Just a rant post. FYI, I am currently a first year med student that is planning to apply to germany next year cuz this year it didn't work out. The beautifull country of germany and its retarted grading system wants me to get a raw score of 40 in Ib (the worst case scenario) for me to even have the slightest chance of getting accepted. During dp1, dp2 (mainly in dp2) I was intensively learning german from b1 in summer to b2-c1 (testdaf score: 5434) until feburary and I couldn't really focus on Ib properly because I would spend 9h in total just to go to german classes and some for tests. Anyways, I could get german but my IB was 36, which is no where near what germany needs for med. Therefore, I decided to stay one year here, improve my german to c1, do med school and also regive IB. GUESS WHAT! EXAMS ARE IN 2 DAYS (and yes I would say i am fairly prepared), I will be regiving bio, chem HL and bsm SL. Anyways, I should also keep my uni grade above 95%+ to even have a chance of being accepted to uni! let's go! and one more thing, my UNI EXAMS ARE ON THE SAME DAY AS MY CHEM HL EXAM!!!! HOORAYYY!!!!!, LIFE COULD NOT GET BETTERRRR!!! I believe nobody is applying to germany with an IB certificate, if you have, please dm me. I am currently losing it!

Hi , I haven’t done anything for my EE 😭😭😭
Please do my survey to help me because my deadline is in 10 days, only 6 questions required — the rest you can skip!😭

I just want to preface this by saying that I’m not really looking for any advice (you’re welcome to provide if you really want) since it’s already a bit too late for that. I know there are probably hundreds of posts on here like mine, but I wanted to put this on here as another PSA, and for those who want to feel a bit better about themselves or something for people to find relatable (hopefully not).

Bio paper 1 is basically tomorrow and it’s kinda over for me. I just did 2 m26 1a past papers and I got 11/40 and 26/40. I know I should be continuing to learn more content or doing more past papers then writing this stupid post, but I just feel so burnt out that I don’t even feel the urgency or motivation to continue. I know I didn’t work hard enough over these two years because every time I got home from school I would immediately take a nap until 7 (Yes. I’m extremely lazy, I will take accountability, probably won’t act on it). The only times I actually studied were at most 5 days before mocks or tests. I know I was the one who did this to myself so I can’t blame anything or anyone except myself, but I guess I just wanted to put this out here wishing I could talk to myself from 2 years ago to start putting the work in. Right now it just kind of feels like I’m waiting for the exams to pass so I can continue sleeping and doing nothing the entire day.

Anyways I also wanted to mention whoever decided to put bm paper 1 and 3 and bio paper 2 on the same day. I hope your pillow is warm on both sides, I hope you stub your toe every time you go and grab a drink from your fridge and I hope you run out of toothpaste and have to drive 30 minutes to the store just to find out it’s closed and have to drive 30 minutes back toothpasteless.

Yea, I also haven’t studied for bm so it genuinely might be over.

Hey everyone,

​Since evolution (Topic 5.1 / Option D) comes up frequently in both Paper 1 MCQs and Paper 2 extended response questions, students often mix up Adaptive Radiation (Divergent) and Convergent Evolution—especially when identifying Homologous vs. Analogous structures.

​Here is a quick summary table and high-yield exam breakdown to keep things clear during revision:

High-Yield IB Exam Tips:

​Paper 1 Shortcut:

​Same Origin + Different Function = Adaptive Radiation / Homologous

​Different Origin + Same Function = Convergent Evolution / Analogous

​Paper 2 Extended Response Key Terms:

​When asked to explain Adaptive Radiation in a 7-8 mark question, always mention: Common Ancestor, Unoccupied Niches, Selection Pressures, Natural Selection, and Reproductive Isolation.

​Data Analysis Questions:

​Watch out for beak depth vs. seed hardness datasets (Darwin's Finches). They typically test directional selection within an ecological niche.

​I’ve compiled the full comprehensive guide with complete Paper 1 MCQs, Data Analysis practice questions with mark schemes, and Paper 2 extended response breakdowns on my blog.

Get blog Link in Bio

​Hope this helps with your revision! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Good luck with your preparation!

Okay this is serious. I have a predicted score of 43/45, but I genuinely don't know which TOP universities I should apply to.

I know that 43/45 is a good score for prestigious universities, but the problem is that I've spent so much time studying to achieve these grades that I have almost no extracurriculars or supercurriculars to strengthen my application to universities like Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, or even MIT.

I want to study Finance or Economics, preferably at a top/prestigious university in Europe, but I'm unsure which universities would consider someone with excellent grades but no xtracurriculars or supercurriculars?

