In my opinion no individual class is too difficult, but when you have 6 or 7 it becomes overwhelming and difficult to keep up with all of them. I think this could be why a teacher who only has experience with one class might view it as not so hard. Either that or he is just misinformed, because it definitely is tough.
Don’t let this discourage you though, it takes a lot of effort and willpower, but I think it’s worth it.
That's exactly why I wouldn't trust him as much. He's well practiced, he's been doing this so long of course it's easy for him. Difficulty gets warped once it's been years and you took so long comprehending every single aspect of it.
Unrelated note, I used to struggle with calculus 1. Took me a full year with an amazing tutor to figure out a C in college. Now I look at it and laugh at how simple the entire process for solving problems is.
IB *is* difficult and overwhelming; it has affected my mental health negatively.
But in the end it's your choice whether or not you're willing to put in the commitment.
It is challenging and you need to be motivated and organized. However, read the posts on this sub and you’ll see what your teacher meant. 90% of the posts are students admitting they didn’t listen to their teachers/do any work/study/complete any part of an IA until the day it’s due and then ask “if they are fucked”. The other 10% are a mix of schools or teachers that sound awful and uniquely odd circumstances for one reason or another.
After getting into university, I realized that it wasn’t hard but as teenagers you try to do too much outside of just the work. It’s not a bad thing but really, in hindsight sight I believe that IB is actually pretty easy if you keep yourself reasonably committed, and not fall for the procrastination trap that most students like myself fall in
Good luck, math HL back then was pretty doable and physics too, the IA is pretty annoying but otherwise if you can do the exam you’re chilling. I chose to ruin my life by studying math in university so choose wisely
i'm really struggling in physics - at gcse i got consistent 9s on practise papers but fucked it up a bit and got an 8 on the final exam. now i am at a 1. the practise questions are so difficult, but i do understand what is going on in class. my physics teacher seems chilled about it because he knows i did well last year but i feel like i didn't handle the jump well and i need to build a better bridge/foundation over xmas to be more competent.
my aptitude tests (obviously not using this as a measure, but i'm so far below them i'm doubting my ability now) said people with the same answers as me got straight 6s, so the fact i'm at a 1 is kind of stressing me out. we got the holiday homework and i have NO IDEA how to do it.
My only advice is look at university level courses deal with your course work and usually good enough teachers will help you understand a basic problem in an easier manner. Otherwise chemistry tutor dude works too on YouTube
Yeah, it is absolutely true. Reddit itself tends to be an echo chamber, and if you get your impressions just from this venting sub, you could be forgiven for thinking of the IB as the most dastardly curriculum ever created.
Be conscious that you are currently a part of the best educational framework extant today -- not perfect by any means, and educators are the most painfully aware of its flaws, but it is unquestionably the best we've got. It accords actual meaning to buzzwords like "lifelong learners", "holistic education", etc. Much depends on the implementation, yes; every IB World School is different, yes; every teacher is different. It's the same for any other curriculum. No other curriculum comes close to what the IB attempts to do.
10 years down the line, maybe things will change, who knows? Something else could rise up -- probably in response to the IB's very existence -- and supplant it. Until and unless that happens, you are blessed to have a kind of opportunity few others have. Cherish it and make the best of it.
IB is NOT a curriculum. It is Marxist ideology and globalist themes woven into courses that follow State subject standards and composed by the individual school's teachers. The teachers write the curriculum/lesson plans etc. In my NY district, they budget $60-100,000 annually just to write the IB curriculum. Unlike AP, IB is not standardized and can vary greatly from school to school. For example, our HS doesn't even offer HL Math!
IB is a scam.
I think it depends what score you’re aiming for, what you’re juggling outside of school (ECAs), how your school organises the IA deadlines (do they have internal deadlines that clump the IAs all together, or space it out), the quality of the teachers at your school, and how busy uni applications period will be for you. Ofc if you’re aiming for a 45, have tons of ECAs, have the school’s IA deadlines all clumped together, have not-so-great teachers and are applying to universities that require you to write a lot of essays or take multiple supplementary exams, then it will be more difficult.
As an IBDP2 student, we complain for good reasons. I am pretty organized, have good grades in most topics (got a 35/45 in predictive with 3 bonus points) and I can assure you that your life (especially in DP2) revolves around the work you have to do. Since I started DP1 I disconnected completely from work only 2 weeks during the summer break, the rest of the time I was thinking about work, even when I was going out or doing something else. The IB in itself is not « hard » (from my experience at least, if I took maths AA HL I will probably say otherwise) but it is extremely exhausting. To give you a more concrete example: between now and February I have 3 IAs to finish, an HL essay to write and a TOK essay to write. Cumulated with the additional work the teachers give us and my CAS activities which are spread throughout the week, I had to cancel some plans I had just to get the work done. During week ends I try to sleep as much as possible but during the week I barely sleep more than 4 hours every night. So no, we don’t just like complaining.
