Future IB students

[faith]

I would definitely read the books during summer, because you will need all the time you have once you started IB. And besides, doing more reading will also help you a lot in commentaries. I'm still suffering from the fact that I didn't do the pre-reading... we are meant to have this 500 page book read by next week and I'm barely 50 pages through it.

[iamdoingmyhistoryia]

def! if possible, you should also annotate it. it will help you a lot! and get extra information through sites like sparknotes etc.

you will need some of the books for your indivual oral presnetation and its 15%?!?! of your grade!!

mmm....and PLEASE enjoy your summer! but do a bit of revision as well e.g. read through your ib text books if you have any cause once you get into IB .. you dont get a lot of social time cause your friends will be revising / you will be revsing yourself! hope tht helps xx

[laryxle]

Definitely enjoy your summer, because once you start IB you'll find your free time goes down to not much at all.

I read 5 English texts of ours over the summer, and i'm finding it really helps. We have to have read one book by next week and because I already read it during summer i'm at an advantage. I would definitely recommend doing some reading.

Also, be really organised right before you start school. Make sure that you have some kind of system for filing notes, handouts etc. before school starts, because if you leave it until school has already started it'll be another burden.

However, you should mainly relax! Start the year fresh, because once you start your mental health will slowly downgrade on you finish the IB

[Tilia]

Don't get too frightened about what people say. Things get slowly harder, but you'll get accustomed to it.

[Christina C. ♥]

Thanks everyone.

I think I WILL be doing some reading over the summer. Since it would really help me during the year.

Now..I'm really excited to begin IB

[Tilia]

Thanks everyone.

I think I WILL be doing some reading over the summer. Since it would really help me during the year.

Now..I'm really excited to begin IB

Great. IB is fun, believe me. If it wasn't, why would so many people spend so much time on this site just to discuss it?

[FrkPolkadot]

I'm attending this year:

HL: Norwegian A1, English A2, German B

SL: Biology, Math Studies, History

Yes, I love languages^^

[Vvi]

Go lie on the beach, or on your couch, and read a few of your assigned IB books for fun and enjoy them. It's a lot more fun to read because you want to, rather than reading because you have to. We wasted time in class reading out loud because people hadn't read the assigned books. The faster you get through the texts the better, because then you have more time to work on the texts for the exam.

[r a i n b o w stardust]

I'm eager to get this year done with. The classes I have now are so boring ;P

HL: English, Biology, French

SL: Math, V. Arts, Geography

I'm still not sure if my guidance counsellor was able to change French SL to HL and switch me from History HL to Geography SL. I'll get an answer soon- within this last month of school.

Edit:

Oh yeah, over the summer I'm taking a chemistry course for one month. Then in August I'll be reading, watching, and trying to speak French. Lots of math revision as well.

Edited June 1, 2009 by r a i n b o w stardust

[Mattias]

HL: English, History, Biology

SL: Business Management, Studies, Chinese

Anyone who has insight on these things feel free to give me information on this stuff.

[Mahuta ♥]

Biology Higher is adorable. lol

I'm eager to get this year done with. The classes I have now are so boring ;P

HL: English, Biology, French

SL: Math, V. Arts, Geography

I'm still not sure if my guidance counsellor was able to change French SL to HL and switch me from History HL to Geography SL. I'll get an answer soon- within this last month of school.

Edit:

Oh yeah, over the summer I'm taking a chemistry course for one month. Then in August I'll be reading, watching, and trying to speak French. Lots of math revision as well.

An advice from me, do not stress yourself out too much before it even starts, it will bring negative consequences more than positive. The amount of work and effort you have to do and put in during the 2 years are ALOT trust me, it is a lot of hard work. So you should make sure you're fully relaxed before september or whenever you start.

[Vvi]

I think reading the books for English would be a good idea, then you don't have to waste time during the term reading them for homework when you could be doing other stuff. Aiming to get through all 12 is a bit ambitious, but depending at what pace you read at, it can be done. As you read, go to Spark notes and read up on the motifs/themes etc. so you get used to analysing books while you read them.

Having a little background in Psychology might not hurt either, as long as you make sure that you learn the correct stuff (i.e. things that are on the syllabus and nothing extra), and as long as you learn it right the first time (because it will be hard to correct mistakes later if they are fixed in your mind).

For History, you could find out from the teacher what areas you are covering and get a general picture of events.

[stefroxursox]

So I'm an up and coming sophomore in high school. I decided to switch for the next school year to one of the best schools in the city. Anyways I went to register and they had me listed as IB. I think IB is great opportunity, and i know it will benefit me in the long run. But I'm still not sure how to go about it.So knowing all this, what I'm really asking is, truthfully how did you IB people make it? Seriously because now i think I'm behind and next year I'm going to have to double up on everything! But w/e. Also can anyone relate to me? Advice would be greatly appreciated!! =D

[__inthemaking]

IB definitely requires hard work but it's not impossible achieve high marks in it . You don't have to be a genius, just have fairly good time management skills and good work ethic.

I definitely think IB prepared me in terms of university workload (I just finished my first year of uni) because while everyone else was overwhelmed by writing 5 midterms in 3 weeks, I remembered writing 11 papers in 2 weeks for the IB exam period haha and so I knew how to study for multiple subjects at the same time and how to prioritize.

Oh sorry haha just saw your comment. I was in pre-IB for freshman and soph year but really pre-IB was no different from the regular program except that we did grade 11 math in grade 10. There isn't much to transition from, I don't think it'll be difficult .

Edited June 6, 2009 by Aboo
Merged posts. Please edit your posts instead of double posting.

