General IB Knowledge - Ask mini-questions about IB here

[biochem]

This was something interesting actually.

I read a book and had lunch with a fellow student/friend of my future university.

so for pre-med you need the following in most of the schools:

biology

chemistry

physics

english

organic chemistry

math

you can see how this could be done already in IB/AP. well ti was! they had a student who completed all of these and scored highest on all fo them with the IB AP credits. Guess what? It means nothing. Grad schools specifically state that you must attend these prerequisites in college. This is one of the biggest high school lessons to learn. What happens is grad schools out right reject your AP / IB scores. Which means you go into higher level classes, because grad school guidelines state that you need one year of these courses, but not of which level. Which means that student that got all the credits, had to go into embryology and immunology in order to fill up his resume.

So is this all really good then? yes it is. As you move up higher there is a easier grading curve as there are far less people taking the class, and the curves are willing to work with you (as in you study hard you get the A, no ludicrous grading like intro to chemistry and biology).

All these credits really do is help you get into higher level classes. It looks god for example if you took Embryology, Histology and organic chemistry 3 (if given) because these are the classes you will take in med school actually. So this is a wonderful way of assuring your admission officer, tat you will get an A in the class, cause you already got an A in undergrad. It will help with competitive careers.

[x5trawb3rri]

I was just wondering what is the difference between the Oxford course companions and the study guides? And are there any other recommended study guides for someone going into IB in September.

Thanks.

[master135]

I was just wondering what is the difference between the Oxford course companions and the study guides? And are there any other recommended study guides for someone going into IB in September.

Thanks.

Well the obvious thing that would come to mind is that the study guides are smaller in size and are therefore more concise that the course companions. Although from my experience the, the material covered in both is about the same - they just have a larger font and a bunch of TOK fillers and other not-needed info in the course companion . I read both the course companion and study guide for chemistry, and noticed some of the chapters in the companion were word-for-word copied from the study guide. IMO don't bother buying the course companions for the science courses, and stick with the study guides. Some group 3 subject course companions are very good though.

[meh]

Is it "normal" for a lot of schools to give students an IB mark seperate from their regular education mark? I was quite happy when I found out at my school that most IB assignments, such as labs, are not included in my normal Alberta education mark unless that IB mark will bring my normal Alberta Ed mark up - in other words, taking IB won't hurt my high school marks. Is that a normal policy though?

Edited August 21, 2009 by meh

[Bishup]

I've got a question if you wish to take the exams for two extra subjects ie Spanish B and Italian B for my case, will I have to pay for that and do they let you take exams usually? And Secondly when is it a good time to have your EE, TOK and WL done by?

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Is it "normal" for a lot of schools to give students an IB mark seperate from their regular education mark? I was quite happy when I found out at my school that most IB assignments, such as labs, are not included in my normal Alberta education mark unless that IB mark will bring my normal Alberta Ed mark up - in other words, taking IB won't hurt my high school marks. Is that a normal policy though?

Probably depends on the school

I've got a question if you wish to take the exams for two extra subjects ie Spanish B and Italian B for my case, will I have to pay for that and do they let you take exams usually? And Secondly when is it a good time to have your EE, TOK and WL done by?

Yes you pay per subject.

Do you mean do they let you do two extra subjects? I'm not sure. Probably not, even if both are at SL.

Try to be done by Feb/March-ish if you take exams in May. That's about when most people are done. It probably can't get done earlier since there's so many different things.

[sweetnsimple786]

Is it "normal" for a lot of schools to give students an IB mark seperate from their regular education mark? I was quite happy when I found out at my school that most IB assignments, such as labs, are not included in my normal Alberta education mark unless that IB mark will bring my normal Alberta Ed mark up - in other words, taking IB won't hurt my high school marks. Is that a normal policy though?

At my school, almost all grades count. But for example, the English A1 IOP doesn't as well as the Spanish B oral part of the IA. The other part of the IA for Spanish does, but the grade for school is separate from the grade for IB.

Like Hien said above, it'll differ from school to school.

[master135]

Is it "normal" for a lot of schools to give students an IB mark seperate from their regular education mark? I was quite happy when I found out at my school that most IB assignments, such as labs, are not included in my normal Alberta education mark unless that IB mark will bring my normal Alberta Ed mark up - in other words, taking IB won't hurt my high school marks. Is that a normal policy though?

I have heard that system is normal for all IB schools in your province. Its different in Ontario...we only get one chance and that is our IB result.

[Tilia]

Is it "normal" for a lot of schools to give students an IB mark seperate from their regular education mark? I was quite happy when I found out at my school that most IB assignments, such as labs, are not included in my normal Alberta education mark unless that IB mark will bring my normal Alberta Ed mark up - in other words, taking IB won't hurt my high school marks. Is that a normal policy though?

In my school, I get "regular grades" in some subjects (English, History, Biology and German) since I need more courses than the IB offers to be able to get into a Swedish university.

[meh]

I have heard that system is normal for all IB schools in your province. Its different in Ontario...we only get one chance and that is our IB result.

I'm quite glad for that then. I'm thinking it's probably just a measure to attract more people to the IB program, which probably has higher enrollment in Ontario and other places in the world.

Another question: Is it almost considered 'inferior' to finish IB with say 28 points, or is there a certain amount of prestige that comes with having an IB diploma in general? Like if I'm just barely going to pass, is it worth it to struggle through it? Also, is getting a 4/7 as bad as nearly failing a course, or is it actually a somewhat decent mark since it's IB?

