Hibiscus78 Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'm going to be starting Maths HL next year, is there anything that I should know before starting the course? I've heard a lot of people say it's incredibly difficult, but I'd be willing to put the work in for it. Also, how difficult is it to attain 6/7 in this subject? If any current/former students could help out I'd be very grateful !! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'm not sure how beneficial doing anything in advance of starting the IB is, but it's definitely a difficult subject to score well in.At my school in 6 years nobody ever achieved higher than a 4 - but I do know people at other schools who got 6's and 7's. You need to have a pretty hefty chunk of mathematical ability naturally, a good work ethic so you do the practice questions, extra work at home regularly etc. and also it does help to have a good teacher. I think if you approach it with a positive work ethic from the beginning and just put a lot of effort into it, that will stand you in good stead. Basically Maths is just tediously repeating and repeating things with lots of practice. HL Maths (and SL actually) is a huge jump up from GCSE Maths (which is very easy!) so ability at GCSE I didn't really think carried over into the IB all that well.One of my friends did HL Maths and worked ridiculously hard on it because they needed it to study Physics at University but still only got a 4 - in my year only 3 people did HL Maths and there were two 3's and a 4. Definitely having a properly competent teacher helps an awful lot. A good place to start is probably by asking the year above you how the teachers are and looking at how people have done in the past at your school.Anyway, work hard on your internal assessment - the exam is very challenging so having a chunk of your grade guaranteed at a 7 in advance will really help you out. That goes for any level of Maths. And good luck 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus78 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Thanks!! I'm currently doing add. Maths so I don't know if that will make much of a difference in preparing me for HL maths. May I ask what course you took/are taking for the IB? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yii yann Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 It's not actually that hard... If you put in some serious work into it (As with most other IB subjects). Make sure you do your coursework well, ALWAYS pay attention in class, do the homework and some extra practice the moment you get home, and you'll realize it's not that hard. A 6 is relatively easy to get, and if you put in just that extra bit of effort, 7 is actually a very attainable grade. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus78 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 OK thank you !! Did u find the pace of work difficult or not? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bale Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'm going to be starting Maths HL next year, is there anything that I should know before starting the course? I've heard a lot of people say it's incredibly difficult, but I'd be willing to put the work in for it. Also, how difficult is it to attain 6/7 in this subject? If any current/former students could help out I'd be very grateful !!If you have done igcse (in my opinion maths was a joke i did exam got into top 1% barely studing), ib math hl is completely different its more challenging but at the same time more intresting, however even though studing helps hl math is not like biology chemestry or economics where you have to memorize things(i hate doing that) i guess that about 50% of the marks are for knowing the concepts and applying them the rest are based on intuition. However this being said when compare the ib math hl with the step, the ib math hl will look very easy, so i guess everything is subjective. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Maths HL is a lot of practice, essentially. You should be a top maths student in the years before you start Maths HL (regardless of whether it's an IB MYP program or not), and even then you've got to be willing to work hard and apply logical thinking skills. It is a big jump from the level of maths you may have experienced prior. But good marks are by no means unobtainable, it's just knowing how to give the answers that the examiners want Probably easier than determining the kind of essay a marker wants to read, actually! My advice for preparing for maths is to just keep working, and making sure you learn basic algebra/other skills well, because that will be useful groundwork for Maths HL. If you want, read some theory/textbooks before hand, but don't stress too much over it! Enjoy your time before IB. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboro76 Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 I would recomment to have a look at the background knowledge. Their will probabally be a couple of things that you don't know, depending on what maths you are doning now. If you know everything their then that is fine. Maybe have a flick through your textbook, maybe not, it's really up to you and after you get three weeks in it probabally won't make a difference anyway.If you dont know any of the background info, learn it to a level where you are comfortable, you don't have to be amazing, but having some idea will make it easier when you go into it in some depth. Your text book might have some info on it, mine had a CD, but I don't think I can put it on here due to copywrite.Anyway good luck. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yii yann Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 I don't really think you have to be a top math student before getting into HL math. It helps if you're somewhat comfortable with A Math (or the equivalent). Most importantly, your foundation has to be strong. Too many people get stuck in HL Math not because they're not capable of doing it, but because their foundation is not strong. Get a good textbook. The one by the IBID Press (edited by a guy named Fabio Cirrito) is really good. I'm still doing the older syllabus, you will be doing the new one. For my syllabus, his textbook really brings you through several key concepts, and then stretches you quite a bit. It is a fantastic resource. The pace of work was... upbeat. If you stay on top of your work most of the time, you should be fine. In fact, if you practice the concepts immediately after you learn them, and review once a month, you'll find exam revision to be a breeze. All those stories of Math HL students staying up all night to study only applies if you don't regularly set aside just a little bit of time every other day to practice. I'm a student who got a B in A Math in IGCSE. I'm not one of those "genius" math students. However, I made sure I put in the required effort to get a 7, by studying the subject frequently and doing the IAs well. If I can do it, so can you. Oh and flip through the book before your IB starts, read around the topics online, it helps to get excited about the subject a little! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roope Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 I agree with yii yann, constant work will help you succeed. Only a few parts of the topics are quite challenging, but make sure you get some practice on HL exam questions. Our teachers gradually break us in by giving us a mix of HL/SL questions for about the first year, before going full HL, and the difference is quite noticeable. I'm not sure on how good your teacher is, and you can't really control this, but having a teacher that is very familiar with a textbook is helpful also. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibiscus78 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Thanks for the really helpful replies , @yii yan, I'll definitely look into getting that text book Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00b Posted April 29, 2013 Report Share Posted April 29, 2013 This is the thing with Math HL and physics HL:- In class, 1+1=2- In exam: you have 4 apples, you eat one, calculate the mass of the sun.The book and material isn't that bad, it's the exam questions that rapes us all, some are hard and some are easy, but they all take so long to do in the little time we have for the exam... I will be doing mine in 10 days, still struggling to finish the papers in time (I can make it to 9-10/13 questions), and believe me I am one of the good ones in math...May god bless us all! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximumX Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Well, for one thing, you have to be pretty good at mathematics already, not like, a super genius, but like the subject. My advice is to make sure you ask for clarification if you don't understand and do the homework. If you put in the effort, you should do well on the IB exams. In my school, it sounds like to me it is near impossible to get 6/7 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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