#studybeehs

[quistudies]

Do everything in advance - I did my history IA over junior year, my Bio and Physics IA over the summer, and my Math IA during Christmas break. I finished my first draft of the EE by the first day of senior year. This lets your supervisors really delve deep into your material and give you meaningful feedback to help you later edit it. Because I did everything so early, I wasn’t rushing to finish my IB coursework and I had more time to work on college applications and interview prep.

Pace yourself - this point follows the previous lines of thought. I knew people who wanted to chill for a night or two but then were left scrambling the next few days as they now had 6 hours of work to catch up on. For both years in the IB, I was able to go to sleep at 10 pm. It is not impossible. You just need to do at least an hour of work every night and work every weekend. Do not leave yourself with 3 days off and 4 days of anxious and mind-numbing hours of work.

Make study schedules - these saved me during mock exams and the May ones as well. Studying on the fly works fine if you have one or two tests in a week, but once it becomes one or two tests in a day for a while, it’s helpful to have designated times to study materials. However, you have to make sure you stick with them. I always started my studying at 9 or 10 because I knew realistically that at 8, my mind would not be awake enough to study.

Take notes on what the teacher says and writes - if your teacher doesn’t give you materials or notes, then you will most likely already be doing this. However, for some of my classes, the teachers gave us notes that were not always sufficient. Often times, the teacher would mention something offhandedly which came up later in the real exams. Make sure you pay attention and write down everything, even if it’s tedious. When you get home, you can organize your notes better.

Use the textbooks - In biology and physics, my teachers made their own notes and rarely used the textbooks. This may have been a good idea to help students understand the concepts in a different way, but often handicapped us for mock exams as not all of the textbooks were used in their notes. If you have access to IB textbooks, it’s worth it to skim through the pages and write your own notes on concepts you teachers may not have covered. The IB is notorious for testing on the tiniest of details. 

Research, research, research - doing the IB means doing loads and loads of research,  whether it be from the simplest essays to your long-drawn and hard-fought EE. You need to understand how to research. I’ll make another post about this but here’s my quick advice: use the footnotes. Not getting what you need from the source? Check the titles of the books or articles in their footnotes/bibliography. This gives you more research to work from and will lead to less frantic googling and more in depth work.

Pick IA and EE topic according to your interests - these essays will take a big chunk of your time. If you are not interested in them, they will be tedious, especially the extended essay. Finding IA and EE topics was probably my least favourite part of the IB. I was stressed out and could not find anything for the longest time, and that’s okay. I found my topic for my biology late in my junior year, but I was one of the first to finish - don’t be scared that the timelines will come to get you, because if you keep on track and finish in a timely manner you will be fine. The best way to finish earlier is to be interested in your essays.

And that’s all that I can think up right now on the top of my head! I will be adding a post about research soon because that was probably the most essential part of my high school journey and what was the most useful in my EE.

[breeatlarge-blog]

As a former IB-centric studyblr (see Exhibit A here), I think that it is fair to say that I am a pretty strong IB advocate. There was nothing I loved more than pushing drafts of my Extended Essay at my mentor, complaining about CAS reflections and pretending to understand the complexities of TOK. But as May rolled around and my confidence in my abilities began to roll into July, I was in for the shocked of my life: instead of passing the program with my predicted academic achievement of 34/45, I just passed the program entirely, finishing with a score of 28/45. I was pretty shocked to say the least. As a toast to my astonishing academic feat, fake philosophy TOK and CAS social statuses on ManageBac: here’s 6 things I learned from almost failing IB, one point for every one that I lost in final exams.

Your grades do not define who you are: 80% exams and 20% moderated internal assessments? Where is the value in that classwork, discussion and studying? Is it all down the drain from here? Chemistry maybe. (Just a joking art-business student here.) Something that I really learned to appreciate is the versatility and application of studies that IB ingrains in their students. A combination of luck and talented teachers, my love for economics and business stems almost entirely from classroom discussions and case studies in Economics HL. I knew that business studies were for me as soon as I finished my first commentary.

