Official IB Exam Discussion Page

<p>Oh, wow... how could I forget TOK?! Thank you for the IB Music SL information, warblers. It is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>my friends that took HL this yr felt that the HL paper was easier than the practices and they did ok on paper one but paper 2 was hell. but then again.. what timezone are you in?</p>

<p>How hard is it to pass the Bio HL? I'm asking because I am a Diploma Candidate and just found out that my college won't give me credit for my exam. Result--I'm officially aiming for the bare minimum, just enough to get my diploma (a score of 4 or even 3, if my other exams are good).</p>

<p>It is NOT that hard to pass the Biology HL exam (easiest of the IB sciences). Read the IB textbook, and you'll be fine. </p>

<p>You won't get credit for an HL exam? That's weird. Take the AP Biology exam-if you can pass the IB exam, the AP exam shouldn't be too bad.</p>

<p>Hey, I studied Madame Bovary too! I used it for my English HL Paper 2.. except I never really read the book.. haha. Nevertheless, I know I aced the Paper. Same with English HL Paper 1.. did that poem remind anybody else of Robert Frost?</p>

<p>bump
(10 characters)</p>

<p>Final day of IB testing for me is Spanish HL...I have had an IB test EVERY DAY this week!!! Enough to drive one a little crazy.</p>

<p>~warbler, i did the Cold War DBQ, not too bad. Had to do a little US cramming as well.
~Music SL was not that hard last year, only one paper, all listening (analysis of music). I really liked it because one of the pieces last year I had specifically studied from my textbook, Bizet's L'arlessiene (sp?)...anyway...
~Enviro Syst. SL was super easy, took place the same time as Bio...
~Uggh, Spanish HL...not looking forward to this.
~Congrats to all those who are already finished, and good luck to everyone who has tests this year or next! :)</p>

<p>~what school, garou?</p>

<p>Bio HL was great... there's so much material on the syllabus, but for some reason they only ask questions on the easy stuff. Tip for this exam: Cram the night before.</p>

<p>Math SL was amazingly great... but then my teacher is so incredible that every year there's only about one 6 and the rest are 7's. Tip for this exam: Do all the practice papers from the past. You won't even have to think when you take the real exam.</p>

<p>English A1 HL was great... the commentary was the strongest I'd ever written (prose). I had written a practice essay for paper 2 the day before (and got it graded by my teacher, an IB examiner herself), and on the real exam, I was able to adapt my practice essay to the 2005 questions perfectly. I just rewrote my old essay, with quotes and everything. Tip for this exam: write practice essays on broad topics such as character development, setting, openings and endings, symbols. You WILL find a way to rewrite them on the real exam.</p>

<p>AP Calc BC... IB Math SL didn't prepare me well for this one, but I got a lot of help from the Princeton Review book.
Tip for this exam: learn Taylor polynomials. I didn't. :(</p>

<p>AP Chem... IB Chem SL DID prepare me for this one. It had been a year since I took a chem class, so I crammed for a couple hours the night before, and had a pretty easy time with the exam.
Tip for this exam: Focus on rate laws and equilibrium when studying. They are a huge part.</p>

<p>Last year:
Computer Science HL: The dossier is hell. 65 pages of hell. Even more hell when you save it for the last 2 days before it gets shipped off to the IB. I pulled an all nighter, then looked out my window to see a deep layer of whiteness. A snow day saved my life. I spent the rest of THAT day working, and got it in on time.
Tip: Practice algorithms, know about "computing and society"- this stuff is so easy and takes up a nice chunk of the exams. This exam shares a lot with the british A-level system, so pick p one of those books to help study.</p>

<p>Chem SL: Same as AP Chem, more or less.</p>

<p>Math HL Paper 1 killed a lot of people this year. I'm still sure I'll get a 7, but I talked to a lot of people afterward who had left 5 or more answer spaces blank. Paper 2 was OK, the discrete math question (which I did) was ridiculously easy.</p>

