60 Tips for IB - from a 45 pointer
A lot of people have been asking me about general tips for surviving IB and how I got 45 points. If I’m honest I think the difference between 40 and 45 points is just pure, dumb luck, but at least here are some tips to getting up to the 40 -points level :D
This is a list of tips my friend and I wrote right after our IB exams. We were feeling quite high at the moment, so I had to edit some of the tips so you could actually take the advice seriously…
1. HAPPINESS FIRST DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO KEEP YOURSELF HAPPY
2. Don’t do “homework” at home!!!
4. Proceed to ignore everyone but your study buddy
6. Escape from your family / responsibilities (e.g. do your homework abroad, in someone else’s basement, coffee shops, libraries, group rooms at school, sneak into university study halls etcetc. The possibilities are endless)
7. Set yourself a time limit for doing the TOK Essay. (Don’t do it two weekends in a row, you will go crazy)
8. Don’t attempt to finish the EE in one day
9. Remind your science teacher about the IA. It’s for your own good.
10. Whether it’s 5am or 2am, figure out when you work best and stick to it.
11. Don’t think you’ll learn stuff in class. Seriously. Read the books instead, and use classes as revision / sleep time / relaxing time.
12. Mark schemes will be your best teacher.Â
13. Write syllabus notes FROM THE VERY START.
14. You won’t understand TOK but at least try to have fun with it.
15. Don’t forget about CAS, but don’t spend too much time on it either.
16. Install “StayFocusd” but don’t go nuclear option for a week
17. Memorize the opening hours of the public study areas in your vicinityÂ
18. Listen to Christmas music if you’re sad
19. Get a whiteboard for revision
20. Physics students: buy the Tsokos revision guide
21. Chemistry students: YouTube Richard ThornleyÂ
22. Biology students: YouTube Alex Lee
23. Read the language books during the summer
24. Don’t give a fuck about English B…but TAKE ENGLISH B IF YOU CAN
25. Don’t choose science as your EE subject (unless you have a super smart and helpful and amazing supervisor)
26. Love your teachers, see them as your friend. They’re adorable.
28. Making a plan (without necessarily following it) will help calm you down
29. 8tracks have amazing playlists
30. Dictionaries are cool
31. Thesaurus.com is cooler
32. Watch TV shows all year round to get your mind off things, just not season finales right before the exams
36. Just don’t get too drunk or violent that’s bad
37. Your nerdy classmates are your friends and teachers
38. Bring coffee / tea to school, if you make it to school
39. It’s OK to skip school for school
40. Waste money on school shit, you’ll earn it back in the future
41. If you can afford it, go to Lanterna summer course. You might get friends from other countries who’ll be able to help you throughout the year, by exchanging resources etc.
42. Make puns about nerdy stuff (like, about life, the universe and everything)
43. Be proud of being a nerd, everyone knows it already
45. SLEEP (sometimes it’s worth skipping school for)
46. Some teachers are nice about students sleeping in class
47. Concentrate when doing IA experiments though, take notes, or even better: film it
48. By the way, FILMING can reduce a lot of errors in science experiments. Write that as an improvement in your evaluation part!!
49. Question banks can be found, if you know where to look
50. Don’t care about other people’s grades
51. Don’t care too much about your own grades either. You’ll survive either way. Calm down. “Chillax”.Â
52. Don’t do TOK presentation alone.
53. WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER (uni will be a piece of cake for you. also u can puke out a 4-paged-essay, proof-read and everything, in less than an hour, handwritten. amazing)
55. Decorate your wall with IB gems
56. You’ll learn a lot from teaching others / making up games / doing past papers. Don’t just read books and highlight. Don’t just listen to the teachers. You won’t remember shit that way.
57. I repeat, DON’T JUST TRUST THE CLASSES, READ THE EFFING BOOKS
58. You’re allowed to protest sometimes
59. Don’t think too much about TOK / the uncertainty principle / relativity / astrophysics / DNA / nihilist bullshit from the language books. Stick to your reality and be happy. Have fun. Enjoy life. Stop giving so much fucks. Lower your expectations. (I honestly spent IB preparing to fail and start a bakery or something. Life is full of pleasant surprises that way)
60. Your Non-IB friends will laugh at you. Your siblings will laugh at you. Your teachers will laugh at you. You will laugh at you. But it’s okay, 2 years will be over in a flash ^^
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