HL History Route 2: 20th Century World History

[Mathemagician]

Hello,

 

I was wondering exactly how difficult is it to achieve a 7, which is what I'm aiming for, in HL History Route 2? I've heard that it's extremely difficult, as about only 2% of the people who take the course achieve a 7. If that's true then shouldn't it be almost impossible, because considering the amount of people who take the course, and out of those only 2 or so percent achieve a 7. If someone could shine some light on this issue that'd be great.

 

Thanks.

[Thrashmaster]

It is hard to get a 7 in every subject. I think you need to be good at writing essays to get a 7 in history, and that's actually pretty much the only thing. Memorize evidence and apply it well to an essay. I'd say it is easier to get a 7 in than most of the other HLs, particularly something like HL math. But things are different for everyone. It is possible because 2% of people do get it. If you're in the 98 percentile, you should be able to get a 7.

[cjy]

Firstly, what you should understand is that HL History (route 2) is the second most taken IB subject after English A Lit HL, at 36,000 candidates per year. That means on average, around 720 candidates achieve a 7, which isn't a lot.

 

Now, many candidates who take HL History are sitting it in the USA, as it seems to be the most popular Group 3 subject across the pond. In the USA, the IB isn't generally used for admissions purposes, so a lot of the time you seen candidates not work as hard to achieve the higher grades (this certainly isn't the case for everyone, and I'm not saying every IB candidate in the USA isn't motivated to get higher grades, but when you have an unconditional offer to go to a university, you may greatly lose motivation to do well.

 

Our history teacher was an IB - examiner for History of Americas and History of Europe/ME HL, and marked the TZ1 papers, He saw some shocking answers from candidates who'd clearly given up on studying (e.g. an essay on how Hitler won WW1 in History of Europe P3). Furthermore, a lot of schools in the States force people to take English lit and History at HL, when they may be more scientifically inclined, meaning that they aren't going to perform as well. 

In the UK, Australia, (Canada, I believe?) and Europe in general the IB is how some people rely on getting into university, and thus may study more and not procrastinate in their last year of school. For example, my school had about 20 people doing HL History and 9 of us got 7s, 1 got a 5 and the rest got 6s, as our university admission depended on it. If you look at History Route 1 HL, 27% of the 128 candidates got 7s. The schools that follow this route are mainly British international schools in the Middle East (I went to two of them whilst I lived there) and one school in the UK. The format is exactly the same, just different content, but the difference is people would have a) chosen to do history HL and were not pressured into it and b) have university offers resting on a good score in the IB.

I'm in no way slamming the USA, and year on year the USA produces outstanding candidates in the IB, but so many people in the USA sit for the diploma and certificates, (70,000 in 2013), who end up not getting the higher grades that it brings the curve down. This is just my observation from years of being in IB schools. 

 

Achieving a 7 in history isn't too hard. It all boils down to how well you address the question and analyse the importance and significance of the historical events that the question specifies. Historiography can and often does make the difference between a 6 and a 7. I included historiography in all my P2 and P3 essays, and whilst I knew that they (the Paper 2 ones especially) weren't my best essays, I knew the historiographical content would make up for an essay that was shakey in some places. Often, very specific details can impress an examiner, but they should be used sparingly and your essays shouldn't be crammed full of facts. You should choose the evidence you use carefully, to avoid becoming narrative, and analyse the evidence to show why it is important. You can often play evidence off against each other; which was more important and why. Sometimes you come to the conclusion that actually, no single event/person was the most important, but all events were reliant on each other in causing something. The fact that you're engaging with the evidence shows the examiner you understand the content, and aren't simply regurgitating facts. This can also be done with historiography and you can play the opinions of historians off against each other;

 

"whilst Figes maintains that the liberal attitudes of Tsar Alexander II were beneficial for Imperial Russia and improved the Romanov's standing amongst ordinary Russians, Kennedy ascertains that in actual fact, Alexander II's liberal attitudes would catalyse further dissidence, that would ultimately lead to the Tsar's son, Alexander III's reactionary and more conservative views that contribute to the ultimate fall of the Romanov era in February 1917."

 

N.B It's been a year since I've done any sort of Russian history so don't take that as correct.

For paper 1, it's simply exa technique, which you have to practice. It's essentially a box ticking exercise of how well you can look at a source. There are numerous guides on here on how to approach P1 so if you have a little dig about I'm sure you'll find one. As for your IA, it's again a box ticking exercise. It'll also probably be moderated down, so aim high when drafting it. 