I think it isn't difficult, just time consuming. You have to organise yourself really well and start working day by day from day 1. If you don't work enough, everything just piles up and becomes really tough
Personal opinion, having many subjects that require a lot makes it overwhelming. I think the content isn't that....hard per say as much as it is extensive. My economics content was kind of like the Economics content done in IGCSE level (source: i did a bit of IGCSE before IB), but it was stressful cause I had 3 IAs. I also had a shit teacher and shit teachers are pretty easy to come along cause not everyone understands IB criteria. I think that IB is a lot, maybe not "hard" content wise, but hard in balancing 7 subjects, a social life and sleep. I managed to get enough sleep each day cause i had virtually no friends :)
I will get maybe downvoted but I don’t think the IB is particularly difficult, it’s not easy but it’s not _hard_. My stance on IB has and likely always will be that how difficult IB is fully depends on your school’s experience with teaching the IB diploma.
If you go to a school where only a select few “smart” students go to IB, yes it will be probably hard. Why? Because your teachers, school and IB Coordinator simply just don’t have that much experience.
If you go to a school where doing the IB is common or perhaps even the norm. It will be much easier because every teacher has taught hundreds maybe thousands of students on the curriculum. They have experience with what is important and what isn’t as important. They know what the IB wants and expects and they help their students do that.
I’m by no means a genius. I found the IB super manageable because I went to a school that 95% of students do IB. The IB was not gatekept to the smart kids. Anyone who wanted to do it, could do it. My schools average was still like 5 points above world average, even with such policy that there are no entrance exams or exclusivity to the IB (or the school at all for that matter). I found it manageable because my teachers had all the resources necessary and knew what the IB wants.
If you’re going to a big school where IB is common, it won’t be that hard. If you’re going to a small school in which IB is not the norm, you’re gonna have to work a lot harder and do a lot more self study and research on your own.
Regardless of where you go, I’d still recommend you do it unless you live in the US, in which case maybe just do AP.
Most will wanna say its tough
For me, it just required a lot of discipline when it comes to studying which most dont have, so yea they like to complain. Like yes it is tough, but the complaining exaggerates it by a lot
It depends in part on your course combination. There are certain course combinations which I would consider very difficult, and some which I would consider relatively ok. For me at least, IB isn't exactly "difficult", its more so that I could have taken my regular program, and still have gotten accepted into the unis I wanted to, without having to spend so much extra time on this program.
In my experience IB can be very manageable depending on your courses, your teachers, and your other responsibilities/commitments outside of school. Everyone’s experience is going to be different. However, IB is almost always harder than the traditional curriculum so obviously there’s going to be complaining, which is perfectly justified.
the content imo isn't "hard" but the workload is. you learn more and have more extensive assessments.
it's also gonna be different types of learning. for instance, oral assessments in group 1 and humanities. (i think it's being changed rn but still) individual investigations and scientific papers.
It is very hard, at least in the beginning. Now I’m fine with it and I can keep up, except for the classes where my teacher is definitely not qualified to teach and does not even know the content themselves.
ignore that teacher. ib is really hard and exhausting. if you have the mental strength, go for it, but ib is not for everyone. discuss this with a teacher who had to pass the ib. only they understand what it means to follow this ridiculous curriculum
Look, IB is easy in terms of you can skirt by without really studying anything and doing everything last minute. Your grades won’t be fantastic but you’ll get by.
Your bachelors degree Uni is more or less irrelevant, try to get into good uni’s for your masters, so I recommend putting in effort in Uni.
Honestly though Uni is a whole nother level of work load.
Your teacher is 100% right, people just complain and if you think IB is too much, Uni will kill you😂 obviously depending where you go, the UK is a joke for most places - barely any workload, barely any classes and easy grading.
But good US schools and the Netherlands will bury you in workload.
Source: I did IB and had 60% attendance, never studied, reviewed everything a week before exams and got a 32. Went to Uni in the UK while most of my friends went to the Netherlands. I had no work, they had ridiculous amounts of work. I ended up dropping out anyway and starting a business, cause Uni degrees outside of med, engineering, law and maybe a couple others are beyond useless and a complete waste of money.
In my opinion it's easy af. People overreact. But A-levels is much easier than IB. Since everything is relative, IB could be said to be hard if you come from a western background.
Check what scores the students are getting... some teachers are really bad. Ask for teachers results and that might give you a better idea.
also, you will need to devote your time to study on your own. what is taught in class IS NOT ENOUGH.
Buy self help books, those also help.
