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Question about starting EE


Mathemagician

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Hi guys,

 

I just started IB 1 2 months ago, and I was wondering about when to start the EE. Should I start and finish it in Year 1 (right now) or Year 2 (next year)? I'll be writing 1 IB exam at the end of this year, and 5 at the end of next year, so I don't want to spend too much time on my EE, if I leave it until next year. So do you guys think it's best to get it out of the way asap (this year)?

 

Thanks.

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I just started IB 1 2 months ago, and I was wondering about when to start the EE. Should I start and finish it in Year 1 (right now) or Year 2 (next year)? I'll be writing 1 IB exam at the end of this year, and 5 at the end of next year, so I don't want to spend too much time on my EE, if I leave it until next year. So do you guys think it's best to get it out of the way asap (this year)?

 

I have seen many IB schools forcing the students to hand in their EE very early (like in Year 1). In fact, a few senior students at my school even told me to start my EE during Christmas of Year 1. However, i'm very against this idea. This is because I believe that EE is the toughest, most challenging work during the IB; thus it should be waited until Year 2, when the students have gained sufficient knowledge to start their EE. My idea is very much like how things are in a standard university program, in which bachelor/master thesis is recommended to be done during the last year of the program.

 

For example, I had always wanted to do my Physics EE on something relating to quantum mechanics. But by the time i had to choose my EE topic, I still had no idea what quantum mechanics even means. Like my physics class hadn't even talked about it. So how could they expect me to find a topic that I like to do my EE on? Besides, the sooner you start with your EE, the more 'immature' your writing would be!

 

Therefore, ideally, i think the process of choosing a topic should begin during the second year. However, this very much depends on the deadline at your school, and how strict your school is.

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The EE for our school is due in Year 2, but senior students recommend us Year 1 students to start it asap (in Year 1), so it doesn't consume much of our time in Year 2, when we'll have other worries (IAs, exams, ToK, etc.)

 

Right, then I personally think that you should try to get as much 'knowledge' as possible (i.e. learn as many chapters in your book as possible & make careful notes for them). At the same time, try to get most of your IAs done, like lab reports (since your exam is 2016 May, this would be your 'super-big 10-hour lab', your English World Lit (if you happen to take English A), or your math IA, etc. This is because IAs are less important than EE in my opinion!

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This year we're going to finish the History IA only, not our science and math IAs (these are in Year 2). Based on this, I'll have 3 IAs in Year 2: 1) Math IA, 2) Physics IA, and 3) Chemistry IA. Taking that into account, do you think it's best to get rid of the EE this year, as I'll have 5 exams and 3 IAs to deal with in Year 2?

Edited by Mathemagician
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This year we're going to finish the History IA only, not our science and math IAs (these are in Year 2). Based on this, I'll have 3 IAs in Year 2: 1) Math IA, 2) Physics IA, and 3) Chemistry IA. Taking that into account, do you think it's best to get rid of the EE this year, as I'll have 5 exams and 3 IAs to deal with in Year 2?

 

Well, if you are truly confident that you can think of a good topic and get started with it, then go ahead! After all, it's completely right to say that the sooner you are done all the work in IB, the more well-prepared you are for the exams.

 

However, if you are not confident, don't waste time blaming yourself or worrying about it too much. Try to focus on other work, like reading all the remaining chapters in your book, etc. Due to the syllabus change, now Math IA, Physics IA, and Chemistry IA are basically just individual mini-projects (which you have to think of your own topic, design your own methods, and do your own experiments), so you can basically start with them already in year 1 all by yourself!!! On the other hand, EE is a much bigger project, hence, leave it until you have enough knowledge to do a good research

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I also believe that you should begin it as soon as possible, especially now considering that you have only one exam because trust me, next your you'll have other stuff to worry about and it will only benefit you if you get your EE out of the way as soon as possible. 

That's what I think anyways~ 

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The Math syllabus also changed? I thought it was only for Chemistry and Physics.

 

The math syllabus has changed for May 2014 (which was my session). Before that, the IB used to give students a few topics to choose from for the Math IA (which was the so-called 'portfolio'). As the syllabus has changed, the IA becomes more of an 'individual' work, in which you have to choose your own topic, which also means that you can start with it at any times :)

 

I also believe that you should begin it as soon as possible, especially now considering that you have only one exam because trust me, next your you'll have other stuff to worry about and it will only benefit you if you get your EE out of the way as soon as possible. 

That's what I think anyways~ 

As I've mentioned, even though it's recommended by many people that you should start EE as soon as possible (preferably during year 1), I still think that this is a really bad idea. There are 2 reasons:

 

1. Starting EE during Year 1 might put you at a disadvantage, simply because you wouldn't have enough knowledge on the subject to conduct a proper research. Furthermore, it's hard to get used to the academic writing style already in your first year of IB. Trust me, your writing skills will become so much better by the time you reach Year 2; and this will make the process of doing the EE so much faster and easier.

