Personal Project - Seeking for extra support?

[Weiss87]

Hello Guys

I am planning to gather some information about the Personal Project process and I need your help. We have heard different stories about projects that have been conducted without accurate guidance, due to lack of connection and communication between the student and the supervisor in terms of expectations, commitment etc.

- Do you think students have all the necessary support at their schools?

- How would you react if someone from the IB programme joins private tuition for PP?

- Do you think it's the right thing to do if they are looking for the best possible score and they feel helpless or not satisfied enough with the school approach/guidance?

- Do you know any student that is seeking extra help or planning to in the future because of this matter?

I am planning to support some students that feel a bit confused about what to do and I wanted to know whether this is a common problem worldwide or we are talking about just a few cases only.

Thanks for your time and feedback!

[benjeren]

Hi, I just finished the personal project and got my results. I totalled 31/32 points so I guess I would be a reliable source. I 3D modelled (and printed using a 3D printer) a preservation chamber simulating cryonics and wrote a155 page scientific report/book on the feasibility of cryobiology in the past, present and future. 

First question - My school gave us internal deadlines to follow. However, many students in my year group didn't follow these deadlines and ended up rushing before our final deadline in March (many of them ended up getting poor grades + 2 students failed). If your school doesn't have these deadlines, make your own!  In terms of supervisors, I would just bombard them with endless drafts of the report. I asked my supervisor 4 times and my personal project coordinator to also give me feedback. Use successful reports as guides, you can find plenty online (I found and printed them out) or from your school. So to sum up, most schools do but even if your school doesn't have the necessary support, you can still score high using resources online. 

Second question - You don't need tutoring for PP, I wouldn't care at all! 

Third question - You have the internet full of people who went through the PP. By just sign-posting the criteria for the PP and by getting as much feedback as possible (from teachers or even from the internet), that would be enough. I'm not saying you shouldn't but I would recommend doing so. 

Fourth question - No, sorry. 

Hope this helps! 

[Weiss87]

Hello!

Thanks for your great feedback and congratulations for such an amazing final score

[pathetic09]

Apologies if I sound salty here, haha. 

- Do you think students have all the necessary support at their schools?

No. Upon asking my supervisor for feedback, she barely looked at my work and said "that's good," in addition to giving me vague advice that wasn't even in the rubric. 

- How would you react if someone from the IB programme joins private tuition for PP?

Idk what this means exactly, but I don't think the PP is worthwhile. However, it taught me that I hate writing and would never want to pursue a job as an author in the future. 

- Do you think it's the right thing to do if they are looking for the best possible score and they feel helpless or not satisfied enough with the school approach/guidance?

Again, am not too sure what this is asking.   But I don't think that score matters at all in the PP, whereas in the IB, it really does. 

- Do you know any student that is seeking extra help or planning to in the future because of this matter?

Not really. 

[benjeren]

2 hours ago, pathetic09 said:

Apologies if I sound salty here, haha. 

- Do you think students have all the necessary support at their schools?

No. Upon asking my supervisor for feedback, she barely looked at my work and said "that's good," in addition to giving me vague advice that wasn't even in the rubric. 

I’m going to agree with that. My supervisor was quite the same but I forced her to give me feedback in detail. If that feedback wasn’t enough I compared it to successful reports from the past and asked my IB coordinator (who was very kind) to give me feedback on my report.

 

Also, MYP might not be as important as IB but it still has some value. Our school, and probably a majority of schools, send out a transcript of our grades from grade 9-12. This includes grade 10 personal project. To help you visualize this more, MYP is equivalent in difficulty to igcse’s (maybe a bit harder because you also have to do the personal project + service). For universities in the UK, especially the top ones like Oxford or UCL do look at these IGCSE (=MYP) grades and it is a factor in their decision. I was grateful enough to discuss this with a biology professor at UCL and he told me that MYP years are very important as (apparently) they use those grades as an indicator if you will be able to reach your predicted grade/conditional offer.  I.e. if you’re predicted 44 points but have all 5’s or less in MYP, they’ll probably think your school over predicted you and will reject you. Now this was just an example off the top of my head but that does not mean that if you get 3’s in MYP that you cannot score a 44/45. You absolutely can in my opinion but some universities think otherwise. 

Another example:

A uni is trying to decide whether or not to give you or student A and offer. You’re both equally good. Both of you are predicted the same grades, excellent admissions work (personal statement/essay, entrance test etc.). In this case thev would most likely resort to looking at your MYP grades as a last resort to make a decision. 

Also, PP can help you find your interest and possibly explore a similarity topic or that topic in further detail when it comes to your extended essay.

[pathetic09]

2 minutes ago, benjeren said:

I’m going to agree with that. My supervisor was quite the same but I forced her to give me feedback in detail. If that feedback wasn’t enough I compared it to successful reports from the past and asked my IB coordinator (who was very kind) to give me feedback on my report.

 

Also, MYP might not be as important as IB but it still has some value. Our school, and probably a majority of schools, send out a transcript of our grades from grade 9-12. This includes grade 10 personal project. To help you visualize this more, MYP is equivalent in difficulty to igcse’s (maybe a bit harder because you also have to do the personal project + service). For universities in the UK, especially the top ones like Oxford or UCL do look at these IGCSE (=MYP) grades and it is a factor in their decision. I was grateful enough to discuss this with a biology professor at UCL and he told me that MYP years are very important as (apparently) they use those grades as an indicator if you will be able to reach your predicted grade/conditional offer.  I.e. if you’re predicted 44 points but have all 5’s or less in MYP, they’ll probably think your school over predicted you and will reject you. Now this was just an example off the top of my head but that does not mean that if you get 3’s in MYP that you cannot score a 44/45. You absolutely can in my opinion but some universities think otherwise. 

Another example:

A uni is trying to decide whether or not to give you or student A and offer. You’re both equally good. Both of you are predicted the same grades, excellent admissions work (personal statement/essay, entrance test etc.). In this case thev would most likely resort to looking at your MYP grades as a last resort to make a decision. 

Also, PP can help you find your interest and possibly explore a similarity topic or that topic in further detail when it comes to your extended essay.

Ah I see, apologies for not looking at Weiss87's country flag. I've heard that Canadian schools don't look at Grade 10 marks which is why I mistakenly said that, just for reference to anyone reading this who wants to apply in that country.