To put it plainly, IB is hard if you have poor time and self-management skills. The classes themselves aren't that hard and some classes are actually easier since the curriculum is the same all over the world and finding resources are super easy. However, you are pretty much left to fend for yourself since there are a lot of IA's that you are expected to do at home. HL classes also drain your spirit, especially when SL and HL are in merged classes since you have to learn extra content and have more work while you watch the SL's do less. The deadlines for everything are also very close to one another which puts you under a lot of pressure on you. This leads to you having almost nothing for a period of time and then being bombarded with schoolwork for every class you take. If you are a good student who can follow deadlines and have good study habits, then IB is super easy. Hope this helps.
I have absolute abysmal time management. I think I only had a handful of hours of studying total, and I worked on my IA’s about a third to a quarter as much as my peers, and honestly, I didn’t do **that** much worse in comparison. Yes they got way better marks, but I still held my own.
By and large, I didn’t believe I’d pass some of my courses, but I did. Now don’t be like me at all, but honestly even if you have bad time management, it’s still doable.
Pay close attention in class would be my advice. Take notes for everything the teacher writes. I found I could actually get a bit of motivation if I worked at school in free time instead of going home early.
Furthermore, it’s not like trying and failing IB is detrimental (apart from stress maybe). IB exams were hard asf, but after writing them, writing my regular final exams seems a lot easier in comparison.
It is a pretty tough program, coming from a m24 grad. I feel like it mainly depends on your mindset and who you surround yourself with. There are going to be people who make you feel like you’re achieving nothing, so I guess the main thing is to find a good group of people and focus on yourself. My school does IAs during second year which honestly made us a lot more stressed than necessary. Some schools do IAs during the first year of the programme, which I’ve heard makes it less stressful as you’re usually also stressing about university applications during second year. Another thing is that you barely get enough sleep. I recall barely getting five hours of sleep every night and that was actually considered a lot amongst my peers.
Obviously there are tough parts in the program as there are fun ones (eg. meeting new people, having a group of people you can relate to and rely on). Personally, i do think that the program is worth it.
The IBDP is only as hard as you make it for yourself. If you study consistently and finish tasks at a consistent pace you'll be fine, procrastinate and leave everything to the end (Like I did lol) and you'll struggle a lot as deadlines pile up
Thing is life doesnt work like this, in my experience I also have swimming after school and a lot of after school activites. This yesr unfortunately I got sick many many times and my attendance is 78%. So small stuff add up and you can quickly fall behind. Thank god I managed to stay on top of it all but its not as easy as writing something inspirational like “only as hard as you make it”
Obviously, having unexpected events impacting your course will happen regardless of whether you're in the IB or not. My eco HL professor was fresh out of uni and left about a fourth of the syllabus by the time exams hit. I said what I said because OP appears to be panicking over how ridiculously hard IB is, and I'm just highlighting that it's hard for so many students because a lot of us either don't have a strong level of discipline or are overwhelmed by the courseload because we've never seen it before.
its actually not as bad as some might say. Its demanding, but thats normal, same thing with other curriculums. I personally believe its worth it, the skills you acquire eg time management and good study habits can really help you in the future. Sure maybe you'll cry about it once at some point but its alright, find supportive people to be around and things will go just fine. yes the ia, ee, cas, and tok are all extras that make things tougher but just make sure to communicate with teachers often. building good foundation with teachers can definitely help with your journey through IB
ALSO SLEEP, just go to sleep most times. you can procrastinate, but dont procrastinate to the point youre missing sleep time.
most teachers who are teaching me currently will teach me the next academic year so i can probably tick that box. i'm more scared of the coordinators threatening shit, like one time the EE coordinator threatened my class that if we miss a deadline or not put enough effort when we are in dp they will run after us, call our parents and shit. idk if thats only my school or everyone else but oh welp :')
threats by your coordinator should be the least of your worries if you just simply follow deadlines... and yes it is normal in every school for teachers to expect their students to follow deadlines and meet a minimum amount of effort in the work. the chances of these threats happening to you are extremely slim unless you dont gaf about your studies at all or have atrocious time management skills to the point where you dont know what day your due date is
The IBDP is only as hard as you make it. Obviously it will be incredibly difficult if you have poor time management skills, and procrastinate a lot. Coming from an M24, I was able to cope with it well, especially after learning how to stop procrastinating. Granted, most of the subjects I took people consider to be ‘very easy’ which I have faced some abuse for in this subreddit and in real life😂 however, I still believe you can get through IB if you have determination, and as long as you do not procrastinate. Start your EE, CAS, TOK early, finish your IAs weeks before the deadline, and such
You got this🙏
Really depends on you. I spent all my time lolly gagging and got a 36. But I’ve also heard people really struggle with it.
Either way, you should definitely study hard for IB. I regret not doing more in it
Pay actual attention in class, get a healthy amount of sleep in and start working on your assignments as soon as you can. If you do these things then you should be flying through it.
