Starting IB next year...

[LesCookies]

Well I heard about the programme in 9th grade when my school started getting information about it and then Sophomore year was the first time they initiated the programme and the Juniors this year are taking it.

I did more reasearch on it throughout my freshmen year in highschool, then Sophomore year came and the school talked more about it and tried to recruit people ( I went to the meeting the school had and he talked about how he wanted to get double the people he got this year since he only had about 20 some students join ). Well I highly doubt many more people would join but thats beside the point.

My question(s) is (are) what should I do to prepare myself for my first time in IB? What about senior year?

I only have two of my friends doing it with me (sadly). I already turned in my application and the requirments are 3 hl/sl. I need a physics credit but I decided to avoid as much math as I could and take that during the summer so I'll take Biology as my science course in IB so my schedule is as follows.. it's as follows:

English HL

History of Americas HL

Biology SL

Math SL

Spanish SL

ITGS HL

then of course you need a TOK class (what do you do in that class? Theory of knowledge...philosophy? no....)

and the 2 other requirements are extended essay, and CAS (hope im not missing anything else..doing it at the top of my head...)

Any common bad habits I may need to avoid?

Any suggestions?

and how are the exams?!

btw im in Arlington, Texas.

So..idk if there is a large difference from the IB you all take...

I know what I wrote is pretty long but please and thank you for reading and answering my questions x)!

Edited March 15, 2010 by LesCookies

[jackie_mackie]

Hi there!

One thing you need to know is that IB is hard. It really demands a lot of work, but I'm sure that if you're determined to make it through these two years, you will. Gotta be stubborn

And yes, ToK isn't much different from philosophy as far as I know. It's all about coming to the conclusion that you can't really be sure of anything and by that you're supposed to be getting a different view on knowledge. In IB2 you will have to write a ToK essay were you sum up everything you've learned and this essay will, if it's good, add one or two more points to your final grade.

The extended essay should be 4000 words and you write it on one of your six subjects. In biology for instance, you conduct your own experiment and write a lab report while in English, you're more free. You could choose a novel and write a character development or two different books and compare them on one aspect. The extended essay could also add more points to your grade.

The most important thing, and the most difficult one, is to find time to do everything. Sleep, homework and social life. If you don't want to have just one of them, you have to start doing homework as soon as you get home, try avoid procrastinating on facebook and such, however, IBSurvival is just fine! Haha

I'm writing from my own experience here, this is the way it is in Sweden. Possibly it's different in America, I'm not sure. But IB is supposed to be the same everywhere, so hopefully this will help you anyway.

Good luck in IB!

[Stereoisomer]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry!!! lol i can't help but laugh. You remind me so much of what i was like about 1 yr and 5 months earlier. I was filled to the brim with anticipation of what IB has in store for me, I was excited to face the challenge and wanted to prove all those IB complainers that it is actually not that bad.

Well, haha I can honestly say that IB is a very challenging YET REWARDING program. It will be hard, no one said it's going to be a cruise. Like right now, it is in the middle of the night and I am doing a biology practical.... and i didn't sleep last night because i had to revise for a english essay test.

Time management is key, and me (being the world's biggest procrastinator) fails at that

Anyway... ur subjects that i do/did/know much about

English HL

The key is to understand your texts. Take time to really think deeply and drill benneath the surface.

Biology SL

Make your own personalised notes, don't leave all the memorisation to the last minute. Make sure you practice data analysis questions. they are quite (can be) difficult.

Math SL

Do a few questions every night. maths isn't like history, you can't cram it.DO NOT leave your internal assessements to the last minute.

Good Luck :)

I wish you all the best.

Edited March 15, 2010 by MistyRose

[Charizard]

Make sure you don't procrastinate. That one's a killer. Other than that I don't have much to say; didn't do any preparation before the program and it seems to be going fine for me besides the occasional time management blunder. Basically your final grade will mostly be based on your exams, though there is also an endless amount of Internal Assessment. There's a CAS activity requirement you'll need to satisfy and a few major projects like the Extended Essay, both of which I am sure you will be showered with information about.

About TOK: It's a philosophy course but more specifically an epistemology course, so it's mainly focused on knowledge, the types of knowledge and methods of acquisition etc. Slight digression: my class got a worksheet explicitly stating that "you can't really be sure of anything" is exactly what they are trying to avoid

Not much else to know, really. As for your subject choices you'll basically hear the same few resounding Truths of IB if you skim the forum a bit: English HL's hard, Biology's memorization-intensive, it might be worth dropping to Math Studies etc.

