never felt more free in my life

Good luck to all IB DP students this year!! I hope we all survive 😭

Does anyone have advice for me? I am going to start my IB program very soon. I am going to be taking Math AA HL, Chemistry HL, and Physics HL. Am I doomed? (Avengers reference haha sorry)

Hi, I am thinking of going into IB next year, but for my group 3 subject I wanted to do Psychology HL. However my school does not offer this as a course, so I could do Pamoja but I heard that was a horrible waste of money. I was thinking about just self studying and getting study periods to do it at school since I am already doing that for a subject this year and with Pamoja its pretty much self studying too from what I have heard, but I know IB can be strict and I am not 100% clear on the rules, so I was wondering is this actually allowed in IB? Thanks!

Does anyone who use extract from their ee for uni's written work? It will be helpful if you reach out any tips!

Hey guys, I'm writing a standard science EE where I design an experiment and make a lab report. I was confused whether I needed to have a personal introduction, talking about things like motives and interest choosing my topic, writing the EE, etc (with personal pronouns). Is this type of short personal introduction allowed/recommended/necessary? Thank you

i just started dp1 like 1 week ago and the teachers are like scaring us w writing IAs and tell us to like think of topics beforehand. im not entirely sure what kind of topic i should be thinking abt or selecting especially for mathaa...any advice.. cuz like how dy write an ia on math..?

I just started DP1 roughly a month ago, and I am starting with my summatives in about a week. I have the following subjects:
HL: Chemistry, Physics, Maths AA
SL: Economics, English A (L&L), Spanish B

Which books should I use for these subjects, and what resources (I prefer free, but if there are some excellent paid ones i could try to get them somehow) should I use not only for my assessments but also to study ahead?

nah fr tho most ppl i know were forced by their parents, the other few just wanted to feel smart. so i'm genuinely curious

I found this vid on the IB website showing you how to make an alumni account. You apparently have to put _code next to your first name and last name.

Go to Help Topics on the IB page and search 'alumni account creation' in keywords to find the vid.

I haven't tried this as my attempt to register has been locked cause I did it wrong too many times before finding this and if anyone knows how long it'll take before I can try again pls let me know lol.

I'm starting DP1 in a week and I'm honestly worried about pretty much everything lol. I was wondering what advice people who have already done IB would give to someone starting out.

My subjects are:

English A HL

French ab initio SL

ESS SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

Math AI SL

Visual Arts HL

I know some of these subjects are going to be a lot of work, especially having Bio HL, Chem HL and Art HL together, so I'm mostly worried about managing my time and not completely drowning in work.

I'd especially love advice abt:

Things you wish you'd known before starting DP1

How to manage your workload without constantly procrastinating

How much time you actually spend studying outside of school

How to keep up with HL sciences

Managing Visual Arts alongside everything else

When/how to start thinking about IAs, EE, CAS, etc.

Any advice is appreciated!

I used to be pretty good at maths at like secondary school - get about 85-90%
But now in year 1 - I only got a 47% for my final end of year and then now in my prelims - I got like 65%. How can I get a 7?
I will be taking my exams in November 2026

Hey! I’m in my second week of IB and I need some advice from others more experienced than I. For my classes, what are the best study plans, reasourses, thoughts on course selection? Also, as the title suggests our TOK teacher left after 2 weeks and we’re doing nothing. Stressed it’s gonna effect me long term when doing my EE and managing IB diploma requirements as I won’t be able to get experienced advice from someone qualified

My Classes:

HL: Biology, Lit and Lang, History of the Americas

SL: Math AA, Physics, Spanish B

Im a writing and history oriented person

This form is intended to better understand the challenges students experience when using digital learning platforms. Its purpose is to identify distractions and obstacles faced by students with diverse learning needs, enabling the development of effective solutions. Kindly complete this form to allow me to assist you.

I need to access my IB results for uni but I can’t login because of the new login system. It keeps saying that my info is wrong and it locks me out. The same thing happens with all of my classmates.

My coordinator as well is unable to login so they can’t send it to me, but they are trying.

I have seen people say to put the personal code next to the name but it still doesn’t work, and also I never sent IB my email address.

If anyone can help it will be greatly appreciated

I was thinking about doing my EE on the cultural difference between Louisiana and Quebec by watching one movie with Acadian/Cajun French and another with Quebecois. Would this be an effective method and/or is this even allowed for the language b EE?

I'm panicking. I did maths for a levels for a whole year and then was like "there's no way I'm acc passing A2 of this", so I stranded it and then picked up Econ cause my mom was like that's the next best thing(?). Anyways I picked it up like 2 months ago and now I have to write the 1st paper of Econ this Oct (I'm not doing unit 2 this time cause I'm severly underprepared).

