Is an Extended Essay in biology a bad idea?!

[ilovepotato]

Hello. I'm currently a junior in high school (IB year 1) and I'm taking IBHL biology. I thought about doing biology in university so I thought doing a biology EE might benefit me... and that's what I settled on. I already found a supervisor too.

The problem is, while spending countless hours trying to find a topic (I still haven't found one!!), I read so many things about how doing an EE in science is bad and how they're graded very harshly and that it's much easier to get a better grade in, for example, history or english.

Is this true? because I am currently so frustrated and stressed and if this is true I don't know what to do...

even all my friends are discouraging me from doing an extended essay in biology, saying that it's too hard and my supervisor isn't the best and everything. Not only that, but my IB coordinator also said that it's not recommended to do one in science.

I am so lost right now! What should I do?

[~Lc~]

I disagree. My school had the same philosophy about doing EEs in Sciences or Maths because it's less likely that you will get an A. At the end of the day it will be great experience for your University experience if you do do an EE in the subject matter. The level of research you are at now, is very basic and you need a lot of practice to grow your researching skills.

After I finished my undergrad I realized that the reason student don't do so well in Science EEs isn't because they're graded more harshly etc. It's because they're not guided as well as they could be.

Do it to the best of your capabilities, and don't be disheartened by the grade you get. That being said, You may want to play it safe and go for a subject which supervisors have more experience with and would require considerably less effort.

The choice is yours, but don't be discouraged to do something which you grow from!

[carpediem]

The problem is, while spending countless hours trying to find a topic (I still haven't found one!!), I read so many things about how doing an EE in science is bad and how they're graded very harshly and that it's much easier to get a better grade in, for example, history or english.

I don't know what the comparison is with science EEs, but I actually heard that English EEs are very hard to score well in because that is the default subject many people use when they can't think of any other subject. And also, if you do do an EE in biology make sure you have some sort of experiment that you have done specifically for your EE - that is the only way you can score well in a science EE. An extended IA, if you will. (As I heard it through the grapevine.)

However, before you take the leap to throw yourself into this subject or another, I think it's best to consider these points:

• Don't forget that this is your EE: while everyone else may be advising you to do otherwise, you can do a Biology EE if you wish to do so. Someone else might find a biology EE difficult, while you may find it easy. It really is dependent on your strengths.
  
• Because you already have a subject and a supervisor: have you talked to your supervisor about deciding a topic? Have you looked at areas of your interest? (You did pick biology for a reason, so do use a topic of your interest.) Have you thought about examining something that is relatively easy to test in your school classroom? Because it's important to do an actual experiment in a science EE, you need to consider if you can actually do it at your school with the current equipment etc. Make sure it's simple!
  
• If you can't think of any responses for you to carry on with biology, compare your options: are you more likely to write a better EE in History or English than Biology? Look at the EE guidelines of all the subjects you are considering, to see what the IB are looking for. Maybe in the end your EE in biology would be a C grade at best, but it's certainly better than a grade E in History/English just because you changed your mind.
  
• I'd like to re-emphasise on talking with your supervisor: they are your supervisor for a reason, and often a different POV is helpful. When are your internal school deadlines for choosing a topic? Taking this into consideration, you may have some leeway for choosing a topic, but I'd give yourself a personal deadline so that if you do have to resort to changing a subject, you have time to find a topic for that subject too. But do be warned that you may not come up with a topic for that new subject either.
  
• Also, where are you thinking of applying to for university? If you're only doing a biology EE for university applications, in the US the subject doesn't really matter and it's only relevant in the UK if it's to do with your major and it's fantastic (I think).
  
• And in my opinion, I think the best advice is: choose something you won't get sick of, because you are going to be living with this essay for the next couple of months, even if you don't have a topic yet. If you find History difficult/frustrating already, for example, I think you shouldn't do it for an EE. But, to each their own, in the end this is your decision - just make sure you've gotten all the help that you could before having to change to something else.
  

Good luck!

[ilovepotato]

• I'd like to re-emphasise on talking with your supervisor: they are your supervisor for a reason, and often a different POV is helpful. When are your internal school deadlines for choosing a topic? Taking this into consideration, you may have some leeway for choosing a topic, but I'd give yourself a personal deadline so that if you do have to resort to changing a subject, you have time to find a topic for that subject too. But do be warned that you may not come up with a topic for that new subject either.
  
• Also, where are you thinking of applying to for university? If you're only doing a biology EE for university applications, in the US the subject doesn't really matter and it's only relevant in the UK if it's to do with your major and it's fantastic (I think).
  
• And in my opinion, I think the best advice is: choose something you won't get sick of, because you are going to be living with this essay for the next couple of months, even if you don't have a topic yet. If you find History difficult/frustrating already, for example, I think you shouldn't do it for an EE. But, to each their own, in the end this is your decision - just make sure you've gotten all the help that you could before having to change to something else.
  

I proposed a few topics to my supervisor and she turned most of them down, but kept one on a very vague line (if that makes sense). She hasn't really helped me with choosing a topic yet. I'm currently on my own, but I haven't tried having a mini conference with her to discuss this, so I guess I can still ask for help.

I'm most likely/definitely going to the UK, and one of the reasons why I chose a biology EE is because I knew I could include it in my personal statement somehow.

I do love biology, but the topic choices are very limited (no humans/animals), so I'm not sure if I will enjoy conducting a difficult experiment and writing 4000 words on it.

