got to hand in an IA (that you haven't completed) the next morning. Never underestimate the importance of IA's since they account for around 20-50% of your grade. Do past papers to familarize yourself with the style of questions. When it gets too overwhelming, take a bring and relax! Go out with friends, exercise or whatever.
Original post by pbunny
Time management and organisation are key. Avoid procrastination as much as possible. Do any work you get the day it's assigned to get it out of the way. Get binders for all your subjects to store your notes, handouts etc. Take a folder with you to school to store any homework sheets/handouts you get. Transfer them to their respective subject binders when you get home to keep everything organised. Write notes on everything you are taught in class. Do this on a weekly/monthly basis so you won't need to cram during exam time and review everything on a daily/weekly basis to keep everything fresh in your memory. Study in advance for any tests/exams. Prioritise your work. Don't do homework if you've got to hand in an IA (that you haven't completed) the next morning. Never underestimate the importance of IA's since they account for around 20-50% of your grade. Do past papers to familarize yourself with the style of questions. When it gets too overwhelming, take a bring and relax! Go out with friends, exercise or whatever.
Thanks Pbunny! problem is I'm an awful procrastinator and I have literally no organisational skills
Original post by pbunny
Time management and organisation are key. Avoid procrastination as much as possible. Do any work you get the day it's assigned to get it out of the way. Get binders for all your subjects to store your notes, handouts etc. Take a folder with you to school to store any homework sheets/handouts you get. Transfer them to their respective subject binders when you get home to keep everything organised. Write notes on everything you are taught in class. Do this on a weekly/monthly basis so you won't need to cram during exam time and review everything on a daily/weekly basis to keep everything fresh in your memory. Study in advance for any tests/exams. Prioritise your work. Don't do homework if you've got to hand in an IA (that you haven't completed) the next morning. Never underestimate the importance of IA's since they account for around 20-50% of your grade. Do past papers to familarize yourself with the style of questions. When it gets too overwhelming, take a bring and relax! Go out with friends, exercise or whatever.
btw are IAs the same as coursework. My school has told us literally nothing about the structure of the IB
Original post by qewrtyu
btw are IAs the same as coursework. My school has told us literally nothing about the structure of the IB
Yes, coursework and IA's (internal assesments) are synonymous.
Original post by qewrtyu
Thanks Pbunny! problem is I'm an awful procrastinator and I have literally no organisational skills
No problem! I'm a pretty bad procrastinator myself but it's quite easy to overcome the temptation . Just allocate a certain time of the day to studying/doing homework. Make your study/homework schedule the day before the new week begins and follow through with the schedule. If you are tempted to go on facebook, TSR, twitter etc just block them all until you are finished with your days worth of work. Think of it this way, if you get your work done straight after you get home you'll have more time to do whatever you want all while getting in a good amount of sleep. Or would you rather procrastinate all evening and do all your homework at night and basically get little to no sleep? I though so.
You can easily hone your organisational skills by starting to get all the necessary school equipment. The key to being organised (for me at least) is a planner. I write all my homework/plans for the day in there a long with the amount of time I'm going to allocate to each activity. It really helps you keep track of your work and time. Also, make SCHEDULES on your phone, computer, planner or whatever. Try to stick to your schedule as much as possible. You might find it hard in the beginning because of procrastination but try your best to stick to it. Reward yourself at the end of finishing your work if need be. Always keep in mind why your doing IB and stay motivated. Think of your dream university. You obviously need to work hard to get in and the only way you'll get good grades in IB if you keep procrastination to a low and complete all your work efficiently. Like I mentioned before, also get binders/folders/dividers as they really are key to staying on top of all the sheets of paper/notes your getting. Get a separate binder for all your subjects and get dividers for each too. Divide each binder up into different sections. One section can be for notes and another can be for handouts/worksheets. Always store any sheets your teachers give you as you may need them later on when revising for exams. Oh and also get a copy of the syllabi of your subjects before the school year begins. Always refer to your syllabi when taking notes to make sure you don't miss anything that you are supposed to know and don't study something if it's not in the syllabus (unless you are really keen about it) as you won't be tested on anything but whats on the syllabus.
