studygirl246135 Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 (edited) Hello everyone! I am writing the entrance test for the pre-ib program at Bayview SS this month! I got all E's and a 93% average on my grade 7 report card. I have a good recommendation as well. I am really worried for the exam itself. I am very good at the language arts and math, however I do not go to a French immersion school, and I feel that I do not know too many enriched words. Anyone who has taken the test....what was the French component like? What type of questions? What do I need to focus on? Can you recommend any study sources? What was the hardest part of the test for you? What should I watch out for? Any other tips? Sorry that I have so many questions but it would really help out if you answer at least some of them as I am very stressed and worried for the upcoming test in two weeks. I will be very grateful for any help or tips! Thanks. Edited November 16, 2014 by studygirl246135 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
studygirl246135 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 I, as well, am going to write the pre-IB test at Bayview. What good marks! I haven't taken the test, but I virtually took every practice ISEE, SSAT, and IB test that can be found on the Internet. For English, I'm guessing we're going to have to choose the closest definition of some words, do some analogies, and do some reading comprehension. For math, I'm guessing we have to do some basic calculations and equations, with some algebra, radicals, triangles (30-60-90), etc. I haven't really done French yet, but I'm guessing we have to know the irregular verbs, how to conjugate the 3 classes of verbs, the past and imperfect tense, and some basic vocabulary. Then again, I'm going to write the test this year, so I don't know what's on the test, so yeah... Thank you for your advice! I too have taken a plethora of ISEE, SSAT, SAT test available to me, however, I did not find any copies of any previous IB tests or practice tests....do you mind telling me a few links? As for French, I do not think we have to know the imperfect tense because you learn it in grade 9 and 10, and the test is only based on things we learned up to grade 8 so Dr Mrs.Vandertamp, future proche, past tense, reflexive, etc. Are you in French immersion? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanyu10 Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) For the Bayview exam, if you know grade 8 maths and basic English, you are set to go on those two parts. However, you have to study hard for the French; they make the French section hard enough to be somewhat challenging for even those in immersion. You will see stuff in passe compose, in imparfait, in passe simple (I believe, not too sure), and in future tense (not the "I am going", but rather the "I will"; also I'm not too sure that it will be a big thing on the exam, but I remember it being there, it might change year to year). However, that stuff should be minimal and doing well on it should easily be achieved if you just brush off you vocab and such. If you absolutely bomb the French, don't worry, you can still get in, it just lowers your chances quite a bit. Honestly, a 93 average almost guarantees your entry if you have a decent test and recommendation. Edited November 24, 2014 by Ryanyu10 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
studygirl246135 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 For the Bayview exam, if you know grade 8 maths and basic English, you are set to go on those two parts. However, you have to study hard for the French; they make the French section hard enough to be somewhat challenging for even those in immersion. You will see stuff in passe compose, in imparfait, in passe simple (I believe, not too sure), and in future tense (not the "I am going", but rather the "I will"; also I'm not too sure that it will be a big thing on the exam, but I remember it being there, it might change year to year). However, that stuff should be minimal and doing well on it should easily be achieved if you just brush off you vocab and such. If you absolutely bomb the French, don't worry, you can still get in, it just lowers your chances quite a bit. Honestly, a 93 average almost guarantees your entry if you have a decent test and recommendation. Thank you so much for your advice! However, the imparfait, the passe simple, and the future tense tense is not something we learn in grade eight so they won't be asking it on the entrance test. How do you recommend learning new french vocab words? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanyu10 Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here is a very important thing to note; the French questions on that entrance exam contain questions outside the scope of grade 8 french, to my knowledge in the least. It is possible that I am mistaken with my memory, but I do remember the test being far harder than anything I was taught in french class, including some more advanced stuff with tenses and such (I am almost sure that they had imparfait on the exam when I did it, though they change it year to year). How my peers and I studied was by reviewing basic conversational french vocab words, learning faux amis (go here --> http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/fauxamis.htm), and learning more advanced french vocabulary. Honestly, your best bet at acing the french portion is just to study etymologies and infer on the test. However, if you have a 93 average and a good recommendation, you really have no worries unless you absolutely bomb the test, you will probably get in, even if you do poorly on the french section (everyone does poorly on the french). So really, don't stress too much about it, focus more on your current school and extracurriculars instead. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
