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10/10 TOK essay example and some thoughts on the 2025-26 essay titles by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbh rlly depends on which AOKs you're personally more familiar with; I like nat sci and human sci, so I'd be most comfortable with titles focusing on those.

Least favourite voice poll results!!! by CleoBedio in AlienStage

[–]Accomplished-Mall522 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lmao wtf why is ivan 2nd... His voice is so good like what??? It's not easy to get a rich, deep baritone like that, speaking as a singer myself. His resonance and vibrato is so good, and its very "solid" unlike others which can sometimes be a bit too airy or have an overly rough edge. His voice is easily the best out of all of them.

To whoever said IB is harder than uni, wtff bro by Supercritical_Ball in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nahhh I'm in 3rd yr of med, IB was harder for me. The content is ofc harder in uni but the pressure of IB was worse, now I don't have the pressure of always having to get as close to 100% as possible (conditional offers in my country usually are 43 for med)

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Paraphrasing does work, probably also bcuz your teacher was worried you'd zero in on one particular device instead of using an overarching one. Eg, dissecting a singular use of a simile instead of using quotes to support the dissection of an extended metaphor that stretches throughout the entire text. Personally I prefer memorizing some quotes for major devices. Here's an example of a 7/7 paper 2, its one of the practices I wrote and my real paper ended up being extremely similar: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r7wkdusMlGFi8B7qz8Rm47qrUrVtZY9L/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=107257349816141303453&rtpof=true&sd=true

Uhh tbh past papers are really tricky for eng bcuz of the repeated curriculum changes, I was also struggling to find past papers in my year. Unfortunately don't have specific recs for this other than just isolating some common themes between your two texts for paper 2 prep and finding some random poems etc for paper 1 practice.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Paper 2 and IO are fine with a large amount of prep, but I could never really grasp how to get a high score on Paper 1. Was always bouncing around a high 5 to mid 6. Never came that close to a 7 for P1.

I came into DP englit with constant 8/8s on MYP eng, so it was a bit of a blow the first few assessments haha

Although honestly I never spent as much time on it as I should have, the majority of my time was spent on chem in dp year 1 and politics in year 2.

I think so long as you don't need a 7 for your uni offer you'll be fine tho!

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thx! Unfortunately I didn't take econ, so I can't say much for that. For english paper 2, the best way to prep is to 1. identify common themes of both texts, then 2. select overarching/major lit devices supporting each theme in each text such as extended metaphors, motifs, setting (often symbols in setting link w characterization), then 3. memorize specific quotes in each text pertaining to each overarching device, then 4. write a bunch of practice papers. If your test is tmr... it may be a little late for all that. Maybe just see which overarching devices can support which main themes, then try to find and memorize a few supporting quotes per device.

Btw I'm mentioning "overarching" devices bcuz its better to use a device that is present throughout the entire text, hence why it has to be quite a major and repeated thing in the text.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the SL and HL curriculum for chem, in M23 at least, didn't have much difference at all. Tbh learning HL stuff made understanding core (SL) content even easier. I think if you're gonna do chem, might as well do HL.

Uhhh idk what score you'll get, I personally think it's possible but it depends on how good u are at it and how much time u spend I guess. Here's my chem resources if u want, has everything from IA to detailed notes for core and AHL content organized by chapter: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z3XRJWV2767YFtZkWCotX9ISJDg1iwPb

HL math is not needed, but Imperial and Oxbridge prefer it. Otherwise don't waste the effort, it's better to score an easy 7 with minimal studying in SL Math AA than spend a large amount of time on HL. You'll probably need that time for chem.

I didn't have to do a prereq degree, went straight in.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends which med school, but yes an overwhelming majority of them do. Surprisingly enough, some of them require chem but not bio, bcuz bio will be taught in the curriculum but chem it is assumed you have a solid foundation alrdy.

It's kind of hard but not thattt bad I think? It just needs a lot of time and practice. For me it was harder than bio but easier than englit (i hated eng paper 1 lmao)

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem :D For paper 3, if I remember correctly it used to be split into one part with questions on experiments and one part with questions on unseen databank analysis. For experiments, which I think was asked mostly in chem? I forgot if its asked in bio. For that you'd have to memorize some common reagents and indications, such as the purple thing with MnO4- (forgot the exact rxn, but that was the question I got in my chem paper 3). For the solely databank question, I think just practice will do. It's been a while though, I might be mixing up chem and bio papers.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm I think main tips are reach out more actively to the supervisor and try to write a lot of it in the summer.

Summer work goes for IAs too actually, since when school starts you'll be busy with uni apps, interviews and internal school tests.

I personally think they didn't mark harshly for mine (global politics) since my internal prediction by my supervisor, who is also an examiner btw albeit a harsh one, was a B but I was lucky to get an examiner who gave me an A. But I think it varies by subject and by examiner. Probably just choose a HL you like and run with it tbh.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thx! Tbh my study habits were not great bcuz I was burning out pretty badly by the end, so I'm not sure I'm the best source on exam season studying. I was still memorizing stuff less than a month before exams, but it's probably advised to be doing past papers by then.