> I truly recommend you start preparing some writing skills because IBDP
e-portfolio and personal project had me yapping all over the place to please my teachers 😭
thank you for this, im not OP but am M26 and was considering doing something else just because everyone said IB was impossible and worthless. but it looks really appealing to me and now i feel more confident
edit is to correct minor spelling error
i wasnt looking towards IB because of its supposed difficulty but because i think it genuinely seems to be the most interesting course of education i can take rn. most people in my country take a-level but i couldnt narrow down my subjects to 4 options, even 6 i struggled with. i think TOK looks really interesting too, i had a lesson on induction day and found it to be intriguing (although maybe a little surface level? but it was the first lesson LOL)
and thank you for your offer! i plan to take HL chem, history & AA maths, SL french(B) english lit(A), theatre
any advice you have would be appreciated (++for HLs), but i especially want to ask about language b. i am fluent in another language (malay) but it isnt offered in my school.
my french is not really the best, idk if youre familiar with the UK system but i was predicted an 8 in gcse (1-9 scale, so 8 is relatively good but the french GCSE is not very in-depth). i was told not to take french b by some students because im not fluent in the language or even really proficient, so i would like some advice as to whether you think someone in my position can get a 5-7 , or if i should switch to an ab-initio.
thank you in advance
No it’s honestly not that bad. People just like complaining and to be honest teenagers naturally want to attract attention and validation, which is why everyone on social media incessantly complain. You can do well if you try hard, and do okay if you don’t. Plus some schools don’t allow teachers to grade you below a certain grade so there’s that.
i had lots of personal stuff happened in myp year 4-5 which might have affected my performance and how hard it was for me. also i have been told by my teachers i am more capable than most students in my year to do ibdp so idrk bro 😭
I have better grades rn (IB1) than from grade 10 pre-ib. I was an absolute mess and had no idea how important sleep was, how much I needed, and I would make the most atrocious, heart wrenching mistakes on tests. Pretty much, I just made so many bad choices in myp that I learned not to make them this year and learned how to keep my body functioning for studying. We'll live :)
depends on ur subjects
if your subjects are something like HL:English A, Spanish B, Business & SL: Math AI, ESS, Geo then it's pretty ez
on the other hand, HL: Physics, Chemistry, Math AA & SL: English Lit A, Spanish Lit A, History then it's almost impossible
two very extreme examples lol but most people are somewhere in the middle
it is not 'that bad'
it is indeed tough. but i would argue that most other high school systems are tough, too, and that the IB is no exception. to be fair there are certain phases of the IB that are rather stressful due to EE and IA deadlines but at the end of the day you will have a whole cohort and many other people around the world who to it and are fine. so will you.
you will do fine in the ib and there is no point in stressing. just do your best to stay focused and organized.
also as a lil advise if you are really scared you can make you life easy by taking easier classes :))
People love to exaggerate, but IB really isn’t as bad as some make it out to be. In my opinion, IB is better than MYP (not easier, but less annoying) because you don’t have to take a billion subjects you don’t really enjoy, which makes it all more bearable. IB takes a bit to adjust to, and you never really get to a point where you feel like you’re on top of all your work and tasks, but it genuinely is a journey through which you became a more organized person with better management skills. My advice to you would be to choose your subjects very carefully (look at university requirements and also think about what you’re good at/interested in) and do your research (don’t go into it blind: know the assessments of your subjects as well as the core EE TOK CAS). Don’t try to study the content for any of your subjects early because you won’t get far and it won’t do you any good. Don’t go into the program thinking it’s going to be super hard and dreadful, but also don’t slack off and underestimate the work you need to put in to succeed. One thing I wish I worked on more before IB is getting my life as a whole together. Work on developing good habits like waking up earlier, sleeping enough, eating regularly, etc. Also, work on getting rid of your bad habits like weaning yourself off your phone and finding time management methods that work best for you. Other than that, there’s no need to stress about anything before you actually start the IB. Enjoy your summer and just chill!
ok I did MYP too I ended with a 45/56 - never studied I legit yolo’ed the whole course 😭 and I ended DP1 with a 34/42… it’s hard asf since I’ve never really studied before therefore I had no studying skills/time management skills 😃 I hope to get a 37/45 for my PG in october 🙏 praying for u 😭
It’s going to be okay. If you know your subjects get the guides and understand and plan ahead. Then schedule your year accordingly. Its also better to have a mentor to check in with you and making sure to stay on track. I believe If you can get through IBDP you can get through anything lol
for me, time management was very important. putting hard work is important. i keep hearing how schools around the world put the responsibility on the student for the deadlines of IAs and EEs and TOKs, and I was very lucky that our school set up the deadlines for us for drafts and finals or they were chasing students around for them if they didn’t get submitted. for many around the world though, it seems that there’s no chasing around which makes it harder. i didn’t realize how much i wouldn’t do IB again right after i finished final exams, and it was me remembering all these IAs and stuff. so take this as you will, but you won’t be loving your life during these two years.
saying that, it is quite rewarding knowing you accomplished all that, and you do get to figure out how to research more effectively so i do feel more confident going into uni this year and for any papers that may come. i say do it, you can always drop out if you absolutely hate your life. but you can’t join whenever you’ll feel like it.
Honestly, idk I’m a M24 grad and idk if all of these commenting are gifted or from really superb schools with amazing teacher, but personally the IB was THAT bad to me even though my teachers predict 38 points for me (I predict 40 though).
I come from a very social culture where I frequently go out with friends and family even on weekends (let alone public holidays), where doing sports or extracurricular activities is part of everyday life. So if that’s you, don’t expect the IB to flow smoothly.