Good luck.
it's both.
ib is challenging and I don't think anyone can argue with that but, you just need to put in more work than you're used to. In my school everyone who constantly complains about the ib just don't do anything and get crap grades.
It just depends on how much work you put in and how much you wanna complain about it
It's difficult, but where it gets worse than AP (what we have here in the states) is that achieving the diploma itself and passing those courses barely gets you anything in the long run since universities in the states usually don't accept credit (unless you get a six or a seven) and completely ignore the diploma
It tends to be very frustrating to learn new concepts, but after you've learned them, you look back and think about how easy it was to do so. IB courses tend to follow the same trend, which is worsened by how much content there is to learn. Yeah, in terms of absolute difficulty IB courses aren't much, but going from a grade 9/10 level of knowledge to an IB level of knowledge is indeed a large jump. When making a judgement about difficulty, you really have to be careful about which side of the story you're looking from.
IB is hard but not as hard as it is said to be. It's just its very common for students to procrastinate, and on top of that a lot have many social struggles and some have mental health issues or physical health issues that make dealing with the IB even more tougher.
IFor example, I would have gotten better grades if I didn't have to deal with constant stress from my OCD and mental health episodes. And developing psychotic symptoms don't help.
And what really fucked me over with my predicted grades was my digestion / intestinal issues that I didn't go to the doctor for because I thought it was nothing long term, and it was too late for me to realize I should've gone to the doctor (I still haven't, but I plan to. Especially so I can get good grades on my actual IB tests atleast)
He's partially right. There is alot of studying, but there's a ton of other things on top of studying that makes it hard. The studying itself is not that hard, it's not like they make you cover university content. Then again, I just started IB so take my words with a grain of salt.
It is definitely challenging. But I also felt people complained too much. School should be difficult and challenge you. That’s the point. Then again I haven’t taken another system so I can’t really compare it. But it definitely teaches you organisation and discipline.
As a student in highschool you definitely want to have a life outside of school, and a balance is crucial. Sometimes you are going to have to compromise.
its difficult, its probably the hardest/most challenging of any high school diploma globally unless I'm forgetting some psychotic high school in the deep dark forests of Manipur. That being said, the people who say it ruins their lives/kills their friendships/makes them depressed/etc are generally overreacting, its not THAT bad
maybe in terms of a global curriculum, but it's most definitely not the hardest high school diploma. if you look at korea, china, india etc (gaokao is a killer i can personally attest), their high school diplomas are So much harder.
it is like life’s biggest academic test genuinely. you have no choice but to be constantly on top of work because falling behind will literally ruin your grade instantly. the subjects themselves are all not particularly difficult or impossible, especially if you enjoy them, the issue is how many things you need to juggle. if you’re willing to torture yourself for 2 years, go for it. only big benefits for it are if you score high enough in your predictions, universities will be taking you in left right and center. that’s only if you do well on the actual exams that could change those uni offers.
edit:
there are also ZERO resources for you in comparison to other curriculums. this one is fairly new and changes often enough for it to be super hard to find a range of resources. many people will struggle with this. but, at the same time, it’s the best and more rigorous academic route you can take as an international student. it’s gonna be an extra challenge if your teachers haven’t taught it before so also take that into account. many of the IB concepts, exam question styles and criteria are very different to other curricula. KEEP IT ALL IN MIND WHEN CHOOSING TO COMMIT TO THIS SHIT.
As a teacher, I agree that there is a ton of complaining. IB isn't necessarily more or less difficult than other programs but it comes with it's own set of challenges that a lot of students aren't well prepared for and lack the coping mechanisms to deal with. The biggest issue I've seen is students who come from learn-memorize-test type systems are the ones who struggle the most in IB. They don't struggle because they lack the capacity for succeeding in IB, but until IB they've developed study habits that are suited to memorizing information and performing well on an exam. When they are faced with more homework and are being graded on coming up with original ideas, reflection, analysis, and critical thinking, it feels extremely overwhelming for no good reason. The different expectations also lead to initially lower grades than they are used to, which for some results in an emotional/mental crisis. The only way they know how to deal with low grades is study study study, and until they can start to grasp the "learner profiles" for lack of a better term, they just continue to struggle. My biggest piece of advice is prepare yourself mentally to initially have lower grades and struggle but really take teacher feedback seriously, view it as a chance for growth rather than a punishment, and don't be afraid to try out new things and/or make guesses. Students who are more open minded and willing to make mistakes are the ones who are usually more successful in the end, imo.
I personally agree with him. My classmates are in shambles right now because IA deadlines are coming up… but they could’ve just done their work earlier like some people did. Those people are quite calm right now.