Measure your pride not in how others judge your success, but in how you feel you have progressed: I think over the course of my two years in this program, I submitted over 4 drafts of my work to my Extended Essay mentor. While most students groan at the thought of a credit-less assignment, I could not be more excited to explore something I was interested in academically, not to mention having the motivation and opportunity to share it with others. At my graduation ceremony when I was asked to share the thing I was most proud of, I did not hesitate to say my Extended Essay. Does it suck to go from a B to a D? Absolutely. But that doesn’t discount the fact that I worked my ass off on that paper and I know that my mentor loved what I wrote. I gained a greater appreciate for literature and anthropology and honestly right now: that’s all I really need.

Don’t judge the dropouts: I will not be the first to admit that IB students sometimes have an elitist attitude when it comes to academics (especially compared to AP and regular program students). Sure, my program may be internationally-focused, but that’s no more than a few works in translation books in literature class or case studies in economics. At the end of the day, external markers control 100% of your grade (IAs are moderated, do not ever forget it) and if you’re like me, those same AP or regular program students you were putting down probably graduated with a higher average than you.

Your teachers are human too: One of my favorite things about IB is that everyone really is a team working together to have a greater success rate. It’s rarely you versus your teacher. I graduated knowing that my teachers did the best they could possibly do for me and it’s such a toss up what results in the end.

Keep your personal life on hold during the academic season: One of my biggest regrets for several reasons is that right around exams, I had a major falling out with my best friend and confidante of four years. It sucked, as most breakups do, but the worst part is that when I should have been focusing more on studying, I could barely get out of bed. Friendships are forever until nobody talks anymore and those grades that got you into university could have also resulted in making new friends.

Choose your friends diversely: So my strength is in languages and social sciences, but the way I designed my IB program focused heavily on the natural sciences and engineering. My closest friends and I were complete opposites which made up for great conversations and interesting perspectives. Through them, I gained a deep appreciation for science and mathematics. Even though these subjects may not be my favourites, I will always look to them with an open mind.

What advice would you share with high school students about your experience? I know that really hit home for me is the ability to reflect and journal. (Damn CAS for actually teaching me something useful in the end!)

Follow me on Tumblr

Continue the conversation via Disqus

More of my original content

Other advice posts

Other text posts

[ffemmes]

You should try some of cliniques products for acne, blemishes and scars! Especially the toners x

ive heard good things about their products!! i’ll check them out, thanks!!! 💞

[studivore-blog]

Here is a masterpost that i have created for you. It has a lot of printables that would help you become more organised in your school year.

