freshfaced333 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hi guys, I need some advice... I started math HL with the intent of stretching my mind, and becoming a more mature 'math thinker', I thought that I would do decent in this course (5ish), as my math was pretty alright (90-95 avg). However, nearing the end of the first year, I find myself to be struggling in this class, and I just got my recent predicted grade back for the third school term, and I was predicted a 4! I already saw it coming, as I did pretty poorly for my recent tests, but I am at the point where I am starting to worry that I will never raise my score beyond a 5. I need a solid 6 by the fall, because those scores would be sent to universities in the EA/ED round, and I want to major in finance, of all things! So I was wondering if any of you 5-7 scorers have any tips or advice on how to study and best prepare myself for future tests, and just any study tips in general? I am using the Oxford book for class, and we were also given the hases and harris. I regularly do practice problems from the books, and from worksheets my teacher provides us. One of the main reasons I'm struggling is due to the fact that my teacher goes through a topic very quickly, and we can be done with a topic, say trig, in 2 weeks! anyways, any advice and input would be appreciated! thanks Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElvenRanger Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 KhanAcademy and patrickjmt have really great videos that help simplify concepts for me. Otherwise I'd say that using as many resources as possible is the strategy I've found works best for me. For example, I try to skim over my math notes in the about 7 minutes of time I have in between classes, read over them again at home (maybe copy them down again if they're messy or I'm having trouble with the concept), power through some of the homework/book examples, look up khanacademy/patrickjmt if I'm still struggling, get out my exam prep (AP, IB, SAT, whichever has something relating to the current topic!) books and look through those. When the test approaches I look up past papers and test myself that way. One piece of advice for tests: if you don't immediately know how to solve a problem, solve it anyway. You need to at the very least *try* something, and who knows, maybe you'll figure it out midway through your working. I've had that happen to me so many times during tests and it's amazing what can happen if you just try!! So never just write off a problem-try different methods too. Maybe if algebra isn't working then graphing will. Or maybe instead of systematically listing you can find a pattern. Whatever works hope this helps and good luck on exams! 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hey! I hope this doesn't seem to lazy, but this is a link to something I wrote about how to improve scores for Maths HL. Hope it has some useful tips. I think that definitely the most important thing is not to lose hope - Maths HL may seem awful and soul-crushing at times, but it (usually) gets better. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 thank you so much for the tips and encouragement you guys! I have been beginning to lose hope because I can't seem to score higher than a 4.. and i need these grades to submit for college apps in the fall Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigel Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 You will succeed. I was in your same situation some years ago, near the beginning of the course (although my case was Math SL which is easier compared to Math HL). The key is to understand the concepts and NEVER resort to memorization (even if the IB implicitly encourages it). If there's something you don't understand, try to sit in the library for a while going over your notes until you get it (it usually helps to review those tricky concepts after a quick nap). If you still have problems, then go to the professor's office hours (or after class) or discuss the concepts with a friend. A nice trick I always use for exams is to be time constrained when I do my mocks or exams. For example, if a final exam is 3 hours in duration, I force myself to do the exam in 1.5h or 2h. That way when the real deal comes, you'll feel more confident as you have time to go over your answers (and even so, if you don't know an answer you can come back to it after you've built up your confidence). That way you'll have a lot of spare time, and you will make mistakes (it usually happens unless you are extra careful) but you have that extra time to go over your exam multiple times. 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 thank you so much for your encouragement! I will definitely take your words to heart Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Not to advocate it because I think pursuing HL Maths is a great thing to do if you're really keen to challenge yourself, but never forget that if grades get in the way, you're doing 4 HLs when you only need to do 3, so going down to SL Maths might be an instant grade fixer for you. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Not to advocate it because I think pursuing HL Maths is a great thing to do if you're really keen to challenge yourself, but never forget that if grades get in the way, you're doing 4 HLs when you only need to do 3, so going down to SL Maths might be an instant grade fixer for you.Whilst I also think that doing Maths HL is a great idea, I agree that if it does get too tough you could possibly drop to SL. Even if you are intending on pursuing a finance major, I think that most US universities don't care if you've done SL or HL. Usually the SAT Math II subject test and/or AP are considered pretty good evidence of mathematical skill - though I personally think that SAT maths is a bit of a joke compared to HL. