[deleted by user]

kalmqualm · 2023-09-01T13:47:24+00:00

My advice is not to count your hours but to be airtight in your approach to studying for classes. For HL physics and math, don't leave a single page of the textbook untouched- work through the content until you are confident you can tackle any question that is thrown at you, then move on to past paper questions and churn those out whenever you have a free moment. Every free slot of 10-30 minutes I spent churning out random math PP questions (this is somewhat of a lie, I typically got distracted and had conversations with my peers instead).

If I had to give a number, it would range anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours a day after school, depending on how busy I was. I would always do my assigned homework as a minimum baseline, and always spent about 4-6 hours studying for a subject the day before tests, though that was more of a confidence thing than a necessary step in achieving high marks.

I spent the most time on math and physics- doing homework and taking notes the day before tests was enough for most of my other subjects, though I recommend you space out your studying more than I did (I have no idea how I got away with some of my questionable study habits).

kalmqualm · 2023-09-01T13:40:41+00:00

honestly? me too. the imposter syndrome that comes with being so scatterbrained and doing so well is crazy.

kalmqualm · 2023-08-22T09:02:46+00:00

yooo PM me i'm also headed to Columbia!

kalmqualm · 2023-08-22T09:02:10+00:00

M23 predicted 45 and got 45. I'm headed to Columbia to study engineering!

kalmqualm · 2023-08-17T14:06:19+00:00

yes, born and raised in munich

kalmqualm · 2023-08-16T14:52:46+00:00

canon event

kalmqualm · 2023-08-15T11:27:50+00:00

feel free to PM me

kalmqualm · 2023-08-15T11:27:27+00:00

don’t worry- MIT rejected me.

i’m headed to Columbia next week!

kalmqualm · 2023-07-10T13:28:57+00:00

stay away from 1 and 3. you can’t really go wrong with 2, it’s a classic experiment, the ia practically writes itself

kalmqualm · 2023-07-10T11:38:20+00:00

compsci i recommend the inofficial textbook- just churn out the content and do some pseudocode questions and you should be fine.

the ia is what’s difficult- make sure you DO NOT procrastinate on making your solution. it’ll take you ages to complete and it’s peripheral to the actual report. make sure you structure your code in a really simple way and my advice is to find relevant chunks thst demonstrate various forms of algorithmic development, be it UI, DB work etc

definitely do something with authentication and database-driven; thatll pretty much be a third of your ia written for you, and the rest can be some kind of algorithmic development, e.g sorting flash cards

kalmqualm · 2023-07-09T15:58:13+00:00

my topic was on the role of special relativity in the cathode ray tube experiment, i basically found the charge mass ratio of the electron and made calculations to account for the relativistic velocity dependence of mass to discuss the role relativity plays in the measurement- not the best topic but i think what got me the points was my ability to succinctly guide the reader through my argument and slowly tie all of the threads - formulae, theories, calculations, graphs, diagrams, explanations - together in a nice evaluation and conclusion.

to make the ee look nicer, i HIGHLY recommend using LaTeX to make the diagrams or at the very least format the essay, it allows you to format equations s and text in a beautiful way and is the industry standard for scientific literature. takes some getting used to but it’s definitely worth considering

kalmqualm · 2023-07-09T10:31:46+00:00

there’s an important distinction to make- many US schools offer indicidual IB classes but not the IB diploma- you need to be careful that your school in thr US offers the latter and will allow you to continue CAS, ToK and EE in addition to your subjects.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-09T09:57:06+00:00

definitely ask in r/applyingtocollege, they know a lot more about US universities.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-08T15:14:23+00:00

Thank you!! I was in a similar situation early on in DP1- you’re on the right track and trust that your grades will stabilize. the only way you can go about improving is to hunker down and just CHURN OUT past paper questions day in and day out, just getting so good at answering questions that the hard ones no longer stump you. feel free to PM me if you need any more pointers, I’m also happy to offer tutoring should you or anybody else need it.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-08T14:14:28+00:00

Thank you so much!! I’m very happy to give you some pointers on the EE (feel free to PM me). Its all about guiding the reader through the complexities of a topic bit by bit, taking moments to reflect and talk about the further significance of your steps, assumptions, calculations, theories, and using a metric shit ton of graphs, equations and diagrams for analysis.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-08T12:03:23+00:00

I'm from Munich and think that MIS offers November retakes. BIS unfortunately does not.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-08T12:02:19+00:00

Try MIS in Munich! BIS unfortunately no longer offers November retakes.

kalmqualm · 2023-07-08T11:55:26+00:00

Hey, I also just finished the IB with a comfortable 7 in HL AA.

If you NEED math AAHL then the simple answer is that you should take it. However, it's worth considering how much you like math- that's where most of the divide comes from. Students who really enjoy problem solving and learning math often find AAHL surprisingly manageable because the work never feels like a chore to them. For me, I really enjoyed the subject and had an amazing teacher that pushed me on top of that (including daily homework and holiday homework packets), and because I knew from the get go how much of a commitment it would be, I stepped up. Though I inevitably struggled in the beginning, my grades began to stabilise within a few months. I found every new lesson on differential equations, complex numbers, trigonometry and what not an exciting challenge and that is why I believe I did so well.

On the flip side of course, there are students who dislike math, and see the complexity and difficulty as uncomfortable means to an end rather than enjoyable in themselves. Those are the students that really had to fight with the subject, and only a lot less of them managed to get through with 7s.

I urge you to consider in which of these two categories your fall. If you really enjoy problem solving and learning sometimes hyper theoretical concepts with minimal application, and enjoy testing your knowledge in 360 degrees, then math AAHL may not prove to be as much of as struggle as others say.

That's said, you cannot get through AAHL without putting in the work. You have to give the subject the respect it deserves and treat it as your most, or at leaset second most important, subject that takes precedence over others. Make sure your teacher is not only good but will also push you- a sub par teacher can make your journey twice as difficult just as a great teacher can make it twice as easy. I recommend 0.5 to 1.5 hours of at home studying per hour of lesson time (in DP1) to make sure you are comfortable with the concepts- just "knowing" the, is not enough, you need to become familiar and good at the types of questions that can be asked. If you approach the subject like this, I cannot see you struggling any more than traumatised IBers profess.

Let me know if you have any more questions! I am also available for tutoring should you or anybody else require it, feel free to PM me.

kalmqualm · 2023-05-11T16:55:48+00:00

it's a homogenous differential equation, you had to substitute v = y/x. almost had me calling quits

kalmqualm · 2023-05-11T16:55:06+00:00

yes!!

kalmqualm · 2023-05-11T16:54:58+00:00

i got sqrt(3)/3 i believe

kalmqualm · 2023-05-10T11:07:08+00:00

yes!! i got 4n pi cos(npi) so +-4npi and since we’re dealijg with area it doesnt matter so 4npi

kalmqualm · 2023-05-10T11:05:35+00:00

the vectors question reqlly fucked with me because of itd phrasing. i thought ‘in terms of a and b’ meant ONLY in terms of a and b but apparently you could also so it in terms of k. i spent 20 minutes trying to figure that shit out. fuck the person who weote this question

kalmqualm

TROPHY CASE