{"id":137,"date":"2024-12-09T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/?p=137"},"modified":"2025-04-25T17:15:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T16:15:46","slug":"navigating-the-ib-a-comprehensive-guide-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/2024\/12\/09\/navigating-the-ib-a-comprehensive-guide-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the IB: A Comprehensive Guide For Students\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1.\u202fHow does the IB program help students prepare for universities?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IB program prepares students for university through its rigorous curriculum, fostering critical thinking, research, and time management skills. It combines broad subject study with specialization, ensuring both well-roundedness and depth. Key components like the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge (TOK) develop advanced research and analytical abilities. The program also aims at broadening students’ awareness of the world and their\u202fability to adapt to cultures. It prepares students to work in a variety of settings. Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) encourages leadership and community service. Widely recognized by universities, the IB often allows advanced placement or preferential admission and ensures that students\u202fare both academically and personally prepared\u202ffor university challenges.\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. What subjects should I choose if I want to study medicine?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are\u202fa lot of\u202fstudents that are thinking about studying medicine after the IB program, and I am one of them. After talking to other, older, students before the DP, I decided on the option that I thought is the best. For Croatian (Zagreb) universities, medicine requires physics, chemistry, and biology for enrollment, while universities outside of Croatia require chemistry and biology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wish to study in Croatia, and since you can’t choose three sciene subjects, I suggest choosing two and taking private classes, or learning at home for the\u202f3rd\u202fscientific subject. I personally chose biology and chemistry while having a tutor for physics. Since I want to study in Croatia there is no need for me to take any of the scientific subjects on the high level (HL).  If you want to study abroad though, it would be preferable to choose chemistry and biology at a HL.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other subjects that I chose are math (SL) and\u202fEnglish,\u202fGerman,\u202fCroatian\u202fand\u202fpsychology (HL). When we talk about\u202fmedicine,\u202fit is only important to\u202fthink about scientific subjects, while having your complete free will with choosing the rest.\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Is it better to choose subjects I enjoy or subjects that are easier to score\u202fbetter\u202fin?<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is most important to choose subjects that are interesting to you and which will help you continue your education at the college you want. Every university has a set of requirements that students have to meet. Choosing your subjects carefully is going to help you with meeting those. It is very important to choose something you enjoy since you will have to\u202fwork with\u202fit for the next two years.\u202fAlso, it will surely be easier to score high if you actually enjoy learning about a topic. This\u202fdoesn\u2019t\u202fmean that you have to purposely take many very difficult subjects. It is important to balance it out so you can organize your time better and still have some free time for yourself.\u202f\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. What should I make my personal project\u202fabout?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since you will have to work on your personal project for the whole summer and a big part of year 2, you should choose something that is interesting to you. Something that is unique and represents your personality the best. It should be a challenge,\u202fbut\u202fdon\u2019t\u202ftry to impress anyone. Just choose something you would like to learn\u202fabout. Try something that\u202fisn\u2019t\u202fpart of your everyday life. Get out of your comfort zone but remember to have fun.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. What are the hardest parts of\u202fthe IB\u202fand how to overcome them?<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IB program is challenging due to the huge amount of work, time consumption, and the fact that it mainly focuses on self-learning. Managing six or seven subjects, internal assessments, the Extended Essay (EE), and activities related to CAS can be overwhelming. However, creating a schedule and breaking tasks into smaller pieces can really help with the workload. Time management is a priority, and paying attention to\u202ftasks without procrastination will surely decrease stress. EE and TOK are pretty challenging, but choosing an interesting topic, starting early, and seeking feedback\u202fmakes\u202fthe process of EE\u202fsmoother, while active participation and real-life examples enhance understanding in TOK. Early revision, past paper practice\u202fand active learning methods are essential for exams. One can only avoid burning out if, during times of relaxation, one takes time to exercise regularly, get enough sleep, and get support from friends, family members, or\u202fteachers.\u202fThe\u202fInternal Assessments (IAs)\u202fcan be streamlined\u202fwith careful planning and regular feedback. Focus on progress over perfection and celebrate small wins to stay motivated. With organization and balance, the challenges of the IB\u202fcan be successfully managed.