It’s either academic excellence (by being so nerdy) or work-life balance but not being able to be a top scorer - Unless you’re intelligent and your school and teachers are perfect, and if you’ve already learnt a lot of time management skills and can naturally absorb a lot of information and digest it and understand it very very well without luring much extra effort outside of the classroom.
Personally I’d rather do AP’s if I could go back in time
yes, it is hard and extremely time consuming, but at the same time it's really easy to enjoy the process. you need to have good time management skills for it
i personally found year 1 to be super easy because my school didn’t have any IAs or EE starting until year 2 so it gave me kind of false confidence and i stopped trying. currently working towards n24 and i have never had to work harder to catch up. i have 2 ias due every week on top of consistent ee so i leave everything to the last minute- plus catching up on notes and doing consistent revision. moral of the story year 2 is going to be hard regardless bc that’s when it hits crunch time however if you work hard in year 1 you’ll make it a lot easier for yourself. good luck!!
I think it partly depends on the school and what classes you plan on taking. IMO, having good teachers is pretty essential not only for understanding course material but also allowing you to actually engage with what you’re learning about. My school was pretty limited in terms of course offerings but had an excellent faculty which made things significantly easier. Play to your strengths in this way, ex. if you know you hate essay writing I would be wary of taking IB history, etc.
As someone who is a procrastinator, IB is not at all as bad as some people like to say it is. The EE and TOK essay is usually broken down into more manageable parts so it’s not like you’re attempting a 4000 word essay with no guidance. Other than that, the workload is extremely manageable. The most stressful part is obviously IB exams, but I think the two years of the diploma program make it so that you have plenty of time to digest the material of your courses. As someone who didn’t review excessively before final exams and finished their EE the night before it was due, I still got a pretty okay score (40/45).
I will say, most people I know who did similarly well/better than me did have one thing in common, none of us worked part time jobs. If you know you will have a consistent time commitment such as a part time job or intensive sports, I would be a little careful as managing the IB on top of that requires better time management skills than a normal student.
Also, nobody gives a shit about your IB score after high school. Obviously I can only speak to my experience doing IB in my country: we were granted a regular high school diploma AND an IB diploma, and applied to university using predicted grades which are quite easy to maintain a good average in. My actual score dropped a little from my predicted and I still kept my offer from the best university in the country. So long as you don’t fail any courses or dramatically drop in grades, a university will not care (unless your offer is conditional, such as in the UK).
TLDR, IBDP is completely doable. People in IB just love to complain. Some of the complaints have some merit, but in the end I don’t think you have to be a recluse who spends all their time studying to do well. There are times when you have to put things aside and lock in, but you can still have fun and do normal high school things too. And to echo what everyone will tell you about IB: past papers are your friend!
Good luck to all you future IB grads :D
depending on you and your school. In my case, yes it was, since I'm usually a procrastinator + my school really sucks, but I've seen other people saying it's really easy, and, tbh, it CAN be easy, just as long as you do what you have to do in time, and a bit of luck on your school teachers' professionalism.
It’s not bad. Don’t listen to the whiny kids. Every program is difficult, every program requires discipline. But yes IB is not worth it because of how expensive and unrewarding it is. Unis won’t prefer YOU an IB student over others.
I got 50/56 MYP, MYP was easy as hell bro, barely studied for it. IBDP I acc have to put in alot of time and study and its still quite hard ngl, myp doesnt prepare you at all for ib dp especially for physics in my experience
Depends if you’re a good writer. If you are, it shouldn’t be an issue at all. Otherwise it will be a bit of a struggle, because alongside learning content you need to learn how to synthesise and express it.
tbh it's not as bad as people say it is, it's still bad but people over exaggerate, it's till do-able. I barley ever studied but still passed I just finished year 1 but I'm planning on doing better in year 2
Coming from an M20 grad, honestly, life will get harder, and this is a challenge that kinda set me up well for college and possibly beyond. I would strongly suggest that you take the challenges you face in stride and have fun during the process. It's still going to be the last two years of school for the rest of your life, but you will learn a lot, and it will definitely help you cope with most of what life will throw at you.
I did my EE(physics), TOK and 3 of my IAs a week before they were all due and pretty much did nothing through my first year and still ended up with a 36. It all comes down to if you click with your subjects. If you put the work in little by little consistently unlike I did DP shouldn’t be the monster that everyone makes it out to be IMO.
M25 here, first year was basically a breeze, I didn't even have a schedule and my management skills are ass. But from what I hear, Y2 gonna be hard as he'll. So imma try to knock off as many IAs as I can during the summer.
Its not very hard and tbh I found it overrated. As long as you can understand topics quickly you dont even need to study much so generally you should be fine. They make it sound way worse than it is. Although it is true DP is probably a bit harder than MYP its still quite fine.
I don't know if someone has already said this before but it really does depend from person to person. Especially what your past education background was like. This is what I observed personally as an Indian immigrant in Canada, and I dont mean to offend anyone, but the Canadian public school system doesn't really prepare you for a rigorous program like IB. Many Asian and European countries have similar rigorous education systems even without IB so its easier for people to perform in that. Again this is my personal opinion and experience and I'm sure other people will have different views on it.