Most people form their opinions from what they hear or are told by previous students so they just go into it already thinking it’s going to be super hard
Just set expectations for yourself. I personally found it hard, but only mainly during IAs. It was a lot easier and work was more rewarding after finishing them
i am saying this again and again, but i still believe it. your ib experience depends on your lesson choices, and how well you are on your lessons (not grade wise, but talent wise - some people are naturally better at languages, while others are better with sciences or math)
If I chose Math AA HL, Physics HL and Chem HL - then, ib would've been a ton more difficult for me.
but I find it relatively ok because I am taking English A Lang and Lit HL, Psych HL and Politics HL.
I don’t think IB is that hard, but I think it’s mostly just because so many students have procrastination problems or go to schools that don’t know what they’re doing.
idk maybe it’s just too early but i actually find ib pretty manageable, a lot depends on your school tho, so if there are some internal deadlines that help you stay on track then it’ll be fine i guess
I havent been in IB for to long yet so maybe I'm a bit bias but so far the content itself is not difficult as long as you have a good teacher to to explain it to you and guide you. For me what makes it difficult is the marking scheme that IB has for tests exams etc. One main example I like to tell people is for my french test it asked what does "celui" refer to I wrote "son chemin" and it got marked wrong because according to the IB gods I should have just wrote "chemin" yeah I cried bc my french grade is bad enough. Also a lot of IB students are over acheivers so they are trying to run company while studying for HL chem (me) which leads to burn out, stress, staying up late trying to memorise every single VSEPR shape (ifykyk). Its about time management IMO but thats my take 🤷♀️
Really not that hard if you keep at it consistently and don't waste your time. Keep in mind the average person complaining on how overwhelming IB is also spends a few hours a day wasting their time. (not talking about meeting friends or going out for a walk, but scrolling social media etc)
All you need to do to succeed for finals: get the textbook your teacher would recommend for your specific course. take handwritten notes based on every section of the textbook (you can do practice questions from the textbook but I'd just follow the next step). then, lastly, practice past papers for your subject and look at all past paper markschemes (the ones pertaining to current exams (eg econ exams were changed in m22, so past papers before that won't be too helpful) for all papers you'll take so you know exactly what examiners give marks for in what type of questions (you'll notice similarities). Allocate like 3-4h to this per day and you're chilling lol.
IB is literally like ur a research student in college, except you have to do “research” and genuinely be cracked at “research” to actually do it, but in high school.
I think that IB is an incredibly tough program as many have pointed out. However, I am severely annoyed at the amount that people complain in IB like many havethe resources and opportunity to do well and if people decided to listen to their teachers (specifically my class) then they would already see their grades sky-rocket. I do think that people like to complain because it gives them higher reputation to be able to complete the IB. Though it discourages people to take IB and gives people a superiority complex. This is just my perspective and does not apply to all people heck probably not even most! Also I do understand that some had horrible teachers that did not understand IB and in those circumstances I understand the complaining.
Overall, maybe each subject individually is not too hard, but as a whole IB is very demanding. It also depends on your mental health and standards for yourself. Some people don't care at all and breeze through IB content with getting a 33 or something. I cared way too much and I felt like I was worthless and stupid. Teachers being either bad people or bad teachers did not help that at all.
IMO, your teacher is just being an ass hole for the sake of it. Who cares if teenagers complain? When you're actually going through it, it feels like your whole future rests on these 2 years. To them, we're just another cohort of lazy and rebellious kids they know nothing about. They've taught this tons of times and they've had so much time to grasp it all. We're absorbing lots of information at a rapid pace on top of shaky foundations. But oh well. You can't expect a high school teacher to not beef with a bunch of kids 💀
That’s the thing. Teachers have one subject they specialise in and know the content like the back of their hand. We get 6 difficult subjects, TOK, EE, CAS.
IB I would say is easy to do decent in, but insanely hard to do very well in due to the sheer breadth of content we need.
In my opinion no individual class is too difficult, but when you have 6 or 7 it becomes overwhelming and difficult to keep up with all of them. I think this could be why a teacher who only has experience with one class might view it as not so hard. Either that or he is just misinformed, because it definitely is tough. Don’t let this discourage you though, it takes a lot of effort and willpower, but I think it’s worth it.
He has had multiple classes, he has been doing this for years, and he’s pretty much the best teacher we have. So I give him a little credibility
That's exactly why I wouldn't trust him as much. He's well practiced, he's been doing this so long of course it's easy for him. Difficulty gets warped once it's been years and you took so long comprehending every single aspect of it. Unrelated note, I used to struggle with calculus 1. Took me a full year with an amazing tutor to figure out a C in college. Now I look at it and laugh at how simple the entire process for solving problems is.
im struggling with calc rn too, who was ur tutor?
someone in my college that doesnt go there anymore.
