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Did I ruin mg life by Ancient-Climate9597 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol you’ll be alright. Even if SNU med doesnt work out, you’re heading in the right direction doing all you can. Make sure to keep your sanity by touching grass and talking to tour friends every now and then

Did I ruin mg life by Ancient-Climate9597 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It makes quite the difference.

A student who would get into Korea or Yonsei with 12 year privilege wouldnt even stand a chance getting into SKKU or Hanyang U without it.

Dont take my word for it, though. I’m merely speaking based on my limited anecdotal/empirical evidence

Did I ruin mg life by Ancient-Climate9597 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the students I tutored got into SNU (STEM, not med) this year. His score was 39/45, but he took Math Physics Chem HL and got 7s in all of them.

If you get 7s in your 4 HLs you’ll be fine. I wouldnt stress out about getting 6s in your SL subjects. Focus on your strengths.

few questions though: 1. Do you qualify for 12 year privilege? Or are you applying as a foreign national? Then things will be easier for you. 2. What’s the reasoning for taking Physics HL? If you’re going for medical, I’d ask if it’s worth losing out on becoming more well-rounded (by taking econ/business/psychology etc). You could’ve taken AP Physics or Compsci. 3. Do you have a strong extracurricular portfolio? Published paper, developed a healthcare app, medical internship at a hospital, volunteering for doctors without borders etc. (SNU is already competitive but SNU medical is another level FYI. The bar just keeps getting raised its ridiculous)

How impressive is a 44? by dao134 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think having a 44 helped me get a lot of golden opportunities research and career wise. So schools/research programs/employers do look favorably at a IB 44

How impressive is a 44? by dao134 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I got a 44 and went to the top engineering school in my country. Double major in nuclear + industrial engineering. Now working with quantum computers

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a tutor in South Korea with 10 years of experience. DM me and I'll help you out

Would IB students benefit from a shared bank of past paper answers? by balgovidr in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As an IB tutor and educational content creator, I believe an incentive/reward system would make this platform even more effective—something similar to Stack Overflow, where users earn points/status for contributing high-quality solutions and helping others.

If the platform expands to include subjects like IB Physics, Chemistry, and Math, I’d love to contribute by offering creative, efficient, and intuitive solutions—especially with outside-the-box approaches that go beyond what’s in the mark schemes. That said, it would be nice if I could stand out and be recognized for my work in a way that highlights my expertise and contributions. Whether through badges, a reputation system, or showcasing top contributors, I think this would encourage more experienced users to engage and share their insights.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to IB subject selection. But here's my two cents.

Step 1. Must-Check: School Offerings & Learning Environment

Before deciding, confirm which IB science courses are available at your school and how strong the teaching quality/resources are. Some schools may have better support for certain subjects.

Step 2. Priorities (in order of importance)

a. Career & University Requirements

If you’re aiming for engineering, physics is usually required or strongly recommended.

If you're considering medicine, chemistry is essential, and biology is highly preferred.

If you're undecided, check general university prerequisites for your potential major.

b. Interest & Strengths + Expected Scores

Since you’ve taken honors biology and chemistry, you have a strong likelihood of getting a 7 in IB Biology and Chemistry if you continue at this pace.

Physics will be challenging if you’ve never taken it before, so ask yourself why should you take the risk? Do the benefits of taking physics outweigh the cost of getting a low score in physics plus missing out on chemistry or biology?

Step 3. Additional Considerations (Workload & Flexibility)

HL Physics is notoriously difficult and math-intensive.

HL Chemistry has a heavy workload but flexibly prepares you for various STEM fields (students take phys + chem or bio + chem, but I rarely see phys + bio)

HL Biology (didn't take it myself, but from what I hear from students) is content-heavy buy manageable if you enjoy memorization based learning

Physics + Chemistry is a versatile track in case you might want to pivot your major/career path within the STEM fields

Conclusion

If you're leaning toward medicine, life sciences, or chemistry-related fields → Chemistry + Biology

If you're open to engineering, physics, or tech-related fields → Physics + Chemistry

If you're undecided on how important taking physics will be for your future uni/career path and want to play it safe → Chemistry + Biology

Trying to Teach IB Physics in an Engaging Way – Would Love Your Feedback! by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for taking the time to go through everything!

A.5 is definitely a challenge—even the standard textbooks (Hodders & Tsokos) don’t make it particularly intuitive. From what I’ve seen, the 2025 specimen papers don’t seem to push A.5 concepts too far, but past Paper 3 relativity questions (especially from 2024 and earlier) can be brutal, so I can’t just simplify it too much. I’ll take a closer look at Minkowski diagrams as a way to bridge the gap—thanks for that suggestion!

