Xelar Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Has anyone moved halfway through their diploma? I'm moving in about a month and a half to Australia (from Switzerland) and will complete the IB there. Since they're on a different school year, I have to repeat 6 months of the first year again... fun. Does anyone have any advice? My teachers seem to think it will be beneficial, but I'm only seeing it as a complicated mess. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abu Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I was considering to move half way through. I see it as beneficial too, if the teachers right now have missed anything out that you need to go over. Can't really give you any advice, except to maybe just stay back in Switzerland until your exams next year and move to Australia thereafter.Edit: What I can say though that moving half way is terrible, only because you will have to adapt to new teaching styles, make new friends and change your life around. If it's possible to stay, then stay as moving could also affect your results (positively or otherwise). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 My friend moved halfway through, not from country to country but from city to city. In addition to having to readjust her lifestyle, the academic structure of the school there was completely different from ours and she was unable to take some courses that she was taking here.So at least count yourself lucky that you have 6 months extra time. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilia Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 A girl in my class might move to China next year and then don't offer all the classes she's taking now, so she'll have to self-study philosophy in year 2. If all your subjects are offered, I guess the teachers migth be able to help you. And in case they're covering something you've already done, you can use that time to do stuff they've done but you haven't, can't you? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 That 6 months extra time you have is actually a benefit, because it takes several months to adjust to life in a new country, make friends, get used to school, etc. It took me 4 months to get used to life in Jerusalem. If you were moving and had no extra time to settle in, I would recommend against moving because the settling in would affect your grades (probably for the worse).Why exactly are you moving? Your own choice? Parents work? Have you checked what standard the school in Australia is at compared to your school? If they have a higher diploma rate (more students get diplomas and get higher points) then the move will probably help you out in terms of grades.Do you think you're a person who can adjust to changes quickly? If you're going to move and then spend the next 2 years regretting your decision and wishing you were back in Switzerland, your grades will suffer and you won't be happy. But moving abroad is a great opportunity to broaden your horizons. Switzerland will always be waiting for you, but you may not get a chance to go to Australia again. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xelar Posted May 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Thanks for the replies Unfortunately moving is a must - it's for my parent's work. I lived there 8 years ago so it's not going to be completely unknown for me or anything, though honestly I absolutely hated it. Still, it will be a massive lifestyle change but in a way those 6 months will be a godsend, wont have to worry too much about studying or completing IAs. All the classes I'm currently taking are offered, though I'm a bit confused for history. I'm in HL and since we're in Europe we're studying that region. I believe the school in Australia is studying Asia instead. On the biology exam they list all the options even if you didn't study them, is that the same for the history exam? Will they list all the regions and their questions or just the region the school is in?The school I will go to is new to the IB, this is only their second year. Since the IB is not the widely spread in Australia, the final grades are actually better than they seem (did that even make any sense? ). For example, if I were to get a 32 in Australia, that might correspond to a 28 in the UK or somewhere where the IB is common and more competitive. Which would help if I applied for university in Australia I suppose. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperbole Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 About history: Since you will only have missed the first six months of the history course, it won't be that much to catch up with in the Asia option. The P3 exams are completely different for each region, so your school will only receive papers for the region it is registered under: you will have to do Asia instead of Europe. (But it doesn't necessarily -have- to be Europe because a school is European, so you may want to ascertain that they do Asia before you despair. )As for competitiveness and such, IB grades are worth the same all over the world since we are marked by a central organisation. 32 points in Australia is 32 points in the UK. What might be different is the local universities' expectations and requirements, though; in a region with few students, 32 points might be considered "very good", whereas a more densely populated area might have 36 points to be considered "very good". Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xelar Posted May 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Haha, yeah, I meant university expectations, I just couldn't think of a way to say it *despairs* I checked, they're definitely doing Asia. Argh, I find European history more interesting, which means it would have been easier for me to write about in an exam. Oh well, thanks for clearing that up Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperbole Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 You could, possibly, get it worked out with the IBC at your new school so that you could be signed up for the Europe exam, though. If you ask very nicely? Just be aware that it'll be much more demanding for you to study the necessary topics on your own. (I completely agree with yay Europe onoz Asia! I'm so, so happy we're doing Europe. ) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 There was an IB school in Singapore that had 9 students get 45 points the first year that their school offered IB. How long a school has been doing IB has nothing to do with grades really (my school has been offering it for about 10 years and my Economics tecaher only found out this year, thanks to a student on IBS telling me, that articles for economics commentaries can't all be from the same source). My school's average diploma points are in the 20's. Have you already chosen an IB school in Australia? Is it selective and how big are class sizes? Selective schools usually have a higher diploma rate, and smaller class sizes are more beneficial for teaching.Advice on how to cope with new surroundings: the first few days will be weird, and you may have a culture shock. I didn't like the first 3 months in school because everyone seemed fake to me, classes were very small compared to my old school and I was one of 2 new people in my class and everyone else seemed so close knit, it seemed hard to break in. Also, I had problems adjusting to the weather, not hearing English spoken around me on the streets and not knowing the city. Get a map, walk to places and try to sit with new people at lunch. If people don't seem to be doing much on the weekends, come up with something to do so that you can get involved (go to the cinema, hang out at your house, anything). I didn't do this and spent a lot of time at home at first before people started inviting me out with them.Why did you hate living in Australia before? The town, the surroundings, problems with people in your school? Are you returning to the same place you were in before? If not, it'll be a new start for you. Start a new hobby, like surfing or volleyball, and sue that to make friends with like-minded people. If you are returning to the same town, people won't remember hat you were like 8 years ago (I returned to my last school after a 3 year absence, and people did remember. But 8 years is so long ago, especially if it's a large school). At first I viewed moving to Jerusalem negatively, but then I saw that I would have a clean slate and no one would know who I was and what I'd done. So it's a chance to start over and have some fun. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
890123 Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I moved in the middle of the first and second year from Norway to Canada. It was a disaster with my sciences and very little change with Languages or History. Some times one school will only offer two sciences and the school you are transferring to offers another two. For example in Norway there was physics and chemistry only and in Canada biology and chemistry only. So this meant unless I wanted to take physics independently I would have to become a partial IB student. Which I was not impressed about. So that would probably be your only concern in moving. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xelar Posted May 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 (edited) Yes, already chosen a school. It's selective, though since it's only their 2nd year of IB the exams have not been sat yet, though I'm definitely interested in what the rate is. Last year only 12 people took the IB but this year I think it's 30 or 40, so a big jump. And yeah, been a victim of culture shock, I moved from a city of 14 million people in Korea to a town of 300k here Did you move halfway through the year or at the beginning?Yes, I'm returning to the same city. I didn't like it before because it doesn't compare to the other places I've lived in.--Ah, that would have been really hard and inconvenient. Did you end up taking physics independently? Edited May 3, 2009 by Xelar Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 My parents' job contracts always run until the end of the school year, they never make us leave halfway through (although sometimes we skip the last week or so of school if our visas expire before school ends).Doesn't compare as in there's nothing to do there compared to everywhere else? I lived in Mongolia for 3 years, they got the first escalator in the country in 2001 and all the films were dubbed in Russian at that time, so no English cinemas We went camping and horse riding a lot instead. I also lived in a small village in Tanzania and I'd play in the maize fields for lack of something better to do with the 3 other English-speaking kids that lived in the village. I'm sure there's lots to do in Australia with all the beaches, wilderness and other English-speakers. I got really into sport when I lived in Kenya, since the school had great facilities and everyone was on teams, so that's how I made friends. I also joined the school band, was in school plays and so on. But then again, I wasn't an IB student back then. Give the city another chance, since it's probably changed in the 8 years you were gone. Last year we had a girl move to my school from Kazakhstan halfway through the year, and she only stayed for 6 months before leaving to South Africa (where she was originally from) and she never even told anyone she wasn't coming back. She had basically forced her parents to move them back to South Africa, and didn't give it a chance here. All she did was spend hours online talking to her old friends and she never came out when we invited her. Obviously you can communicate with old friends, but don't put them ahead of new ones. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abu Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Out of curiosity, where are you moving to in Australia? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xelar Posted May 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Sorry for the ultra late reply. I'm moving to Sydney. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abu Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I'm sure you're gonna find a lot of stuff to do in Sydney. You cannot get bored! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.