School starts next week and I have decided to take on 4 ib HL classes. The Only class I took that was challenging was ap world history. Which I got an A on by doing like 3 hours of homework and test prep ever single day even on weekends. With that being said I want people to know that I am nowhere being smart, however i am a very hard worker. I mean I can sustain pulling 4 all nighters if i have to to succeed In the 4 HL’ s. My HLs are physics,chem,English, and Spanish. IB STUDENTS PLEASE GIVE ME TIPS ON WHAT I NEED TO DO TO SUCCEED IN THESE CRAZY RIGOROUS CLASSES AND DO GOOD ON THE EXAM BECAUSE I’M SO STRESSED AND I DON’T KNOW HOW I WILL MANAGE TO GET AN A ON THESE CLASSES WHILE KEEPING UP WITH MY CLUBS!!! HEEEELPPP ME CC NERDS!!!
I took Physics SL. Not sure how your school is, but for me the first year of HL is the same as Physics SL. If you struggle in math, don’t take IB Physics HL.
I had a bad teacher who loaded us with easy tests during the school year. So I got an A in the class, but I bombed the actual standardized test. Chances are, your teacher will actually give you tests that prep you for the actual IB test. One thing I would suggest doing is IMMEDIATELY clarifying confusion in ANY area. Don’t wait for it to go away, LEARN it. If you end up with a bad teacher, don’t make my mistake of waiting until the last minute to study for the IB exam. Immediately use outside sources to supplement your learning, such as sample IB tests and YouTube videos. One issue I had was that only teachers have access to sample tests. (You can get them online, but they’re pretty hard to find and are usually old. You can get them anytime from the IBO–for a fee. Don’t pay for a sample test.) Make sure to ask your teachers about IB sample tests well in advance from the exam.
Also, I recommend watching Mitch Campbell on YouTube for help, both during class and exam review (although his whole playlist on the old syllabus, so watch out).
Note: I’m not trying to scare you, but this year the Physics IB test was so hard some doctor started a petition against the test that thousands of students across the world have signed.
English HL- I haven’t taken it (I’ll be taking it this year as well), but allegedly there are a lot of speeches and TONS of reading assignments. Everyone says to not slack on annotations, but no one said it wasn’t doable. (At my school, advanced English courses are really, really hard, so this means a lot. Honors English 10 had everyone stressed.)
Spanish HL- My school doesn’t even offer this, but Spanish classes at my school are ridiculously easy. (I’m going to be taking IB Spanish IV SL this year. Pretty sure my IB coordinator just tacked on an IB logo on the traditional Spanish IV class, but whatever.)
Chemistry HL- I would strongly advice to NOT double up on higher level sciences, unless you’re SUPER strong in science. I haven’t taken this class, but everyone in my grade who took IB Chemistry SL struggled. All the tests were curved really hard and still the highest people would get is around the B range (and these are people whose only advanced course was this class).
Although, at my school, science and math classes are generally really difficult (my Physics teacher didn’t get the memo)–but there has been general consensus across the US that this class is hard.
But I am definitely, 100% as scared as you. The IB Program has a really low pass rate at my school and the program is a mess. PM me and we can stress together!
Aye it’s great to have somebody like me. Hit me up