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigel Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Not to advocate it because I think pursuing HL Maths is a great thing to do if you're really keen to challenge yourself, but never forget that if grades get in the way, you're doing 4 HLs when you only need to do 3, so going down to SL Maths might be an instant grade fixer for you.Whilst I also think that doing Maths HL is a great idea, I agree that if it does get too tough you could possibly drop to SL. Even if you are intending on pursuing a finance major, I think that most US universities don't care if you've done SL or HL. Usually the SAT Math II subject test and/or AP are considered pretty good evidence of mathematical skill - though I personally think that SAT maths is a bit of a joke compared to HL. It honestly depends on what you are looking for at university. I had some friends in Math HL who got credits for their Calc 1/2 classes but were HORRIBLY under-prepared for the more advanced subjects (they were science majors). I took Math SL, and it was much easier than Math HL. However, when I took the respective classes I somehow feel better taking them all over again as I personally think that the IB syllabus in Math for both levels is underwhelming (the Calculus option for HL should be mandatory, and they should try to reinstate Matrices in the syllabus, while removing altogether or reducing the content for Statistics & Prob [these are better learnt at a university course, although some concepts such as Poisson distributions might come in handy]). As the OP is planning to go into Finance, he/she should try take Math HL if possible (and try auditing a course later on at university for a much through review of the material), as honors/graduate programs in Finance are quite Math heavy. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 ^ thank you so much for your opinion.... the funny thing is, im actually struggling in SAT mathematics 0-0 its not that the math is difficult, but I just can't interpret the questions they ask me, and it often takes me wayyyy too long to understand and do the question. this is so embarrassing, but i'm trying to work it... SAT Math II is considerably easier than the SAT 1 math, to me, because most of the questions are fairly straight-forward plgu and chug Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 ^ thank you so much for your opinion.... the funny thing is, im actually struggling in SAT mathematics 0-0 its not that the math is difficult, but I just can't interpret the questions they ask me, and it often takes me wayyyy too long to understand and do the question. this is so embarrassing, but i'm trying to work it... SAT Math II is considerably easier than the SAT 1 math, to me, because most of the questions are fairly straight-forward plug and chug Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigel Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 ^ thank you so much for your opinion.... the funny thing is, im actually struggling in SAT mathematics 0-0 its not that the math is difficult, but I just can't interpret the questions they ask me, and it often takes me wayyyy too long to understand and do the question. this is so embarrassing, but i'm trying to work it... SAT Math II is considerably easier than the SAT 1 math, to me, because most of the questions are fairly straight-forward plgu and chugSometimes the best thing is to just let it go for a while and relax. Whenever I'm stuck on a complex problem, I take long walks around my place so that my mind is cleared up. Then, the next day when going over the problem there is a higher chance that the solution will be found. Note that sleeping as well does wonders for you (even though it is kind of hard to get some doing the IB), because you can get stressed out by even the simplest concepts if you haven't had enough sleep. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 ^ yeah totally sleep has become a rarity now.. and wow i just noticed that you scored straight 7s for your courses!! that is amazing! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 ^ thank you so much for your opinion.... the funny thing is, im actually struggling in SAT mathematics 0-0 its not that the math is difficult, but I just can't interpret the questions they ask me, and it often takes me wayyyy too long to understand and do the question. this is so embarrassing, but i'm trying to work it... SAT Math II is considerably easier than the SAT 1 math, to me, because most of the questions are fairly straight-forward plgu and chug Yeah, I agree that SAT Maths is just a bit bizarre in terms of the format and questions asked - albeit being much easier than the IB overall. It's mostly a matter of practice and becoming familiar with the types of questions asked. And then practising speeding through questions and quickly eliminating multiple-choice answers using approximation/intuitive techniques. And using the calculator to solve things quickly - I loved my GDC in the SATs. Though I personally found SAT Maths II harder, because I wasn't that familiar with some of the content! Good luck, and sleep is definitely a good thing. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshfaced333 Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 thank you so much you guys! I didn't not expect so many great responses, as I am still pretty new to this website! you guys are really helpful =) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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