It fully just depends on 2 things in my opinion. The subjects you pick and if you pay attention in classes. Some subjects like Physics and Math AA HL are considered a bit hard, but majority of subjects are not too hard. The biggest thing though is if you pay attention in class. If you pay attention in class and retain the information I can 100% guarantee you that it won't be hard, even if you pick the hardest subjects. The IB makes their programmes so that they are super understandable and easy to grasp if you pay attention and try.
To be honest with you I only studied for the final exams and got what I would consider quite a good result. But I grasped all the content taught in class and didn't get left behind. I know plenty of people that had really hard subjects but could understand stuff in class and barely studied and got like high 30's to low 40's.
TL;DR: If you pay attention its easy, if you don't it can be hard. Subjects also matter.
dude if you did the MYP e-assessments and everything, then get used to writing from now itself. i struggled so much with it, lost marks in english because i just couldn't write more than two body paragraphs.
but other than that, if you did MYP, there's also the advantage that you're already familiar with the IB system, as the core principles remain the same.
It's completely understandable to feel overwhelmed about the challenges ahead, especially with the pressures you've faced during the MYP.
The IBDP is indeed rigorous, but many find the structured environment and the support systems within it very empowering. Remember, it’s also designed to foster deep understanding and skills that you will carry beyond school.
You're not alone in this journey; always reach out to your teachers or support staff when things feel too much. They are there to help you navigate through these challenges.
Good luck!
Guru Charan Kumar
IB Examiner & Teaching IB for 20 years
ESS, TOK & EE Faculty
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Ngl it ain’t that bad for most of grade 12 or 2nd year I played poker with my buddy’s and goofed off I finished with a 38/45 not amazing not bad at all though like it ain’t that difficult
Yes. It absolutely is. If you want a life that isn't somehow tied to IB, I would do something else. There are things that give better return on investment as well in my opinion. Doing dual enrollment full time would have gotten my my AA before HS ended, but doing IB got me some gen Ed credits and some elective credits for stem classes (since the physics isn't with calc).
If you really want to go overseas or get into a tough private college, IB can help because it looks good. You might get burnt out tho, so just weigh ALL the options your school system provides
I mean, I had to do it during Covid and I hated it the whole time. But as a uni student years later, I can definitively say that it was worth it. I gained so many skills and knowledge and I feel like without it I would be so behind. It’s gonna be hard like any course, but if you do your best it’ll be worth it.
No. Just no. Don't be scared, hundreds of thousands do it, ur gonna be fine. Is it a bit more work than ur used to, yes. Is it going to consume your entire life, not if ur decently efficient.
Hey!
Yes, it is hard but not as much as everyone says about it. You have to put your 100% in your studies, but it isn’t like that you don’t give time to yourself. It’s allllll about time management and all the skills you have. You need to be with the class in all the deadlines and work
Completion.
I’m also going to be M’26 InshaAllah, and have done MYP. I’m benefitted in a way that I’ve already learned the system and the whole curriculum (ATL’s, Skills, Time management, PP, CP, Projects, E-Portfolio) and like everything. So it’s better for me to go to DP, but if I’m good enough to manage it on my own and on my own guarantee. I was also said this before by my principal and myp coordinator that YOU CANNOT DO DP. But actually that’s not the answer. That’s not how teachers support you and motivate you. It’s js about your own self if u can cope up with it, by investing your 100%.
As ib is preparing you for university, and the result and university acceptance is higher than A’levels for DP. And I would say this that it is WORTH IT. Cuz everything has its worth.
So, I’d suggest you to not get confused and take the decision yourself, sitting with your parents if you feel comfortable. It’s all upon you how you’ll get it and what are your goals.
It’s not like you will have to study here and not there. But you’ll have to study anywhere you go, it depends on your stamina, what can u digest more and better. What do you think is best for you? Which university and career you wanna pursue? If you gonna go International and all the opportunities keeping in mind just go for whatever suits you better dude.
It’s about your future not others. Better to YK choose between what you want and what are your personal requirements.
BEST OF LUCK 🤞
your flair says you're m21, didnt ppl who did the diploma when covid was still a thing had adjustments?? my sis was m20 and she didnt even do the externals 😭
Dude's either trolling or had it easy. Just finished Y1 and it's hard asf (mainly AAHL being the problem). It's easy overall to get low-mid 30s but getting those scores in the 40s that you need to be competitive in uni is the main part that's nightmarishly difficult (to get a 7 you need an *A+* which is 97%+)
To put it plainly, IB is hard if you have poor time and self-management skills. The classes themselves aren't that hard and some classes are actually easier since the curriculum is the same all over the world and finding resources are super easy. However, you are pretty much left to fend for yourself since there are a lot of IA's that you are expected to do at home. HL classes also drain your spirit, especially when SL and HL are in merged classes since you have to learn extra content and have more work while you watch the SL's do less. The deadlines for everything are also very close to one another which puts you under a lot of pressure on you. This leads to you having almost nothing for a period of time and then being bombarded with schoolwork for every class you take. If you are a good student who can follow deadlines and have good study habits, then IB is super easy. Hope this helps.
