Tested and Proven Tips to Ace IB: Advice from IBDP Top Scorers
Gabriel Kai Orion Antar and Nadine Elizabeth Hilman
Dear IB Students,
Managing 6 Internal Assessments and Extended Essays and impending university applications, among a host of other things, is intimidating! We've been there, done that, and thoroughly understand the struggle like any other IB survivor! But amidst all the challenges we went through, we managed to get 45, the maximum points that can be awarded to an IB Diploma student, and a 44 in the last May 2021 Session! So, how did we do it? This article will give you five powerful tips based on our personal experiences - from how we managed to maintain our motivation, to how we made the most of our circumstances. Read on to find out more!
Motivation + Discipline: Recipe for Success!
Procrastination is the ultimate enemy and if left unchecked, will lead you to pull off several nights of very little sleep (or even a few all-nighters)! Such is coming from experience, and we would never recommend anyone else to try the same willingly! To overcome the desire to sit on the phones and mindlessly scroll through Instagram, one powerful tool was determining the goals and deciding how much effort to put in. A motivation often gives a push of resilience needed to trudge through the overwhelming workload. Ultimately, we learn that action follows when one wants to achieve something in the right mindset.
So, in short, we recommend that you set a goal, visualize yourself reaching it, and, most importantly, put in the work.
Keeping in line with the theme of setting goals and finding motivation, and having reliable sources of inspiration can help immensely! In our case, we were inspired by several different things, amongst others: wanting to make the most of our education, get into our dream universities; our wish to make our family and teachers proud whilst also emulating the people we admire; and, honestly, the desire not to disappoint expectations. However, we would also like to warn you that carrying the weight of such expectations is not exactly the healthiest source of motivation. From our experience, it might be unhealthy as it can add unnecessary pressure on yourself. Though it may provide some measure of motivation at times, it can also do more harm than good by causing you to stress out and panic. Whenever you feel like you're not doing enough, which could potentially stop you from working, resulting in a dangerous snowball effect, it is helpful to remember that, above all, your grades aren't everything and certainly won't define who you are!
While motivation and inspiration are great catalysts to get you on your feet and running towards these goals, they are also fleeting. This is where discipline comes into play. Having a planner like Notion, Google Calendar, or ClickUp to schedule one's work instead of relying on spontaneous bursts of energy, which may never actually arrive, helps one stay on course with goals. It also allows you to dedicate enough time to rest and recharge, which are crucial to prevent the infamous IB burnout. Essentially, a combination of discipline and motivation is vital in our IB success. But what if you let your work sleep and turn into a pile? The following tips will come in handy for you.
IB Tips That Worked for Us
Looking back, the most strategic decision we made in the IB was to manage our time well and get a head start on our coursework. Over the Summer break of Grade 11, we dedicated a few hours each day to IB work and managed to complete a full draft of the Extended Essay and 3 Internal Assessments. While that sounds like a lot, with the help of a trusty planner and time management skills, we still had loads of time to kick back and relax. Yes, summoning the motivation to sit at our desks was difficult. However, this decision honestly saved us from a horrible burnout. Simply put, start early, and we promise you, your future self will thank you immensely. After all, it takes time for the seeds you plant to sprout!
Another critical tip when completing coursework is to be aware of your resources and actively seek them out. When writing your Internal Assessment and Extended Essays, you should look into exemplar works — but don't just copy their ideas, of course. Instead, analyse what they did right, and replicate the successful strategies in your work. Look into marked exemplars, too, if possible; reading examiner feedback can be instrumental in helping you understand what is expected in high-scoring coursework. You can also seek out past papers, online tips, existing study guides, etc., to help you complete the syllabus, as there are many IB survivors out there offering their resources.
For example, you can check out Revision Village , if you want to practice for Maths; aside from giving you the opportunity to tackle questions from past papers, the site also provides step-by-step solutions and short videos explaining key concepts, which can really help if you’ve found yourself in a position where you need to cram your studies, though you’ll have to purchase a subscription if you want to make the most of what the site has to offer. Overall, the Internet is honestly a goldmine if you take the time to search. And hey, you can always reach out to your alumni for advice and resources!
At the same time, make sure to do lots of independent studying! Though classes may cover a substantial amount of content, you shouldn't just rely on them alone. The IB's syllabi are enormous and can't possibly be entirely covered within the amount of class time you have. Indeed, when it comes to exams, simply relying on the notes you took during your class lectures won't be enough. The IB's assessments can test you on any part of the syllabus, including those that might not have been studied in-depth during classes. Hence, at the very least, whenever you're covering a specific topic in class, make sure to read the entirety of the relevant chapter in the textbook whilst using highlighters and taking notes on whatever you think might come up in exams. Afterward, whenever you're reviewing, do whatever helps you most understand and recall the information contained within your notes - for example, drawing little mind maps on each page of notes summarizing all the contents within that specific page. Also, highlighting key phrases and drawing boxes around keywords can help you recall key concepts easily.
Plan B: How to Survive the Aftermath of Excessive Procrastination
Perhaps - though God forbid you do, you may, unfortunately, find yourself in such a scenario where you have procrastinated excessively. Deadline upon deadline came piling upon you, and seemingly no way out except for the dreaded "for the next month or two."