\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6. How can I combine subjects in the IB if\u202fI\u2019m\u202finterested in both arts and sciences?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When picking subjects in the Diploma\u202fProgramme, you should take into consideration which university\u202fyou\u2019re\u202fplanning on attending, or at least some course in which you want your life to go. In case you are interested in both arts and sciences, I suggest that you consider the following subjects. There are\u202f5\u202fgroups of subjects you can choose from:\u202fLiterature\u202f<\/strong>(Croatian A or English A),\u202fLanguage acquisition\u202f<\/strong>(English B, German B, French B), Individuals and Societies\u202f<\/strong>(Psychology and Economics),\u202fMathematics\u202f<\/strong>and\u202fSciences\u202f<\/strong>(Computer science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology) – and one extra subject (Visual\u202fArts or any other available subject from the other groups). After choosing one subject from the first four groups, you have\u202f3\u202fopen spots (2+1 extra subject,\u202fif you want). Unfortunately for some, you\u202fcan\u2019t\u202fchoose more than 2 sciences to have in your schedule, so I suggest picking two of them which you prefer and put\u202fVisual\u202fArts as your extra (7th) subject.\u202fBut\u202fbe careful -\u202fVisual\u202fArts is a very demanding subject and will take quite a bit of your time, so don\u2019t pick it if you are not prepared for it, especially\u202fin the case of\u202fchoosing\u202ftwo sciences at the same time, which\u202fis really demanding as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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7. What is TOK?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is one of the three strands of the DP core, alongside CAS and\u202fthe\u202fExtended\u202fEssay. It\u202fis basically\u202fa subject which is held twice a week in which the students are encouraged to reflect on the nature of knowledge and knowledge questions. It\u202fis not assessed\u202fthroughout the year, meaning that there are no grades – you can either pass or fail. At the end of the final year of DP, you will have a TOK exhibition and essay, based on which you are graded. Keep in mind that you have to participate in TOK classes in both DP years in order to actually understand the purpose of the subject and successfully complete the assessment in order to pass.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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8. Ideas for CAS?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who don\u2019t know, CAS, stands for Creativity – Activity -\u202fService\u202f, and it\u202f\u201cis\u202fone of the three essential elements that every student must complete as part of the Diploma\u202fProgramme\u201d. Under the Creativity strand, one can\u202fcreate a blog or podcast to share ideas or thoughts on topics\u202fthat influence and inspire them, such as sustainability or mental health. The organization of various events, like a charity art exhibition or music concert, would also be an expression of one’s creativity. This could be learning any new skill\u202ftoo,\u202ffor example, photography, graphic design, or cooking-and documenting the process. For those\u202fwho enjoy performing arts, participating in,or directing a theater production,\u202for composing original musician be fulfilling. If\u202fyou\u2019re\u202fmore entrepreneurial, creating a business plan or app prototype to address a community issue could be an exciting project. For the Activity strand, you might mentor younger students in a sport at which you excel, engage in outdoor activities such as hiking or biking, or set a personal fitness goal like mastering yoga or training for a marathon. You could also set up a tournament in the sport of your choice or volunteer for an outdoor organization to work on trails or in parks, thus merging activity and service. For Service, you can teach younger students, set up litter-picking events, or volunteer\u202f\u2013 you could engage with\u202fcare of the elderly, animal welfare, or distribution of food. You may also provide workshops for the training of less privileged children in aspects such as computer literacy, art, or English.\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9. Which DP subjects should I choose to prepare\u202ffor the future\u202fif\u202fI\u2019m\u202finterested in business?\u202f<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since our school\u202fdoesn\u2019t\u202foffer classes such as Business management, or Global politics, I would suggest taking Economics and Math (HL), since those are the subjects most closely associated with business out of the offered. Of course, I recommend taking additional, out of school, classes related to business if you already know\u202fthat it is a\u202ftopic that\u202finterests you.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1.\u202fHow does the IB program help students prepare for universities?\u202f   The IB program prepares students for university through its rigorous curriculum, fostering critical thinking, research, and time management skills. It combines broad subject study with specialization, ensuring both well-roundedness and depth. Key components like the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge (TOK) develop advanced research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-questions-for-the-editor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mioc.hr\/ibnewspaper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}