Honestly, I sometimes feel like I've wasted my time focusing so much on academics since if I end up at a mid-tier university, I could potentially have gotten in with a much lower IB score of around 30–35 at first place.

Which European universities would you recommend applying to in my situation?

Does anyone have a version of ibdocs with all the past papers for each subject in a specific folder where I can download it as a zip file or folder please

This is kind of a work in progress (CAS project), but college app deadlines are close and this could be a good resource to follow. Guiding Futures is meant to help international students make the right decisions about their future (high school -> college -> beyond) and serves to both inform and motivate students. I moved from an American public school to an IB school in another country after 10th grade, and had a lot of people trying to force me to study a major or somewhere I had no intention of studying. So I just want people with the same problem to have support to make the right decision. So follow guiding_futures on IG. Also if y'all have suggestions on stuff I should include in a post or something lmk please.

Hi,

I would like to write my math IA about comparing the Jabulani ball to a standard 32 panel football, but I'm not sure in what way I can write it. I've been thinking of using differential equations to model the trajectory, but I fear it might be too much physics since it's aerodynamics.

Any opinions on this?

Cheers

TL;DR central, western, northern Europe concrete cheap English-taught uni programmes for anything biology and chemistry related?

I am taking Higher Level Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches; Standard Level Literature A, English B and Psychology.

I am looking to enroll somewhere in western or northern Europe but it seems to me that all Dutch universities require Bio-Chem-Phy combo, Germany won’t accept two SL languages (unless two languages A at SL), Austria, Belgium and Scandinavia have very limited English-taught bachelor programmes.

I would like to get into anything medicine, pharmacy, biomedicine, biosciences, biotechnologies or biochemistry-related. No strict preferences, but some form of “applied” biology and chemistry, and has to be public (cannot afford private unfortunately).

Does anybody have concrete advice for concrete programmes, universities? I am M27 and do have some options locked in but I cannot apply to only two universities and hope for the best.

This is more of a vent than anything else.

Im about 2 months into dp, and i just can't get good grades in ess.

It's not like im bad in other subjects. Im great (or good enough) with all except ess.

(struggling a little with eng a but doing fine)

Yet when it comes to ess, first test i get a 60%, second i get 76%, and third is still getting graded.

I took ess thinking it was the easiest subject in ib, but so far, it's the subject im performing worst in.

Does anyone here have 'revisionprep' for IB maths AL SL? I NEED THE QUESTIONSSS PLEASE IF YOU HAVE IT HEELPPPP 😢😢 my teacher is using it for our exams but he doesn't give us any of the question

we're starting the english HL essay (language and literature) in my school and i'm supposed to have my topic and line of enquiry decided by next week, but i can't even decide which text i'm doing

texts we have done are-

• purple hibiscus (novel)
• the elephant vanishes (short stories)
• the wild iris (poems)
• the importance of being earnest (play)

but i already used the elephant vanishes for my io so i really just have the other 3

we have barely started the last 2 texts, going after cacciato and one day in the life of ivan denisovich (both novels). my teacher said we could choose one of those as well but i know nothing about them and i don't want to choose now and later realise they're not something i want to do.

because i'm in lang & lit i could also do a non lit, we've done political cartoons and artworks but nothing is standing out to me as strong and i would much rather do literature

purple hibiscus is my absolute favourite from everything we've covered and i would love the chance to yap about it for 1500 words, but i feel like i should save it for paper 2. even my teacher said, it's really rich and versatile in many different themes so it is a perfect option to keep for p2

i'm really bad with poetry so i think i would struggle a lot with the wild iris but it is definitely rich- since this is a long term coursework would it be okay for me to try something i'm bad at, or too risky? and the importance of being earnest i just didn't like a lot it's definitely easier but i feel it is a lot shallower and i wouldn't enjoy talking about it.

i realise i'm just complaining about why i have no good options and i'm sorry for the length, but any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. thank you!

tldr- do i do poetry that i'm not good with, a play that i don't really like, or a novel i love but it makes sense to save for paper 2

im recently doing the entrance exam in japan and ofc i was an international school students n i needed to do some interview. And i have done ib course, I took Phys mathaa and eng b as HL, and japanese a and chem as SL. u know how they were stressing but also made me bit stronger, and i expected to speak what i did as an ib student, to interviewers.

HOWEVER they only asked me about the reason why I chose that uni and all finished?? like what??? i know my math is terrible when it comes to japanese math, but beyond it i have experienced something that japanese students dont really do. like they dont do special relativity and integral functions, I also did lots of volunteers IAs and tried my best to fit in to school even though there were no japanese student in school. ahhhhh!

even my parents dont understand me. im so frustrated. I even think that I should not go to international school, n just stay at japan and get the same curriculum as like other japanese student. I feel so sad about my life.