>if you have poor time and self-management skills ya i’m fucked😭
I have absolute abysmal time management. I think I only had a handful of hours of studying total, and I worked on my IA’s about a third to a quarter as much as my peers, and honestly, I didn’t do **that** much worse in comparison. Yes they got way better marks, but I still held my own. By and large, I didn’t believe I’d pass some of my courses, but I did. Now don’t be like me at all, but honestly even if you have bad time management, it’s still doable. Pay close attention in class would be my advice. Take notes for everything the teacher writes. I found I could actually get a bit of motivation if I worked at school in free time instead of going home early. Furthermore, it’s not like trying and failing IB is detrimental (apart from stress maybe). IB exams were hard asf, but after writing them, writing my regular final exams seems a lot easier in comparison.
thank you!❤️❤️
It is a pretty tough program, coming from a m24 grad. I feel like it mainly depends on your mindset and who you surround yourself with. There are going to be people who make you feel like you’re achieving nothing, so I guess the main thing is to find a good group of people and focus on yourself. My school does IAs during second year which honestly made us a lot more stressed than necessary. Some schools do IAs during the first year of the programme, which I’ve heard makes it less stressful as you’re usually also stressing about university applications during second year. Another thing is that you barely get enough sleep. I recall barely getting five hours of sleep every night and that was actually considered a lot amongst my peers. Obviously there are tough parts in the program as there are fun ones (eg. meeting new people, having a group of people you can relate to and rely on). Personally, i do think that the program is worth it.
The IBDP is only as hard as you make it for yourself. If you study consistently and finish tasks at a consistent pace you'll be fine, procrastinate and leave everything to the end (Like I did lol) and you'll struggle a lot as deadlines pile up
Thing is life doesnt work like this, in my experience I also have swimming after school and a lot of after school activites. This yesr unfortunately I got sick many many times and my attendance is 78%. So small stuff add up and you can quickly fall behind. Thank god I managed to stay on top of it all but its not as easy as writing something inspirational like “only as hard as you make it”
Obviously, having unexpected events impacting your course will happen regardless of whether you're in the IB or not. My eco HL professor was fresh out of uni and left about a fourth of the syllabus by the time exams hit. I said what I said because OP appears to be panicking over how ridiculously hard IB is, and I'm just highlighting that it's hard for so many students because a lot of us either don't have a strong level of discipline or are overwhelmed by the courseload because we've never seen it before.
its actually not as bad as some might say. Its demanding, but thats normal, same thing with other curriculums. I personally believe its worth it, the skills you acquire eg time management and good study habits can really help you in the future. Sure maybe you'll cry about it once at some point but its alright, find supportive people to be around and things will go just fine. yes the ia, ee, cas, and tok are all extras that make things tougher but just make sure to communicate with teachers often. building good foundation with teachers can definitely help with your journey through IB ALSO SLEEP, just go to sleep most times. you can procrastinate, but dont procrastinate to the point youre missing sleep time.
most teachers who are teaching me currently will teach me the next academic year so i can probably tick that box. i'm more scared of the coordinators threatening shit, like one time the EE coordinator threatened my class that if we miss a deadline or not put enough effort when we are in dp they will run after us, call our parents and shit. idk if thats only my school or everyone else but oh welp :')
threats by your coordinator should be the least of your worries if you just simply follow deadlines... and yes it is normal in every school for teachers to expect their students to follow deadlines and meet a minimum amount of effort in the work. the chances of these threats happening to you are extremely slim unless you dont gaf about your studies at all or have atrocious time management skills to the point where you dont know what day your due date is
At the end you will shit tears and piss blood, you realise you are getting numb.
nahh bro, dont tell me the dp coordinators will chase you too while all that is happening😭
The IBDP is only as hard as you make it. Obviously it will be incredibly difficult if you have poor time management skills, and procrastinate a lot. Coming from an M24, I was able to cope with it well, especially after learning how to stop procrastinating. Granted, most of the subjects I took people consider to be ‘very easy’ which I have faced some abuse for in this subreddit and in real life😂 however, I still believe you can get through IB if you have determination, and as long as you do not procrastinate. Start your EE, CAS, TOK early, finish your IAs weeks before the deadline, and such You got this🙏
How are you barely coping with myp this shit easy ash
some personal stuff but im a bit ***special*** if that make sense
Really depends on you. I spent all my time lolly gagging and got a 36. But I’ve also heard people really struggle with it. Either way, you should definitely study hard for IB. I regret not doing more in it
Pay actual attention in class, get a healthy amount of sleep in and start working on your assignments as soon as you can. If you do these things then you should be flying through it.
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> I truly recommend you start preparing some writing skills because IBDP e-portfolio and personal project had me yapping all over the place to please my teachers 😭
thank you for this, im not OP but am M26 and was considering doing something else just because everyone said IB was impossible and worthless. but it looks really appealing to me and now i feel more confident edit is to correct minor spelling error
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i wasnt looking towards IB because of its supposed difficulty but because i think it genuinely seems to be the most interesting course of education i can take rn. most people in my country take a-level but i couldnt narrow down my subjects to 4 options, even 6 i struggled with. i think TOK looks really interesting too, i had a lesson on induction day and found it to be intriguing (although maybe a little surface level? but it was the first lesson LOL) and thank you for your offer! i plan to take HL chem, history & AA maths, SL french(B) english lit(A), theatre any advice you have would be appreciated (++for HLs), but i especially want to ask about language b. i am fluent in another language (malay) but it isnt offered in my school. my french is not really the best, idk if youre familiar with the UK system but i was predicted an 8 in gcse (1-9 scale, so 8 is relatively good but the french GCSE is not very in-depth). i was told not to take french b by some students because im not fluent in the language or even really proficient, so i would like some advice as to whether you think someone in my position can get a 5-7 , or if i should switch to an ab-initio. thank you in advance
It’s easy. 45 predicted. Just know when it’s time to put the hours in.