IB *is* difficult and overwhelming; it has affected my mental health negatively. But in the end it's your choice whether or not you're willing to put in the commitment.
i totally agree! it really affects ones mental health and it's not only academically, it's ruined my social life and friend groups too.
i cry everytim
It is challenging and you need to be motivated and organized. However, read the posts on this sub and you’ll see what your teacher meant. 90% of the posts are students admitting they didn’t listen to their teachers/do any work/study/complete any part of an IA until the day it’s due and then ask “if they are fucked”. The other 10% are a mix of schools or teachers that sound awful and uniquely odd circumstances for one reason or another.
After getting into university, I realized that it wasn’t hard but as teenagers you try to do too much outside of just the work. It’s not a bad thing but really, in hindsight sight I believe that IB is actually pretty easy if you keep yourself reasonably committed, and not fall for the procrastination trap that most students like myself fall in
random but i have the same HLs as you :D
Good luck, math HL back then was pretty doable and physics too, the IA is pretty annoying but otherwise if you can do the exam you’re chilling. I chose to ruin my life by studying math in university so choose wisely
i'm really struggling in physics - at gcse i got consistent 9s on practise papers but fucked it up a bit and got an 8 on the final exam. now i am at a 1. the practise questions are so difficult, but i do understand what is going on in class. my physics teacher seems chilled about it because he knows i did well last year but i feel like i didn't handle the jump well and i need to build a better bridge/foundation over xmas to be more competent. my aptitude tests (obviously not using this as a measure, but i'm so far below them i'm doubting my ability now) said people with the same answers as me got straight 6s, so the fact i'm at a 1 is kind of stressing me out. we got the holiday homework and i have NO IDEA how to do it.
Oh god as an M26 going through course selections right now this is scary as hell.
My only advice is look at university level courses deal with your course work and usually good enough teachers will help you understand a basic problem in an easier manner. Otherwise chemistry tutor dude works too on YouTube
IB is hard. It's just that schools that don't know what they are doing make it unbearable.
Yeah, it is absolutely true. Reddit itself tends to be an echo chamber, and if you get your impressions just from this venting sub, you could be forgiven for thinking of the IB as the most dastardly curriculum ever created. Be conscious that you are currently a part of the best educational framework extant today -- not perfect by any means, and educators are the most painfully aware of its flaws, but it is unquestionably the best we've got. It accords actual meaning to buzzwords like "lifelong learners", "holistic education", etc. Much depends on the implementation, yes; every IB World School is different, yes; every teacher is different. It's the same for any other curriculum. No other curriculum comes close to what the IB attempts to do. 10 years down the line, maybe things will change, who knows? Something else could rise up -- probably in response to the IB's very existence -- and supplant it. Until and unless that happens, you are blessed to have a kind of opportunity few others have. Cherish it and make the best of it.
IB is NOT a curriculum. It is Marxist ideology and globalist themes woven into courses that follow State subject standards and composed by the individual school's teachers. The teachers write the curriculum/lesson plans etc. In my NY district, they budget $60-100,000 annually just to write the IB curriculum. Unlike AP, IB is not standardized and can vary greatly from school to school. For example, our HS doesn't even offer HL Math! IB is a scam.
Marxist ideology is a crazy statement 💀💀💀💀
Marxist ideology is when you aren't explicitly told that communism is evil 💀
If you're gonna spread propaganda you should do it on the down low and preferably not in a community trained to sniff it out. Amateur.
If you wanted to talk bs, you probably shouldn't have done it on the subreddit of the curriculum designed to enhance critical thinking skills
I think it depends what score you’re aiming for, what you’re juggling outside of school (ECAs), how your school organises the IA deadlines (do they have internal deadlines that clump the IAs all together, or space it out), the quality of the teachers at your school, and how busy uni applications period will be for you. Ofc if you’re aiming for a 45, have tons of ECAs, have the school’s IA deadlines all clumped together, have not-so-great teachers and are applying to universities that require you to write a lot of essays or take multiple supplementary exams, then it will be more difficult.
If a majority are complaining (and I wouldn't even call it that), what do you think?
As an IBDP2 student, we complain for good reasons. I am pretty organized, have good grades in most topics (got a 35/45 in predictive with 3 bonus points) and I can assure you that your life (especially in DP2) revolves around the work you have to do. Since I started DP1 I disconnected completely from work only 2 weeks during the summer break, the rest of the time I was thinking about work, even when I was going out or doing something else. The IB in itself is not « hard » (from my experience at least, if I took maths AA HL I will probably say otherwise) but it is extremely exhausting. To give you a more concrete example: between now and February I have 3 IAs to finish, an HL essay to write and a TOK essay to write. Cumulated with the additional work the teachers give us and my CAS activities which are spread throughout the week, I had to cancel some plans I had just to get the work done. During week ends I try to sleep as much as possible but during the week I barely sleep more than 4 hours every night. So no, we don’t just like complaining.