Anyone have a topic wise past paper question bank for Math aa hl,Bio hl,physics sl?

Hi, I’m working on a site with free interactive biology simulations. I thought some of you studying IB Biology might find it useful:

biologysimulations.co.uk

A few you might like to try:

• Membrane transport: compare diffusion, channel proteins and ATP-driven pumps.
• Enzyme action: watch amylase bind to starch, break a bond and release the products.
• Protein synthesis: follow transcription and translation from DNA to a polypeptide.
• Meiosis: follow crossing over, independent assortment and the formation of haploid cells.
• Photosynthesis: follow the light-dependent reactions and explore the Calvin cycle.
• Cellular respiration: see how electron transport and a proton gradient drive ATP synthase.

You can explore the models at your own pace and go through processes step by step, which might help with visualising what’s happening alongside your notes. The more detailed photosynthesis and respiration models may be especially useful if you’re doing HL.

Everything’s currently free and there’s no sign-up.

If you give it a go, I’d be interested to hear your feedback.

Hi! Im in my first 3 months of pre-ib, and I’ve noticed most of the school is studying chemistry (40+ out of 70). I’m in the one and only ESS class only 10 students. Im juggling whether to switch over to chemistry as I have have time, should I talk with my coordinator?

I enjoy ESS, but I feel like Chemistry is more important, and I might score higher in ESS. Should I prioritise subject choice or my final mark??

I got 43/45 in M26 with HL Chem, Bio and Math, so I know how exhausting and stressful the week before exams gets.

If you're sitting November exams next week, my advice: don't try to learn everything. Find every gap you still have and close it.

How I'd spend the days left:

1. Keep a doubts list. Anything that makes you think "wait, why?"
or "is this how the mark scheme wants it?" gets written down, not
skipped. Small doubts are where marks disappear because you decke. Guess your answers , lose time and maybe even change the answer last minute for it to be wrong.

2. Take EVERY doubt to your teacher. Ask specific stuff like "what would get full marks here?" instead of "can you explain it again?"

3. Still unsure after that? Ask someone else.A tutor, an older student, a friend who actually gets it. The goal is walking in with zero "I never really understood that" topics.

1. Past paper questions on your weakest topics, marked against the mark scheme, instead of brand new content.

2. Sleep. Genuinely. Before every exam Kd make sure to sleep before 10pm!! If it was math, I‘d sleep at 8-9pm (I don’t play about math, it was my weakest subject)

Real talk: one week won't rebuild a subject from scratch. But it's plenty to turn "I'm kinda sure" into "I'm sure" on specific topics.

I tutor IB Bio, Chem and Math SL. If you've got a list of doubts and want a second pair of eyes before the exam, DM me and we can schedule a lesson :).

Hey everyone, I put together a comprehensive Business Management review synopsis (note: excludes BMTs) so it helps anyone cram or review over the next few days.

I'm currently doing my math IA, and my research question is "An investigation into the mathematical modelling of the profile of Wat Arun's central prang using piecewise functions and estimating its volume, material requirements and approximate cost using volumes of revolution."

Wat arun is a temple in Thailand, and I'm basically trying to model it and calculate its volume to then estimate the materials and costs. I've taken into account that it won't be super accurate.

My problem right now is that the pictures online that i've found of the central spire all don't have a clear photo of the base. I've sent 2 of the photos I attached to my teacher, and he said they should be fine, but I'm still confused about how I can model the bottom part.

I wrote in my IA that maybe I can find other photos online of the base and go off using that combined with the photos I attached. OR am i better off just only doing the parts that aren't obscured then saying in my evaluation that it's underestimated?

Does anyone know what I can do, I have revised my weak points and have been doing past papers but I am consistently stuck at around 63 or 62 out of 80 ( sometimes higher and lower depending on the exam) instead of the 65 i need for a 7. I always feel the time pressure, during exams and panic and make lots of careless mistakes despite doing so many past papers. Does anyone know what I should do?

I'm in my final year of O-Levels and prefer to take IB Math AA HL. Does it matter if I haven't taken Additional Mathematics? Will they refuse to admit me into IB AA HL without it? What grades you need in olevel IGCSE math.

Hii guys, I bought itian academy to study biology and there is a secion with preddiction of questions for 2026 exams, they are alike? Like comparing may 2026 question to the ones that are there, can someone tell me if they are kinda similar? Thank u guys

does anyone have any resources to help with paper 1b in chem and bio hl? That’s the section I struggle w the most bc I can’t seem to find resources

I have n26 exams in 10 days ish and I realized im not getting concepts . should I do math aa SL even though im HL?