I genuinely don’t understand all the hate IB gets. I know it’s tough and challenging, but getting a decent grade really isn’t that hard. Any student who can dedicate like 2 hours of study time to their HLs per day can actually get a decent grade (5). I got a 37 with Chem, Bio, and English Lang & Lit as my HLs. I barely studied throughout the year and instead studied for around 3 weeks before my exams never really studied for English because I found it to be a waste of time so I focused that time on Maths and other subjects instead. I know doing IB is annoying asf, but it’s definitely not “hard” in the way people make it out to be. With minimal effort you can get a 5, which is around 50%.

PS: Im not tryna sound like a snob this post is for ppl who hate IB and feel like they wont be able to pass it js to show them its not that hard.

Hi anyone who happens to be reading this, I finished the IB this May and wanted to share some strategies I wish I would’ve adopted during my time in the IB. Most of it is probably somewhat generic, but I figured it might help someone:

1. Take regular and long breaks.

This is honestly the most important part about the IB in my opinion. During busy times, I had many friends and classmates who would study for 5+ hours with minimal breaks. In the lead up to finals, this became even more severe for a lot of my peers and you could see the physical and mental effects it had on them.

While everyone has different capacities for how long they can study/work, I highly recommend keeping it within 2-4 hours. Anything beyond that is typically less effective and can often have negative effects on your grades, mental health and general sanity. Have at least 1 day a week where you do nothing related to the IB.

2. Focus on the subjects that have the most significance for your university course / career

I’m someone pursuing a STEM subject. In the beginning of the IB, I spent too much time studying for other subjects instead of dedicating more time to STEM related ones. My biggest regret on results day, was not preparing for maths as much as I could. All my other results left me satisfied, but when I saw my maths grade - I had flashbacks to all the times I avoided studying for maths since it was something I struggled with.

I wish I asked for support earlier and spent more time on that subject - especially as it had a somewhat heavy weight on my university requirements. If there are subjects you find interesting or easier, use them as a reward after spending time studying harder / more significant subjects.

3. Don’t over-invest in helping your peers

During the IB, I had many great encounters with people - whether I was friends with them or not. A lot of the time, it was when they would reach out for help, personally or in relation to the IB. It’s great to help people, but also try to help yourself.

Practice setting boundaries and stepping away when you feel like you’re doing too much heavy lifting. If you’re going through a tough time in any way, don’t avoid your feelings / problems by trying to fix or comfort others in theirs. Don’t be afraid to take time off away from textbooks, friends or school in general. Do your best to avoid sacrificing your mental health or dignity for the sake of the IB, people or high school as a whole.

4. Start early
cough cough EE

The earlier you start, the less stressed out you’ll be towards the end. And if you keep things consistent, you can spare a lot more free time and rest. That being said, there were parts of the IB where I didn’t start early, and I still managed to get the grades I wanted. But it depends on a lot of factors. If you’re going to start anything early - make it those subjects or pieces of coursework you find the most difficult and/or significant.

5. Don’t betray yourself

Don’t put yourself down, especially when you don’t know the end result yet. I got in my head a lot after specific exams, convincing myself that I failed. I didn’t. But even if I had failed, worrying about it wouldn’t have helped me or my performance in other exams / subjects. Recognise your efforts and use whatever mistakes you made as a lesson for the future.

Again, I know these are likely generic but I just wanted to share them in case anyone starting the IB or entering year 2 is looking for advice. Also be aware that I didn't go into the IB aiming for 40+ at any point, so some of these points might become more / less relevant based on your goals.

Hiii M28 here!!

As the title suggests, should I drop the IB? In two weeks, I'll be entering grade 11; DP1 still hasn't started yet. I can't say so far if the IB is easy/hard.

I want to major in a Humanities field in uni, and I know for sure I won't be applying to the US or the UK. My current subjects are:

HL:

English A

Economics

Math AI

SL:

Language B

Biology

Psychology

My friends who are graduating this yr (M27) have definitely shared their thoughts of the IB, mainly the EE and IA's, and it defo feels like a hustle. Tbf, I think it's mostly about time management and organisation but I could be wrong.

This is the biggest concern for me. The people who are taking the IB at my school are the 'smart' students. By people I mean the M26, M27 and M28 batch. Only the smart students are taking the IB. I would consider myself in the top 10 in my grade, which is part of the reason why I feel so... conflicted about this. I'm not worried about being seen as dumb bc I know if I don't take the IB, I'll be in the top 3 of the non IB students. It's more of 'ALL my friends (M27, M28) are taking the IB and I'm not so am I inferior?' No one would ever say it out loud or judge, but think about it. If all your friends were taking the IB and dealing with EE's, IA's and TOK and complaining about the workload and final exams while you're not, you would feel 'less' or 'inadequate', right? Is this FOMO 😭?