[sciencegeek]

Oh friend, you have embarked upon journey to the edge of the earth. Congradulations! You just purchased a sewer sandwich so go ahead take a bite! sorry if I'm a bit bitter, IB's been a killer this year. I had 7 IB classes last semester and an AP class then this semester I have 6 IB and 1 AP. I'll also have to take all of my tests this year. Hopefully you planned better your sophomore year than I did. There's a handy IB Bio Course Companion that has all of the answers to the different syllabus requirements. Purchase this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so very helpful!!!!!

[sweetnsimple786]

Hi =)

I agree that procrastination is bad, but everyone procrastinates, just to different levels. Everyone says that IB is really hard, and it is. I often find myself staying up too late, but it's because I procrastinated. So it's manageable even if you do procrastinate. It's just easier if you procrastinate less

Go into IB with an open mindset. Our experiences are all diverse. Your school is new to IB, so you might worry and question your teachers. Be polite. They might or might not know what they're talking about. Ultimately, you don't want to double check everything the teacher says. It's just better to trust them, but this forum is a nice way to voice your concerns and read through previous ones. Anyways, the experience will also depend on your peers. I agree that IB is rewarding, or at least it is for me.

There are going to be ups and downs. The hardest lesson I had to learn is that we're not the same. Obvious right? I met my best friend in 9th grade. I was ecstatic that we both decided to do IB in 11th grade. Over the last two years [i'm about to finish 12th grade], we really changed. She hates IB, and I didn't realize it until not too long ago. I thought it was the normal complaining when things got too rough, but for her she just didn't like it. And if that happens to you, don't continue. It's not worth it if you hate it, you know? You're just wasting your own time. Now there's a difference between hating it when you have to pull all-nighters and hating it constantly.

If the good moments don't outweigh the bad, then it's not worth it because IB isn't about barely surviving. To a large degree, it's about adapting to setbacks and failures and becoming a better scholar and person for it.

Anyways, senior year will really depend on how your teachers run your courses. For each class, there are internal assignments [iAs]. If the teachers wait til senior year to have you do them [for two year courses], that year's going to be a lot harder! For history, there's only one part: a 1500 word [i think] historical investigation. For English though, the IA is a presentation to your teacher [and class] and a commentary on a work, but then you also have two papers that you have to write [but this isn't part of the IA--it's extra coursework you need to do], so you should hopefully do 1/2 of that your junior year.

English HL: discussion based. I love it. Make sure you get a working vocab for literary features. Also, try to keep in mind that there can be lots of interpretations of the same thing.

History of Americas HL: a normal history course. Take good notes. You'll thank yourself later!

Math SL: I took precal & AP Calc BC [though I could have taken AB] as Math SL. Try to understand the material as you go. It builds up, of course.

Spanish SL: You need to be able to write well, read well, and speak well. Practice speaking with friends or your teacher. Listen to Spanish telenovas. Read Spanish articles online.

Don't worry about exams yet. I took the Spanish exam last year... we were all going to fail if we took the exam in April. But my teacher gave us years of past papers and we worked through them for a month. That helped so, so much. When exam time comes near, look at last papers. For Bio HL, my teacher incorporates past paper questions and normal not-IB questions, so we've assimilated well. We do practices for the AP and IB free response questions, and IB is easier because of the practice, I think. [Each exam has 2 or 3 papers, so that's what I mean by 'paper' in case you were wondering]

I love my TOK class. Lots of people on this forum find it boring and a waste of time, but it really depends on your teacher. I agree with above that it's not about "you can't know anything." It's about being critical and open-minded, which might sound oxymoronic...

We look at how we approach knowledge and where we can find it and how. We examine things that we've taken for granted. My teacher tries to avoid religion. It's not about disproving beliefs. It's about looking at good reasoning, but he doesn't want to attack religion. It's a personal thing, and it's not what the course is meant to do.

With CAS, the hardest part for most people is documenting the hours. Most of us have activities that will easily fall under CAS guidelines. We're just to lazy to record them as we do them.