Yearly Calendars

2017 yearly overview. By @emmastudies

2017 yeary overview. By @arystudies

2017 yearly overview. By @thearialligraphyproject

2017 yearly overview. By @apricot-studies

2017 yearly overview. By @ennui-for-me

2017 yearly calendar. By @thearialligraphyproject

2017 yearly calendar. By @emmastudies

2017 yearly calendar. By @aestudier

Weekly Planners

Weekly planner. By @arystudies

Weekly planner. By @boligraff

Weekly planner. By @studyquill

Weekly planner. By @eintsein

Weekly planner. By @studeying

Weekly planner. By @emmastudies

Weekly planner. By @natastudies

Weekly planner. By @studylittlestar

Weekly planner. By @vestiblr

Daily Planners

Daily planner. By @arystudies

Daily planner. By @studeying

Daily planner. By @kay-law

Daily planner. By @euphoricstudying

Daily planner. By @boligraff

Daily planner. By @cmpsbls

Daily planner. By @scholarc

To Do Lists

To do list. By @arystudies

To do list. By @scholarc

To do list. By @miennstudies

To do list. By @studeying

To do list. By @thearialligraphyproject

To do list. By @boligraff

To do list. By @aescademic

Homework Planners

Homework planner. By @boligraff

Homework planner. By @sabrinstudies

Assignment tracker. By @milicastudyblr

Assignment checklist. By @studyingbrains

Studying Schedules

Studying schedule. By @aescademic

Studying schedule. By @cmpsbls

Studying schedule. By @emmastudies

Project Planners

Project planner. By @boligraff

Project planner. By @exohypernova

Project planner. By @studybeehs

Project planner. By @petiteprune

Project planner. By @educatier

Exam Schedules

Exam schedule. By @aescademic

Exam schedule. By @intellectys

Exam schedule. By @cmpsbls

Topics Outline

Topics to revise. By @aescademic

Topics outline. By @intellectys  

Topics to study. By @cmpsbls

Topic summary. By @brainiakk

Exam Trackers

Exam tracker. By @mildstudies

Exam tracker. By @milicastudyblr

Exam tracker. By @nonastudies

Grade Trackers

Grade tracker. By @scholarc

Grade tracker. By @aescademic

Habit Trackers

Habbit tracker. By @sabrinstudies

Habit tracker. By @cmpsbls

Habit tracker. By @milicastudyblr

Habbit tracker. By @mincrvas

Study Lists

Study list. By @intellectys

Study list. By @aestudier

Vocabulary Lists

Vocabulary list. By @aescademic

Vocabulary list. By @vik-studyblr

Vocabulary list. By @thearialligraphyproject

Vocabulary list. By @cmpsbls

Vocabulary list. By @brainiakk

Formula Lists

Formula list. By @exohypernova

Formula list. By @cmpsbls

Formula list. By @milicastudyblr

Formula list. By @brainiakk

Formula list. By @aestudier

Misc

Essay writing list. By @ennui-for-me

Back to school printables. @lycheestudy

School supplies list. By @intellectys

Binder Inserts. By @golddotsandtatertots

Pomodoro printables. By @cmpsbls

Cursive handwriting cheat sheet. By @emmastudies

Normal handwriting cheat sheet. By @emmastudies

100 days of productivity. By @emmastudies

Class info. By @milicastudyblr

Pro cons sheet for studying. By @aestudier

Summer study challenge. By @studyquill

Summer study challenge posts. By @studyquill

[narasstudyblr-blog]

Hi everyone! I’m Nara and I’m a freshman at college studying a BSc in biological sciences in the UK! My previous studyblr was studybeehs, but I accidentally deleted it so I decided to make a new studyblr! I was planning on starting a new studyblr for university anyway as a fresh start :) I’ll be posting a variety of things ranging from notes to masterposts and tips. 

I’m an IB alumna, and in my previous blog I posted and answered asks related to the IB with tips and resources, but because the account got deleted I will remake my previous posts and update them! If you guys have specific requests for masterposts or anything feel free to message me :)

Some of my inspirations are:

@intellectys, @elkstudies, @mvths, @studyrelief​, @sprouht-studies​, @stvdybuddies​, @studyinginstyle​ and many more!

-Nara xx

[rivkahstudies]

Hi, what IB courses are you doing? And do you have any tips for a future IB student? I am starting in a week 😅

Hi sweetie!!

First, I’m taking this year:

SL Math Studies II

HL Biology III

SL Spanish IV (B)

HL English IV

HL Visual Arts II

HL Contemporary (20th century) History 

Theory of Knowledge II

Here are some posts I’ve done on tips for IB:

advice applicable for both pre-IB and IB

on which math to take

how the heck logical reasoning in TOK works

a general crash course to surviving

Advice by others:

@busybby​ gave advice on everything, I added a little at the bottom

@sciencescribbles talks about succeeding from someone who got 45 points for their diploma (you only need 24, but we like high numbers so colleges give us credit!)

@review-raven31 talks about surviving the exams

@studybeehs posts about getting 5s and 6s on the IB Biology exam

If I were to summarize: stay on top of your work, admit when you don’t know what’s going on, study a subject at least once a week even without tests, ask plenty of questions, and don’t go through it alone. I’m not going to lie, it’s difficult as hell, but as long as you balance yourself, don’t take on as many extracurriculars as I have (I’m president of 2 clubs, in 3 more, and I have a part time job), and ask for help when you need it, you can get through it.

Come to me if you need to cry, scream, rant, ask questions, get advice on any of the assessments you will encounter, or just study with me. I’m an IB senior this year, and I managed to get everything that was required of me done last year and pass my teacher-given exams.

*** If you don’t know much about the details of IB (how exams work, points, etc), PLEASE send me another ask because there’s so much but it’s so important to know.

Thanks for asking honey!