IAs are the same as coursework. I agree with pbunny that time management and organisation is important. I procrastinated a bit during IB as well but in the end I made sure I revised well in advance, did a lot of past papers and spent a lot of time on my IAs. My revision strategies were different depending on the subject, for example I wrote notes out for chemistry and just did textbook questions for maths.
Coming from a person who just graduated from IB and from a UK Boarding school I would suggest the following:
1. Do NOT Procrastinate
Although it is impossible not to sometimes, try and not procrastinate. Finish the work the day you get it. Small homeworks can be done in less than 2 hours. Prioritize your times - for instance, if you have to do your IA's (which are really important) then spend more time in it. So yes basically what others said, organization + time management.
2. Set Aims
What do you want to achieve in IB? What do you want to get? What universities do you want to get into? These are things that you should first acknowledge - if say for example, you want to go to like a mediocre university and achieve like a 24-30 then doing nothing can score you that perfectly fine. However if you're aiming for like Top UK Universities like Oxbridge, or Top US Universities (I personally applied to only US Universities and no UK universities) that not only means you need a 38+ for your IB but also take the SATs, SAT II Subject Test and maintain your grades throughout the 2 years as these are what US universities require (as for UK universities you can put all your focus and attention into IB and ignore the SATs part)
3. Hardwork and Dedication
Getting a 38+ does not merely come from listening in class and doing no work outside of it. It's important that you do extra work + independent studies outside of lessons. This is due to the fact most IB teachers don't really teach, they motivate/encourage students to learn independently and this is a skill you need to acquire and get used to for universities. Read a lot of textbooks on your own, read a lot of books, inquire teachers outside of classrooms if you don't understand anything. The key to success is motivation - if you have the motivation to do well, you will do well.
4. Don't only work, you need your social life + sleep!
Yes...most people say "Yeah in IB, you get to only choose 2 out of the 3 lives - sleeping, socializing or academics." Personally, I'm leaning more towards sleeping and academics of course as I know I have to get into good unis and therefore cannot afford to go astray and get a 38 below. However I went through a great depression during November as I was sooo stressed with all those university applications, personal statements, maintaining my IB grades, SAT, SAT II, etc (and mind you applying to US universities you have to write different personal statements for each universities you apply to unlike UCAS/UK Universities). I then came to a revelation that academics isn't everything, and life is not just about work and academics. Life is more than that, and when I realized that, I started socializing more and realized how going out with my friends to cafes and talking to them just about everything helped relieve stress.
Just realize that, IB is not as important as your friends and family, and whenever you get 'overstressed' with IB - stop working - go out, or watch a movie or something. Know your limits, when you know you've worked hard for a long duration, take a good 1-2 hour break, go to the gym, do whatever you want. Rest is really important.
5. Know the syllabus and know the weightings of different papers that makes up your final grade
I cannot emphasize this enough. IB Exams would not ask something out of the syllabus...and try and read through the syllabus and make notes accordingly. Knowing the weightings of different papers that makes up part of your final grade is important in a sense you know which paper is important and which papers you CANNOT screw. This can be a difference between say - a 6 and a 7.
6. Do not underestimate the extra points
Again this refers to TOK and EE. Do not think because it's only 3 points that you can procrastinate the TOK Essay and procrasinate and write a crap EE and get like a 2. That's not how it works...it's actually really hard to get the 3 extra points and again, this 3 extra points is like the difference between a 39 and a 42!
7. Try and finish as much CAS as possible during your first year of IB
This helps a lot in terms of alleviating some stress from your 2nd year in IB as you have to deal with university applications as well (which is a PAIN in the ass)
I hope these advices are good enough for you! And good luck with IB!
1. Do NOT Procrastinate
Although it is impossible not to sometimes, try and not procrastinate. Finish the work the day you get it. Small homeworks can be done in less than 2 hours. Prioritize your times - for instance, if you have to do your IA's (which are really important) then spend more time in it. So yes basically what others said, organization + time management.