<p>Chemistry HL Paper 1 was easy. I can't remember Paper 2 too much. The section B questions I did were the one on bonding, and the one on organics. Those were quite tricky, but I seem to remember section A being OK.</p>

<p>English A1 SL Paper 1 - I did the poem. Easy as hell. I'm set for a 7 on that one. Paper 2 - I did the essay on love from general question on literature. I'd be happy with a 6.</p>

<p>Those are all I've done so far. I've got French A2 SL, Econ SL, Physics HL and Further Math still to go.</p>

<p>trout, the dossier IS hell.. well I didn't save it for the last two days, but for the last week. and let me tell you, i didn't sleep for three nights in a row to finish it.. it was hell.. nothing else can describe it..</p>

<p>"I pulled an all nighter, then looked out my window to see a deep layer of whiteness. A snow day saved my life. I spent the rest of THAT day working, and got it in on time."</p>

<p>Hey, that happened to Bart Simpson one time.</p>

<p>haha I didn't wait for fate to give me permission to stay home and finish the dossier.. I just missed school for a whole day to stay home and work</p>

<p>Are there any non-IB kids who routinely skip school so they can work on projects? :) That was my favorite part of the the whole thing.</p>

<p>What Are Ib Exams?</p>

<p>Is anyone done with their IB exams now? I only have German SL left (May 24). </p>

<p>alexinorbit, IB (International Baccalaureate) exams are similar to AP exams, except they have 3 Papers instead of 2. Except for the science exams, there is no multiple choice on IB exams. Science IB exams cover core material as well as two Options (this goes beyond the AP curriculum). IB courses can cover one year of coursework (Standard Level) or two years of coursework (Higher Level). Higher Level exams generally get college credit. Exams are graded on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the best. You need at least 12 points on your SL exams and 12 points on your HL exams in order to get your IB Diploma (I think). IB exams are usually split into two days of testing, with Papers 1 and 2 on one day and Paper 3 the next. IB exams are great because they have international recognition. </p>

<p>It sounds like everyone's doing great on their IB exams (especially English). Congrats!</p>

<p>I still have Music Theory SL, but I'm worried because I have a first year teacher and I don't think she has prepared me well for the exam. Heck, she just told me not to worry about it... <em>sigh</em>. Oh well, I suppose that I can ask if she has some past papers. </p>

<p>Anyhow, I have a question. Some people at my school said that a candidate MUST score at least a 4 on every single one of his/her's HL exam, but that isn't necessary to do so on SL exams. Is this true? Does that mean if I score a 2 or 3 on... say... Math HL, then I will not be able to earn the IB diploma? I mean, it's not like I'm overly worried that I'll fail an IB test (or maybe I am overly worried, haha), but I would just like to know. Thank you.</p>

<p>I took Env Sys. SL exam this year. I thought it was extremely easy.</p>

<p>Next year I take:
English HL
History HL
Math HL
Physics SL (trying to start HL in our school)
Latin SL (if can't take Physics at HL then I will take Latin at HL)</p>

<p>I have my IOP on Friday. It's like a practice one, but my teacher is counting as a final exam grade (1/5 of my final English grade). My topic is "Sexual desires of Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God) and Siddhartha."</p>

<p>I totally bombed my Lit Paper 2. "Female subservience in A Doll's House and Paradise of the Blind." I guess I will redo it next year before my teacher submits it to IBO.</p>

<p>powerabe13, that's not true. Although getting a 3 or lower on an exams /is/ a failing condition, there are still numerous ways you can still get the diploma--higher scores on your other exams, for example. Here're the diploma awarding conditions: <a href="http://www.svhs.ccs.k12.nc.us/ibacademy/cond.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.svhs.ccs.k12.nc.us/ibacademy/cond.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Don't forget that the IB exam is NOT your final score. Your final score consists of the IB exam and the Internal Assessment(s). </p>

<p>annandale, what's an IOP? Your Oral Presentation? I did ok on mine this year (26/30). Doing an oral presentation with only 20 min of preparation is hard.</p>

<p>20 minutes? we had 60.. </p>

<p>just kidding.. we had 20 as well..</p>