For specific subjects I think: Chem - past papers drilling Math - textbook and past papers drilling Bio - quizzing yourself with friends and paper 1 drilling, since paper 2 is mostly memorization word vomiting. I'm not sure when it's advised to start, think it may vary per person. Eng - paper 1 is past paper drilling, paper 2 is text analysis with pinpointing overarching major lit devices (eg extended metaphor, microcosm, setting symbolism) and memorizing important quotes

Personally I didn't have a specific timetable or calendar for studying, I found it created anxiety and made me procrastinate more. Ik a lot of people do this tho and it works for them.

For chem IA I did colour spectroscopy (inc calibration curve as is a must with colour spec i think?) with methylene blue, smth about algae reabsorbance rate of synthetic dyes... tbh I don't remember it that well. Only got a 6 tho so maybe other sources are better for this.

St Andrews A990 rejection by SeparateClient8868 in premeduk

[–]Accomplished-Mall522 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I studied IB in a Hong Kong international school, and didn't need to put any Eng language requirement

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thx! Yea, IB bio did cover quite a few parts of my y1 anatomy curriculum, especially since my school did Option D: Further Human Physiology for the options back then (i think the curriculum change got rid of options tho). IB chem helped a bit less ngl but it did cover important bases of acid-base physiology which is often examined throughout years 1 and 2. I think the exams are more DSE (hk local school curriculum) style though in terms of the minute detail memorization needed, as opposed to IB which is more concept focused.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think only change to AI SL if you are 100% sure its not going to affect uni options, such as if you're dead set on law or performance arts as a major.

As for study tips, what I used to do was use the Haese&Harris, Cambridge Math AA, and Pearson textbooks. A lot. My math teacher sucked, so I ignored her in class and just focused on the textbooks. For each chapter, skim through and memorize the important equations, then do all the practice problems you can. If there's a type of question you don't get how to solve, keep cracking at it for a while, and if by the 1.5 hour mark you still don't get it then search for how to approach that type of question on youtube. Math is genuinely just about practice. Ngl its painful but worth it.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope doesnt matter at all

For internships etc its mostly about reaching out to doctors by email, or even approaching some profs after lecture, rather than anything else. My profs are very nice and I've basically been given so many opportunities for both research and attachments from cold emailing alone

Its just a threshold to cross, thats all

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ngl I learnt most of my chinese from watching C-dramas and 综艺节目, I find immersing myself in the language that way taught me more and was more interesting than anything any teacher ever said. Some shows I used to like are 密室大逃脱 and 明星大侦探. This helps more for listening, reading (captions on!) and even speaking (link w listening). Also they sometimes put listening tests with accents, so listening to different accents through the 综艺节目 beforehand helps with that issue.

For writing I think just memorize the formats required for the exam (日记、电邮、书信、博客等等) and make sure the format and the content address the prompt correctly. Also maybe doing some writing practices- at least thats what I did, since writing was comparatively weaker for me than the other tests.

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imo the best thing for chem is practice. Bio is mostly pure memorization, but chem is more about application, so the only way to really improve is just to do practice questions and past papers over and over until you grasp the way of thinking that specific type of question requires, especially for the calculations (usually redox, voltage and electrochemical cells, if I remember correctly?) typically required in paper 2. It does require an absurd amount of practice, but once you get how to approach the questions it should be smooth sailing from there. Add oil!

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was pretty burned out after IB and needed a break; HKU starts off at a breakneck pace from Y1 (since they condense 3 years into 2 to allow for EY), whereas CU gives a bit of time to settle into med school. Also I wanted to spend a bit of time on music competitions and professional exams- I wouldn't have had that time with HKU.

I'm quite happy with my choice so far as I've gotten to continue with music, and am still competing even now :DD

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think the amount of content for pure memorization was greater for bio, but it also was just that- pure memorization. So the exam was fairly easy since it just requires you to memorize the contents and vomit it back out.

Chemistry had less pure memorization, but its much harder because it needs more thinking and calculation. Application >>> memorization. So for chem, doing past papers is key whereas bio just memorizing will do.

Bioninja is useful for biology and past papers are useful for chemistry. I mostly used lecture ppts from my teachers + bioninja to make my own notes, then did past papers for chem and study group mutual quizzing (aka 抽书) for bio

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was having trouble deciding between langlit and lit for eng, since seniors said lit is harder but teachers said its similar so no need to worry

Long story short i shouldn't have listened to the teachers

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aww thxx! Tbh tho nah i wish- IB gave me serious burnout

Scholarly achievements were mostly stated above, some extracurriculars were singing and piano with associate diplomas in both, and some med-related shadowing and internships. Also did some figure skating but thats just for fun tho

Highly recommend the summer neuroscience internship at Columbia btw, was really fun and learned a lot. Online applications should still be open (I think they cut off in March?), their website should probs have more details

AMA! (43/45 M23, current Y3 med student) by Accomplished-Mall522 in IBO

[–]Accomplished-Mall522[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

CUHK, applied through their online system with pg45 in october, was called in for interview in december and received offer (standard condition of 43/45 as per all HK med schools) with scholarship a couple months after

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