IB vs. University

For those who have finished the IB and are now in university, how big was the step up? Is university more or less work?

[Do tell what university you're at and what you're studying (as a reference point :smile:

)]

Reply 1

IB-Seed

IB <<<<<<<<<<< University.
Period.

Reply 2

cucumber sandwich

... though it prepares you a lot better for the heavy workload compared to A-levels and such

Reply 3

nomasaya

IB-Seed

IB <<<<<<<<<<< University.
Period.

ok, come on..how possibly could you know...you're still junior! (i.e. IB1) ...so you still have to do some waiting until you become credible to discuss this matter :wink:

Reply 4

HMSChocolate

IB2 > 1st year university

UNSW, Australia, BCommerce, currently in week 4 of semester 1

I have:
a calculus online quiz this coming week
a Microecon oral in 5 weeks (10 min, 500 words essay)
an Excel group project due in 4 weeks
a Management group oral in 2 weeks
Mid-term exams in April

For the orals I can't do any work on right now because I have to wait for the relevant lecture the week before.

Other than those outstanding assessments, the weekly tutorial exercises (if you choose to do them :p:

) are usually trivial and doesn't take that long to do.

The difference from IB is obviously in uni you're required to do a lot more background reading from the text book because the lectures can't cover everything you need to know and you're still expected to read the textbooks. So that's 1chapter/week/subject. That takes time to read properly and understand and let sink in. But it's not hard.

The stress of IB is definite more!!!!!

Reply 5

Alec3

Does sound like university is less work. I'd be interested in any other people at other universities ...

Reply 6

HMSChocolate

Alec3

Does sound like university is less work. I'd be interested in any other people at other universities ...

To quote my homeroom teacher, my history teacher, my IBC:
"First year university is a breeze compared to IB2."

Yes, they said that.

Reply 7

Sinuhe

University is a lot harder than the IB in my opinion. But with the IB, the 'jump' to university-style work is considerably easier than it is for A-level students, as you'll have worked much harder in school compared to your A-level peers. Also the IB seems to give you a much better starting point knowledge-wise as well, so not only is your work ethic better (of necessity!), you also have a bit fewer novel ideas to absorb, but only at the very beginning: after a term or two, everything is new for everyone.

However, despite there being so much more work at university, you shouldn't be intimidated. The transition from the IB to university was fairly smooth for me and I didn't have very many problems adjusting to the new work regime. Also, at university you do more or less only one subject, one which you preferably like, so you may well find that writing a chemistry essay is easier than writing a world literature one ... :smile:

I certainly wouldn't agree with HMSChocolate about there being more stress in the IB; I have at least two deadlines per week to satisfy (have to hand in work for two (or more) tutorials in advance obviously - and mostly you have to study all the topics in advance of lectures all on your own), and tutorials are two- or three-on-one where you definitely have to do lots of talking and have to know the topic really well unless you want to make a fool of yourself. Furthermore, all university exams are at the very end of the year, which puts a lot of stress on you as that's really all that matters for your degree classification.

I suppose that the subject you choose to read at university and the university itself really do matter a lot in answering this question. For reference, I do Chemistry at Oxford (2nd year).

Which uni/course are you intending to do?

Reply 8

HMSChocolate

Sinuhe

Ah see, I'm first year, first semester and it's only week 4. And my tutorials have 25 people, but yes, even then you still have to be prepared and know your stuff well. And my tutorials run AFTER the lecture, meaning the topic we cover in this week's lecture is next week's tute topic so it's not that much studying ahead everything on your own, but yes, there is still a fair bit of reading ahead and knowing what lecturers go on about. I just find that right now I do less work than I did this time last year (second semester of IB2).

Reply 9

Osmosis

This is interesting stuff, something I've also been wondering about a fair bit. Thanks for sharing, HMS and Sinuhe.

@ Sinuhe: I have no doubt what you say is true, but is it not likely that the workload and the tutorial system at Oxford are a little more intense than at most other places?