And the EE can be what you make it. Find a topic you like. Topics are the hardest part. Research isn't so bad if you're interested in the topic, of course. The next hardest part is having all the information and the detailed outline and just forcing yourself to sit down and write it. I liked my paper. I loved my topic, and it's shaped how I look at something because I have a personal tie to it. We don't write about things that are insignificant. We're gonna be affected by our topics =)

My advice is to enjoy. You're gonna stress. Let the bad moments go and enjoy getting closer to your classmates. That's what I love about small classes. We see each other grow and mature [for the most part ] And realize that your priorities will probably change. What's important now might not be as important. It's okay. Let it change, and change your actions to match with it. Good luck =)

[LesCookies]

One thing you need to know is that IB is hard. It really demands a lot of work, but I'm sure that if you're determined to make it through these two years, you will. Gotta be stubborn

Alrighty! Yeah I'm really motivated about it because I want to learn in a different way I guess I can say it that way but then again I keep telling myself it's only as hard as I make it but heh..doesn't seem that way...but thanks! I'll keep the stubborness in mind

Well, haha I can honestly say that IB is a very challenging YET REWARDING program.

haha thanks makes me happy! Rewards!! gah.. im nervous...i procrastinate alot too..but I have not done as much since Freshmen year . Although I still stay up late at night then wake up early in the morning to finish reading World History

Make sure you don't procrastinate. That one's a killer.

About TOK: It's a philosophy course... my class got a worksheet explicitly stating that "you can't really be sure of anything" is exactly what they are trying to avoid

Not much else to know, really. As for your subject choices you'll basically hear the same few resounding Truths of IB if you skim the forum a bit: English HL's hard, Biology's memorization-intensive, it might be worth dropping to Math Studies etc.

Procrastination will be gone for sure.

I even quit Track so I'll have extra time for IB.

BUT..if I have sometime I'm really hoping to get back in.

and MATH STUDIES. I was soo close to circleing that...

Math is NOT my forte and I knew I should've circled that. gahhh..ah well..when I get my schedule I'll tell the teacher to change it! asap.

thanks so much

Oh friend, you have embarked upon journey to the edge of the earth. Congradulations! You just purchased a sewer sandwich so go ahead take a bite! I had 7 IB classes last semester and an AP class then this semester I have 6 IB and 1 AP. I'll also have to take all of my tests this year. Hopefully you planned better your sophomore year than I did. There's a handy IB Bio Course Companion that has all of the answers to the different syllabus requirements. Purchase this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so very helpful!!!!!

Hahahaha!!!

Ay! Good luck!! hahaha I'm planning it easy so I don't start off shaky.

And thanks I'll try to get that Bio Course companion ><!

Thanks!!

She hates IB, and I didn't realize it until not too long ago. I thought it was the normal complaining when things got too rough, but for her she just didn't like it. And if that happens to you, don't continue. It's not worth it if you hate it, you know? You're just wasting your own time. Now there's a difference between hating it when you have to pull all-nighters and hating it constantly.

:/ Yeah I'm kind of scared that something like that is going to happen. But isn't it too late to get out once you get in? They didn't really talk about what happens to you if you quit IB after Junior year..And What happened to your friend? How did it turn out?

But thanks for the advice!!

Edited March 16, 2010 by sweetnsimple786
Use the MultiQuote button to reply to multiple people. =)

[sweetnsimple786]

She's still in it. She'll do well on her exams. She's just not very happy with IB. At my school, you can drop a class in the first few days of each semester. So to get out of the program, you just drop one or more classes. You don't have to go through the IBC, but you're kinda a jerk if you don't, you know? So you talk to the IBC, he tries to convince you otherwise [or maybe he agrees... depends, I guess] Maybe at your school, you have to sign some kind of agreement saying once you're in, you stay in. At my school, to do IB you take the classes. To drop out, you don't take the classes? haha

Good luck with your choices. I'm really glad my school offered IB. =)

[master135]

One thing you need to know is that IB is hard. It really demands a lot of work, but I'm sure that if you're determined to make it through these two years, you will. Gotta be stubborn

Alrighty! Yeah I'm really motivated about it because I want to learn in a different way I guess I can say it that way but then again I keep telling myself it's only as hard as I make it but heh..doesn't seem that way...but thanks! I'll keep the stubborness in mind

Well, haha I can honestly say that IB is a very challenging YET REWARDING program.

haha thanks makes me happy! Rewards!! gah.. im nervous...i procrastinate alot too..but I have not done as much since Freshmen year . Although I still stay up late at night then wake up early in the morning to finish reading World History

Make sure you don't procrastinate. That one's a killer.