[Mahuta ♥]

You know, I never had this 'prepare' for IB business at all. Infact I didnt know much about IB when I first started. I personally dont see what the big fuss is about, just start IB and work your head off continuously, that will do it. Honestly and truthfully, I thought IB is like any other program we have here, so yeah.

This applies to all of the students of the class of '09 and prior. I dont think it makes much difference, my best friend is predicted 42 points from the start of IB2 up until the day before the exam, this is without considering the extra three points. So its not impossible to do well if you havent prepared for IB, just start normally, and dont think about it as the most challenging course ever. Having said this, don't see it as an easy course, it is hard.

[Yasmeen]

'Ello In theory, I shall be beginning the IB next September and figured I should make the most of the next 3 months holiday (to perhaps ease the process). Any ideas?

I'm planning on taking HL maths, physics, chemistry and SL eng. lit, history and French (so the 3 months will prove invaluable if used well, no doubt)

There are others presumably in the same boat so hopefully they'll see this thread too; equally hopeful that I'm not revisiting an exhausted topic, either!

Tyyy

EDIT: HA - shows how much effort I've shown in looking for such previous threads - there's about 2 of them on the same page. Sorry I'll leave this open in case anybody has subject specific advice...

Edited June 12, 2009 by Yasmeen

[TidusBlade]

Well we're sort of in the same boat, just different subjects

Can't help with Chemistry, but for Physics and Maths, you could probably prepare pretty well. The least you can do is be familiar with what's coming up I guess, like just for example, in math, know what Integration is, what integrals do, what's the point of double/triple integrals etc. I figured that instead of studying stuff directly coming, you can just do interesting stuff. You're pretty lucky to be taking both Physics and Maths, since you can just do interesting stuff in physics, and along with that you'll probably use a lot of math. Mainly calculus and algebra I guess. The good thing is that if you like Physics, you'll end up reading up on and doing problems on interesting subjects like for me, that would be stuff like Projectile Motion, love those problems and I can avoid stuff I hate like Electromagnetism. I found an interesting book a few days ago, Problems in General Physics by Irodov, which supposedly has tons of interesting and fun to solve physics problems, which should help you get a headstart in Physics and Math, it's pretty math intensive. Unfortunately, the cheapest copy is $250 on Amazon so luckily I found an eBook copy of it, so if you're interested, just drop me a PM. Other than that, remember to enjoy your summer and good luck

[Yasmeen]

Well we're sort of in the same boat, just different subjects

Can't help with Chemistry, but for Physics and Maths, you could probably prepare pretty well. The least you can do is be familiar with what's coming up I guess, like just for example, in math, know what Integration is, what integrals do, what's the point of double/triple integrals etc. I figured that instead of studying stuff directly coming, you can just do interesting stuff. You're pretty lucky to be taking both Physics and Maths, since you can just do interesting stuff in physics, and along with that you'll probably use a lot of math. Mainly calculus and algebra I guess. The good thing is that if you like Physics, you'll end up reading up on and doing problems on interesting subjects like for me, that would be stuff like Projectile Motion, love those problems and I can avoid stuff I hate like Electromagnetism. I found an interesting book a few days ago, Problems in General Physics by Irodov, which supposedly has tons of interesting and fun to solve physics problems, which should help you get a headstart in Physics and Math, it's pretty math intensive. Unfortunately, the cheapest copy is $250 on Amazon so luckily I found an eBook copy of it, so if you're interested, just drop me a PM. Other than that, remember to enjoy your summer and good luck

I say, thanks overly!!! Could not have asked for a better reply.

It doesn't sound you need to be wished well, in the true sense of the term, although I do

[Vvi]

You could read through the syllabi for some of the subjects you're going to take, especially the sciences because they are very concrete and state exactly what you need to know. That way you will get an idea of the topics you will cover, and maybe learn some definitions too (since Science exams are big on definitions e.g. State the definition of an ion). The syllabi for your other subjects are broader and more general, so reading them might not help much. The syllabi cna be found online by Googleing.

You could ask your English teacher what books you will start reading in class next year (first term), and read them over the summer. Then when it comes time for class, you will only need to skim read and will have a good general idea of the books, common themes, etc.

For French SL you could revise grammar and verb conjugations in different tenses. Get familiar with the subjonctif and learn to recognize the passe simple's basic forms (most SL students have problems with these areas), and make sure you have the other verb tenses learnt well.

[adrianmclo]

hey all...another soon-to-be IB student here..

i'm seriously thinking about my subject selection (sort of weird at the moment, but i have the whole of the summer to think it over and am only required to choose by September when school starts)

i'm planning (at least at this stage) to take:

**Editted**

HL English A1

HL Chinese A2

HL Economics

SL Maths

SL Environmental Systems and Societies

SL Political Thought / HL History

I'm also considering SL French B (seems more useful in the long run than Chinese, which is my mother tongue)

I'm slightly concerned over those 2 SL subjects, cuz the first one is basically a replacement for a Group 4 Science subject, cuz I dislike sciences, but I heard it wont be as well recognized in universities. For Political Thought, its a school based subject and its the first time the school is trying to teach this course, so I am not too sure whether it is worth choosing. History seem to be the subject that most ppl are taking and it seems rather important too, though I really like Political Thought (better if it could have been World Politics). I dont want to forgo Chinese for French, because Chinese is my native language.

BTW, any good summer reading list (esp for English A1)? because i will be doing IB in another school, so i dont get to know the teachers and ask for reading advices but I do want to start early with the reading.

Edited June 20, 2009 by adrianmclo