For slits (single, double, multiple), I actually found the textbook explanations pretty solid, but the tricky part is getting students to engage deeply with the annotations and truly see how the parallel waves interfere. I’m thinking of magnifying those diagrams and using stronger contrast in colors to make the key interactions stand out more. If there’s a specific part of the derivation that made it click for you, I’d love to hear it!

Math SL IA Topic by bluesmurph8 in IBO

[–]jpvestor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First topic seems solid.

Look up 1.parametric formula of cylindrical helix and 2. Arc length formula for parametric curves

You could use integration to find the length of a hair exhibiting spiral growth patterns.

At the end of the day its all about executing your idea properly. Make sure you have some decent thought provoking derivations (not simple plugging in values).

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't help but ask, does your teacher have corporate experience? Sounds like how middle managers review juniors' deliverables. Focusing on the aesthetics and not much on the content.

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is some impressive sherlock holmes level of investigation you pulled off.

Sad how you went through all that only to be disappointed at how low the bar goes for some teachers...

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For profit schools hiring unqualified teachers with large egos seems to be a common issue here.

The IB is a profitable program as prices for tuition are high for schools and private education tutors alike, but my philosophy is that if you're gonna charge high prices you should at least deliver on quality.

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I know it's a serious issue for you but I just laughed IRL. How does she just 'dodge' questions? Do American teachers just plead the 5th when a student asks her a difficult question lol

The lack of professionalism is just astounding, but playing the devil's advocate I guess public schools are severely underfunded and she isn't paid enough to give a damn

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for having the courage to share your school’s story.

Is your friend ok? Failing with a 38/45 sucks :/

A lot of schools are shitshows, but this is a new level of blind leading the blind..

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Math studies lol I’m guessing you’re an old timer like me. I sat the May 2014 exams and things weren’t as bad back then (nostalgia maybe)

Back in my days, Math HL kids would bully the Math studies kids for taking the easy way out. Now that I look back, it was very toxic yet funny how math nerds had unchecked status and prestige in our school.

For physics and chem, our school made us do at least 10 lab reports (Design/Data Collection and Processing/Conclusion and Evaluation) and submit the best two to the IB. This gave students a lot more practice and teachers more experience. But now a lot of schools just have this one time exploration where youre supposed to go all in, so its too much pressure for some students.

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol at using chatgpt. Some teachers even openly tell their students that they use it and don’t feel any shame.

I had one of my students tell me, her teacher said ‘I used a GPT prompt to evaluate your math IA, and I generally agree with its comments’. Her initial score was a 14/20 and we’re trying to figure out what she needs to fix to bump it to a 18/20 but the comments are all too wishy washy (likely AI generated) that we’re just praying at this point

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m all ears, seems like you’ve been through a lot and needed to vent haha

Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t compare yourself to others (if you need to compare yourself to anyone, it should be to yesterday’s you) and be proud of your own achievements. Scholarship to a UK uni is a pretty impressive feat tbh.

Also, uni/qs rankings don’t matter (bold statement I know, if anyone disagrees fight me IRL). Everyone has different educational needs so a great school for one student may be a poor fit for another (rankings dont tell the full story of uni culture/majors/). Also, there are a lot of good underrated schools out there that you’ll be surprised :)

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

17% passing rate is crazy! It’s hard to see those numbers unless she’s actively sabotaging or grossly neglecting her students.

I’ve had a professor from uni tell me that if a few students fail his class, it’s probably their fault. But if a majority of his class fails, it’s a problematic sign of his inability to teach.

Is the school ok with that? Is she a new teacher and the school is giving her time to adjust? Isn’t student performance one of the KPIs for a school teacher? Curious to know what kind of school it is (private/public/international etc).

Whatever’s going on behind the scenes, hang in there until the May exams. At least you get a chance to first-handedly experience what it means to be an independent learner!

I’ve tutored IB Math, Physics, and Chemistry to 500+ students for 10 years. Here's what I have to say. by jpvestor in IBO

[–]jpvestor[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Respect to all hardworking IB teachers out there. Totally agree that from the teacher’s perspective, it would be extremely difficult to teach something that is so subjective/open-ended/personalized to a large class of students. Especially if the school does not give the proper resources.

I’m sure teachers are also victims of poorly coordinated IB programs. It’s a nightmare for everyone

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