If you're still aiming high, you can try getting ambitious with your timetables and the deadlines you set for yourselves. Think you scheduled way too much work for a single day? Even if you don't finish everything for one specific day, at least you'd have completed a good amount of work nevertheless. However, if the thought of having too much work to do freezes you and prevents you from being productive, then it's a sign that you're getting burned out and should space out the amount of work you're doing across a more extended period.
Furthermore, as always, never forget to have breaks where you can cool down, enjoy any entertainment you'd want (as long as it's safe!), and forget about everything related to school. You do not want to get burned out at a time like this! Try playing video games (preferably those that won't cause frustration!) or watching a few episodes from an anime or TV show at least once a day for 30 minutes to an hour on weekdays (even during exam week!) and for more extended periods on weekends. Aside from that, you can choose to read a book - for example, books with intricate worldbuilding may immerse you and help distract you from everyday troubles - or do fun exercises. You may wish to try scheduling these breaks at night so you have something to look forward to when studying or doing work beforehand.
Finally, if you're a night owl and prefer to do all your work after the evening, you might find yourself working into the early hours of the morning relatively frequently. If this happens, please don't forget to catch up on lost sleep by taking extensive naps! In our case, 6-7 hours of total sleep within a day was necessary so that our brains would function well enough for schoolwork; any less, our ability to work and think coherently would be severely compromised. Indeed, according to WebMD, lack of sleep may slow down your cognitive processes, impair your ability to consolidate and recall memories, and, hence, ultimately make it much more difficult for you to study; meanwhile, proper sleep allows your brain to stay sharp, helps keep your healthy, and improves your mood, which overall will help your studying efforts immensely.
The Role of the School: Making the Most of What MIS Has to Offer
"No one is an island, entire of itself"; this rings true in almost any case, and your time in school is no exception. You cannot hope to survive the IB program without benefiting from the aid of others, whether they be teachers, parents, or friends alike.
Indeed, the role of the school itself will be invaluable in helping you reach the maximum heights of your potential. Yet, just how much you stand to benefit from the school's help can also vary depending on how you choose to approach that help. For example, classes helped provide an extensive introduction to the topics we had to study; paying close attention to what was being taught in class could help you immensely later on by providing a solid foundation for further independent learning. They also offered an excellent opportunity to ask questions and clarify anything you might not have understood during your independent studies, so ensure you make great use of them! Similarly, consultation periods - whether for IAs, EEs, exam preparation, or just general inquiries - can be beneficial if you come into them ready with a list of questions, so make sure you prepare beforehand so you can maximise the help. You'll be able to get it!
The supplementary resources compiled and provided by your teachers can help as well. Exemplars, research essays, documentaries, and interactive simulations, among others, are invaluable in helping further develop and consolidate knowledge whilst also preparing us to tackle the IB's assessments as best as we could. For example, you’ll most likely use the interactive PhET simulations to explore important phenomena during your studies of the Natural Sciences; meanwhile, in History, you’ll most likely be given links to historical documentaries that provide you with various historiographical perspectives, which you’d do well to take note of in preparation for your exams. Hence, don't forget to make good use of them!
Furthermore, the quizzes and exams that your teachers give may seem painful to prepare for, but before your mock exams (or external assessments if you'll be having them) is crucial. They help you review your understanding of the different subjects and identify where you need to improve and prepare for the final exams you'll be taking at the end of the IB program.
Lastly, it's also worth saying that your teachers want you to succeed just as much as you do, so make sure you work closely with them and allow them to guide you towards your full potential!
The Importance of Support Systems: MIS Teachers, Parents & Pals!
Your parents and friends can provide much-needed assistance that could come in many different forms and aren't just limited to strictly school-related matters. Your mental and emotional health are of the utmost importance, and having a solid support system around you can be crucial in helping you maintain them. Sometimes the burdens you're bearing are too much for you to handle on your own, and it's alright to admit that. Don't be afraid to turn to your friends or parents when things get tough; have people to confide in whenever you're feeling anxious, fearful, stressed, or otherwise exhausted. Similarly, support your friends whenever they're in need as well. In short, be there for each other!
Your teachers can help you too in this regard! They, too, were once students like you and, as we learned in our case, can offer you meaningful advice coming from the perspective of one who has gone through the experiences of being student and teacher alike. Our teachers' energy, enthusiasm, and motivation were also often refreshing and helped power our cause in turn.
In a nutshell, finding a support system is essential to help you get through these two years, and luckily enough, the MIS community has helped us do just that!
Final Words!
As a final note to current IB students, we'd like to remind you that while the years to come and the challenges they'll bring with them may be difficult and stressful, getting the highest marks in IB is certainly not impossible! Before you know it, you'll be dressed in graduation gowns and caps, wondering where the last two years went. With that, as rigorous as this time in your life may be, don't let exams, IAs, university applications, and grades define you. Remember to live a little outside of academics because you should still enjoy life, spend time with the people you love, and make the most of your youth. If we can do it, you can, too! Take care and good luck!