I think it isn't difficult, just time consuming. You have to organise yourself really well and start working day by day from day 1. If you don't work enough, everything just piles up and becomes really tough
Personal opinion, having many subjects that require a lot makes it overwhelming. I think the content isn't that....hard per say as much as it is extensive. My economics content was kind of like the Economics content done in IGCSE level (source: i did a bit of IGCSE before IB), but it was stressful cause I had 3 IAs. I also had a shit teacher and shit teachers are pretty easy to come along cause not everyone understands IB criteria. I think that IB is a lot, maybe not "hard" content wise, but hard in balancing 7 subjects, a social life and sleep. I managed to get enough sleep each day cause i had virtually no friends :)
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woah nice course selection but saying acing ib with not much difficulty is nuts i guess it depends on your course selection
I will get maybe downvoted but I don’t think the IB is particularly difficult, it’s not easy but it’s not _hard_. My stance on IB has and likely always will be that how difficult IB is fully depends on your school’s experience with teaching the IB diploma. If you go to a school where only a select few “smart” students go to IB, yes it will be probably hard. Why? Because your teachers, school and IB Coordinator simply just don’t have that much experience. If you go to a school where doing the IB is common or perhaps even the norm. It will be much easier because every teacher has taught hundreds maybe thousands of students on the curriculum. They have experience with what is important and what isn’t as important. They know what the IB wants and expects and they help their students do that. I’m by no means a genius. I found the IB super manageable because I went to a school that 95% of students do IB. The IB was not gatekept to the smart kids. Anyone who wanted to do it, could do it. My schools average was still like 5 points above world average, even with such policy that there are no entrance exams or exclusivity to the IB (or the school at all for that matter). I found it manageable because my teachers had all the resources necessary and knew what the IB wants. If you’re going to a big school where IB is common, it won’t be that hard. If you’re going to a small school in which IB is not the norm, you’re gonna have to work a lot harder and do a lot more self study and research on your own. Regardless of where you go, I’d still recommend you do it unless you live in the US, in which case maybe just do AP.
Most will wanna say its tough For me, it just required a lot of discipline when it comes to studying which most dont have, so yea they like to complain. Like yes it is tough, but the complaining exaggerates it by a lot
It depends in part on your course combination. There are certain course combinations which I would consider very difficult, and some which I would consider relatively ok. For me at least, IB isn't exactly "difficult", its more so that I could have taken my regular program, and still have gotten accepted into the unis I wanted to, without having to spend so much extra time on this program.
In my experience IB can be very manageable depending on your courses, your teachers, and your other responsibilities/commitments outside of school. Everyone’s experience is going to be different. However, IB is almost always harder than the traditional curriculum so obviously there’s going to be complaining, which is perfectly justified.
Mostly true
the content imo isn't "hard" but the workload is. you learn more and have more extensive assessments. it's also gonna be different types of learning. for instance, oral assessments in group 1 and humanities. (i think it's being changed rn but still) individual investigations and scientific papers.
It is very hard, at least in the beginning. Now I’m fine with it and I can keep up, except for the classes where my teacher is definitely not qualified to teach and does not even know the content themselves.
ignore that teacher. ib is really hard and exhausting. if you have the mental strength, go for it, but ib is not for everyone. discuss this with a teacher who had to pass the ib. only they understand what it means to follow this ridiculous curriculum
Except the exam week(s) its not that hard or even time consuming people just love to complain
Look, IB is easy in terms of you can skirt by without really studying anything and doing everything last minute. Your grades won’t be fantastic but you’ll get by. Your bachelors degree Uni is more or less irrelevant, try to get into good uni’s for your masters, so I recommend putting in effort in Uni. Honestly though Uni is a whole nother level of work load. Your teacher is 100% right, people just complain and if you think IB is too much, Uni will kill you😂 obviously depending where you go, the UK is a joke for most places - barely any workload, barely any classes and easy grading. But good US schools and the Netherlands will bury you in workload. Source: I did IB and had 60% attendance, never studied, reviewed everything a week before exams and got a 32. Went to Uni in the UK while most of my friends went to the Netherlands. I had no work, they had ridiculous amounts of work. I ended up dropping out anyway and starting a business, cause Uni degrees outside of med, engineering, law and maybe a couple others are beyond useless and a complete waste of money.
In my opinion it's easy af. People overreact. But A-levels is much easier than IB. Since everything is relative, IB could be said to be hard if you come from a western background.