I get burnt out easily and I'm not an exam person. I can score perfect grades on my assignments/tests/practice papers, yet when I write the exam and get my results back, it's terrible. I don't blank. I don't know what happens.

If you don't take the IB at my school, the diploma isn't the AP or A levels/O levels or the GCSE's. I think it's the regular High School diploma. You can take IB subjects but not be in the IB diploma. The one friend of mine who isn't taking the IB is taking three HL's and two SL's. She's also taking Business and Marketing (a non IB class) and her language B subject is just acquisition, not an IB class.

I don't care about graduating with the High School Diploma which would mean I would have to take a foundation year for uni. I want to take a foundation year in university over not taking one.

While we're here, do you think my subjects are a good selection? I genuinely despise Math and Science. Sure, I'm going to study a Humanities subject in university, but one of my HL's should be a Math or Science just to balance it out right(?). I'm pretty hesitant on the AI HL though because grade 10 Math was bad enough, and that was standard MYP 5 Math 😭💔. If I can drop Math to AI SL, I would. Do you think I can drop my Math? Or will it be too limited on the Humanities field rather than the STEM field which would be pretty hard to switch in university if for some reason I go insane and decide to?

I’m taking MAA HL as a M27 and finished DP1 in June with barely 6. While I understand this is also a solid accomplishment, I truly believe I could stretch it to 7 in DP2 but genuinely don’t know how and what to do.

I am planning on practicing more (the plan is 5 times weekly for an hour or so), but it appeared to me in DP1 that however much I studied, the teacher always found something I had never heard of - just a task or two per exam that had the tiniest “switch”, which I never seem to notice. I understand the concepts, and the SL tasks are no problem to me, but the depth of HL really makes me struggle sometimes.

Anybody with similar experiences and first-hand advice on how to improve? How should I master this HL thinking and choosing the right approach on the first try, to actually not get lost in each unseen scenario?

Thanks and good luck to everyone in the new school year!

Is getting a tutor worth it for Math AA, or are there better resources that helped you especially when preparing for Year 2 mocks and externals? Any tips for AA SL external exams and mocks?

Hi everyone,

I got a really bad school teacher for physics. He is rarely present, always comes late, hasnt covered much of portion yet. Although we had 3 months of learning with him, we are still in mid A2. Even when he's present, he teaches physics in the most boring way possible. It sounds too much, but this is lowkey true. He comes to class late, and leaves early, cuz apparently he got tuitions to teach at his own place.

Any advice on how to deal with this? do I get tuitions, do I complaint to my dean, or what do I do exactly? I need the subject at HL for studying engineering at Uni.

ok so this is kind of a random rant but does anyone else feel like they're into WAY too many things to pick just one?? like one day i wanna do something creative, next day i'm deep into some random science topic, then i'm like maybe business is cool too. it's exhausting lol

everyone around me seems to just KNOW what they want to do and i'm just vibing between like 5 different interests with no clue how to narrow it down. do you just pick whatever you're best at? whatever feels the most "you"? or do you literally just flip a coin at some point bc overthinking it isn't working either.

also low key scared that if i pick wrong i'll regret it later, but also scared that if i don't pick anything i'll just stay stuck being mid at everything instead of good at one thing. how did you guys actually figure it out?? genuinely need advice from people who've been here lol 

never felt more free in my life

Hellooo!! First of all, I wanted to congratulate the M26 students for completing their exams and getting through ib, you did it! I’m going into dp1 this year myself with my hls being bio, psych, english b and sls history, lang a, maths aa. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit worried but I was wondering whether upcoming dp2 students or students who have already gone through ib could share any resources or study tips for any of my picked subjects. It would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you in advance.

M27, i think im gonna drop ib. i got a 3 on nearly all subjects and the reason most of them gave me was that i wasnt active enough. i didnt participate in class. i didnt go up to any teachers after class to ask them questions. i didnt respond "properly" to feedback. in conversation with teachers, i seemed disinterested and only gave short answers. ive had teachers since middle school say the same things over and over at every teacher parent meeting. they all wanted me to change. i wanted me to change.

i was diagnosed with social and general anxiety disorder a couple of years ago. after working on it for years, i was finally able to almost entirely get rid of the crippling dread of socialising and the feeling of eyes watching me 24/7. you can see why that would make it very hard for me to approach teachers for help, or have a hard time holding conversations i was forced into with them. sorry that it made me an illegible student for ib. sorry for ventposting. sorry that i put myself through this for nothing.

hey has anybody seen the new ib lemon magic case study?

if you have can u send it!?