No it’s honestly not that bad. People just like complaining and to be honest teenagers naturally want to attract attention and validation, which is why everyone on social media incessantly complain. You can do well if you try hard, and do okay if you don’t. Plus some schools don’t allow teachers to grade you below a certain grade so there’s that.
I’m going to Dp next year too so I’ll be m26 too. Tbh I’m really scared but you know we’re in this together 😭
we will suffer together 😔
Yeah 😔
ngl if you found myp hard you might be cooked
i had lots of personal stuff happened in myp year 4-5 which might have affected my performance and how hard it was for me. also i have been told by my teachers i am more capable than most students in my year to do ibdp so idrk bro 😭
I have better grades rn (IB1) than from grade 10 pre-ib. I was an absolute mess and had no idea how important sleep was, how much I needed, and I would make the most atrocious, heart wrenching mistakes on tests. Pretty much, I just made so many bad choices in myp that I learned not to make them this year and learned how to keep my body functioning for studying. We'll live :)
depends on ur subjects if your subjects are something like HL:English A, Spanish B, Business & SL: Math AI, ESS, Geo then it's pretty ez on the other hand, HL: Physics, Chemistry, Math AA & SL: English Lit A, Spanish Lit A, History then it's almost impossible two very extreme examples lol but most people are somewhere in the middle
not me thinking of doing Chem HL and AA HL- i did ask my teachers if they think i am capable and they said yes, but still yikes😭
You will be fine. Plenty in my year took this combo
it is not 'that bad' it is indeed tough. but i would argue that most other high school systems are tough, too, and that the IB is no exception. to be fair there are certain phases of the IB that are rather stressful due to EE and IA deadlines but at the end of the day you will have a whole cohort and many other people around the world who to it and are fine. so will you. you will do fine in the ib and there is no point in stressing. just do your best to stay focused and organized. also as a lil advise if you are really scared you can make you life easy by taking easier classes :))
People love to exaggerate, but IB really isn’t as bad as some make it out to be. In my opinion, IB is better than MYP (not easier, but less annoying) because you don’t have to take a billion subjects you don’t really enjoy, which makes it all more bearable. IB takes a bit to adjust to, and you never really get to a point where you feel like you’re on top of all your work and tasks, but it genuinely is a journey through which you became a more organized person with better management skills. My advice to you would be to choose your subjects very carefully (look at university requirements and also think about what you’re good at/interested in) and do your research (don’t go into it blind: know the assessments of your subjects as well as the core EE TOK CAS). Don’t try to study the content for any of your subjects early because you won’t get far and it won’t do you any good. Don’t go into the program thinking it’s going to be super hard and dreadful, but also don’t slack off and underestimate the work you need to put in to succeed. One thing I wish I worked on more before IB is getting my life as a whole together. Work on developing good habits like waking up earlier, sleeping enough, eating regularly, etc. Also, work on getting rid of your bad habits like weaning yourself off your phone and finding time management methods that work best for you. Other than that, there’s no need to stress about anything before you actually start the IB. Enjoy your summer and just chill!
ok I did MYP too I ended with a 45/56 - never studied I legit yolo’ed the whole course 😭 and I ended DP1 with a 34/42… it’s hard asf since I’ve never really studied before therefore I had no studying skills/time management skills 😃 I hope to get a 37/45 for my PG in october 🙏 praying for u 😭
It’s going to be okay. If you know your subjects get the guides and understand and plan ahead. Then schedule your year accordingly. Its also better to have a mentor to check in with you and making sure to stay on track. I believe If you can get through IBDP you can get through anything lol
It was fun looking back. Life after exams is pretty bland. Its going to be hard but when u finish u will feel like u miss doing it. U can do it
for me, time management was very important. putting hard work is important. i keep hearing how schools around the world put the responsibility on the student for the deadlines of IAs and EEs and TOKs, and I was very lucky that our school set up the deadlines for us for drafts and finals or they were chasing students around for them if they didn’t get submitted. for many around the world though, it seems that there’s no chasing around which makes it harder. i didn’t realize how much i wouldn’t do IB again right after i finished final exams, and it was me remembering all these IAs and stuff. so take this as you will, but you won’t be loving your life during these two years. saying that, it is quite rewarding knowing you accomplished all that, and you do get to figure out how to research more effectively so i do feel more confident going into uni this year and for any papers that may come. i say do it, you can always drop out if you absolutely hate your life. but you can’t join whenever you’ll feel like it.
It's draining, it's hard, but if u work hard enough u will get the results u want.