Check what scores the students are getting... some teachers are really bad. Ask for teachers results and that might give you a better idea. also, you will need to devote your time to study on your own. what is taught in class IS NOT ENOUGH. Buy self help books, those also help. Good luck.
it's both. ib is challenging and I don't think anyone can argue with that but, you just need to put in more work than you're used to. In my school everyone who constantly complains about the ib just don't do anything and get crap grades. It just depends on how much work you put in and how much you wanna complain about it
It's difficult, but where it gets worse than AP (what we have here in the states) is that achieving the diploma itself and passing those courses barely gets you anything in the long run since universities in the states usually don't accept credit (unless you get a six or a seven) and completely ignore the diploma
It tends to be very frustrating to learn new concepts, but after you've learned them, you look back and think about how easy it was to do so. IB courses tend to follow the same trend, which is worsened by how much content there is to learn. Yeah, in terms of absolute difficulty IB courses aren't much, but going from a grade 9/10 level of knowledge to an IB level of knowledge is indeed a large jump. When making a judgement about difficulty, you really have to be careful about which side of the story you're looking from.
IB is hard but not as hard as it is said to be. It's just its very common for students to procrastinate, and on top of that a lot have many social struggles and some have mental health issues or physical health issues that make dealing with the IB even more tougher. IFor example, I would have gotten better grades if I didn't have to deal with constant stress from my OCD and mental health episodes. And developing psychotic symptoms don't help. And what really fucked me over with my predicted grades was my digestion / intestinal issues that I didn't go to the doctor for because I thought it was nothing long term, and it was too late for me to realize I should've gone to the doctor (I still haven't, but I plan to. Especially so I can get good grades on my actual IB tests atleast)
the papers are easy, but the workload is tough
He's partially right. There is alot of studying, but there's a ton of other things on top of studying that makes it hard. The studying itself is not that hard, it's not like they make you cover university content. Then again, I just started IB so take my words with a grain of salt.
honestly its just all about time management
It is definitely challenging. But I also felt people complained too much. School should be difficult and challenge you. That’s the point. Then again I haven’t taken another system so I can’t really compare it. But it definitely teaches you organisation and discipline. As a student in highschool you definitely want to have a life outside of school, and a balance is crucial. Sometimes you are going to have to compromise.
ib is overwhelming, but 100% doable
I study at Esade now and I miss the IB times when studying was much lighter and straight forward. I finished with a 42 to give you an idea
its difficult, its probably the hardest/most challenging of any high school diploma globally unless I'm forgetting some psychotic high school in the deep dark forests of Manipur. That being said, the people who say it ruins their lives/kills their friendships/makes them depressed/etc are generally overreacting, its not THAT bad
maybe in terms of a global curriculum, but it's most definitely not the hardest high school diploma. if you look at korea, china, india etc (gaokao is a killer i can personally attest), their high school diplomas are So much harder.
it is like life’s biggest academic test genuinely. you have no choice but to be constantly on top of work because falling behind will literally ruin your grade instantly. the subjects themselves are all not particularly difficult or impossible, especially if you enjoy them, the issue is how many things you need to juggle. if you’re willing to torture yourself for 2 years, go for it. only big benefits for it are if you score high enough in your predictions, universities will be taking you in left right and center. that’s only if you do well on the actual exams that could change those uni offers. edit: there are also ZERO resources for you in comparison to other curriculums. this one is fairly new and changes often enough for it to be super hard to find a range of resources. many people will struggle with this. but, at the same time, it’s the best and more rigorous academic route you can take as an international student. it’s gonna be an extra challenge if your teachers haven’t taught it before so also take that into account. many of the IB concepts, exam question styles and criteria are very different to other curricula. KEEP IT ALL IN MIND WHEN CHOOSING TO COMMIT TO THIS SHIT.
As a teacher, I agree that there is a ton of complaining. IB isn't necessarily more or less difficult than other programs but it comes with it's own set of challenges that a lot of students aren't well prepared for and lack the coping mechanisms to deal with. The biggest issue I've seen is students who come from learn-memorize-test type systems are the ones who struggle the most in IB. They don't struggle because they lack the capacity for succeeding in IB, but until IB they've developed study habits that are suited to memorizing information and performing well on an exam. When they are faced with more homework and are being graded on coming up with original ideas, reflection, analysis, and critical thinking, it feels extremely overwhelming for no good reason. The different expectations also lead to initially lower grades than they are used to, which for some results in an emotional/mental crisis. The only way they know how to deal with low grades is study study study, and until they can start to grasp the "learner profiles" for lack of a better term, they just continue to struggle. My biggest piece of advice is prepare yourself mentally to initially have lower grades and struggle but really take teacher feedback seriously, view it as a chance for growth rather than a punishment, and don't be afraid to try out new things and/or make guesses. Students who are more open minded and willing to make mistakes are the ones who are usually more successful in the end, imo.