 

 

 

 

[cjy]

It is hard to get a 7 in every subject. I think you need to be good at writing essays to get a 7 in history, and that's actually pretty much the only thing. Memorize evidence and apply it well to an essay. I'd say it is easier to get a 7 in than most of the other HLs, particularly something like HL math. But things are different for everyone. It is possible because 2% of people do get it. If you're in the 98 percentile, you should be able to get a 7.

 

 

Actually 8% of candidates get a 7 in HL Maths, and with 11,000 candidates that means around 900-1000 candidates get a 7 in HL Maths every year. Difference is, people doing HL Maths haven't been forced to take it and are probably exceptional mathematicians. It's not the same with history. 

[Thrashmaster]

 

It is hard to get a 7 in every subject. I think you need to be good at writing essays to get a 7 in history, and that's actually pretty much the only thing. Memorize evidence and apply it well to an essay. I'd say it is easier to get a 7 in than most of the other HLs, particularly something like HL math. But things are different for everyone. It is possible because 2% of people do get it. If you're in the 98 percentile, you should be able to get a 7.

 

 

Actually 8% of candidates get a 7 in HL Maths, and with 11,000 candidates that means around 900-1000 candidates get a 7 in HL Maths every year. Difference is, people doing HL Maths haven't been forced to take it and are probably exceptional mathematicians. It's not the same with history. 

 

My school forced me into Math HL

 

I'll be honest, I'm an American, and we don't take the IB as seriously as other places. I'm sure we do bring down the curve. That being said, there have been people who get 7s in history at my school, but no one ever gets close to getting a 7 in math, at my school or any of the other IB schools I've researched in the surrounding states. If 8% of people are getting it, they are no where near where I am.

[cjy]

 

 

It is hard to get a 7 in every subject. I think you need to be good at writing essays to get a 7 in history, and that's actually pretty much the only thing. Memorize evidence and apply it well to an essay. I'd say it is easier to get a 7 in than most of the other HLs, particularly something like HL math. But things are different for everyone. It is possible because 2% of people do get it. If you're in the 98 percentile, you should be able to get a 7.

 

 

Actually 8% of candidates get a 7 in HL Maths, and with 11,000 candidates that means around 900-1000 candidates get a 7 in HL Maths every year. Difference is, people doing HL Maths haven't been forced to take it and are probably exceptional mathematicians. It's not the same with history. 

 

My school forced me into Math HL

 

I'll be honest, I'm an American, and we don't take the IB as seriously as other places. I'm sure we do bring down the curve. That being said, there have been people who get 7s in history at my school, but no one ever gets close to getting a 7 in math, at my school or any of the other IB schools I've researched in the surrounding states. If 8% of people are getting it, they are no where near where I am.

 

 

 

We had 1 7 in HL Maths in our year. He was an exceptional mathematician. We then had 1 5, 1 4, 2 3s and a 2, but our year wasn't great at math. Some schools get 10-11 7s in HL a year, in the UK at least.

[Mathemagician]

@cjy,

 

I'm unfortunately one of the many (as you said in North America-USA/Canada) who was somewhat "forced" into taking HL History. Not saying I don't like History, but I didn't want to take it at HL, but I ended up anyways. That's a long and different story on why I took History at HL, but in short you can say I was forced into it, at least in a way. As you, and many have said, HL History involves a lot of essay writing. Unforunately, that is my weak point. I am not good at essays, or at least I think I am not. English has never been one of my better subjects, so the essay writing part isn't going to be pleasant for me, especially since HL History involves a great deal of them based on what I've heard. However, I do have a good memory, so the memorizing bit of HL History may come to me more easily, but the whole "essay" thing is freaking me out now, since I suck at them! Considering these points, a) I was somewhat forced into taking History at HL, and b) I am bad with essays, would make a 7 impossible in my reach pretty much.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Mathemagician

[Emmi]

@cjy,

 

I'm unfortunately one of the many (as you said in North America-USA/Canada) who was somewhat "forced" into taking HL History. Not saying I don't like History, but I didn't want to take it at HL, but I ended up anyways. That's a long and different story on why I took History at HL, but in short you can say I was forced into it, at least in a way. As you, and many have said, HL History involves a lot of essay writing. Unforunately, that is my weak point. I am not good at essays, or at least I think I am not. English has never been one of my better subjects, so the essay writing part isn't going to be pleasant for me, especially since HL History involves a great deal of them based on what I've heard. However, I do have a good memory, so the memorizing bit of HL History may come to me more easily, but the whole "essay" thing is freaking me out now, since I suck at them! Considering these points, a) I was somewhat forced into taking History at HL, and b) I am bad with essays, would make a 7 impossible in my reach pretty much.

 

I'm not cjy but I'll comment on this.