[intellectys]

kratos and zelos

kratos; your favorite stationery

uniball rt gel 0.38 all the way!! they are SUCH GOOD PENS i love them (but only occasionally bc they are darn expensive)

otherwise, i’d pick some clasic bic 0.7 mechanical pencils :D

zelos; your favorite studyblr accounts

((((lowkey SO difficult lmao)))) but um @etudiance, @mvths, @leahrning, @obsidianstudy, @studybeehs, @educatier, @studyplants, @studyquill, @studyfeather, @allydsgn, @studypetals, @thegrangersapprentice, @studypride, @academla, @academiix, @athenus and all the others that i’m sure i’m forgetting rn??

[kay-law]

five things tag

Tagged by: @sunrisestudies

RULES: TAG 15 people

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

1. chapstick

2. headphones

3. pens

4. sticky notes

5. my evil eye charm

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom:

1. books everywhere lol

2. mirrors! (i have 3)

3. a water bottle

4. snacks hidden in my desk

5. filing cabinet full of old essays and misc school things

5 things I’ve always wanted to do:

1. travel

2. move on my own

3. get a tattoo

4. pierce my bellybutton

5. take a baking/cake decorating class

5 things that make me feel happy:

1. sunshine

2. traveling

3. listening to music

4. finding that perfect spot in the library

5. sitting by the fort

5 things I’m currently into: 

1. listening to my middle school playlist lol

2. getting into bullet journaling

3. playing league of legends

4. watching that’s 70s show reruns

5. designing more printables

5 things on my to-do list:

1. finish the summer semester

2. get my driver’s license

3. finish designing my planner

4. buy law school textbooks

5. grocery shopping

I tag: (and sorry if you’ve already been tagged/don’t want to do it!) @academiere, @senestudies, @bluelahe, @acataemic, @peachystudy, @lawandcoffee, @studybeehs, @geekstudy, @notesworthtea, @jhonstudies, @studierr, @boba-studies, @bookmocha, @izzystudies, and @uglystudies

[izzystudies]

OMG the textbook you're using for IB Psychology was written by the Psych teacher at our school :D x

WHAT. Omg that’s actually really cool. 

[quistudies]

Step 1: Identify your topic. Arguably the most important step in any research project is to understand your topic and where you want to go with the subject. So: break the subject down. I’ll give you an example of what I did for my major research project in 11th and 12th grade. My question was “Cognitive Agency: Does It Exist and What Are Its Ethical Implications?” So, the first step was to break down the topic of cognitive agency - what is it? What do the words means separately and then together? As it was also a philosophy paper, I had to delve into what “existence” meant. After some preliminary research on the topic, we can move forward into what direction we want to take the research in.

Step 2: Find a direction. Many students realize too late that their research wasn’t adequately focused or only had an idea for a topic and didn’t know what to do with it. That’s fine; it is better to ask what direction you want to take your research in now rather than later. As I did preliminary research on the topic to identify my subject, I had read some points of weakness in the cognitive agency theory. From there, I decided I wanted to focus the paper on three ideas: defining the concept, analyzing its potential existence, and applying it to modern-day philosophy. Often times, when you read a bit more on the subject, you will find similarity between what numerous researchers or authors say. Or, perhaps you’ll find where they contradict and latch onto that. Either way, delving a bit more into the subject before you organize your ideas into a structure is a good way to find a direction to you paper.

Step 3: Organize your thoughts. Now that you know your topic and direction and have done a bit of research into it, you can organize your thoughts into headings and subheadings. As I had found that there were three contexts in which to “prove” my theory and three potential fields and ideas of philosophy that would be impacted by cognitive agency, I made my layout so that there were three major headings: definition, existence, and impact with three subheadings each. This helped me focus my research on each part. It also helped me later make a research schedule in which I did research and wrote a part of the essay every day according to the subheadings. While this isn’t necessarily as important, naming the headings and subheadings can be another way to focus your research and stop you from opening books or articles that seem to coincide with your topic but doesn’t really.

Step 4: Bulk of research - break it down. This is the biggest step in all of the process and generally what students dread the most. Going through dozens of academic journals and books can seem tedious. However, carefully annotating and checking for footnotes is a sure way to make sure the research you are doing is important to your actual essay/thesis. Make sure to pace yourself and not do all of your research in one week and burn yourself out.

