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How To Study for the IB Exams in One Month! (2015)


Ozzy

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It's terrible but yes, I have only 1 month to study for the exams and I haven't started. I have no idea on how to go about this. I tried to look on other pages/threads but it was often not applicable. 

Here are my classes:

Biology HL, English HL, History HL, Psychology SL, Spanish B SL, and Math Studies.

I'm pretty much worried about all of them, and I'm freaking out because I don't know where to start. Please help! 

Different subjects require different types of studying methods, I know. For Math, I know I would have to do practice exams and go over things I'm not too sure about in my text book. But how do you study for such a big subject like Biology? We're not even done learning the material in class! I have no idea how to study for English either. Do I reread the books? What then? Psychology is just a matter of rereading the book and memorizing how to answer the questions. History and Spanish... I'm at a loss. As you can see, I am very much confused and lost. 

Edited by Rhoda
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For biology I will recommend you to go through the Syllabus outline, you can find it here http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/dp/gr4/biology/d_4_biolo_gui_0903_1_e.pdf it is very useful because it state everything you should know. I think, writing notes will help a lot.

For english, rereading the books will be useful, as well you need to make sure that you know the criteria and what they want you to write in each paper. 

History, which topics are you doing? The only way is reading. Some good notes may be helpful. You need to practice paper 1 , since it is based on sources. 

For paper 2, you need to know how to write a good essay, the same with paper 3. I am predicted 6 in history, and I am doing Peacemaking, Peacekeeping- International Relations for paper 1.  Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars and the cold war for paper 2. For paper 3, History of Europe and the middle east. I can help you with these topics if you need.  

I think you still have time, and if you use this month in a good way, you will get a high score in the exam :) 

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For English, practice essays based on past exams is the best revision for Paper 1. Just doing 1-2 commentaries a week will be enough and will take up <4hours/week, so it is easily manageable. For the Paper 2 exam, rereading the book will be hugely beneficial. You usually read 3-4 books for the Paper 2 exam, so I suggest excluding the one you hated and rereading your top 3. No need to go in-depth or anything, just a quick reread to remind yourself of the basic plot, characters, development points, etc.

 

For History, look at past exam papers and see the structure of the questions. Usually the questions are along the lines of, "Compare and contrast causes for World War 1 and any other war you've studied." The more past exam papers you read in History, the more you begin to realise that there is a pattern in the questions they ask. For Paper 2, for example, there will always be a question on the World Wars, asking you to either analyse causes, consequences or nature of warfare. There will also always be a question on the Cold War, again, going into causes, conseuqences, détente, etc. Identify the kind of question that pop up repeatedly over the years and study for those. You should be prepped for at least 3 question patterns (i.e., for eg, the World Wars, Cold War and dictatorial leaders), so that even if one of them is not to your liking, you won't be screwed.

 

As to revising for History, once you've identified which broad questions you want to revise for, write outlines for the essays that are about 2 pages long, each. So one outline for the causes of WW1 and WW2, one outline for their consequences, another each for the causes, consequences and détente of the Cold War, another for each dictatorial leader in terms of analysing their policies - foreign and domestic - and consolidating criticism about their activities. An outline usually takes an hour or so to write up. Keep it brief, for eg, for WW1, I would simply state the various subheadings to the various causes: Scramble for colonies; Germany's desire for expansion under the kaiser; France's fear of encirclement by Germany; the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian wars; the death of Bismark, the heartland theory, etc. Simply list them out and go over them in your head. When going over them in your head, approach each point with a two-prong approach: (1) Identify the event; (2) What was this event's major historical significance? (ID/MHS) Identification is easy - name the event and describe what it's about for a sentence. For the Major Historical Significance, it can be as simple as, "This led/contributed to WW1 because..."

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@ Maha, 

 

My topics for History are:

Paper 1: Peacemaking, peacekeeping – international relations

Paper 2: Democratic States – challenges and responses and Origins and development of authoritarian and single party states,

Paper 3: Americas 

We only have 1 in common, but that's okay because I need help with that one lol.

 

Thank you guys so much for responding!!! Lots of help @Maha and @Arrowhead

Edited by Rhoda
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Just to add on for your HL Option on History of the Americas, I did the same one when I was in the IB.

 

I don't know how much the style of questions has changed in the past 5 years, but for that option, I made sure to study the American Civil War and domestic and foreign policies of American Presidents from Truman to Bush Sr. Along with a little extra about Taft and US-Latin American relations in the 20s and 30s. There's usually 2 Civil War-based questions in the Paper 3 exam, and at least one on the domestic/foreign policies of an American President between 1945-1980.

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@ Maha, 

 

My topics for History are:

Paper 1: Peacemaking, peacekeeping – international relations

Paper 2: Democratic States – challenges and responses and Origins and development of authoritarian and single party states,

Paper 3: Americas 

We only have 1 in common, but that's okay because I need help with that one lol.

 

Thank you guys so much for responding!!! Lots of help @Maha and @Arrowhead

for the Paper 1, you do not need to know a lot, I will recommend you to read the book and make sure that you remember the most important things, I feel that the treaties can be the most confusing.

read this http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/18011-a-guide-to-tackle-down-paper-1/ which helps a lot. 

Paper 1 is just about understanding sources, therefore practising some past papers will be helpful.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

For psychology, I would memorize 4-5 studies for each LOA that can answer every question. For Spanish, look up some articles on topics you like to test your reading comprehension. Also, the more vocabulary you know, the better you will do on Paper 2. As for math, you were right about doing past papers and practicing.

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I have not taken biology in IB, however I have done IGCSE biology and I am talking solely from that experience. First biology involves little math and more of subject specific content, thus it would be best to first understand the requirements.  You must read through the book once more while preparing for the final exam. you do not have that much time though, but it would be good if you try. Biology is not the toughest subject IB has to offer, however how much difficult it seems is completely upon you. Try avoiding last minute pressure and do as much you can do until the last two weeks. If you were engaged in classroom discussions and had a say in them, then it is most likely that you will not face much of a problem.Finally, just remember to believe in yourself  :good:!!!      

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How to study for any IB Subject in general:

1. Read the course book theory

2. Read the important parts out loud

3. Write down any important definitions/concepts/equations various times to memorize them

4. Write revision notes on the key parts of the topics, using the syllabus to write the essential concepts

5. Do IB pastpaper questions to practice problems as well as develop ib question understanding. Use the markscheme while you do it to help guide you. Make sure you understand why the answer is right though.

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