 

2. Since you probably lack knowledge in Year 1 compared to Year 2, you will miss the opportunity of doing something that is truly interesting and fascinating in your field of study. Like i mentioned, I missed my opportunity to research about quantum mechanics (which is the best scientific theory in all of science) because I didn't even know the basics of quantum mechanics by the time i had to choose my own topic.

 

Therefore, I think the ideal way of doing organizing your IB work is to focus on all the IAs and subject contents (stuff that will be on your final exams) in Year 1; and start your EE on Year 2 :)

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I agree with Vioh. It's good to get it out of the way early, but you can just do that over the summer between IB1 and IB2. To say you can do it all in IB1 is basically saying that you've already got all of the knowledge to write an 'A' grade EE, which is probably not true at that point. We all learn throughout the IB, so completing the EE at the beginning of that learning process seems slightly naive. The EE needs to be IB level knowledge and informed by that kind of thing, rather than knowledge being deployed at the level you were at before IB.

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Guest moonkyu97

 

The Math syllabus also changed? I thought it was only for Chemistry and Physics.

 

The math syllabus has changed for May 2014 (which was my session). Before that, the IB used to give students a few topics to choose from for the Math IA (which was the so-called 'portfolio'). As the syllabus has changed, the IA becomes more of an 'individual' work, in which you have to choose your own topic, which also means that you can start with it at any times :)

 

I also believe that you should begin it as soon as possible, especially now considering that you have only one exam because trust me, next your you'll have other stuff to worry about and it will only benefit you if you get your EE out of the way as soon as possible. 

That's what I think anyways~ 

As I've mentioned, even though it's recommended by many people that you should start EE as soon as possible (preferably during year 1), I still think that this is a really bad idea. There are 2 reasons:

 

1. Starting EE during Year 1 might put you at a disadvantage, simply because you wouldn't have enough knowledge on the subject to conduct a proper research. Furthermore, it's hard to get used to the academic writing style already in your first year of IB. Trust me, your writing skills will become so much better by the time you reach Year 2; and this will make the process of doing the EE so much faster and easier.

 

2. Since you probably lack knowledge in Year 1 compared to Year 2, you will miss the opportunity of doing something that is truly interesting and fascinating in your field of study. Like i mentioned, I missed my opportunity to research about quantum mechanics (which is the best scientific theory in all of science) because I didn't even know the basics of quantum mechanics by the time i had to choose my own topic.

 

Therefore, I think the ideal way of doing organizing your IB work is to focus on all the IAs and subject contents (stuff that will be on your final exams) in Year 1; and start your EE on Year 2 :)

 

I must disagree. From my experience with EE, I would recommend starting the preliminary research before Winter, and start writing before you have to prepare for final exams in Year 1.

  1. Starting EE from Year 1 gives you an advantage due to the amount of preliminary research that can be done at this time, especially if you start before winter break. Since you can accumulate background knowledge in Year 1, it gives you a lot of flexibility in deciding whether your topic is suitable for you or not, and gives you time to explore a lot of topics before you settle on one.  Some of my friends were completely burnt out this year because they found out that their topic was bad due to lack of data, lack of interest, etc.
  2. Even if you write horrible at first, it is worth it to start writing your draft early. I don't mean that you have to finish it all in Year 1, just have at least a portion of it written so that you can show it to your supervisor before the break starts. This is especially useful if your supervisor has multiple EEs to look at, since it means you can have comments on what you have early. This gives you more guidance when writing during the summers.

I'm not saying that you have to finish everything in Year 1; that's probably a bad idea. But I think that starting early has its merits.

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I would say that it's best to write the first draft of an Extended Essay during the summer between IB1 and IB2 and then spend the second year of IB improving it. The first year of IB is a bit too early to finish writing the essay, IMO. Most people don't have the necessary skills and knowledge to write a proper EE during IB1. However, you could spend IB1 on choosing the "right" topic of your EE (it's much easier to write a 4000 word long essay on something that interests and that you are knowledgeable about). Also, before you choose your subject it's good to consider whether your supposed to be EE Supervisor is actually a good teacher. If someone isn't a good teacher s/he probably won't help you a lot with writing your EE and that would increase the workload significantly. Better keep that in mind - not only your interest in the topic/subject is important but also your teacher's skills, as well as your relationship with teacher (if your teacher isn't especially fond of you or the other way round writing the Extended Essay will be hell for you both).

Hope that helped.

Edited by Sceptyczka
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