Step 5: Writing and Researching. One advice I got when I was beginning my thesis in high school was to research first and write later. However, I don’t agree with that method. Personally, I was able to work better when I researched a bit, wrote a bit, and then researched more. When I was done with subheading, I reread over what I wrote now that I saw the full picture and made the according edits. This worked better for me because I was able to write down specific details I would not have remembered if I researched first and then wrote the whole subheading. Once you understand the structure of your research paper, then you can allocate different parts for different days. This leaves you with sufficient time to write and research a chunk each day.

Step 6: Proofread. After you have finished writing and researching the paper, your energy will be sapped. However, you should spend a day simply going over the paper and checking the flow and spelling. Sometimes when you break down your research paper into parts and write it in bits and pieces, you’ll find that it does not flow very well. Proofreading is necessary to eliminate that.

This process can take weeks to months to years, but it’s important to never give up. You may be running into a wall in any of the steps, but remember to then widen your scope of research to filter in new ideas and perhaps even take your research paper a whole new direction. I knew people who did a great job with their research papers and didn’t narrow down question until they were almost done/done. These steps have been how I have navigated through research, but everyone is different. You may like to research all first and then write or not specify the topic entirely until the end.

Resources:

Here are some links where I was able to find some of my academic journals (sorry this is a bit centric on what I used for my thesis in high school)

For all subjects: 

JSTOR ; 

Academia * ; 

Google Books * (do not underestimate this! Sometimes whole books are published here and only miss a couple of sections)  ; 

Questia ; 

Frontiers * ; 

Directory of Open Access Journals *

For science: National Center for Biotechnology * 

For philosophy: Philpapers *

*Can be free downloads

If anyone knows anymore resources please add them!

[studyplants]

hii this is for the br: do you watch pretty little liars? You should watch a few eps, it's such a good show! x

I haven’t yet, but i’ll add it to my list!

url: frankenstein // vampire // black cat // ghost // witchicon: frankenstein // vampire // black cat // ghost // witchtheme: frankenstein // vampire // black cat // ghost // witchposts: frankenstein // vampire //  black cat // ghost // witchfollowing? no(t yet) | I am now | of course!!

spooky blogrates no more please!! just finishing the ones in my inbox

[ibastudyblr]

Ok so I'm starting the IB as of tomorrow and I'm taking HL Chemistry and freaking out about it. I have never considered myself fit for any science related stuff and me taking the class now is, well, maybe not so well thought out. Anyways, the point's I've never rly paid that much attention to chemistry and... Well. Things I should know, resources, advice, anything about HL Chem?

Hi thanks for your question!

Chemistry HL is notorious for being a course that requires a lot of dedication and commitment and as someone who is in her second half of the course, it does require a lot of additional study. Despite what my schedule might indicate to my viewers, I am not a science-centered individual at all in fact, I definitely prefer (and excel in) my arts’ courses over my science ones. Due to this fact, I have a ton of great resources I can share with you as well as advice and additional tips! If anyone can add anything new to the discussion, please feel free to rb this post with your own advice especially if you have successfully completed the course!

Advice

Do not expect to excel in assessments: This was probably the hardest thing for me to accept last year, especially as a student who previously encountered little to no issues with chemistry. IB is very nit-picky about how assessments are addressed in Group 4, specifically with the way answers are provided by students. For assessments, teachers are provided with criteria as specific as keyword indicators and/or full sentences for full marks and without including these key phrases in your answers, you will not get full marks. In addition to this, IB has their own repertoire of definitions and language for the sciences that are a requirement for usage in the course. For instance, IB has their own definition of defining cooling and heating as well as chemistry-related words as ionization. (Trust me, these are not the everyday-definitions you would expect and prefer.) When responding to prompts, you must adhere to these definitions and language for even the most basic of marks. As such, scoring high consistently in assessments can be difficult. 

Resources (+ my personal notes!)

Richard Thornley’s IB Chemistry: This guy is the MVP of the IB Chemistry world and provides detailed video tutorials, how-tos and instruction related to the chemistry curriculum.  