Edited August 22, 2009 by meh

[sweetnsimple786]

Another question: Is it almost considered 'inferior' to finish IB with say 28 points, or is there a certain amount of prestige that comes with having an IB diploma in general? Like if I'm just barely going to pass, is it worth it to struggle through it? Also, is getting a 4/7 as bad as nearly failing a course, or is it actually a somewhat decent mark since it's IB?

Depends on the person really, but I don't know many people who are willing to admit their arrogance by saying that a graduate who receives 28 or 24 means the student is 'inferior' in any way. For one thing, grades are subjective, period. Secondly, grades aren't an accurate measure of a person's intellect and work ethic. Plus, students are at different points in their lives when they start and finish the IB. This isn't some experiment with a whole slew of constants. There are almost no constant factors in real life haha.

"Surviving" the IB program really unites people. This isn't a competition among us. We unite with a common goal in mind--to pass. And we compete with ourselves only. It's a personal battle.

Edit: Yeah, I think it's worth it to do the IB. In the US, it doesn't matter if you got a 24 or a 45. Passing is passing. The extra points are just icing on the cake. Nah, 4/7 isn't like failing. Since passing used to be a 3, a 4 is pretty good in my dictionary. I'm not the kind of person who doesn't care about her work. If I try my best and get a 4, that means heck lot more to me than if I breeze through a course and get a 6 [based on real life events ]

Edited August 22, 2009 by sweetnsimple786

[master135]

I have heard that system is normal for all IB schools in your province. Its different in Ontario...we only get one chance and that is our IB result.

I'm quite glad for that then. I'm thinking it's probably just a measure to attract more people to the IB program, which probably has higher enrollment in Ontario and other places in the world.

Another question: Is it almost considered 'inferior' to finish IB with say 28 points, or is there a certain amount of prestige that comes with having an IB diploma in general? Like if I'm just barely going to pass, is it worth it to struggle through it? Also, is getting a 4/7 as bad as nearly failing a course, or is it actually a somewhat decent mark since it's IB?

Well from my experience there are some courses (especially SLs) where if you are a decent student you would have to try hard to get below a 5 because the grade boundaries are fairly generous for getting atleast a 5. For HL courses a 4 would not be a bad mark...especially for courses like mathematics HL. So an overall of 28 is not something that will get you into a decent university in general. If you are just worried that you will end up getting a 28...dont be if you are a decent student and your school knows what it is doing. Many students in my IB year ended up getting better marks in IB than they would have in the regular ontario curriculum.

Ontario schools (probably Alberta too) apply this conversion chart for final marks :

(read as - If you get a ___ in IB, it is equvalent to a ___ in the 'regular curriculum'.)

7= 96-100%

6= 90-95%

5= 80-89%

4= 70-79%

3= 60-69%

2= 50-59%

1= Below 50%

Edited August 22, 2009 by master135

[ibmonkey]

I have just started my first year IB and I just have one quick question about the course companion books from Oxford.

Does anyone find them useful? does anyone prefer to use Heinneman* instead of Oxford, I hear there is a big difference between the two.

[x5trawb3rri]

I have another question about books. If anyone has used it before, which book "English for the IB Diploma - Steven Croft and Helen Croft" or "IB Diploma Programme: English Course Companion " for someone just going into the ib program.

Thanks

[deissi]

I have just started my first year IB and I just have one quick question about the course companion books from Oxford.

Does anyone find them useful? does anyone prefer to use Heinneman* instead of Oxford, I hear there is a big difference between the two.

It would depend on the subject. For example, with Physics, Heinemann is good, Oxford is useless. On the other hand, the Oxford Economics book is very good.

[Taigan]

OK, I have a question: How much do the revision books really matter? I mean, wouldn't all of the information that is necessary to learn be in the text book? Is it just that people prefer revising from revision books because they're summarized or something like that?

Also, when would you purchase your revision books? Just before the exams? After IB-1?

[Peachez]

Hello Taigan,

The revision books are great way to prepare for the IB exams. You literally do not have time to read over all the books for each class inside out to revise. Of course taking notes throughout the years helps, although you can easily misinterpret some things and write them down wrong or anything else. So the revision books are a great way to prepare for the exams. They are not as big as the textbooks, they don't explain each topic in the "For Dummies" wqay because you have already studied what it is and how it works, it just refreshes your knowledge of a specific subject.

I think that purchasing revision books should be done in the beginning of IB2 so that you will will recieve them before being half way done with the second year in order to have enough time to read over them. Definitely do not get the revision books too late, I mean serioysly, right before the exams? That would be useless! You would be stressing out so much about the exams and rushing to read all the information. Stary studying half way through your IB2 year.

Trust me, revision books are great!

[Sandwich]

If you're going to buy the revision books anyway, you may as well just buy them at the beginning. That solves all timing problems You'll probably want to read them all in the month or so before your exams, but it absolutely doesn't hurt to have them any earlier! They tend to be excellent condensed things to refer to throughout the two years. Especially the Biology and Chemistry IB Study Guides. If you're ever lost with a topic, or feel like you've missed out on the main point and got stuck in the details, they're excellent for that, too. The timing of buying study guides is aaaabsolutely nothing to worry about, just buy them all straight away and use them as is convenient for you!

[iB dweeb]

Thanks for the noble advice guys.

Do you have preferences as to which study guide is much better? or which publisher/author is preferably better?

thanks

[deissi]

Oxford books are generally very good but the Physics book by Oxford is sub-par. Basically IB itself endorses Oxford books so they really should be written with IB in mind.