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Maths HL exam hints

ibstudent081099

By ibstudent081099
in Maths HL & Further

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ibstudent081099

ibstudent081099

Posted
Posted

Hey guys, 

as you know exams are in less than two weeks :lc: and, probably as all of you, I am stressed for maths (I need to get a 7 to meet my university requirements). 

I think creating a post to share suggestions and useful revision tips would be useful. My main suggestions are the following. 

1)Do past papers

2)If you manage to put your hands on the questionbank, do past questions divided in topics. I feel that this technique allows you to understand the typical exercises better than doing past papers. If the questionbank is not available, just scroll through the papers and do all the exercises of the same topic together

3)The section which I find more challenging in paper 1 and paper 2 is section B. While doing the exercises on section A, if I encounter a difficulty, I simply go on and leave it for later. 

If you guys have any other suggestions comment below so that we can all help each other out. 

Good luck on your revision :)

 

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kw0573

kw0573

Posted
Posted

I don't think you should derail from original post too much like that. Anyways more tips
1) You have to write in pen so if you are not used to that try it some time. I did all my Year 2's quizzes and tests in pen.

2) Go over the syllabus at least once in detail, just to check if you covered everything. Last year for May 2015 TZ1 there was 4 marks on finding sum and product of roots from a cubic or quartic by recognition and most classmates expressed afterwards that was unexpected.

On 4/21/2016 at 10:01 AM, ibstudent081099 said:

The section which I find more challenging in paper 1 and paper 2 is section B. While doing the exercises on section A, if I encounter a difficulty, I simply go on and leave it for later. 

3) Part B assesses interdisciplinary problem solving skills, so in the same question they may test you on three separate topics at the same time. In your 5 minute reading time for each exam8-), read these Part B questions because they take time to understand. Also if a part B question is hard half way, still attempt subquestions after that because it could be just on a different topic / set of skills.

4) One thing IB does is take a straightforward calculation, add an unknown constant somewhere, and either ask you to continue work through it or work backwards to solve for the constant. Just be prepared for when this happens, and be always able to work backwards instead of going automode on using the formula.

5) Writing your steps clearly will always be more advantageous, even if it may seem you are wasting time doing this. I don't mean to write complete sentences for every step you take, but simple ones like "coefficients --> argument" for complex numbers rewriting to polar form, "when both boys sit together" for combinatorics. For one you can get method marks if you were to get the answer wrong, and also it speeds up the process of checking your answers at the end, for which you should dedicate around 10-15 minutes to.

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