IB Grades: 40+

[ephika]

Hey.

Apart from being smart and not regularly procrastinate, what is the key to getting 40-45 points in IB?

What I mean is: are there any "tricks" that might help you, really?

40+ kids, get back at me!

[Ashika]

Well, I'm predicted 39/45 at the moment.

Not my official predictions, I get those later this week or in April.

Anyways, the bonus marks do help.

Try and do well on EE and TOK!

Also, when you choose your HL courses be sure to pick what you're interested in as well as what you know you'll do well in.

Everything else is basically not slacking off, studying as much as you can for tests etc.

[__inthemaking]

I'm predicted 42 (with bonus points) right now but it's not my official one, I don't think. Anyways, it's basically just working hard..there aren't really any "tips". Read from the syllabus for every course religiously.

[Frei]

work using the syllabus for that subject... Be aware of what is expected from you.

[Tyro]

I'm in year one of IB, and my school does not give out predicted grades But here are my tips-

-Know how you'll be graded and what you'll be graded on with both the IA's and the EA - I got a perfect on a DT IA while the rest of the class got like a 1 on everything simply because I looked at the matrices and made sure I covered everything fully when no one else did.

-Read the syllabus. I know this was already said, but if you don't cover a few topics in class it could greatly lower your grades.

-Study regularly (using the syllabus) for both tests and just to review.

-Try not to procrastinate. It's hard I know, but we don't need any more stress than we've got already.

-Do your best, not everyone can get 40 points or it would not be special but if you give it your all you won't be disappointed.

[__inthemaking]

I'm in year one of IB, and my school does not give out predicted grades

You get predicteds in IB2 to go out to universities so that they'll low your lower percentage marks are a result of IB, and not because you're a poor student. I think it's highly unlikely that your school doesn't give out predicteds ? Unless your school translates all of your percentage marks.

[Tyro]

You get predicteds in IB2 to go out to universities so that they'll low your lower percentage marks are a result of IB, and not because you're a poor student. I think it's highly unlikely that your school doesn't give out predicteds ? Unless your school translates all of your percentage marks.

No, we just don't get predicted scores. My school's kinda weak on IB so our teachers grade us like regular students (A,B,C,D,F), so I guess that's percentage marks. But for the record I'm still straight 'A' in IB, which I guess could be like a 6 or 7 in every class.

[icecoldstar]

our teachers doesnt tell us the predicted scores, because they think it would create too much trouble

[Bandev]

Well I got 41.

To tell you the truth you can procrastinate, I did.

Umm.. what else..

My favourite studying technique was looking at the answers they gave in the markscheme.

Cram really hard in the 2 weeks before the exams, I learnt so much then.

Work hard at the subject you are worst at, eg for me that was english.

Don't underestimate subjects, I did that with geography only did 2 hours study in the weeks before the exam and got a 6 (missed out a 7 by 1 mark) everyone expected me to get a 7 easily.

With second languages continuous vocab and verb learning is a must.

As someone said before try really hard on IA and TOK and EE, I did and I got AA and 777776 for them.

Do as many past papers as you can be bothered. I know somone who did every single one in all her subject since 1998, and guess what she got.... 45.

As people have said the syllabus in group 3 and 4 and 5 are your most bestest friends apart from the markschemes. Eg if you have to know a case study on a certain part of the course in a group 3 then make sure you know one.

Relax sometimes.

Play sport/excercise

Don't drink coffee, it dehydrates and if you are dehydrated your brain cognition is decreased, drink water.

Don't stay up all night.

Either don't stress or stress your brains out.

Don't worry too much if you get bad marks on test, I got 47% on a Bio test in the second half of my final year, and I ended up getting a 7 with an overall mark of 90%.

Find fun in your subjects, make it a game.

Manage your time well in the exams, that is dsomething that I could have improved on, because I didn't finsh 6 papers in 3 different subjects (geo p1 p2, chem p2 p3, maths p1 p2) and they were the subject i under performed in. Whereas I managed my time well in spanish and overperformed.

Your teachers will miss things, so make sure you check your syllabus and ask teachers to go over things they have missed.

Drink tea it relaxes you and increases brain power, it is true there have been studies.

Don't worry to much if you get bad marks on your mocks, if my mocks were my official marks i would have gotten 33. Use them as learning tools.

Have a social life.

Work out what is important and what isn't.

Anyway I have gone waay over the top as usual.

[Ashika]

Bandev, this is the most beneficial bit of information I have read in ages.

Thank you much, seriously.

[stylusdef]

Yeah, that was really some useful information for me as well, Bandev. I'm pre-IB now, starting IB after this summer.

Haha. I'm actually a real coffee fiend. I'd say I drink at least 3 cups of coffee a day, but I always try to drink lots of water, too.

[Forester]

chillax

Right now I'm really stressed but not because of the academic work but because of other problems you get when you are 17...

[Graeme]

I procrastinated so much that I was able to build a site, write two books, save my school from eternal damnation, find and lose love, and predict the next step of evolution... and still managed to get 42.

Bandev made some very good points. I think the trick is not to get too worked about it too much. Do other things as well. But when you decide to work, make sure you work hard. If you want to do an hours work, DO AN HOURS WORK and don't do 2 hours of bits and pieces. That way you have a lot more time to do other things.

