Will these courses adequately prepare me for the full diploma programme?

[Susannah]

Hello,

I'm in the last few weeks of my freshman year of high school, which means that in a year and a few months I will be a full IB student!  I can't wait to continue my studies in my sophomore and junior year, but I'm slightly nervous that the classes I'm enrolled in for next year will not adequately prepare me for the full diploma programme in junior year. For next year, I am enrolled in two AP classes, four honors, and one regular class.

My course selection for sophomore year before I begin the IB full diploma is as follows:

Religion 2 

English 2H

Geometry H (Most of my similarly overachieving classmates are enrolled in precalculus H instead, but math is definitely my weak point and I'm not going to do that to myself. One of my friends is going into Calculus, I think, so in that respect I'm even further behind).

Chemistry H

AP Euro

Spanish 3H

AP Art History

With the exception of Geometry H, these are the most challenging classes that a sophomore at my school can take. However, I'm not sure that two AP classes and four honors can really compare to my planned junior year schedule, which is as follows:

IB Philosophy HL

IB English HL

IB Biology HL

IB Spanish HL

IB Math SL

AP Psych

APUSH

I'm worried that I'll become complacent with my study methods next year and won't be prepared for the workload I'll have junior year. If you are a current junior or senior in the IB full diploma programme, how did you transition from sophomore to junior year without having a mental breakdown? Also, out of the classes listed under junior year, which ones are probably the most difficult, especially with my weakness in math? What are some ways I can prepare this year outside of school for full IB? Thank you everyone! 

[ShootingStar16]

There's not much you can really do to prepare imo. I think the only way is to try and develop a good work ethic this year because it will pay off once you hit full IB. I did not do much preparation in pIB and the transition for me was fine for the most part (just chem was kind of hard and the workload increased ) I can tell you a bit about English and bio. English is like my fave IB subject because you develop good analytical skills and I just like the works we read in general. For bio, there's a lot of content to understand. It's not difficult to do well in, but yeah don't cram everything the night before a test. Try to understand things and link them together because then, you'll have a much easier time in that class and it really helps if you have a good teacher. Idk about the other classes and I don't actually start math SL until next year but we did a bit of the IB content as well as regular content that is part of the IB curriculum as well and it isn't too difficult. Just practice a lot for math and you'll be fine. 

Edited May 10, 2015 by ShootingStar16