Textbooks: My school uses the Oxford 2014 edition for lessons, but I prefer the Pearson Baccalaureate edition for study. If you have the opportunity to, “shop-around” for a textbook that suits your personal study time and with the curriculum across the board being identical, it’ll help you succeed. (Remember to make sure you are choosing resources with the most updated curriculum though! Since the publication of this post it was last updated for the 2016 examinations.)  

Chemistry guide: This guide is a thorough outline to the lessons to pay attention to and those you can summarize in a few lines. What I like to do for review of every chapter/unit of study is match my personal notes and textbook lessons to the guidelines listed in this document to determine what’s important to know for assessments and what’s just a fun-fact. I reorient/rewrite/curate my notes to match the guide prior to every unit assessment and in the end I’ll have a stack of notes perfect for final examination review!

@sciencescribbles Chemistry HL notes: This is a great resource for quick, beautifully drawn reminders and summaries of the syllabus. 

Your fellow IB peers: Some students find that Chemistry HL comes to them fairly naturally and if an opportunity arises, ask them if you can study with them for the next assessment or you can peer-review together. Trust me, this can be a lifesaver! I’ve included a link to @katsdesk and @studiversal‘s STUDYBLR INDEX, more specifically to the IB section of the blog which includes a list of IB subjects and bloggers that have experience in those classes and can offer you additional advice/resources/notes if you send them a message!

Additional IB Resources

General IB DP Masterpost

Tagged IB content

Hope this helps ~

[pens-pencils-planners-blog]

for the br: how are youu?? :D

I’m quite alright, thanks for askin’! 

url: okay | nice | bomb af | *!!! goals tbh!!!* | absolute most bomb diggety thing that has ever graced my presence

icon: okay | nice | bomb af | !!! goals tbh!!! | *absolute most bomb diggety thing that has ever graced my presence*

theme: okay | nice | bomb af | *!!! goals tbh!!!* | absolute most bomb diggety thing that has ever graced my presence

content: okay | nice | bomb af | !!! goals tbh!!! | *absolute most bomb diggety thing that has ever graced my presence*

overall: okay | nice | *bomb af | !!! goals tbh!!!* | absolute most bomb diggety thing that has ever graced my presence

following: no, sorry, not exactly my type | no, but I love you anyways! | already am | *I am now! | till death do us part*

Super nice and study aesthetic content! Really pretty and nic blog in general, totes following!

[etudiance]

heyy, i was wondering why is there a time limit to the applications? Like isn't this supposed to be all inclusive, and so people who might create studyblrs later could still join, or people who didnt know about the network. I mean they're still graduating in 2017, and since there's no size limit, it could potentially be open for late applications as well? :D

hello! we’re actually going to reopen apps after a short break, just so we can have more admins taking care of everything & maintain overall organization for the net lol but don’t worry, they’re will definitely be more opportunities to apply in the future!!

[kay-law]

for the br: I really like aesthetic printables! Like whether it's really pretty headers, pictures, or anything. Like minimalistic but not too much so that it's not boring. :) x

ahh that’s good to hear, i was wondering what people thought about not just practicable, but also aesthetically pleasing printables! i’m a bit (way more than a bit lol) minimalist, but i’m trying to experiment with fonts and colors and things, so maybe i’ll create something cute soon! :-)

url: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎) 🐝 icon: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎)theme: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎) !!!  content: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎)original posts: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎)overall: (✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎ ✏︎)following: (yes) / no / am now

you might be perfect, just saying. (also you’re intp, and i’m intj which is pRETTY COOL! lmfao)

want a br?

[studypool]

br: hii! :)

hello! URL: okay | nice | pretty | beautiful | OH MY GOD PERFECT ＼`•̀益•́´／ |icon: okay | nice | pretty | beautiful | OH MY GOD PERFECT ＼`•̀益•́´／ |original content: okay | nice | pretty | beautiful | OH MY GOD PERFECT ＼`•̀益•́´／ | theme:  okay | nice | pretty | beautiful | OH MY GOD PERFECT ＼`•̀益•́´／ |overall: okay | nice | pretty | beautiful | OH MY GOD PERFECT ＼`•̀益•́´／ |following: no but i still love you ♥ | followed now! | always and forever!!!! blograte? (〃´∀｀〃)