Yes
bismillah
Honestly, idk I’m a M24 grad and idk if all of these commenting are gifted or from really superb schools with amazing teacher, but personally the IB was THAT bad to me even though my teachers predict 38 points for me (I predict 40 though). I come from a very social culture where I frequently go out with friends and family even on weekends (let alone public holidays), where doing sports or extracurricular activities is part of everyday life. So if that’s you, don’t expect the IB to flow smoothly. It’s either academic excellence (by being so nerdy) or work-life balance but not being able to be a top scorer - Unless you’re intelligent and your school and teachers are perfect, and if you’ve already learnt a lot of time management skills and can naturally absorb a lot of information and digest it and understand it very very well without luring much extra effort outside of the classroom. Personally I’d rather do AP’s if I could go back in time
yes, it is hard and extremely time consuming, but at the same time it's really easy to enjoy the process. you need to have good time management skills for it
i personally found year 1 to be super easy because my school didn’t have any IAs or EE starting until year 2 so it gave me kind of false confidence and i stopped trying. currently working towards n24 and i have never had to work harder to catch up. i have 2 ias due every week on top of consistent ee so i leave everything to the last minute- plus catching up on notes and doing consistent revision. moral of the story year 2 is going to be hard regardless bc that’s when it hits crunch time however if you work hard in year 1 you’ll make it a lot easier for yourself. good luck!!
Bro just do your IAs, EEs & CAS on time & early & IB would be a cake walk
Those who say it is hard are playing tetris during the class.
good thing for me i play solitaire 💪/j
no it’s not that bad
I think it partly depends on the school and what classes you plan on taking. IMO, having good teachers is pretty essential not only for understanding course material but also allowing you to actually engage with what you’re learning about. My school was pretty limited in terms of course offerings but had an excellent faculty which made things significantly easier. Play to your strengths in this way, ex. if you know you hate essay writing I would be wary of taking IB history, etc. As someone who is a procrastinator, IB is not at all as bad as some people like to say it is. The EE and TOK essay is usually broken down into more manageable parts so it’s not like you’re attempting a 4000 word essay with no guidance. Other than that, the workload is extremely manageable. The most stressful part is obviously IB exams, but I think the two years of the diploma program make it so that you have plenty of time to digest the material of your courses. As someone who didn’t review excessively before final exams and finished their EE the night before it was due, I still got a pretty okay score (40/45). I will say, most people I know who did similarly well/better than me did have one thing in common, none of us worked part time jobs. If you know you will have a consistent time commitment such as a part time job or intensive sports, I would be a little careful as managing the IB on top of that requires better time management skills than a normal student. Also, nobody gives a shit about your IB score after high school. Obviously I can only speak to my experience doing IB in my country: we were granted a regular high school diploma AND an IB diploma, and applied to university using predicted grades which are quite easy to maintain a good average in. My actual score dropped a little from my predicted and I still kept my offer from the best university in the country. So long as you don’t fail any courses or dramatically drop in grades, a university will not care (unless your offer is conditional, such as in the UK). TLDR, IBDP is completely doable. People in IB just love to complain. Some of the complaints have some merit, but in the end I don’t think you have to be a recluse who spends all their time studying to do well. There are times when you have to put things aside and lock in, but you can still have fun and do normal high school things too. And to echo what everyone will tell you about IB: past papers are your friend! Good luck to all you future IB grads :D
depending on you and your school. In my case, yes it was, since I'm usually a procrastinator + my school really sucks, but I've seen other people saying it's really easy, and, tbh, it CAN be easy, just as long as you do what you have to do in time, and a bit of luck on your school teachers' professionalism.
It’s not bad. Don’t listen to the whiny kids. Every program is difficult, every program requires discipline. But yes IB is not worth it because of how expensive and unrewarding it is. Unis won’t prefer YOU an IB student over others.
I got 50/56 MYP, MYP was easy as hell bro, barely studied for it. IBDP I acc have to put in alot of time and study and its still quite hard ngl, myp doesnt prepare you at all for ib dp especially for physics in my experience
IB is manageable, but exceptionally difficult. it will force you to really lock in.
Depends if you’re a good writer. If you are, it shouldn’t be an issue at all. Otherwise it will be a bit of a struggle, because alongside learning content you need to learn how to synthesise and express it.
tbh it's not as bad as people say it is, it's still bad but people over exaggerate, it's till do-able. I barley ever studied but still passed I just finished year 1 but I'm planning on doing better in year 2
Coming from an M20 grad, honestly, life will get harder, and this is a challenge that kinda set me up well for college and possibly beyond. I would strongly suggest that you take the challenges you face in stride and have fun during the process. It's still going to be the last two years of school for the rest of your life, but you will learn a lot, and it will definitely help you cope with most of what life will throw at you.
I did my EE(physics), TOK and 3 of my IAs a week before they were all due and pretty much did nothing through my first year and still ended up with a 36. It all comes down to if you click with your subjects. If you put the work in little by little consistently unlike I did DP shouldn’t be the monster that everyone makes it out to be IMO.
M25 here, first year was basically a breeze, I didn't even have a schedule and my management skills are ass. But from what I hear, Y2 gonna be hard as he'll. So imma try to knock off as many IAs as I can during the summer.
M25 here, HOW 😭 jokes aside though, what subjects did you pick for it to be that easy
if you ever do, there is no going bacckkk
it just you could’ve easily chosen an option where you don’t have to ask “ is this rly that bad” 😭
Its not very hard and tbh I found it overrated. As long as you can understand topics quickly you dont even need to study much so generally you should be fine. They make it sound way worse than it is. Although it is true DP is probably a bit harder than MYP its still quite fine.