2. Set Aims
What do you want to achieve in IB? What do you want to get? What universities do you want to get into? These are things that you should first acknowledge - if say for example, you want to go to like a mediocre university and achieve like a 24-30 then doing nothing can score you that perfectly fine. However if you're aiming for like Top UK Universities like Oxbridge, or Top US Universities (I personally applied to only US Universities and no UK universities) that not only means you need a 38+ for your IB but also take the SATs, SAT II Subject Test and maintain your grades throughout the 2 years as these are what US universities require (as for UK universities you can put all your focus and attention into IB and ignore the SATs part)
3. Hardwork and Dedication
Getting a 38+ does not merely come from listening in class and doing no work outside of it. It's important that you do extra work + independent studies outside of lessons. This is due to the fact most IB teachers don't really teach, they motivate/encourage students to learn independently and this is a skill you need to acquire and get used to for universities. Read a lot of textbooks on your own, read a lot of books, inquire teachers outside of classrooms if you don't understand anything. The key to success is motivation - if you have the motivation to do well, you will do well.
4. Don't only work, you need your social life + sleep!
Yes...most people say "Yeah in IB, you get to only choose 2 out of the 3 lives - sleeping, socializing or academics." Personally, I'm leaning more towards sleeping and academics of course as I know I have to get into good unis and therefore cannot afford to go astray and get a 38 below. However I went through a great depression during November as I was sooo stressed with all those university applications, personal statements, maintaining my IB grades, SAT, SAT II, etc (and mind you applying to US universities you have to write different personal statements for each universities you apply to unlike UCAS/UK Universities). I then came to a revelation that academics isn't everything, and life is not just about work and academics. Life is more than that, and when I realized that, I started socializing more and realized how going out with my friends to cafes and talking to them just about everything helped relieve stress.
Just realize that, IB is not as important as your friends and family, and whenever you get 'overstressed' with IB - stop working - go out, or watch a movie or something. Know your limits, when you know you've worked hard for a long duration, take a good 1-2 hour break, go to the gym, do whatever you want. Rest is really important.
5. Know the syllabus and know the weightings of different papers that makes up your final grade
I cannot emphasize this enough. IB Exams would not ask something out of the syllabus...and try and read through the syllabus and make notes accordingly. Knowing the weightings of different papers that makes up part of your final grade is important in a sense you know which paper is important and which papers you CANNOT screw. This can be a difference between say - a 6 and a 7.
6. Do not underestimate the extra points
Again this refers to TOK and EE. Do not think because it's only 3 points that you can procrastinate the TOK Essay and procrasinate and write a crap EE and get like a 2. That's not how it works...it's actually really hard to get the 3 extra points and again, this 3 extra points is like the difference between a 39 and a 42!
7. Try and finish as much CAS as possible during your first year of IB
This helps a lot in terms of alleviating some stress from your 2nd year in IB as you have to deal with university applications as well (which is a PAIN in the ass)
I hope these advices are good enough for you! And good luck with IB!
(edited 9 years ago)
Everyone before me has given pretty much the best advice there is for IB, so I'll just add some of my personal tips in case they're of use:
NOTES! A lot of the time things your teachers say in class can be nuggets of gold that aren't written down in sheets they hand out to you. For me this applied particularly to subjects like English, History, and Economics. Write notes in class on your computer/by hand, scribble if necessary, then go home and write neat notes for each topic - I would advise using colours/highlighters. Whether or not it helps you memorise is debatable, but it is a lot more interesting than boring black pen on boring white paper.
Make your revision continuous. A lot of people wait until that critical pre-exam/test time of only a few weeks before they start revising. Find fun ways to ensure you're learning a little bit every day and committing it to memory. Ideas:
There are loads of more quirky, fun revision methods that are small and only take a few minutes, but when done over a period of months, you'll be amazed how much it'll sink in.
Past papers. These are most helpful for subjects such as Maths, sciences, and Economics. You can learn a syllabus inside out, but doing past paper after past paper will get you used to the style of question asked, and will help you recognise patterns, e.g. for Maths and Economics, the same kinds of questions pop up year after year.
