IB Diploma

Hi! I've just finished the IB course yesterday (since exams were cancelled), but here's a few tips I wish I knew:
- Research into what TOK is, it was a big shock when they first told us about it because I had no idea there was another element to the course
- Revise content as you go along, but not loads because a lot of the subjects aren't actually that content heavy
- PUT LOADS OF EFFORT INTO YOUR IA's
- Don't worry about CAS too much, you just need to pass it so it doesn't matter too much
- Pick an extended essay that you enjoy, or it will be a horrible process, I loved my topic so it was so easy to write, it was the only thing I didn't procrastinate with
- Pick highers that you enjoy but ALSO subjects that you think you can get good grades in (this was my biggest downfall)
- Lastly, everyone goes on about awful and how much hardwork it is, and it is but I didn't think it was that bad. As long as you keep onto of things and enjoy it, it'll be fine so don't worry about it being too hard

Thank you so much! What actually are the IA’s because I’ve tried to look it up but I’ve never really found an answer?

IA's are internal assessments, you do them for most subjects. It's basically just a paper you write over the course of about 2-3 months but you get to choose the topic. For example if you do biology, you get to choose the experiment to write your research paper on. Usually they are around 20% of the grade for that subject, so it can really make a difference!
Make sure you pick topics which you think will be interesting, and also look at mark schemes

First tip: completely chill out over the summer. Don't read too much into IB-related things right now or try to get your textbooks etc, and as strange as that sounds, a) you need the rest, but b) also it's better to just enter the programme without having a fixated perspective or already being concerned about the workload. I didn't even know what IAs were till I actually got to doing my first one lol, and I'm glad I didn't because that would have just given me anxiety over the summer because it does seem like a lot of work if someone says to you you have an IA in every subject which is like 12 pages long and a couple oral exams.... Regardless of whether you do IB, A-levels or whatever, there is work. Basically, do not be intimidated by IB in a nutshell.

Another tip to address your concerns about the workload, don't leave it hanging over you for days and weeks because then it piles up and that's what causes the overwhelming feeling. You don't want to be drafting 3 different IAs in a night because you procrastinated. The same goes for content revision. The workload may vary depending on the point you're at in the IB; one week you might have absolutely nothing due in, and then others you may have several deadlines. 8 hours of sleep and a social life will NOT at all be compromised. Don't panic.

Use your teachers for TOK and EE to your advantage and do a lot of secondary reading and research for as many things as you can that interest you in subjects.

Finally, just enjoy the IB. It's a great course which (is intellectually stimulating, teaches you lots blah blah blah - all the academic jargon!), you will actually be so pleased that you did instead of anything else because you form your greatest friends by stressing together about the various deadlines which are so funny to look back on, and probably were funny in the moment itself as well - as long as it wasn't your EE that was being hunted down by the EE coordinator! Just kidding haha, it's nowhere near as bad as people say it is.

Thank you so much, this has actually made me feel a lot better about it and less worried. Is it more work than A-Levels though because all my friends keep saying about how they’re going to have so much more free time than me which I don’t think is quite true, do you know whether it is?