Any tips for a newcomer?

[Newcomer]

Hello, I'm just a normal student attending at an international school. Just today, I have officially started my life a an IB DP student. I have heard stories of how difficult DP exams/classes are. Hence, I'm asking for tips in order to get grades above 6!

These are my classes so far!

History - Americas HL

Chemistry HL

English Lit. HL

Economics SL

Math SL

Spanish Ab SL

TOK

2D Design (Elective)

'

Any forms of tips are appreciated!! Such as how to take notes, how to prepare for classes, and so on

[yii yann]

Hey there,

I know this must seem absolutely unhelpful to you, but read the forum first. There are tonnes of posts just like yours, and even more great replies with really helpful tips and advice. You will almost definitely find everything you need. If you still don't, then post here again and we can help

[khimberleigh]

Write your EE (draft) over the Summer break, I cannot stress how useful this was for me. While everyone else was freaking out about EE during 2nd year, I could focus on other IAs.

[Great Polar Bear]

About your subjects, I would want to stress on the point to be attentive in English classes. You have English at Higher Level and it is certainly not an easy subject. I advice you pay attention in all your classes, especially this year, because this is the time you start developing skills on writing an English answer. You get an idea of the unseen commentaries and how to go about it. Also, when you start with literary texts, then make sure you're at pace with the class or ahead. Before the exam, make it a point to read the book again. Look up the internet and get an idea of the background and setting of the novel you study. Another subject you must give considerable amount of time to is Mathematics. Even though you have it at SL, and the first year topics are relatively easy (to the second year), ensure that you keep practicing the Math questions. You might be starting with Functions & arithmetic progressions. Functions is a very important topic as elements of the same will be seen throughout the cycle tests too. An important advice I would like to give you for Mathematics is to do the past papers. These can be really useful and they give you an idea about the question pattern & types of question.

Outline of your examinations in English HL: http://www.ibo.org/recognition/resourcesanddocumentlibrary/moreresources/documents/HLLanguageABrief1.8.pdf

Outline of your examinations Maths SL: http://ibo.org/recognition/resources/documents/SLMathematicsBrief2.1.pdf

Website helpful for Spanish AB SL: http://ibspanish.webs.com/

Website helpful for Chemistry: http://ibchem.com/

Website helpful for History of the Americas: http://ib-history-of-the-americas.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/

Websites helpful for Economics:

http://www.dineshbakshi.com/ib-economics

http://ib-econ.wikispaces.com/Mr.+Hopkins+IB+Economics+Home+Page

http://www.ibeconomics.org/

How To Score In English: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-7-in-IB-Diploma-English

IB Math videos: http://ibvodcasting.com/category/topic/ib-mathematics-sl

If you have any problems, you can ask them on IBSurvival itself. Other than that, here are some websites for more content:

http://academicslavery.blogspot.in/

http://ibguides.com/

These websites are for help in the long term. Don't get freaked out!

Good Luck!

Edited August 7, 2013 by helpfulbucket

[Kat_K]

Some general advice that you've probably heard before, would be to simply stay on top of your work. When you get an assignment, try to do it that night and if it's a big assignment, plan time to do a little everyday. Sure, you can try (and people do) do some assignments the night before but then you'll end up in the cycle of staying up late/pulling all nighters to complete the work which means you'll be tired and drowsy the next day. Therefore when you get home from school you'll be knackered and probably won't have the energy to start your work until late. Then you'll be up late agaiiin, and I'm sure you can see the start of a cycle. I speak from personal experience when I say this is something you most definitely don't want to get yourself into.

As for taking notes, have a separate notebook/folder/binder for each subject - when it's colour coded it's always fun, and it makes everything a lot easier to find when you're trying to grab stuff from your locker and rush off to your next class. Keep tidy notes that you can keep for future reference. If you really want to do well and make sure you understood during the class, after you've done your homework you can rewrite/type out your notes to make sure you have a clean extra copy of them which will be great for tests/finals. Also make sure to keep these in a separate notebook/folder - same colour as the rest of your stationary in that subject Just be organised, it will pay off!

If you find that you finish your homework and have a lot of time to spare that evening, instead of messing about on the internet pull out a textbook and review something that you've found particularly difficult. If you've already reviewed all the past chapters on other days, read ahead. It may seem annoying and dull at the time, but it will seriously be worth it, sine when the topic is introduced in class, you'll already have some sort of concept as to what it's about.

Good luck!

[Brienna]

For SL Spanish, make sure to polish up your reading and comprehension skills. The test itself is simple (you're even allowed to use a dictionary) but make sure you understand what you're supposed to be answering questions about. There's a significant amount of essay writing , of course, so that's something that you'll have to get accustomed to doing. Just make sure your vocabulary is up to par and practice your accent, and you'll do fine.

English HL is rigorous and fast-paced (at least in my school) so you need to keep up, if not read ahead. Much of the class is teaching you how to write an IB-appropriate essay, so pay attention and pick up some good pointers. Learn to analyze and look deeper than normally. Pay attention to detail and take lots of notes.

Those are the only classes I've taken personally, but I've heard that Chem HL is exhausting if you're not a quick learner. It requires a lot of study time, but with time you should be alright.

[Grete]

Hello, I`m starting Pre-IB this year and I was wondering do I have exams at the end of each year?

Thnx

[ctrls]

This has been mentioned already, but I can't stress the importance of working through past paper questions. This is especially for Maths and Chemistry in order to familiarize yourself with the style of the questions, but it's also useful for economics (and probably history) for writing structured essays in time.

Hello, I`m starting Pre-IB this year and I was wondering do I have exams at the end of each year?

I haven't taken pre-IB myself so I can't say for sure, but it'll depend on the school. As your teacher about the exam formats and all, though I don't really think it's particularly relevant to know about at this point.

[YellowSpider]

Hello, I'm just a normal student attending at an international school. Just today, I have officially started my life a an IB DP student. I have heard stories of how difficult DP exams/classes are. Hence, I'm asking for tips in order to get grades above 6!

These are my classes so far!

History - Americas HL

Chemistry HL

English Lit. HL

Economics SL

Math SL

Spanish Ab SL

TOK

2D Design (Elective)

'

Any forms of tips are appreciated!! Such as how to take notes, how to prepare for classes, and so on

for english i'd suggest you read the books 2 times.. all of them. the first time just read them normally then the second time note stuff down.. it might be useful..

[Gaby]

Hello, I`m starting Pre-IB this year and I was wondering do I have exams at the end of each year?

Thnx

It depends on your school completely. The only exams we are sure you will have are the final IB exams, at the end of the programme. If you end up entering the IB and finishing it, that is