Oh my God! A young one to dispense all my knowledge upon about the International Baccelaureate program! If you want, you mind PMing me what year of school you're in, if you're not comfortable sharing it out in the open? Sorry I ask, it just gives me a better sense of what advice I can give you. The general gist is that the program is honestly solid and really helpful if the school that you're goin to does it well. It's just the people that are annoying. Here's a joke: How do you know a kid was in IB? Just wait. They'll tell you.
My country requires upper secondary school to be 3 years, so we do a year of pre-IB. This means I'm starting the real IB next year in what will be my 11th year of school. It's nice to know that the information you get is valuable.
Interesting. I did two years of Pre-IB. I'm going to assume you're talking about Sweden. I'm surprised they let badgers into the program, though. I wouldn't say the information is valuable...besides IB Psych, which was taught by our wonderful IB Proctor who I still keep in touch with, I don't remember much of the actual content. However, learning how to learn was a life-saving skill that will be a god-send when you enter college. It really teaches you to put in the effort in when doing research, reading, creating succinct and well written essays, and effective time management. All that said, I don't know the major differences in IB culture between Sweden and America, so your milage may very, both in the way you're taught, and the way people around you act. Just remember to brush off all the bragging that will probably happen. It's all a competition for people to be on top, but if you do you're own thing and not worry about anyone else, you should be fine! Have they told you about TOK, your sixth subject, the extended essay, or the 150 hours of community service you'll be doing? If not, I can dish out some info on that stuff as well.
They have told us a bit about TOK and EE and CAS, but I would love to hear what you have to say about it. The sixth subject is for me a science one. In my school you have the option of either doing a group 4 or a group 3 subject as your sixth. One thing with Swedish IB culture is that it is taught in our second language so you have loads of Swedish born people constantly speaking English which is a bit strange.
So TOK is really gonna be cool dependent on who you've got as a teacher. Mine was sweet, so it was really good for me and my writing, as well as how I approach debate and discussion. It essentially teaches about epistomology. The Extended Essay...hmm...well when I did it, you pick a topic, and then get assigned a teacher that can advise you during the process. I cranked it out when I was fasting one day and decided it was either write this, or die of starvation and pain. I would say pick a topic that you're really good with. I did one on philosophy, and I'd never written a philosophy paper in my life. And while I did well, I could have done much better if I focused on something I was knowledgeable about already. CAS is pretty awesome. People in my class saw it as a chore, but it caused me to do community service as a regular thing, not just to fill a quota. There are three categories that the service can be based on: Creative, Action, and Service. And I believe you need 25 of each, for a total of 75 per year. My favorite thing we did was a 24 hour gaming marathon for our local Hospital. We streamed it and everything. Good times. And we made some money too! Just do service for causes you believe strongly about and the hours will go like that. I gotta watch The Road for a class now...fun...but leave any more questions you've got and I'll definitely get to them! And welcome to Hubski!
One thing we have to do in CAS is make CAS projects. essentially combining at least to things in one activity. This seems to be a pretty new thing so I don't think you had to do that. A gaming marathon is a really good idea for doing service. Anyway, what subjects did you take? How heavy was the work load? how nervous do you get when it's exam time?
I took the usual English,and math. I had psychology as my history class. Spanish was my language, and digital arts was my sixth subject. The work load wasn't so bad as long as you kept up with stuff and did it the day you got it. I wasn't too nervous during our final exams. By that point, everything was beaten into me, I had figured out exactly how to take the test, because it's very formulaic. Secret tip: Check out the ibo website. I straight up bought the previous years exams for my psychology class as practice. Yeah, it's a bit of a scam, but they're only a few bucks and they did wonders for my preparation for either real thing.
Thanks for the advice. So, do the work immediately and practice on old tests (that you can by from Ibo)? That's good advice. Thanks. It's going to help me manage and actually gain something from doing the IB. It's always nice to get tips from people that have been through it already.
Thanks for the kind words and all the advice. I'll keep you in mind if I have any more questions.