IB Schedule Planning and Information Help

[vlindowps]

I was wondering if this IB Diploma Schedule would be sufficient. My strengths are definitely English and Social Science, I relatively easily keep an A average in AP European History.

IB Math SL

IB French SL

IB English HL

IB Science SL (need help on picking a science class)

IB History HL

IB Economics HL

In addition, I would like to hear about your guys experience with these classes, what information is taught, and how things are graded.

Thanks!

[Rahul]

To comment solely on your choice of science - take whichever one has the best teacher, and if all of them are about the same, I would advice you take Chem. I find that there's a direct correlation between my teacher and how much I enjoy the course, the amount of work I put in, and my performance - hence, as you're a humanities specialist I would advise taking whichever one will be taught best. The reason I recommend Chem over the other sciences is that it's not particularly difficult to understand, not memorization or mathematics heavy - it's a solid, conceptual science with an emphasis on lab skills and the scientific procedure and which isn't strenuous. Hope I was able to help - if you have any questions let me know!

[Ayumi]

Yes! I would recommend Chemistry too There is more emphasis on understanding what you study rather than memorising which makes things so much easier for me. However, since you say your strengths are English and Social science, you might prefer Biology. Personally, I think Biology is mainly memorising everything so if you're fine with that then that might be a better choice for you. I do think that Biology IAs are easier than Chemistry IAs though so that's something else to take into consideration (also most people I know do better in Biology IAs).

I can't comment on Physics because I don't take it, but I wish I did! Maybe you should look at the syllabus for the three sciences and check out the IB textbooks for it before you make your decision. Oh and if in the first months of IB you realise you don't enjoy a particular subject, don't be afraid to change it!

[vlindowps]

Thanks for all of your help, this year i'm taking college preparatory chemistry and I have a A average for the class. However, last year I took Honors Biology and got around a B average. So, should I take IB Chem despite taking a standard level course this year or should I take IB Biology despite having only a B average?

[Ayumi]

Well something else you could consider taking is ESS which is a mixture of Biology and Geography, which a lot of people who don't like science take (well at least in my school). It really depends, do you need to take a 'proper' science subject for whatever you want to study in university?

I would say that SL Chemistry takes less time to understand + revise for compared to SL Biology. I'm not too sure what kind of college preparatory course you've done but I would say Chemistry in IB was completely different from Chemistry in IGCSEs (it was a good different for me haha). Typically, I would say that most people who are really good at English (or love English) tend to be the ones struggling with understanding the concepts in Chemistry. However, you can definitely do well in either subjects if you dedicate yourself to it so just choose the one you think you'll enjoy the most

[vlindowps]

Yeah thats true, ill probably go with SL Chem. How was your experience with your IB classes?

[Ayumi]

Hmm.. it's a mess of experience tbh hahaha. In the beginning of IB, I absolutely loved it. All the subjects I did were great except for maybe 2 of them but that didn't really bother me. But by the last term of my first year of IB, I was just dying! The amount of work and tests that all my teachers gave us during the last term combined with doing multiple experiments for my Chemistry EE just made me (and pretty much everyone in my grade) miserable. It really took a lot of will power to pull through. TAT

Then the second year of IB came along and omg haha the beginning was pretty bad for me because I was nowhere near done with my EE (try to finish that during your summer holidays! Don't be lazy!). But once that was over, everything got better and at least for my school, we're pretty much done with all the required coursework So yeah.. it's one hell of an experience and it'll just always make you wary to expect the unexpected lool.

Anyways, yaay that you're probably going to go with SL Chemistry! I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I enjoy it Oh and IB is definitely manageable if you're organised, get your work done and also get in a bit of studying!

Edited February 2, 2014 by Ayumi

[vlindowps]

That's an interesting experience, the thing about my school is that all classes are taught at a minimum of a higher level course, for example Math is always a year ahead than one's grade level, so in 8th grade you're taking 9th grade math. The work will definitely be harder in IB, I would expect so im hoping that I can handle it lol. Another thing about my school is that we have to use computers in our classes starting in 5th grade, so at least I will have my computer with me at all times. The only class that i'm somewhat worried about is Math, ill probably have to push myself in that class but other than that I think i'll be fine, especially in history. I find it crazy that I can study the night before my AP Euro Midterm and still pull off a B when others who studied all week got C's. But all in all i'm looking forward to it, I think it will be a good experience for me. What IB classes did you take?

[Ayumi]

Sorry for the late reply! I was looking through past stuff I posted and I just noticed your reply.

My HLs:

Chemistry

Biology

Economics

My SLs:

English Language and Literature

Ab Initio Mandarin

Mathematics

That's great that you can get a good grade from last minute cramming haha. I tend to always do that, but it's something that I'm trying to stop doing. You realise near the end of the course that you can't just cram 2 years worth of content in one night