 

As an American student I was also forced into HL history by my school because everyone is required to take it. I wasn't very good at writing essays in the beginning of IB1 because I had never really had a strong upper-level history class that taught proper essay-writing techniques. On our first class essay, an essay on the French revolution, I scored a 3. I ended up with a strong 6 at the end of IB. Here's what I did:

 

1) Learned how to write an essay. This only comes with practice and taking the feedback the teacher gave me and using it to get better. After that I started scoring 5's on most essays, with a few 6's. In IB2 I got only 6's and 7's on my essays. There are guides on how to write a good essay, but it all boils down to being analytic and showing HOW and WHY, and how this answers you question.

 

2) Find out what you're best at, and use that to your advantage to get higher grades. The IB exam is comprised of three parts: a document-based paper, a paper where you write two essays on 20th century history, and a paper where you write three essays based on a region you studied. I kicked major butt at the document paper. After the first one we did, I never got anything other than a 7. Because I knew when I got to my actual exam that Paper 1 (the document paper) would be extremely easy for me and a free 6 or 7, I knew that if for some reason I couldn't write a great essay in one of the other papers (which happened) that I'd be okay.

 

3) Three things are what pushes candidates to a 7: Historiography as cjy mentioned, successfully challenging the assumptions of the question, and writing an extremely in-depth and perceptive paper. Challenging the question means that although you do answer the question, you will perhaps spend a paragraph or so bringing in other perspectives to the question. For example, if I had the question "To what extent did Cavour's actions alone successfully unify Italy?" I would talk about that, but then mention that although he was an important figure in the unification process Mazzini and Garibaldi were equally as important as well, and all three were necessary for unification.

 

4) Do a very good job on your IA. Your IA counts for about 20% of your grade at HL, so guarantee yourself a good grade on it. It's one of the few things you have complete control over (aside from moderation, which as long as your teacher know what they're doing you'll be fine), so pick a topic you like and get a great score on it. My IA scored like 22/25 or so, so I had a fallback that I could rely on in case I didn't write a great essay on the exam.

 

So I think it's totally possible to do well. Considering so many people take the exam and bring the average down slightly, as long as you write decent essays you'll score at least a 6, and I think a 7 is totally possible if you push yourself. I feel that the reason I didn't get a 7 was because of a weaker Paper 3 (essays were okay, but could have been better) and not enough historiography.

[Rahul]

 

 

 

It is hard to get a 7 in every subject. I think you need to be good at writing essays to get a 7 in history, and that's actually pretty much the only thing. Memorize evidence and apply it well to an essay. I'd say it is easier to get a 7 in than most of the other HLs, particularly something like HL math. But things are different for everyone. It is possible because 2% of people do get it. If you're in the 98 percentile, you should be able to get a 7.

 

 

Actually 8% of candidates get a 7 in HL Maths, and with 11,000 candidates that means around 900-1000 candidates get a 7 in HL Maths every year. Difference is, people doing HL Maths haven't been forced to take it and are probably exceptional mathematicians. It's not the same with history. 

 

My school forced me into Math HL

 

I'll be honest, I'm an American, and we don't take the IB as seriously as other places. I'm sure we do bring down the curve. That being said, there have been people who get 7s in history at my school, but no one ever gets close to getting a 7 in math, at my school or any of the other IB schools I've researched in the surrounding states. If 8% of people are getting it, they are no where near where I am.

 

 

 

We had 1 7 in HL Maths in our year. He was an exceptional mathematician. We then had 1 5, 1 4, 2 3s and a 2, but our year wasn't great at math. Some schools get 10-11 7s in HL a year, in the UK at least.

 

 

It does really vary. I have a large HL math class of about 25; of those, 3 have been scoring at the 7 range, 2-3 borderline 7, and the rest lower - although I only think 3 or 4 people are sitting below a 4. My teacher takes his exams almost exclusively from past papers so I'd say that's a relatively strong predictor.

[Mathemagician]

How much is the workload for HL History in comparison to other HL subjects?

Edited July 20, 2014 by Mathemagician

[Pinecoe]

How much is the workload for HL History in comparison to other HL subjects?

Light. Only one IA project, no homework and no mandatory book reading make it a quite a breeze. The only downside/difficult aspect of history is the sheer amount of reading and data one will have to study and the relative fast pace during lessons if one is not familiar with the events in beforehand.

 

I'm not saying that there are guaranteed sevens for anyone, but really, study the stuff before lessons so that you get free revision at lessons and you'll be fine.

[Clockwork]

To be honest I have been preparing for the History HL curriculum before I start IB, currently based on my opinion the material it covers does not seem too much or intense, it appears to focus mainly on 20th century History with a bit of Late 19th century History in which I do not find hard compared to Classical and Medieval History.