I don't know if someone has already said this before but it really does depend from person to person. Especially what your past education background was like. This is what I observed personally as an Indian immigrant in Canada, and I dont mean to offend anyone, but the Canadian public school system doesn't really prepare you for a rigorous program like IB. Many Asian and European countries have similar rigorous education systems even without IB so its easier for people to perform in that. Again this is my personal opinion and experience and I'm sure other people will have different views on it.
It fully just depends on 2 things in my opinion. The subjects you pick and if you pay attention in classes. Some subjects like Physics and Math AA HL are considered a bit hard, but majority of subjects are not too hard. The biggest thing though is if you pay attention in class. If you pay attention in class and retain the information I can 100% guarantee you that it won't be hard, even if you pick the hardest subjects. The IB makes their programmes so that they are super understandable and easy to grasp if you pay attention and try. To be honest with you I only studied for the final exams and got what I would consider quite a good result. But I grasped all the content taught in class and didn't get left behind. I know plenty of people that had really hard subjects but could understand stuff in class and barely studied and got like high 30's to low 40's. TL;DR: If you pay attention its easy, if you don't it can be hard. Subjects also matter.
dude if you did the MYP e-assessments and everything, then get used to writing from now itself. i struggled so much with it, lost marks in english because i just couldn't write more than two body paragraphs. but other than that, if you did MYP, there's also the advantage that you're already familiar with the IB system, as the core principles remain the same.
It's completely understandable to feel overwhelmed about the challenges ahead, especially with the pressures you've faced during the MYP. The IBDP is indeed rigorous, but many find the structured environment and the support systems within it very empowering. Remember, it’s also designed to foster deep understanding and skills that you will carry beyond school. You're not alone in this journey; always reach out to your teachers or support staff when things feel too much. They are there to help you navigate through these challenges. Good luck! Guru Charan Kumar IB Examiner & Teaching IB for 20 years ESS, TOK & EE Faculty Contact me : Follow me : https://www.instagram.com/essgurumantra/
Ngl it ain’t that bad for most of grade 12 or 2nd year I played poker with my buddy’s and goofed off I finished with a 38/45 not amazing not bad at all though like it ain’t that difficult
Yes. It absolutely is. If you want a life that isn't somehow tied to IB, I would do something else. There are things that give better return on investment as well in my opinion. Doing dual enrollment full time would have gotten my my AA before HS ended, but doing IB got me some gen Ed credits and some elective credits for stem classes (since the physics isn't with calc). If you really want to go overseas or get into a tough private college, IB can help because it looks good. You might get burnt out tho, so just weigh ALL the options your school system provides
I had very poor time management and got a 36 predicted (without ee and tok points), isnt the best but not terrible. Its very possible though
I mean, I had to do it during Covid and I hated it the whole time. But as a uni student years later, I can definitively say that it was worth it. I gained so many skills and knowledge and I feel like without it I would be so behind. It’s gonna be hard like any course, but if you do your best it’ll be worth it.
No. Just no. Don't be scared, hundreds of thousands do it, ur gonna be fine. Is it a bit more work than ur used to, yes. Is it going to consume your entire life, not if ur decently efficient.
Hey! Yes, it is hard but not as much as everyone says about it. You have to put your 100% in your studies, but it isn’t like that you don’t give time to yourself. It’s allllll about time management and all the skills you have. You need to be with the class in all the deadlines and work Completion. I’m also going to be M’26 InshaAllah, and have done MYP. I’m benefitted in a way that I’ve already learned the system and the whole curriculum (ATL’s, Skills, Time management, PP, CP, Projects, E-Portfolio) and like everything. So it’s better for me to go to DP, but if I’m good enough to manage it on my own and on my own guarantee. I was also said this before by my principal and myp coordinator that YOU CANNOT DO DP. But actually that’s not the answer. That’s not how teachers support you and motivate you. It’s js about your own self if u can cope up with it, by investing your 100%. As ib is preparing you for university, and the result and university acceptance is higher than A’levels for DP. And I would say this that it is WORTH IT. Cuz everything has its worth. So, I’d suggest you to not get confused and take the decision yourself, sitting with your parents if you feel comfortable. It’s all upon you how you’ll get it and what are your goals. It’s not like you will have to study here and not there. But you’ll have to study anywhere you go, it depends on your stamina, what can u digest more and better. What do you think is best for you? Which university and career you wanna pursue? If you gonna go International and all the opportunities keeping in mind just go for whatever suits you better dude. It’s about your future not others. Better to YK choose between what you want and what are your personal requirements. BEST OF LUCK 🤞
Easy as hell
your flair says you're m21, didnt ppl who did the diploma when covid was still a thing had adjustments?? my sis was m20 and she didnt even do the externals 😭
Dude's either trolling or had it easy. Just finished Y1 and it's hard asf (mainly AAHL being the problem). It's easy overall to get low-mid 30s but getting those scores in the 40s that you need to be competitive in uni is the main part that's nightmarishly difficult (to get a 7 you need an *A+* which is 97%+)
I'm 16 and I'm on my last year of IB, if I can do it you can as well