wickedcampaign Posted August 6, 2016 Report Share Posted August 6, 2016 New to this forum, so I hope starting threads like this isn't too much of a faux pas to commit. What I would like to hear is just about anything you wish you would've known before your first year. Currently I'm pretty much freaking out over the sudden realisation my summer holidays are actually ending just about now, and the thought of not knowing what exactly to expect makes me a nervous wreck tbh. Furthermore, does my list of subjects seem even somewhat manageable? I've got HL Finnish, maths, and biology, and SL chemistry, English, and physics. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamrysia Posted August 6, 2016 Report Share Posted August 6, 2016 Dont be so nervous m8! The first thing is that IB is hard but if u do everything quite regularly its not such a big deal, honestly. Dont let yourself get into this "mad fear" because of IB, remember that its not your all life and its important to do sth else like at least your passion. Your subjects are quite hard: Maths and Biology require a lot of work but rest is fine, so u'll just have to focus on these ones:) Maybe one thing is that u have to make teachers see that u r working regularly: they often base their predictions on that;) hope this helps! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac117 Posted August 7, 2016 Report Share Posted August 7, 2016 Well we seem to be in the same boat! I start in about two weeks, and have some of your HLs as well (maths and bio). I was stressed too, and wanted to do summer reading and summer work, but it wasn't worth it since my teachers have two years to help me learn the curriculum. Enjoy the ride IB is, and remember to stay sane. Good luck. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elirg Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 I'm about to start my 2nd year and this is all I can say: DONT STRESS MATEE. Do not make the mistake of being sucked in by all the IB stress hysteria that goes on in online forums, facebook, and normal conversations, seriously. It's simply the wrong mentality. You start worrying about grades and projects you haven't even started yet, and I promise you that fear is the quickest path to procrastination you can go. Enjoy the first year while it lasts, TAKE CLASSES THAT YOU WANT TO TAKE (some of my peers were able to switch classes they didn't like), choose an EE topic that you're passionate about (I'm serious about this, or else you'll end up hating yourself), ask for help when you need it, do your homework on weekdays so you get at least one day of the weekend off, and most importantly: chill. I made the mistake of listening to people online & irl who told me IB was the worst thing that they could have chosen to do, and my first few months were hell, mainly because I procrastinated to the extent that I confused Youtube cat videos with homework. Decide for yourself why you want to do IB, and what you want to make of it, and then pursue those goals, do not listen to the complaints of other people. It's true that the IB is challenging and time-consuming, but if you put your head to it, and procrastinate AFTER doing your work, you'll manage just fine (technically not procrastination anymore, but I have come to define procrastination as doing the homework I don't really want to do instead of doing the IA I probably should be doing). Your subject choices seem fine, I take math and bio HL, chem SL as well. You'll probably find it challenging to write three science IAs, basically three 12 page lab reports, but it's worth it if you want to study medicine or something similar. Math HL is very time-consuming, though I advise you not to stress about that either, most importantly though: Talk to your math teacher if thats a possibility, establish some kind of relationship that'll allow you to ask extensions/questions when needed. Languages are the easiest subjects, especially at SL, and though I do not know Finnish, I'm guessing it wont be that challenging either. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElenaLj Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 We seem to be in the same boat! I'm starting the IB in 18 days and I managed to turn the nervousness into excitement. Your subjects chooses seem to be very similar to mine but instead of chemistry I take economics and Macedonian as Language A. Hope we all have a great time in the IB! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abelkoontz Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 you REALLY have to study hard. like they aren't joking when they said its a lot of work. i dont know about your school but my school plans the IA's so we HAVE to finish them at a certain deadline months before they are actually due. But honestly, a lot of the work comes from you AND your teachers. Teachers are super important, if you have a bad teacher its gonna take a huge toll on your learning if youre the type of person who learns with a good teacher and good explanations. Also, IB youtube videos are really helpful too. also make sure you have a line of activities you can potentially do or doing for your CAS. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamrysia Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 46 minutes ago, abelkoontz said: you REALLY have to study hard. like they aren't joking when they said its a lot of work. i dont know about your school but my school plans the IA's so we HAVE to finish them at a certain deadline months before they are actually due. But honestly, a lot of the work comes from you AND your teachers. Teachers are super important, if you have a bad teacher its gonna take a huge toll on your learning if youre the type of person who learns with a good teacher and good explanations. Also, IB youtube videos are really helpful too. also make sure you have a line of activities you can potentially do or doing for your CAS. Abelkoontz, its not that bad, stop making him frightened Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecsstudent Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) Don't be nervous, at the end of the day it's just school subjects, anyone can do well in them if they study. The most important thing is not to leave things for later at the beginning. Study every chapter really well otherwise gaps will accumulate and it will be very difficult to catch up. Edited August 11, 2016 by thecsstudent Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShootingStar16 Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 On 8/6/2016 at 9:10 AM, wickedcampaign said: New to this forum, so I hope starting threads like this isn't too much of a faux pas to commit. What I would like to hear is just about anything you wish you would've known before your first year. Currently I'm pretty much freaking out over the sudden realisation my summer holidays are actually ending just about now, and the thought of not knowing what exactly to expect makes me a nervous wreck tbh. Furthermore, does my list of subjects seem even somewhat manageable? I've got HL Finnish, maths, and biology, and SL chemistry, English, and physics. The number 1 thing is don't assume some class is going to be easy even if you found that class easy at pre-IB level (that was my biggest mistake with SL chem). The subjects I had in common with you were Bio HL and Chem SL. Bio HL is a lot of content and it's not something you study the night before. I would recommend getting a study guide for it because it will save your life for the exams. With Chem, I personally found the IA to be really tough but the exams were pretty alright (messed up paper 1 badly but paper 2 and paper 3 were really nice). I took English HL. Are you taking Lit or Lang/Lit by the way? Just curious. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysun Posted August 13, 2016 Report Share Posted August 13, 2016 @mamrysia come on it's fun to scare the new ones just a bit In all honestly, how well you do in IB is very closely stitched with how hard you decide to work and how bad you want to do well. @ElenaLj good on you for turning anxiety into excitement! Now try not to lose that attitude for the next two years aha. Year one isn't all that bad. Remember it's a 2 year program, so don't dwell on mistakes. That being said, learn from everything and don't mess up too much. You will reap what you sow, so definitely put in some time & work, especially for courses like Math HL. One more thing, IB is not something aimed to take up ALL your time! Don't forget to have fun and have a life outside of IB as well! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloe2018 Posted August 14, 2016 Report Share Posted August 14, 2016 Mee too! Just started IB1 for a week I am also a bit stressed when thinking about EE (haven't even picked the topic lol) Good luck for all of us Hope that it's going to turn out okay. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabisarkis Posted August 14, 2016 Report Share Posted August 14, 2016 I've recently just started the IB (two weeks ago). Not going to lie to you, it's very intense. But once you adjust, everything seems to fall into place. My first couple of days seemed like never-ending hell, and it seemed like the workload would never end. But it does. All I can say is be organised, and remember to have your relaxing moments. Don't overload yourself trying to do everything. Go little by little, step by step. I'm telling you, it does get better. Good luck!! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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