Get your EE out of the way ASAP. I know so many people who procrastinated with their EEs and ended up still having it hanging over their heads in February of their senior year. Not good. Come senior year, you will have more than enough on your plate without the added stress of the EE. If possible, after your junior year exams start planning and researching so you have a rough idea of what you'll be doing. Use the summer to bang out a first draft - even if it isn't brilliant, the feedback will be invaluable in helping you shape a much better later product, and you'll be in a much better position than those who don't hand in a first draft until near Christmas. Plus, you might be like me - I did English for my EE and wrote a first draft on one book, then was told in November I had to change my book and therefore start entirely anew. The faster you move with your EE, the faster problems show up and the faster you can fix them and get a beautiful finished work out of the way.
GOOD LUCK! You'll be fine
NOTES! A lot of the time things your teachers say in class can be nuggets of gold that aren't written down in sheets they hand out to you. For me this applied particularly to subjects like English, History, and Economics. Write notes in class on your computer/by hand, scribble if necessary, then go home and write neat notes for each topic - I would advise using colours/highlighters. Whether or not it helps you memorise is debatable, but it is a lot more interesting than boring black pen on boring white paper.
Make your revision continuous. A lot of people wait until that critical pre-exam/test time of only a few weeks before they start revising. Find fun ways to ensure you're learning a little bit every day and committing it to memory. Ideas:
•
For diagram-heavy subjects e.g. Biology or Economics, draw very large diagrams and plaster them in key places: your door, opposite your bed, your fridge.
•
Make flash card packets - best for science subjects. 5-10 flash cards per packet, put them under your pillow, by your toothbrush, tape them to your closet. Only allow yourself to sleep/brush your teeth/open your closet once you have used the packet.
•
Foreign language - Post-It notes stuck around my room with the foreign word on the front and its English translation on the back. Vocab is essential to a good grade in a foreign language.
There are loads of more quirky, fun revision methods that are small and only take a few minutes, but when done over a period of months, you'll be amazed how much it'll sink in.
Past papers. These are most helpful for subjects such as Maths, sciences, and Economics. You can learn a syllabus inside out, but doing past paper after past paper will get you used to the style of question asked, and will help you recognise patterns, e.g. for Maths and Economics, the same kinds of questions pop up year after year.
Get your EE out of the way ASAP. I know so many people who procrastinated with their EEs and ended up still having it hanging over their heads in February of their senior year. Not good. Come senior year, you will have more than enough on your plate without the added stress of the EE. If possible, after your junior year exams start planning and researching so you have a rough idea of what you'll be doing. Use the summer to bang out a first draft - even if it isn't brilliant, the feedback will be invaluable in helping you shape a much better later product, and you'll be in a much better position than those who don't hand in a first draft until near Christmas. Plus, you might be like me - I did English for my EE and wrote a first draft on one book, then was told in November I had to change my book and therefore start entirely anew. The faster you move with your EE, the faster problems show up and the faster you can fix them and get a beautiful finished work out of the way.
GOOD LUCK! You'll be fine
Simply put, the harder you work the better you will do. If you want something exceptional you wont have much time to sleep. The school you go to very much affects the outcome of some of your grades, but don't let the school or teachers stop you from getting what you want. It's simple advice, the key to really doing well is hard work and diligence.
My honest advice is don't be afraid to cry!! That's what got me through these two years and I came out with a 41
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Original post by Ea1995
My honest advice is don't be afraid to cry!! That's what got me through these two years and I came out with a 41
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
oh my god, 41
I really want to do IB but I really feel like I'll screw up; I want to get at least 35
Original post by sophie kwon chu
oh my god, 41
I really want to do IB but I really feel like I'll screw up; I want to get at least 35
I really want to do IB but I really feel like I'll screw up; I want to get at least 35
Have you tried to get extra help from you teachers? Or tutors? Sounds like you could do with a little of this. It would help motivate you and stop you from procrastinating.
Original post by Shadesofgrey
Have you tried to get extra help from you teachers? Or tutors? Sounds like you could do with a little of this. It would help motivate you and stop you from procrastinating.
Yes, (I'm currently in year 11) I've been going to help clinics. My mum was going to enroll me for external tuition classes (for triple science) but my chemistry and physics teachers said I didn't need to go... Oh. But I just want to get good grades in them for GCSE. I'm definitely not doing them for IB.
I've been procrastinating for the past few weeks actually, which is extremely poor since mock exams and language (French, Spanish and Chinese) controlled assessments start this Monday...
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