10 tips I wish I knew before IB | IB advice and mindset

A special edition of IB Lilia. After completing 2 years of courses, a total of 14 exams, an Extended Essay, TOK, and CAS (phew!), I have quite a few things that I would have done differently. Here’s some advice on what I wish I had known before IB that would have helped me stay a little saner throughout the program. Although the program is very demanding and challenging, at the end you’ll look back and say, “the IB wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be!”... or maybe not, but at least you can say #IBdone. Best of luck!

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Hi! My name is Lilia. On Ivy Lilia, I post weekly and enjoy sharing about my experiences with college applications / admissions, the Ivy League, the International Baccalaureate programme, Cornell University / The Hotel School, and more!

[iithescarletwhitchii]

I wish that I would know that I was going to get depression

[applepiebot]

I’m going into IB this year and I am so worried!! Thank you for these tips

[sophiainacastle]

The absolute biggest pro I have for IB, experience-wise, is the type of students and situations you surround yourself with. I didn't really realize how much nicer my day-to-day experience was until late last semester(before summer break), when my non-IB friends were complaining about how immature some kids in their class were, how nothing got done, how they couldn't learn anything with disruptive classmates. I mean, there were grade 11s, literal 17 year olds, pulling down each other's pants in an english class! On multiple occasions! I'm really fuckin glad I don't have that experience.
Also, since I'm surrounded by a ton of people around me who are way better at communicating well and asking questions when it's useful, I learn even more than the teacher usually has to teach because new ideas are brought up by the students.
It's not free of some high-school clichés and the feelings that I am literally the worst and suckiest person ever, but my already first-world problems are a little less problematic.

[alicemachado]

You make IB seem so much easier and less stressful! And that's what we all as IB students need!
Thank you so much

[yaboiharry]

Already did one year of preIB and I did horrible due to procrastination. My grades were good and stuff but my sleep schedule and my life just broke. So how do I not procrastinate

[kenjelatm]

Please make more IB videos😭 that would help us tremendously...I’m going to be a junior and I start IB Tommorow. I am feeling a little bit confident but I am still very scared for what’s to come

[rannydewah]

now that m older, m so so grateful to have done IB diploma. That experience alone is xtrmly valuable. it opens up your minds!

TO ALL YOUNGSTERS WHO WANNA DO I.B. I'd advise u to go for it!!! It's ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY, worth it!

[adashen]

I'm two months in IB and I love it so far? Once I figured out how to manage my time I got the hang of it :)

[tutorUs]

Great video! The IB is not easy and students need all the help they can get, so this kind of content is great!

And to all the students out there, you got this! Never forget your long-term goals and why you are doing this!

[noirblanque]

I’m really only applying to IB so i can feel smart lol i dont really care much about college credit for myself (tho its Nice to have)

Although i’m not really sure because IB doesn’t seem worth the effort. I like creative stuff. Im hella creative, and honestly Idk if Im going to college. I Remember my sister (who has graduated and is now going to college) took the IB program for 3 years, and one night i heard her crying on the phone talking to our mom about how she is so anxious and stressed out about school. Im really proud of her.

[srijanverma]

I'm just going to IB DP and was pretty worried! Thank you so much for giving some great tips and pieces of advice, moreover cheering up for IB and making me feel/motivated that IB will make you a better version of yourself, I think with that spirit of investing on yourself will never make anyone feel that why I'm working so hard.
: )

[emiliohernandez]

As someone who just had my last exam today, this is actually really good advice. Personally, my experience in IB was really rough, but knowing these tips would have helped me when I first started.

[Chiara-eper]

I’m applying to IB and now I have a sense of oncoming dread hoooo boy

Update: I got in dreads getting worse ✌️

[isabeledwards]

I love this! Currently halfway through year 1 and I love it but I also sometimes feel like I'm drowning in schoolwork + extracurriculars etc... but I think it's worth it. It feels like you're actually learning, not just running towards an exam. it can be a huge pain in the arse but i do like it hahaha.

[ellan]

Wow the university where I live can give a full year worth of credit. And you just have to score over 4 in each class

[wojakc]

I start pre ib in 2 weeks(I'm a freshmen) and this helped alot. One of the main reasons I'm going into it is for better character (In middle school I had lots of trouble working with most kids as I felt they held me back). After listening to lots of advice I'm not to worried. Is it weird that I still don't know many of the abbreviations people use for ib?

[AbbyWangTaiwan-]

I'm an IB parent from Taiwan! I often worry much more than my kids about their IB score, thogh my two sons have done well so far on their MYP program. The elder one at 9 grade and the other at 8 grade now, and they both are quite hard working. Their sore on each criteria is among 5-8, But they have a problem with choosing their EE group in the near future. So I often forward some video like this to my kids for reference . Thanks for this video!! It helps me and my kids with good ideas.Hope everyone of you conquer whatever you meet, including DP and EE. Best wishes from Taiwan.

[eimanb]

As a junior, nearing the end of the year with finals literally starting tomorrow, the one thing I will say is you NEED to have a little discipline. April-May is usually when the academic pressure gets to an insane level, and not writing my Psych IA's first draft until the night before it was due was so dumb and so avoidable. I had 600 words written the morning of the day before it was due, and had to add 1200+ words to even be able to submit a semblance of a first draft.
If that experience of staying up till 3am (which was unusual for me) taught me anything, it's just do a little bit every day well in advance for what you need. As soon as you've done an experiment for an IA, done some research for your EE, learnt a new topic in class, just do a small but of revision or writing up. It would have saved me so much stress and time. It always takes me ligner to do something in one go than it would have if I added all the time doing it in bitesize pieces together.
Sometimes there's unexpected setbacks that you'll face or your tests might all fall on one week, so you don't want that to stop you from progressing.

[skedos]

Thank you so much Ivy omg this actual helped me so much. When you said, "Think about how hard your working towards bettering yourself and making your brain super strong." It just helped me feel SO much better than before.
Just thank you so much for taking the time to make videos like this for us newbies <3

[zp_suki]

You really helped me feel better about IB… I’m starting in a few days and I kept seeing students hating IB and talking about how difficult it was! This made me stress a lot! But you made me remember why I was pursuing IB in the first place. Because I love to learn :)