Reply 10

Sinuhe

@ Osmosis: I don't know if I can say that Oxford is harder etc without sounding stuck-up. I suppose in the end, I can't objectively say how much work students have elsewhere because I haven't been to any other university and it's all just second-hand information. But from what my friends who go to other universities tell me, yes, I'd be quite tempted to make that conclusion ...

Reply 11

HMSChocolate

Sinuhe

But from what my friends who go to other universities tell me, yes, I'd be quite tempted to make that conclusion ...

Yes take that conclusion. I think we all have that unconscious view in mind anyway. :p:

And I think the fact that you're taking Chemistry might make your work a little harder than what I'm taking - Business. I don't know, Chem scares me.

Reply 12

Osmosis

Ah right, fair enough. Of course you don't have a whole lot to compare it to.

Thanks anyhow!

Reply 13

~Lc~

IB-Seed

IB <<<<<<<<<<< University.
Period.

simple exaggeration here seed :p:

I don't go to uni yet so I can't really answer the question OP, but all my friends who have graduated IB seem to excel in the courses they're doing (I'm not just saying this I'm serious). I know people in premed first year who are the only people in their years who know what to do without following onto the lecturers every word. But I think work in IB and uni is almost the same, but given that we're in a younger age and required to do almost the same amount of work makes the IB slightly harder in my opinion. As Syllabi they might be equal in difficulty, and maybe even the uni courses harder, but there's a large factor of the maturity of students in uni which helps. But this is my opinion, and again I really can't tell you which is harder because: A. I haven't been to uni, B. it is afterall subjective so some will say it's harder while others will say it's easier depending on their uni course and the subjects they took in IB..

Reply 14

Ramsha

Lc's back!!!!!! haha. my friends r in medical after IB...and they're loving it...haha...i mean...MEDICAL is apparently easier than IB. *shudder*

Reply 15

teeekilicious18

LOL. For me, I like to take the easy way. Idk. I only passed one subject for IGCSE and graduated that with an A. I got in pre-U/college doing diploma for Graphic Design. (idk how I got in when they want 5 credits. xD)
It's really silly for people to complain about how MUCH work they have to do. I really think I've finally grown up. I used to complain as much as you guys but, really... I say, please don't stress out too much with your school work. My advice is to do with what you love most, deal with your passion. Your passion is ALOT OF WORK THAN ANYTHING ELSE. TRUST ME. Universities aren't for people who is just going to "the-next-stage-of-life". It is what I've been taught. It's for people who is dedicated of what they love to do hence my seniors told me, "it's hard to fail". Not only Uni's requirement want good grades at the same time they do allow kick-ass portfolio. Yet after my diploma, I doubt that I'm going back to do my degree. I'm going to work straight away. And FYI, being in the working world is countless. At this stage I've dealt with several clients! (They're whiny!, wish they're not) And to answer your question, yes... The university has more work than IB. Lecturers are NOT gonna be there to spoon feed you. If you skipped one class, you missed ALOT. If you slack, well more consequences. If people kept complaining about how much they have to work, they will never be successful. But I'm currently balancing both schooling + work. I have to do 2 portfolios. I want to be an aspiring writer, creating character and make movies. Shockingly, my consultant told me it's best if I go through a graphic design course first. So I'm doing creative writing + graphic design portfolios. MORE SLEEPLESS nights especially graduation coming up. I really ENJOYED IT. I have so many ambition :biggrin:

After finals, I'll be doing an internship and collecting clients myself. I'll be majoring "branding, web designing and copywriting" on my work. So can you imagine getting out of school? Just ask your seniors folks! GOOD LUCK! (Sorry if my grammars all crappy. I'm really tired, multitasking on my computer as always.)

Reply 16

teeekilicious18

long story short. just more ****s xD

Reply 17

shopoholic

If your school doesn't have good qualified teachers, do yourself a favour and don't do IB. However, if you do have good teachers who know what they're doing then by all means do IB if you are ready to experience high levels of stress.
This is coming from an IB graduate so please don't attack me for criticising the program.