Hey, I don’t know if there is a post set yet for potential EE (Extended Essay) topics for May 2016 candidates. I know my coordinator will speak to us when we get back from Spring break (next week) about picking a topic, advisor, etc. I’m (obviously) a current 11th grader at my school and have been researching math EE topics since the middle of freshman year, and haven’t really found anything that sparks my interest that I might pursue. All I know is that I enjoy math a lot, and sometimes get lost spending 3-4 hours reading example ones. Any alumni advice or current Diploma candidates are encouraged to fill in.
If you’ve been searching for topics since freshman year and can’t find anything that interests you, then maybe that’s a sign not to do that subject. There’s a difference between liking to solve math problems and liking to apply math to find real world problems.
But really, the extended essay isn’t about “searching” for a topic; it’s about creating a topic. Pick something you like and figure out how you can apply math to make the topic more transparent. Personally I think they should teach you to come up with something first, then research examples to see how you can adjust your question to match the confines of what IB wants. Otherwise, your originality and personal interest is lost.
I misworded the question. I’ve only barely looked at topics, about 10 or so now. I haven’t really been active in my search, partially since it was so far away, but it’s a basically next week that it will be introduced to us.
I just wanted to get familiar with the topics, I know there are many more, but I quite honestly do get interested/amazed whenever I read about a math article/proof (e.g. numberphile’s videos) and always want to show it to my stats teacher (who also teaches IB HL math, and would be my advisor).