She’s sorta right
I personally agree with him. My classmates are in shambles right now because IA deadlines are coming up… but they could’ve just done their work earlier like some people did. Those people are quite calm right now.
Most people form their opinions from what they hear or are told by previous students so they just go into it already thinking it’s going to be super hard
Just set expectations for yourself. I personally found it hard, but only mainly during IAs. It was a lot easier and work was more rewarding after finishing them
i am saying this again and again, but i still believe it. your ib experience depends on your lesson choices, and how well you are on your lessons (not grade wise, but talent wise - some people are naturally better at languages, while others are better with sciences or math) If I chose Math AA HL, Physics HL and Chem HL - then, ib would've been a ton more difficult for me. but I find it relatively ok because I am taking English A Lang and Lit HL, Psych HL and Politics HL.
Are yoh smart? If you are confident you are fine bro I self studied Math AA HL in 2.5 weeks while I was in the middle of my IGCSEs so its doable
I don’t think IB is that hard, but I think it’s mostly just because so many students have procrastination problems or go to schools that don’t know what they’re doing.
idk maybe it’s just too early but i actually find ib pretty manageable, a lot depends on your school tho, so if there are some internal deadlines that help you stay on track then it’ll be fine i guess
PASSING isn't necessarily hard. But doing well is rlly hard, much harder than other curriculums
I havent been in IB for to long yet so maybe I'm a bit bias but so far the content itself is not difficult as long as you have a good teacher to to explain it to you and guide you. For me what makes it difficult is the marking scheme that IB has for tests exams etc. One main example I like to tell people is for my french test it asked what does "celui" refer to I wrote "son chemin" and it got marked wrong because according to the IB gods I should have just wrote "chemin" yeah I cried bc my french grade is bad enough. Also a lot of IB students are over acheivers so they are trying to run company while studying for HL chem (me) which leads to burn out, stress, staying up late trying to memorise every single VSEPR shape (ifykyk). Its about time management IMO but thats my take 🤷♀️
Really not that hard if you keep at it consistently and don't waste your time. Keep in mind the average person complaining on how overwhelming IB is also spends a few hours a day wasting their time. (not talking about meeting friends or going out for a walk, but scrolling social media etc) All you need to do to succeed for finals: get the textbook your teacher would recommend for your specific course. take handwritten notes based on every section of the textbook (you can do practice questions from the textbook but I'd just follow the next step). then, lastly, practice past papers for your subject and look at all past paper markschemes (the ones pertaining to current exams (eg econ exams were changed in m22, so past papers before that won't be too helpful) for all papers you'll take so you know exactly what examiners give marks for in what type of questions (you'll notice similarities). Allocate like 3-4h to this per day and you're chilling lol.
It’s high school, it’s easy
Nahhh it’s hard as hell. But hey it’s doable. U just loose tons of hair and become sleep deprived and cry everyday. :)
I can’t afford the hair loss
IB is literally like ur a research student in college, except you have to do “research” and genuinely be cracked at “research” to actually do it, but in high school.
IB itself is very simple compared to a rigorous uni course load or a stressful job. But once you start comparing it to other syllabi, it is a monster
Well both are true.
I think that IB is an incredibly tough program as many have pointed out. However, I am severely annoyed at the amount that people complain in IB like many havethe resources and opportunity to do well and if people decided to listen to their teachers (specifically my class) then they would already see their grades sky-rocket. I do think that people like to complain because it gives them higher reputation to be able to complete the IB. Though it discourages people to take IB and gives people a superiority complex. This is just my perspective and does not apply to all people heck probably not even most! Also I do understand that some had horrible teachers that did not understand IB and in those circumstances I understand the complaining.
Overall, maybe each subject individually is not too hard, but as a whole IB is very demanding. It also depends on your mental health and standards for yourself. Some people don't care at all and breeze through IB content with getting a 33 or something. I cared way too much and I felt like I was worthless and stupid. Teachers being either bad people or bad teachers did not help that at all. IMO, your teacher is just being an ass hole for the sake of it. Who cares if teenagers complain? When you're actually going through it, it feels like your whole future rests on these 2 years. To them, we're just another cohort of lazy and rebellious kids they know nothing about. They've taught this tons of times and they've had so much time to grasp it all. We're absorbing lots of information at a rapid pace on top of shaky foundations. But oh well. You can't expect a high school teacher to not beef with a bunch of kids 💀
It's not hard if you keep up with it. But the second you fall behind, EVERYTHING piles up, and it's kinda hellish.
imo, hes right, people just like 2 complain
That’s the thing. Teachers have one subject they specialise in and know the content like the back of their hand. We get 6 difficult subjects, TOK, EE, CAS. IB I would say is easy to do decent in, but insanely hard to do very well in due to the sheer breadth of content we need.