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IB Class of 2013: advice, expectations?


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Hello, I'm also a 2013 candidate and I'm very ahppy to see there's already plenty of us in IBsurvival. At first, when I registered to this page I was very concerned because I thought there will be not enough people who'd be IB 2013 candidates and I would only get help from people with amazing previous experience but without that touch of being involved directly in the program, unless their exams were in 2012. However, I'm pretty relaxed now since I've come to appreciate the great amount of people who make part of my promotion! Back to the point, on my feelings towards IB: I know it's going to be hell but sometimes you better get used to it, and even prepare for your journey, that's why I came to this page in first place. You can't even imagine all of the things I've learned in IBSurvival about the IB and its different aspects and I haven't even started the program yet.

I am concerned because from what I've came to analyse from different posts in this site is that some of the subjects I selected are pretty hard, except for philosophy SL which I now it'll not be as demanding as the other ones. For instance I chose 2 A1s in HL, english and spanish; for an unknown reason they are mandatory in my school!!! Ugh. I chose History HL as well and then Math SL and Physics in SL. I'm pretty excited about entering but as you previous posters have said, everyone has this feeling before entering to the IB but after a week you'll be saying "What did I get myself into?". I know it's gonna be demanding and that if I procrastinate, I might start decreasing my academic level, this is going to be hard for me but oh well, I'll try my best.

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I think that if we try to do our best, we'll all be just fine. It's just a matter of getting used to having a lot to do, I think. Honestly, I lost so much time this previous year, pre-IB was such a waste of time, I wish I went to a good high school for a year of normal Polish programme and then transferred to my IB school. That would do me better. I went to a pretty demanding secondary school where I had to work my ass off to get good grades and it would be so great to go straight from this school into IB. Now I'm so scared that I forgot how to work hard and I know I knew it. I had a lot more late night study session in secondary school. Tbh, I only stayed up late for studying reasons this year ONCE - to prepare for a history test I forgot about. Honestly, I so miss the academic rigor I was used to that I literally can't wait for the IB to start. I know I won't love it while I do it, but I'm positive it'll have a good effect on me.

Procrastination, we have two subjects in common: History HL and Maths SL. We can share our pain during these 2 years. :D Although, I quite like History and Maths... The only subject of my chosen ones I don't really like is Polish. Fortunately, it's only SL (no one at my school chose it on HL :D).

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:D :D We'll become pain partners as soon as we enter IB. Imagine the first day, spooky but exciting. You're lucky trust me, you don't like Polish and you put it on SL, as far as I am concerned my school will force me to take both languages A1 and A2 in HL. God, I hate my school but there's nothing I can do. IB is all about rigorousness, if you have it you'll be okay, if you don't, forget about it.
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IB is all about rigorousness, if you have it you'll be okay, if you don't, forget about it.

I used to have an academic rigor, I don't know if I still have it... I'm know for working in "waves". I work really hard for like two weeks and then I don't do that much work for a week or so. I still do my homework and prepare for class, it's just I'm not that uber active as a student. If my "wave" comes when I have an IA due, I'm safe and sound, but if it's in between the "waves"... I'm scared, to be honest.

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My enrolled classes are in my signature and it seems like we have several in common as well! I'm not so nervous anymore, but I think the major point to remember is to stay focused and not procrastinate, which is really difficult for me! :blush: I'm planning on getting my act together though, and I've started working hard this summer for the first vacation ever....so hopefully that'll help. I'm also planning on keeping a strict schedule and limiting Skype time. :P My self-resistance isn't so strong .. lol ... so the plan is to stay organized and on track and rely on my iDevices to keep me there. :D

Thanks to all who've replied so faar!! I think IBS is going to be such an awesome resource!

Edited by haley.the.great
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I heard we are only going to have to write one world lit essay from a friend, but I have no idea if he's right, but I hope he is :P

last time, SL students only need to do one WL, HL students need to do two WL. not sure if this has changed in the 2013 syllabus though!

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I heard we are only going to have to write one world lit essay from a friend, but I have no idea if he's right, but I hope he is :P

last time, SL students only need to do one WL, HL students need to do two WL. not sure if this has changed in the 2013 syllabus though!

I think HL students still have to do 2WLs. Oh god (Pray for me)

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Actually, it's only about 7.69% tougher than only doing 3 HL subjects. :P

(Assuming that the by the IB recommended teaching hours are proportional to the workload)

Aw well good for you :) In my school when I asked the IB supervisor if students could take 4 HL subjects he replied "We try to change their minds" XD

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I think two of my classmates are taking 4 HLs. I'm not quite sure they know what they're doing. :D I preferred to stick with the traditional 3-3. Though I'm kinda afraid unis might see my HL Psychology as "soft" cause it's said to be soft even though, from what I've heard, it really isn't.

Is any of you taking Psych? Or I'm alone here. :D

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I think two of my classmates are taking 4 HLs. I'm not quite sure they know what they're doing. :D I preferred to stick with the traditional 3-3. Though I'm kinda afraid unis might see my HL Psychology as "soft" cause it's said to be soft even though, from what I've heard, it really isn't.

Is any of you taking Psych? Or I'm alone here. :D

I took Psychology! I was considering taking it as a HL and then take Spanish B SL instead of Greek, but my friend who is in IB told me that it has a lot of things to memorize, and that HL is just torture O.O

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I think two of my classmates are taking 4 HLs. I'm not quite sure they know what they're doing. :D I preferred to stick with the traditional 3-3. Though I'm kinda afraid unis might see my HL Psychology as "soft" cause it's said to be soft even though, from what I've heard, it really isn't.

Is any of you taking Psych? Or I'm alone here. :D

I took Psychology! I was considering taking it as a HL and then take Spanish B SL instead of Greek, but my friend who is in IB told me that it has a lot of things to memorize, and that HL is just torture O.O

At least I'm not alone as you're taking it too. :D And my teacher is said to be really good and the IB students from my school really like her and the class in general. So I think I'm gonna be fine. Besides, I've always wanted to take some Psych, not on a university level, but just for myself so I'm happy I can do it as a part of IB.

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I'm doing HL psych as well! :) I'm quite looking forward to it actually cause it seems pretty interesting!

I'm looking forward to it, too! It must be interesting, learning about why people act the way the act. Some 2012 students did their IA studies on us and it was interesting already! And when we were preparing to moot trial, one of my teammates, who takes Psych HL, said that some witness is lying simply by reading that he denied two times, instead of only once. How cool is that? :D

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