About TOK: It's a philosophy course... my class got a worksheet explicitly stating that "you can't really be sure of anything" is exactly what they are trying to avoid

Not much else to know, really. As for your subject choices you'll basically hear the same few resounding Truths of IB if you skim the forum a bit: English HL's hard, Biology's memorization-intensive, it might be worth dropping to Math Studies etc.

Procrastination will be gone for sure.

I even quit Track so I'll have extra time for IB.

BUT..if I have sometime I'm really hoping to get back in.

and MATH STUDIES. I was soo close to circleing that...

Math is NOT my forte and I knew I should've circled that. gahhh..ah well..when I get my schedule I'll tell the teacher to change it! asap.

thanks so much

Oh friend, you have embarked upon journey to the edge of the earth. Congradulations! You just purchased a sewer sandwich so go ahead take a bite! I had 7 IB classes last semester and an AP class then this semester I have 6 IB and 1 AP. I'll also have to take all of my tests this year. Hopefully you planned better your sophomore year than I did. There's a handy IB Bio Course Companion that has all of the answers to the different syllabus requirements. Purchase this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so very helpful!!!!!

Hahahaha!!!

Ay! Good luck!! hahaha I'm planning it easy so I don't start off shaky.

And thanks I'll try to get that Bio Course companion ><!

Thanks!!

She hates IB, and I didn't realize it until not too long ago. I thought it was the normal complaining when things got too rough, but for her she just didn't like it. And if that happens to you, don't continue. It's not worth it if you hate it, you know? You're just wasting your own time. Now there's a difference between hating it when you have to pull all-nighters and hating it constantly.

:/ Yeah I'm kind of scared that something like that is going to happen. But isn't it too late to get out once you get in? They didn't really talk about what happens to you if you quit IB after Junior year..And What happened to your friend? How did it turn out?

But thanks for the advice!!

Math SL is not hard at all, and depending on the program you plan to take in university math studies may not even be sufficient - so keep that in mind.

Also, I have heard from some people that the biology course companion was not very helpful - I recommend getting the study guide instead. This was true for chemistry in my case.

Anyways, good luck with IB!

[jackie_mackie]

Maybe I'm just not smart but Math SL is hard. Or perhaps it's just like that in my school.

[master135]

Maybe I'm just not smart but Math SL is hard. Or perhaps it's just like that in my school.

Yeah sorry I might have not phrased it in the best way - Math SL is not a walk in the park but in my opinion it is not one of the hardest courses in IB (like Math HL or Phy HL). It also depends on the school and teachers a lot too.

[jackie_mackie]

Yeah ok, I see your point.

[ibeib]

Hi

i'm new to the IB too but my older sister did the IB to and just graduated Nov 2009

My school's only just started offering the IB a few years back as well and my siter's grade were the first to graduate the IB at my school. So when it was my grades turn there was a massive push for people as well.

(i don't know how to quote things...yet) but about only having 2 friends doing the IB that's actually pretty good

In my whole grade there only 8 of us doing the IB and to start with none of them were really in my inner circle of friends

but u get used to it and we've all really bonded really well and i find myself hanging out with them most of the time anyways

I can't really give too much advice cause i've only just started as well but i guess like what everyone's said don't give up cause the IB's worth it.

[bLub]

the IB's worth it.

--- that's argueable; depends where you live, where you want to study/live in your future and what you want to become!! some countries favour their traditional diplomas (like for example a-levels) and if you know that you, for example, want to become a linguist, than it would probably be best to do a-levels in all the languages you wanted to instead of doing 3 languages (which is the highest nr possible) and other subjects that you'll never need again...

[DJ CAS]

IB Beginner Advice:

Do your Extended Essay in the summer and whatever IAs you can in your first year. Don't procrastinate. Don't get overconfident and attempt to prove that IB is easy; it will crush you.

[ibeib]

the IB's worth it.

--- that's argueable; depends where you live, where you want to study/live in your future and what you want to become!! some countries favour their traditional diplomas (like for example a-levels) and if you know that you, for example, want to become a linguist, than it would probably be best to do a-levels in all the languages you wanted to instead of doing 3 languages (which is the highest nr possible) and other subjects that you'll never need again...

Yea i guess i see ur point...

But coming from an Australian point of view where the Ib is very highly favoured in a lot of Uni's

it is worth it...

But i i agree that one needs to consider all the stuff you said otherwise you do it for all the wrong reasons