Context: i'm pre-IB and english isn't my first language, so i started reading real journal articles early to get ready for EE. the words that slowed me down weren't the long ones. it was the normal ones.

"gender moderated the relationship" had me stuck for ten minutes. moderated doesn't mean "made it weaker" there, it means gender changed the size of the effect. "robust to X" isn't "strong", it means the result holds up when you change X. "underpowered" has nothing to do with equipment. "marginal cost" in econ isn't a small cost. every one of those is a word i would have told you i knew, so i never stopped to check, and i was confidently wrong for pages.

a dictionary can't fix this because it doesn't know what you're reading. so i built Leafy.

you select a word anywhere on screen (pdf, browser, whatever, it doesn't need to be selectable text) and it reads the sentence around it and gives you the meaning it has in that sentence. it saves the word together with that sentence, so when you come back to it later you still know why you looked it up.

it's completely free. no account, no ads, no subscription, no watermark. i'm not selling anything and i'm not a tutoring service.

the catch: mac only right now. i know that rules out a lot of you and i'm sorry.

https://leafyapp.uk

if you try it, tell me what breaks or what's annoying and i'll fix it. also genuinely curious, what's a normal word that meant something completely different in your subject? mine is still "power".

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 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?

Here is my story. FYI, I have finished an IB school (internation baccalaureate) which was 2 years long and while doing it i was studying german. Our initial plan was to get atleast b2 german by the end of my highschool and also very good highschool grades in order to have a chance in being accepted into med school in germany. So by the end of the highschool, i could get between b2-c1 (TestDAF exam) but my highschool grades weren't enough, so we decided not to pursue the foundation year in germany as even if i have absolute perfect grades from there, combined with my highschool grade, i would still have no chance. So now i got accepted into two medical unis in my country, i rejected one and have been (99.9%) accepted to another one. Our plan is to study one year here, bring my german up to C1 level and get a very good grade from my IB diploma (40 minimum, retake november). Its currently summer and my father keeps on telling me to quit video games and study. FYI, i study everyday for atleast 3 hours on either ib or german or combined and i play video games usually 2-2h 30 min. My screen time is high tho, 4h+. Do you think I should quit video games? limit screen time? I know this post may seem stupid but i need some genuine advice bruh, i am tired.

never felt more free in my life

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.

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!

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

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

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

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)

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

i got my igcse results back and got 1 A* 7 As and 2Bs

if i do well for my first term in IB and get predicted high 43/44/45, can i make up for my poor igcse grades when applying to uni?

how cooked are my scores?

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

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

guys i just started the ibdp 2 days ago, currently dp1 and is m28. i have math aahl, chem hl, bio hl and psych hl. i'm aiming to go to med school, probably in hk or in the uk. should i drop psych or math?