IB is sometimes viewed as one of the most challenging curriculums that a student may take in high school. Because the IB is a demanding course and could be the most stressful 18 months of your life thus far, it’s crucial to know how to stay organized and stay on top of your work.

Personalize the Curriculum to YOUR LIKING

Take advantage of the fact that there are so many explorations and internal assessments to explore your curiosities. I know people whose original EE was about beauty standards and representation in film, another person wrote theirs on the twilight saga. My HL essay was analyzing some of my favorite artists’ songs and I wrote it within a day because of how much I’d been dying to talk about their music. At the end of the day, you will have to write the IA, and make it about something you genuinely enjoy. I can not emphasize to you how much freedom you actually have, use it. 

“If you’re not absolutely adoring CAS, you’re doing it wrong”

Use CAS as a good excuse to indulge in your hobbies. It can be things that you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to do. The IB diploma will be a long and tiresome ride, so look towards joining extracurricular activities in and out of school to ensure you don’t burn out. 

Don’t be too hard on yourself

When you mess up on a test, don’t fret and lose hope. I started my first two tests in the AA HL math course with low 2s and my first physics HL test with a 3. I got those scores cause I slacked my start, and those courses were very challenging and demanding.  But I persevered and put in extra time and effort throughout the months and was able to end the year with a 7 in math HL, and a 7 in physics HL.

“If there’s a will, there’s a way, if there’s a past paper, there’s an A!”

The best resources I would recommend are Revision Village for Math, Quizlet for Language B courses, Chris Doner for physics, and ALWAYS working through IB past papers.

Obviously: The Importance of Time Management

Time management is vital to be successful in the diploma program and most teachers at GAA won’t be lenient with deadlines and excuses. Course material is introduced at the start of the year, and it may be tested in your exams. You are more likely to recall the material if you summarize it at the beginning. As a result, you will spend less wasted time intensely revising when preparing for mock exams or end-of-unit assessments.