[~Lc~]

oh.. and don't take art HL or SL for that matter

Big G, saving school from eternal damnation? now there's a story I'd love to hear.

Sorry OP I didn't get a 40+ so not much I advice I can give you other than good luck

[lorenzo]

Thanks a bunch Bandev, I was already doing some of the stuff you pointed out (i.e. procrastinated and did non-school related things ) but now i know where i can pick up my act. Cheers

By the way, Deus, even though, when i decided to do work, i work hard... the problem is ... i never decide to start working joking, i do eventually

[blindpet]

Utmost importance:

Decode the IB language in their criteria and figure out how to meet their criteria (this is usually only possible by referring to authoritative sources that actually KNOW what they want :/). This includes ingraining the command terms and what they actually mean. If possible get exemplars of exam questions to see what the examiners want from you. It's certainly not always clear.

Practice clarity of expression - examiners mark hundreds of exams, your odds are significantly better if what you say is crystal clear and leaves no room for ambiguity

Practice exams rigorously and especially a logical structure to your responses that fit in the time frame allotted for each question

As soon as you get an assignment, begin immediately. I find that gradually hacking away at IAs is far more beneficial and significantly alleviates the anxiety as time goes by. This leaves time for extensive revision and proofreading.

MAKE a study guide for all of your subjects. Even if it means finding a good one on the net, make your own using the one you found as a foundation. This way you will constantly be revising as you make your study guide and the information will just stick better.

For A1 subjects:

Keep a diary of analysis for each chapter of your part 3 works that you'll need to know inside out for Paper 2.

For Group 3 and 4:

Make flash cards for definitions, diagrams, processes, studies etc and regularly go through them to get the facts stuck in your head

For Group 5:

Again, practice. In math practice makes perfect, you should not need the formula booklet at ALL if you want a high score. Doing every problem should be virtually automatic.

As others said: practice your weakest subjects first, even though it's not as fun. I find myself practicing math instead of biology when it should be the reverse.

Start revision courses with your classmates. You learn 90% of what you teach, so the more you teach the more you learn!

As soon as you've finished a school day, go home and digitize your notes, this is simply learning through repetition. However you can easily refer to them in the future and use them as building blocks for your study guide. Also refer to the past class's notes before you go to class again, that way the material that the next class is built on will be fresh in your mind.

Can't think of anything else for now... hope this helped.

[Bandev]

I find that gradually hacking away at IAs is far more beneficial and significantly alleviates the anxiety as time goes by.

For A1 subjects:

Keep a diary of analysis for each chapter of your part 3 works that you'll need to know inside out for Paper 2.

For Group 5:

Again, practice. In math practice makes perfect, you should not need the formula booklet at ALL if you want a high score.

As soon as you've finished a school day, go home and digitize your notes, this is simply learning through repetition.

I think what you said for the IA is good for some people and bad for others. I work best when under pressure. That is why when I wrote my tok oral the night before it was due I pull out some good stuff and ended up with 20/20. Much the same happened for my IOC, I started cramming only two days before it, was soo pumped up when the preparation time began that I took 7 mins to read the 40 lines of poetry, but I got it together and got 29/30. So i think the starting early thing works for some but not for others.

With the "for A1", I did that, I think it was really helpful, however I ****ed up P2 getting 13/25 which is a 4, Ouch.

Group 5: I would have been so lost without that formula booklet, OMG, thank god it is there.

With the digitizing notes, I am definite that, that would do nothing for me, I alway find that when I am reviewing stuff from the day that if I look at the notes then do question and then afterward summarise in my own words the gist of the topic, but so that I understand it (plus I find typing stuff on computer strangely detached, so much so that my work suffers, but I am sure that is a person thing.)

Anyway the other thing you said were things I did too, especially that clarity thing that was something I had to practise. Something along those lines also is to use the language of the subject, eg for bio, instead of saying that " the inside of the neuron gets more negative" you should say "the neuron depolarises".

Also in A1, languages, TOK, and some G3s they love it when youu use emotional language.

[blindpet]

Bandev you're absolutely right. Probably the most important thing I neglected was figure out how you learn best, the techniques I mentioned work for me, but luckily humans are so diverse that one doesn't work for one will work for another.

I agree that the 'language' of the subject is crucial and using correct terminology etc is vital if you want a decent final score.

Another important thing to remember is that TOK is a key element in the diploma as a whole. The IBO wants to create critical and independent thinkers which is why we constantly have to evaluate and criticise virtually everything we study. So remember that underlying assumptions are always good to point out especially if you can think of exceptions for which the underlying assumption is nullified ;D.

[__inthemaking]

I forgot to mention, but yes it's extremely important to do all the past papers. Most of the IB questions are recycled and the questions are basically the same, just with different numbers/situations. I wouldn't bother doing exams from the old syllabus though (eg. new syllabus for chem started in 2003, so I wouldn't do all the ones earlier than that) because you'll notice some questions are odd because it's not included in the new syllabus.

And I finally got my official predicted grade: 41. My economics teacher said he would give me a 7 but I got predicted a 6 instead .