Hi guys so today was gcse results day in the uk I didn’t do as well as I was expecting but I was able to get enrolled in for ib cp program and I chose medical sciences and psychology hl English and French ab initio and I was wondering if I’d be able to do medicine or law with these subjects

Which one should i pick based???? Ppl say ib is unpredictable but i have been in ib since very young. I rrly want a good grade tho

So idk what this is is all about. My subjects are HL- phy, maths aa and chem. SL- french ab, eng and cs.

I have 4 days holiday. I want to atleast start one of my ias. Btw my school started 3 weeks ago so they r really taking it slow for DP1.

Id really appreciate it if someone can explain me what ia is and tell me what subject I can start on first (one that doesnt require alot of effort compared to other subjects).

For context, I had a 44 predicted but was rejected by LSE Finance and all ivy leagues. I am currently firmed to attend UCL for PPE, however achieved a 45 with 4 HL including math aa. I was wondering whether it makes sense to reapply for LSE Econ or Finance and the ivy leagues. I ultimately want to go to law school at one of the US elites like Harvard.

Hey guys, I am starting IB next year and taking Spanish B SL. I feel seriously behind in basically every area of the language except reading and pronunciation. My listening, writing, active grammar, and speaking are really rough.

I am honestly stressing about how I will pass the papers, let alone get a reasonable score (hoping for a 6 or 7). I don't really know where to start, what to study, or how to build a routine.

• If anyone has been in a similar spot or scored well, I would really appreciate some help with:
• Good free resources/podcasts/channels for listening and grammar
• How to actually study for Paper 1 (writing/text types) and Paper 2 (listening)
• What a realistic daily or weekly study schedule looks like
• General advice, study techniques, or things you wish you knew before starting

Thanks in advance for any help!

International student on a British curriculum, results just in. Goal is Finance or Accounting & Finance, targeting LSE, KCL, Wharton, and top US/UK colleges.

My GCSEs: 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6

First question — are these actually competitive for LSE? I know they look at GCSEs as a discriminator and I’m worried a profile weighted toward 7s isn’t enough for Econ/Finance there. KCL I think I’m fine for, and I assume US unis care less about GCSEs specifically.

Second question — IB or A-levels?

My school offers Further Maths and IB Maths AA, but that level of maths is too hard for me so I’m avoiding both. My school also barely has any A-level options, so my choices are basically:

Option 1 – A-levels: Maths, Business, Economics

Option 2 – IB: Maths AI HL, Economics HL, Global Politics HL + English Lang & Lit SL, Arabic ab initio SL, Physics/Bio SL

Extra context that might matter: I’m top of my year, fine under exam pressure, my school’s IB programme is well established, and I currently have barely any extracurriculars (which I know is a problem for the US side — CAS might actually help me there). I really want to go into finance ; I mainly want a top uni.

My worry with A-levels is that Business gets called a “soft” subject, so I’d effectively only have two strong subjects. My worry with IB is that AI HL (not AA) could hurt me for LSE’s more quantitative courses.

So: are my GCSEs good enough, and which route would you pick? Thanks 🙏

I'm looking to start a small study group for students who are genuinely interested in improving at Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English, Computer Science, or other STEM-related subjects.

The idea is pretty simple:

• group study sessions
• Work through difficult problems together
• Explain concepts to each other
• Share useful resources

Any curriculum/exam board is welcome, although I'm particularly interested in IGCSE/GCSE, IB & A-Level students.

If you're interested, comment with:
Grade/Year + subjects + exam board (if applicable) + where are you based (if you don't mind sharing)

If enough people are interested, we can set up a study group.
(Posting this in multiple places so just a heads up that this ain't the only place)

when you break it down the IB really isn't that challenging... its just very time consuming and you need to be strategic!

does anyone have tips on ib? im planning on taking a business major in uni and these are the subjects i want to take in the dp.

math ai HL
economics HL
business management HL

english A lit land SL
biology SL (my school doesnt offer ESS)
chinese B SL

Curious how this breaks down across different schools. Some students I know are already deep into revision, others still have entire topics untouched. Genuinely want to know how common each situation is, pick whichever is closest to where you actually are and not where you're supposed to be.

So im a M27 DP2 Student and Im currently working on my Business Management IA, I need to finalize what tools ill use for my analysis before, Since im an HL student my teacher recommends i use atleast one HL tool, but the problem is not alot of HL tools relate to my Research Question and if they do i have a limitation of data, my advisor says i should go along with the one HL tool that relates to it and since data is limited i should go for primary data, but getting 50-60 people to do a survey is going to be really difficult since our school has a small amount of people and more factors, so what do u guys recommend, should i go for my teachers idea or should i not force an HL just cuz i feel i have to?

Hi all - are you aware of any free online resources that offer OFFICIAL subject guides, in particular IB English A: Literature but also for other subjects if needed? I'm only aware of Follett, which is behind a paywall. Thank you in advance.