The reason why I turned down history is because I am currently working on my history IA, and I actually quite dislike doing it. I also get mediocre grades (5 to low 6) on tests, so I sort of doubted that I would get a good grade on it.

However, I am also doubting biology now and so I am really stuck :\ I think if I gave history my tears and blood, I might be able to achieve a somewhat fine grade... As for biology, the experimental component is really hard to do well on, so I don't know if I can do so good. I AM SO LOST.

[carpediem]

I proposed a few topics to my supervisor and she turned most of them down, but kept one on a very vague line (if that makes sense). She hasn't really helped me with choosing a topic yet. I'm currently on my own, but I haven't tried having a mini conference with her to discuss this, so I guess I can still ask for help.

Do you have any other biology teachers (experienced with the science EE process, if possible) that you could consult? You could try and get an outsider's point of view to help brainstorm, which could spur an idea or help with your "vague line".

I do love biology, but the topic choices are very limited (no humans/animals), so I'm not sure if I will enjoy conducting a difficult experiment and writing 4000 words on it.

The reason why I turned down history is because I am currently working on my history IA, and I actually quite dislike doing it. I also get mediocre grades (5 to low 6) on tests, so I sort of doubted that I would get a good grade on it.

However, I am also doubting biology now and so I am really stuck :\ I think if I gave history my tears and blood, I might be able to achieve a somewhat fine grade... As for biology, the experimental component is really hard to do well on, so I don't know if I can do so good. I AM SO LOST.

Have you considered your other Highers, e.g. Chemistry and French? French will be the less desirable choice because it isn't relevant to your university degree, but it's possible you can relate a Chemistry EE to your biology degree, demonstrating that you are able to write a 4000-word report on a scientific experiment. (Someone can correct me here if this is BS-ing UCAS too much, but I think it's possible to say that in your PS...)

[ilovepotato]

I am definitely not going to do an EE in French, for some other reasons. I have considered chemistry but decided against it because I'm not THAT interested in the subject, and my teacher intimidates me a little (although he is very useful). I just can't imagine spending hours alongside him, but I mostly decided against it due to interest issues.

I don't really know any other biology teachers that could help me...

I think what I'm going to do is that I'm going to switch to history if I can't find a good topic by next week :/

[~Lc~]

I am definitely not going to do an EE in French, for some other reasons. I have considered chemistry but decided against it because I'm not THAT interested in the subject, and my teacher intimidates me a little (although he is very useful). I just can't imagine spending hours alongside him, but I mostly decided against it due to interest issues.

I don't really know any other biology teachers that could help me...

I think what I'm going to do is that I'm going to switch to history if I can't find a good topic by next week :/

It looks like you need some brainstorming/research on topics rather than a change in subject choice.

you seem like you have your heart set on doing the EE in bio, and for good reasons as well. So my advice is do some googling on topics done before, and see how you can adopt what materials you have to do similar research. I guess because you can't do any experiments with animals/humans you'll have to do something ecology related. I remember we went on a field trip in bio to count species etc. (That's my limited knowledge of bio for you) so you could opt to do something like that which is simple enough.

[Sandwich]

What's been said is more or less true - people do badly in Science EEs because so many people opt to do them and generally people just don't do a great job of it. They're not actually hard, they're just poorly dealt with. The trick really is to pick an experiment that you have a complete handle on. You understand what should happen, why it should happen, how to control all of the significant variables, why they're significant variables and so on.

People in my school definitely got As for their EEs (although this was quite supervisor dependent) and the trick was doing something totally understandable and straight forward. Most people I know who did successful Biology EEs went with things along those lines - for instance, different antibiotics and how they inhibit the growth of a particular bacterium. We already know how antibiotics work, you can look it up, you can understand it 100%, explain it, design an experiment that easily controls the main variables as the scale is manageable and the equipment does not need to be too advanced and so on. A Biology EE is just a big Biology IA, basically, only one where you actually get quite free reign. There's no need to conduct a difficult experiment - obviously something that's not barn door obvious, but you can have quite a simple methodology My friend who did worse did one testing people's memory - the explanations involved knowing some neuroscience, she obviously didn't know any neuroscience (how can you possibly teach all that to yourself?!) and so her analysis wasn't great and the EE scored poorly. She opted to do it because our more useless Biology teacher suggested it to her - that's where your Supervisor matters!

Having done an EE in Biology might help your personal statement but you wouldn't be penalised for not doing one at all. As for the EE, in my opinion you should do it in the subject you are most interested by and enjoy, because you're much more likely to produce a higher quality piece of work as you'll feel more motivated to put the requisite amount of effort into it and squeeze all the facts out. If you don't enjoy doing a History IA, you're unlikely to have the stamina to do sufficient research, reading and so on to write a truly interesting and excellent EE in History. Especially when it's being marked against people who did.

[ilovepotato]

SOOOO just to update.... I talked to my biology teacher and she (either due to laziness or genuine worry) said that since the first drafts of our EEs are due in May this year (I know, what?!), she suggests a change in subject because there will not be a lot of time to conduct a proper experiment. I guess that kind of sets it in stone... I'd have to go with a history EE :\ I don't actually mind that much because I was having a lot of trouble deciding on a topic in biology anyway.

Thanks everyone!

Edited January 31, 2013 by xsnowice

[~Lc~]

That's unfortunate, I hope things like this could be reported to the IBO so they can look into training these teachers to have more motivation to teach than recommend.

Goodluck with your History EE!

[Sandwich]

May is actually a long way away, no? You have 4 whole months just to generate a draft!