studygirl246135 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here is a very important thing to note; the French questions on that entrance exam contain questions outside the scope of grade 8 french, to my knowledge in the least. It is possible that I am mistaken with my memory, but I do remember the test being far harder than anything I was taught in french class, including some more advanced stuff with tenses and such (I am almost sure that they had imparfait on the exam when I did it, though they change it year to year). How my peers and I studied was by reviewing basic conversational french vocab words, learning faux amis (go here --> http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/fauxamis.htm), and learning more advanced french vocabulary. Honestly, your best bet at acing the french portion is just to study etymologies and infer on the test. However, if you have a 93 average and a good recommendation, you really have no worries unless you absolutely bomb the test, you will probably get in, even if you do poorly on the french section (everyone does poorly on the french). So really, don't stress too much about it, focus more on your current school and extracurriculars instead. Thank you for your advice. How long ago did you take the test? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
by.andrew Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 RyanYu has given a lot of solid advice. French is centered on vocabulary rather than grammar. The Bayview website has one practice test on their website, and I think it looks fairly similar to that. To do decently on French, you need to be really good at guessing. As previously mentioned, you'll likely do poorly unless you are semi-fluent in french. Don't worry about it and try to make a lot of good guesses. I'm not sure how much they weigh marks because most of my friends and I got in with mid~high 80s. There is also a bit of other factors that may influence admission decisions aside from extra-curriculars, references, marks and test score, so once in a while, really qualified people are rejected. Don't worry too much and good luck. (I'm a alumni of Bayview who took the test 5 years ago). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
studygirl246135 Posted November 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 RyanYu has given a lot of solid advice. French is centered on vocabulary rather than grammar. The Bayview website has one practice test on their website, and I think it looks fairly similar to that. To do decently on French, you need to be really good at guessing. As previously mentioned, you'll likely do poorly unless you are semi-fluent in french. Don't worry about it and try to make a lot of good guesses. I'm not sure how much they weigh marks because most of my friends and I got in with mid~high 80s. There is also a bit of other factors that may influence admission decisions aside from extra-curriculars, references, marks and test score, so once in a while, really qualified people are rejected. Don't worry too much and good luck. (I'm a alumni of Bayview who took the test 5 years ago). Thank you so much for your advice! Do you know what the language component of the test is made up of? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeIBGuy Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 The English exam consists of grammar, vocabulary (not sure about this), and reading comprehension. Honestly, I think you don't have anything to worry about. If you're prepared, the exams should be relatively easy. For the French exam, as other have said before me, it is heavily focused on vocabulary, which mostly consists of commonly used words (clothing, food, etc.). Just try you're best and I am sure you will do fine. Remember to try to at least answer all the questions! (I know many people who guess the entire French vocabulary section and still made it in!). (I took the test 3 years ago) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanyu10 Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 If you have a 93 average and a good recommendation, and you didn't bomb the test, you are essentially in. They weigh all of them equally, the test, report card, and recommendation, to my knowledge. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanyu10 Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Yes, grade 9. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppop Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) Keshav do u remember wat was on the test. Was the english and math part hard for bayview or was the french also really hard becdause i herd some peeple say that was easy and sum say it was impossibly hard. And how did u not get in?? Wat was ur average and i am goin for the test this november and im really worried because my avaerege was only 81 and i got 5 E's. What shcool did u go to ?? do u recomend any study resources that can prepar u for the test #REALLYSCAREDFORIB Edited July 16, 2015 by poppop Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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