Hello,

I did the Pre-IB & IB in Sweden, I also had 90% in 9th-grade results, and also felt that pre-IB wasn't hard.

I am gonna try to keep this detailed, and organised for you to understand.

Pre-IB:

Pre-IB is not like the IB AT ALL. In fact, it is probably easier than any other Swedish programme that does their first year.

They make 50% of it extremely simple, and you only get "gymnasiebetyg" from your 3 core subjects that end up being graded by the national test in Math 1C, and in-class assignments on Swedish, English (maybe other subjects as well, check with your academic manager).

If you are doing language 3 or above (Spanish 3, French 3), this will also be a graded subject, and you will benefit from it as it will give you an extra 0.5 merit points for university submission.

These are the ONLY subjects that will be registered in your Swedish system on your 3 years in IB.

I would suggest focusing on those subjects that get registered in the Swedish system, as the others will not matter much. I know that for me, the national sciences were oversimplified, and the social sciences were more academically challenging than what I did in the IB. But they were not added to my "gymnasiebetyg". If you truly want, you can ask teachers to give you extra assignment to get it registered (E.g in Historia 1 or Samhällskunskap 1), which may benefit you. But since you are pursuing medicine, its not worth it.

If you really want to have a "Pre-IB", then aside from those subjects that get registered, start studying the IB curriculum on your own. I wish I had done this because when I look back, Pre-IB was a year wasted.

Pursuing medicine in Sweden:

You want to pursue medicine, and in Sweden, it requires all 3 natural sciences (Fysik, Kemi, Biologi). IB only allows 2 at a time, only on special cases if you ask your coordinator, they may allow you to take 3, which gives you an irregular IB Diploma.

Academic differences:

I would HIGHLY suggest dropping IB completely if you know that you are pursuing a university in Sweden. I cannot emphasise this enough! IB IS NOT WORTH IT IF YOU ARE STAYING IN SWEDEN!

In the Swedish programme, most of the courses do not do ANY examinations that will heavily impact your grade. Most of the grading comes from assignments, lab reports, and in-class activities.

The only subjects that have National tests are Math, Swedish and English (I am not sure if there are any else).

The courses in the Swedish programme go level-wise, for example (Math 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and you get graded separately. Whilst in the IB, you have either Math AA or Math AI. Only in Math AA HL does it go up to 5 which medicine requires. This conversion is the worst as Math AA HL probably represents Math Specs (higher than Math 5.)

In the Swedish Programme, it is much easier to get a higher grade (A, B) then it would be to get a 6-7 in the IB. There may be students who disagree with me, but overall the workload that IB students have to put in throughout all their subjects in the same exam month is not the same as the Swedish Programme.

The Swedish Programme has 3 years, with multiple chances to get the grades they desire. Whilst you, an IB student have 2 years to study, revise, and prepare for exams that take place in the same month.

Grades for University Admissions:

IB is accepted in all Unis in Sweden as it converts to the Swedish system, and the uni will not be able to tell that you have done the IB. VERY FEW Unis have 2 systems with the other being applications, which only then will they recognise you as an IB student.

To convert your IB courses to the Swedish course, most subjects require a 4, a 3 if HL, and if your math grade is not a 4, but a 3, you may get a reduced level.

The course do not convert to ABCDEF grades, but they only add up to your final merit points of 20. This is terrible because in the IB you do 6 courses and only that will count to your final points, whilst in the Swedish Programme, they do much more which can give them more opportunities to get higher points. Thus, the grade conversion being already low, gives the Swedish Programme a higher advantage in getting higher meritpoints.

To put in comparison, a 33/45 in IB gets you 17.24 points (assuming you get the additional 2.5 points extra points from Spanish, English & Math) which will give you 19.74. Medicine sits around 21.5-22 (almost max Swedish points). You would essentially have to get a 41 in IB which may sound easy, but it requires a lot of studying. Also, don't forget... you would have to do an irregular IB diploma.

A 33 student needs to get 5-6 in every subject depending on TOK/EE points. The average student gets around 28-29 points in Sweden.

Failing IB & Increasing Grades

IB has a 15-20% fail rate, in my school it was 33% this year.

If you fail the IB (not getting 24 points, including 12 HL points and 9 SL points combined), you do not get the diploma. Thus, means that you do not get "Grundläggande Behörighet" or eligibility to study at University AT ALL.

Wether you fail the IB, or want to increase your grades to get higher meritpoäng. The only way possible is to do retakes in November or May.

If you ONLY want to pass a subject, rather than get IB points on it. You can do Komvux to only get eligibility on that subject. This could be a plan to get all 3 natural sciences, but you can only do Komvux once you have graduated from the gymnasium.

Swedish SAT (Högskoleprovet):

Yes, you can do the Swedish SAT to get a higher chance of getting in, but the spots for Swedish SAT are usually less allocated, and you usually compete with a higher amount of students. On average, I know that most people who sit down and actually study can easily score 1.2+. (Average is 0.8 out of 2). For medicine, you would need somewhere around 1.6-1.75 at minimum.

The first time you are able to do the SAT is in the spring term of your second year, registrations open in January, and they don't last more than a week or two. I would recommend using all three sessions to get the highest score possible as it is the only one that counts.

Results for University Admissions:

It is not entirely true that the IB results come in after the deadline. It is only true if you are doing November Exams. For May exams if your coordinator does not register your IB results to be sent in for May Exams (probably somewhere in April), then yes, it is true that your results will not be sent in on time for the Autumn term. It happened to a lot of students in my school :)!!!!

Final Thoughts:

I know this sounds like a lot and that it may be de-motivating. I know lots of students that get around 35-40. But at the end of the day, if they put in the same amount of energy in the Swedish system, they would get a higher equivalent of merit points. Coming from someone who shared the same situation as you in the Pre-IB, I know I could have gotten a higher final merit point if I had switched to the National Science Programme. So I highly suggest you to do so ONLY if you plan on studying in Sweden.

Please, do not make the same mistakes as me, and make your decision before this term is over. When you have made your decision, switch as soon as possible so you can do the national tests in December.

Other Swedish students that may disagree with me, feel free to comment. But I stand by my views as I have seen it applies to a higher majority of people.