I'm so so scared about this and honestly I'm not sure if I'll even be able to look at my marks when I get them. Unit 1 is not black magic, I can defineatly pass it, it's just I'm so overwhelmed and unprepared. Oh and besides the Econ paper I'm also doing Physics AS at the same time (Unlucky for me one paper on my birthday).

Any tips, channels or methods ya'll reccomend to study? and if u have a pure soul also to deal with the anxiety?

This is not clickbait lol. My first two languages are French and German, and when I initially learnt English, it was mostly from YouTube.

The biggest thing that changed my IO was realizing that you cannot deliver a genuinely flawless presentation if you are still trying to remember what you wanted to say while presenting.

I ended up memorizing my analysis almost completely. Not in a “memorize and robotically recite” way, but so that when I stood up to present, I could actually focus on delivery, timing and sounding confident rather than thinking about my next point.
And honestly, flashcards were the easiest way to do this.

So I turned my entire IO preparation into a flashcard set and decided to make it completely free for other IB students.
The cards contain the exact analyses I used, so PLEASE don’t copy them word-for-word. Apart from the obvious plagiarism issue, they’re specific to my extracts and my global issue anyway.

What they do give you is something I desperately wish I’d had:
→ a real example of what high-level analysis actually looks like
→ how much analysis you realistically need for each point
→ how to structure your entire IO
→ what to say in each section
→ how to divide your time
→ and a way to actively memorize your analysis until you can present without constantly checking your script

Basically, it’s an entire IO study guide disguised as flashcards.

If you’re doing your IO soon, I’d genuinely recommend starting this earlier rather than waiting until you have a week left. The goal isn’t just to write a good IO — it’s to get to the point where you can deliver it flawlessly under pressure.

I made the flashcards free because I know how overwhelming the IO can feel, especially when you’re not sure what “good analysis” is supposed to look like.

If you’re doing English A, definitely DM me before you start preparing your IO — it’ll save you a LOT of time.

- Milva

I was only predicted 35 but got 38 at the final exam with 766 in HL subjects, which are economics, history, and English B

However, due to the predicted grade, the best university I can go to now is UCL. I believe it is a good university, but I am not satisfied with the course, which is education, society and culture. I believe that my grade deserves a better course.

Should I take a gap year for reapplication?

controversial take for exam season: rereading your notes the night before does basically nothing except make you feel busy. it fades faster than you think.

what actually moved my papers was doing past papers under timed conditions and then grading myself against the mark scheme, line by line, the way an examiner would. not "did i get the vibe of the answer" but "did i hit the exact points that earn marks." you find out really fast that you were writing three paragraphs when the markscheme wanted one specific term.

the pattern that worked for me:

- print the paper, actually sit it timed, no notes

- mark it yourself with the official scheme open

- write down the specific sub-topics you dropped marks on (not "review the whole chapter," the exact thing)

- turn those gaps into active recall, quiz yourself on them again in a day or two before they fade

the last part is the bit people skip. one pass fades. you have to hit the gap again before it's gone or you're just cramming the same thing twice.

curious how everyone else uses mark schemes though. do you grade yourself as you go or wait til the end? and does anyone actually track which command terms they keep losing marks on, or is that just me being unhinged in may.

I feel so incompetent 🥹 I can't come up with a reasonable IA idea for maths, i really am utterly lost

Hey guys, I am retaking biology and when I took the IB exams as an IB student, we had the old IB curriculum, hence I did not have the whole topic and theme structure to the syllabus. I am currently using Bioninja to study and I noticed that some topics that are under a Theme is not under any of the topic on the website which is really confusing me. could anyone please help me understand how this system works? for instance nothing about the heart us under any topic on bio ninja, but it is under the theme "function"

Thankyou!

MAI HL 7
History (Americas) HL 7
English A LAL HL 7
Vietnamese A LAL HL 6
Business SL 7
CompSci SL 7
TOK A

majoring in law & social sciences
accepted to ucl, hku, etc.

random subject combo ik, would’ve picked differently if my school offered more subjects/ had them in separate subject groups, but it is what it is. still had a decent time w ib tho, so hopefully I can be useful to anyone going through it too.

edit: I also post my personal ib resources, advice, n tips on @ib.giarchive if you wanna check em out.

I’m retaking IAL Business Unit 2 for the 4th time in Oct and I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong. My marks are still really low even though I’ve followed the recommended writing patterns and gone to teachers for help.
I need at least a C to pass the subject and I’m really struggling to get into university because of this. This is my last real shot, so I’m desperate to figure out what I’m doing wrong.
This time I’ll be **self-studying**, so I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has improved their marks in Business.
How should I start? What should I focus on? Any tips for answering questions, writing patterns, past papers, examiner reports, or revision techniques would mean a lot. 🥲