[Advice Column] 8-week study plan!
Hello hello!
I haven't been posting much on the site lately. Having a backlog of mocks to write and a fair share of the assignments to do puts writing blogs (this one, right here!) on the back burner. Hats off to writers who could keep up their momentum because I simply couldn't force myself to write when I don't have ample of time at my disposal.
Today's blogpost is mainly for N22 kiddos who will stop become kiddos (in my eyes) and prolly start university in February or after their gap year. With 8 weeks left before the exam, it's a not too early to start preparing for your externals.
These advice are targetted at maths, but I reckon they are useful for other courses you're taking as well.
Here's my top secret process to ace your exams.
Aight, let's stop pretending that it's some sort of magic trick but it's certainly worked for me even in uni.
This will avoid the procrastination you experience during the entire process, so don't ignore it.
Step 1: Take the baseline test (M21)
The baseline test is for you to get, well, the baseline score. Take it in exam condition (or not), with no access to notes (or not), with loud music in the background (or not). I'm guilty of all three during revision, so if you're going on a guilt trip, take me along. Of course, the more strictly you follow the "exam mode", the more meaning you can draw from your raw marks. You can't claim that you get a 7 if you have access to your notes, online videos and training-ville (you know what I'm referring to :p) and four hours just to do a single paper.
Why the M21, you hear me ask. It's the first proper series of exams for the new syllabi with the grade boundaries that you could use with caution. If you're aiming for 100 and wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection, you can safely ignore the grade boundaries as long as you're higher than 85 (don't quote me on this!)
The name of the game is to improve significantly from your score, not to find ways to cheat the system. A single question could change your raw mark, so looking at small variations over time doesn't carry much significance. However, a big jump between the first and last papers you do would show that you've improved a lot since the beginning!
Step 2: Come up with your revision checklist.
Have a look at the syllabus and the baseline paper. This gives you a good indication of where you are and what the IB expects from you. List the things that you should focus on during your revision. Read the notes, do loads of exercises, rinse and repeat.
Don't try to do everything at once. If you're at a 4 and shooting for a 7, there are lots of gaps you have to fill, and it's only more demoralising to see how far you are from that goal. Instead, after spending some time (I'd say several hours) tackling your pain points, go on to do another past paper.
Even though there are only three official sets of papers (including M21) available at the time of your exam, no one's stopping you from doing exams from previous syllabi. It's a little tricky as not everything matches up perfectly, but you'll lose out a lot if you don't make the best of everything you can get your hands on... legally. :P
Hey, my mocks are also in a folder ready to be used. Or on the server. Just sayin'. :P
Rough matching of old and new syllabi
AAHL --> old HL + some calculus option questions
AASL --> old SL - vectors, focus on the harder end of the papers
AIHL --> old SL + some further maths questions + some statistics option questions
AISL --> old maths studies
Step 3: Do more papers!
If you really want to get that sweet 7, you should exhaust the fuck out of everything you find unless you're a child prodigy.
After each paper, mark yourself using the markscheme. If you deviate from the real exam condition, give yourself 50-70% of the allotted time. Y'all takin' maths at IB so this should be a trivial calculation.
Then list the things you should focus on before attempting the next set of papers. Make sure you know how to use the calculator!
Rinse and repeat several times until you're satisfied that you can walk into the exam room and get the grade you desire. If it's a 7, I'd recommend getting 85+ during practice. A 6, 75+. A 5, 60+. A 4 or lower, I don't think you'd read this post.
Step 4: What next?
If you've finished the process and you have a lot of time until the exam, congratulations! You're one of the early birds. I'd recommend doing some more challenging papers like the Advanced Extension Award (AEA) or STEP (by Cambridge) if you like maths and really need that 7. Otherwise, just casually do a paper or two.
At this stage, you shouldn't spend too much time on maths. Direct your focus to the other courses. Recall the law of diminishing returns: after putting in so much time in one subject, you're only making marginal gains and really better off just doing something else.
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If you're taking AASL, check out the Survival Guide.
The Survival Papers will also be posted in the next couple weeks, so keep an eye on this site!
If you haven't done the unit tests, it's a good idea to smash em NOW. They're categorised by topics for your convenience.
Good luck revising. I know most of you don't experience any stress right now but it's just a matter of weeks before y'all become pressure cookers.
Andrew
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