Maths IA went bad...

[Richard Stifler]

Guys,

My maths studies IA went very bad, my teacher graded it with a 9/20... this is not good at all, because I was aiming to get a 7 in Math Studies in the end, and now I am very likely not to get it, right? I mean I lost 11% of my grade, so is it possible to still get a 7 in the end? It seems pretty obvious to me that mathematically it isn't, but a friend of mine who also was striving for the 7 had a 6/20 in his IA and says it is very possible that he ll attain the 7, and also I dont really know the boundaries of the subject but they would have to be very low ahah, like a 7 would correspond to a 72% for example... could you elucidate me on this matter?

Cheers,

Richard 

[IB`NOT`ez]

Hmm, a 9/20 does make for a nasty predicament. Are you sure it's too late to make improvements? My Biology teacher still hasn't given IA feedback and will give my class the term-break (a week long) to finalise things after he's given feedback.

That said, it's really not impossible to get a 7 at the very end. I've crunched up some numbers and if you obtain around 81-82ish out of 90 for both Paper 1 and 2, you'll obtain an overall score of 81%, which is right on the boundary for a 7. The May & November 2016 Grade Boundaries for a 7 in Maths Studies are about 80-81 also, so it's definitely doable.

And, I mean this may just be my SL prejudice bashing Studies, but in terms of relative difficulty, it does seem to me that that Maths Studies is relatively the easiest to obtain high marks in. An element that makes Maths SL and HL much more difficult is the addition of a Section B, where they ask a long series of questions instead of separate, single questions that forms Maths Studies Papers. A lot of people find that they can handle Section A with relative ease, but then get crushed by the sheer difficulty of Section B questions (being unable to do a Section B question, of which there are 3, could potentially lose you over 10 marks), which does test the same topics, but at a much more difficult scale. This element is absent in Maths Studies, so realistically a strong command of the content is enough to achieve a 7 without having to overcome a disproportionately difficult question that would shatter the possibility of a 7 if you can't answer it. Also, friend of mine taking Maths Studies after having dropped from Maths SL after a semester is consistently averaging 85%< in doing practice papers yet a lot of people bash him regarding his Maths abilities. 

So yeah, things aren't over. You've still got a fighting chance. 

Edited March 22, 2017 by IB`ez

[HappyIB:)]

Can you still make changes to your IA?

[EriClass]

I am very sorry to let you know but to get a 7 in Maths Studies in the end, you pretty much NEEDED at least a low 5 in your IA. I mean, it's possible I guess if the curve is extremely lenient, but with your grade you're going to have to pray for the rest of the world to screw up, ya know?

[IB`NOT`ez]

5 hours ago, EriClass said:

I am very sorry to let you know but to get a 7 in Maths Studies in the end, you pretty much NEEDED at least a low 5 in your IA. I mean, it's possible I guess if the curve is extremely lenient, but with your grade you're going to have to pray for the rest of the world to screw up, ya know?

Not really.... the relevant calculations have been done already. It is possible, given that you obtain close to 90% of the marks.