Hello! It’s your friendly neighborhood Kathlyn, here to give you some tips and tricks to survive the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). I am currently a diploma student, and let me tell you, it’s been rough. In fact, rough might be an understatement, but along the way I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks for surviving the IBDP, and I’d love to share them.

These tips, of course, don’t only apply to the DP. Many of them are useful for any long term project that you might be embarking on. I just find them helpful in this particular context.

  • Find Your Toilet - There’s always going to be that one class that seems to chew you up and spit you out over and over and over again. For me, believe it or not, it’s history. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't seem to get a 6 or a 7 in that class. Since I tried so hard and feel like I’m not getting anywhere sometimes, I just wanted to quit... I really did. But this is not excusable. You cannot just quit. So if you need to get that motivation back, find your toilet. When I say find your toilet, I mean find a little problem you can fix. For me, it happened on one dark and electricity-less night. Our toilet would not flush. Being the IB student that I am, I utilized everything that I knew about physics, Newtonian fluids, and taking poops to get that toilet to flush. Once I finished, I was motivated to do more— it got me hyped up.
  • Find a sleep schedule that works for you - If you’re not a stranger to this blog, then you know I‘ve had problems with sleep and caffeine. As a Diploma Student, you’ve probably heard that time management is key. That is true of both your waking hours and your dormant ones. You’ll need to find out whether you’re a night owl or an early bird (like yours truly). Once you find out the times when you work best, it will save you time on assignments that you can use to take care of your mental health, start a new hobby, work on CAS, or chill with friends. Free time, doesn’t that sound wonderful?
  • Make your notes look like you - I don’t like to be confined or defined... I know, how millennial of me. In keeping with this, I like to take notes in books that do not have lined paper. In addition to being something that I enjoy looking at, my notes also help me to take notes in classes where the teachers like to utilize the whiteboard or the smart board because I can copy their notes without the hindrance of lines. To go along with my cute notebooks, I have cute little colourful pens! They write in a way that does not frustrate me (because I hate it when my lines aren’t crisp... I have to write with felt tip pens) and make my notes pleasing to the eye. As you can probably tell, my notes well represent me— a little messy, colourful, pleasing to the eye, and not boxed in by definitions— and you need to make your notes look like you. Here is a link to a video that teaches you to beautify notes: https://youtu.be/YWOsKZXIn5k. The lady’s face is a little rough, but once you get past the initial shock, her information is GREAT.
  • Find something that calms your brain down - The IB Program is a beast, as my mom would say. Sometimes it’s overwhelming and you need your brain to be quiet so you can rest, regroup, and try again. You need to find something that calms you down. For me, that’s one of three things: talking to my mom or my friends, meditating, or playing the guitar. For meditation, I like to use Headspace. It’s a meditation app that tailors specific meditation sessions to your moods and areas of weakness. It’s good for your mental health in general. I’ve found success in the short meditations that focus on helping me to unwind.
  • Practice Past Papers - Past papers, especially for math, have been my best friend. So far they’ve helped me to raise my math grade by a whole grade level (hopefully soon to be two). Doing past papers show you specific areas of weakness in each unit of the class you’re doing, so you can correct them and move on.
  • Always have a cute little notebook on you - It is my belief that you should never leave home without a cute little notebook on you. This is because you never know when you’re going to start learning or who is going to inspire you. I use mine as a multipurpose book: I have an area for contacts, an area for margin thought (thoughts that I’ll get back to so I can develop them into working parts of my general philosophy), an area for book and song recommendations, and a log of what inspires me. Having a book like this on you means you never lose a brilliant idea, or a lesson from someone you didn’t suspect could be your teacher. I like to get my little books here: https://redcapcards.com/product-category/notebooks/. This is the one I’m currently using.
  • ALEKS - ALEKS is my new math best friend. The program was recommended to me by my professor at Columbia over the summer; she recommended that I use it to strengthen my algebra skills. The program does a general material test to see your proficiency in a topic and teaches you all the areas you’re shaky in- for me that was approximately 70% of basic mathematics... I know, tragic. Ok, I’m sure you're not as bad at math as me, because I missed many basic skills, but even if you are good at math, ALEKS teaches you the little things that you didn’t even know you were missing. It’s 20 bucks a month well spent: https://www.aleks.com/. Also... it does SAT prep, which I know every IB student surely needs!
  • Use Google Docs - Never ever ever use Microsoft Word. Don’t use it. Word is a gamble because if your document crashes you lose all of your work. Google docs, on the other hand, automatically backs up your work by the second, so you never lose your information. I’ve seen too many unfortunate situations where IB students have used Word documents only to have their entire assignment deleted. This is inexcusable and not remotely worth the pain or the ensuing mental breakdown. Use Google Docs.
  • Use Ecosia - Ecosia is a chrome extension and an app that takes the advertising revenue from searches you make to plant trees. It’s like google but it helps nature. I found it to be a jarring switch, but as of yesterday I have planted 10 trees and I haven’t had any big issues with it. I’d suggest you give it a try!
  • Make Schedules for Yourself - This one is a tip from one of my friends who’s a senior: When you are doing a long term project in the IB do not procrastinate. How do you get around procrastinating? Make a schedule for yourself and actually stick to it. Ok, I know this one is difficult from experience. I’m currently drafting my Extended Essay and sticking to my schedule has been hard, but it would be so much harder to complete my spring break workload without a plan that accurately assigns time to the various tasks I’ve been set to complete. So far I’m on track and even have time to chill in my favourite way, sleeping. Try this, it really works!
  • Check your sources - This tip is another tip received from an IB year two student, it might seem like it should be a given, but check the merit of your sources. As internet users in the 21st century, this is a skill that will serve you well throughout your life, make sure that your sources are reputable. In the IB, if they are not, you might get marked down. In life, if they’re unreputable you will be misinformed. If you are unsure of whether or not a source is reputable, you might find this to be a helpful resource: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/establishing_arguments/research_and_evidence.html.
  • Find something that reinvigorates you - This program is going to knock you down a lot. You could be the brightest person on the planet and you’ll still take some hard blows. So, find something that reinvigorates you, that reminds you of the goodness in the world, that makes you feel ok to work again. My top picks are my bad day playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSInWiWo_e8l3pjiZocnEIRSLLJ4MMgG8) and Vlogbrother’s question Thursday videos (https://youtu.be/qbIKtuAZrvc).
  • Make time to Memorize - Set aside time during the week to memorize things that you need to memorize. It may be sohcahtoa in maths, it may be how to use the subjunctive in Spanish, or your history key terms. Make time specifically for that.
  • If you feel as though you are failing the IB, take 4 minutes to watch this video - https://youtu.be/7dxcO26i9uw
  • Make time to Cry - This one is important. You could be the most perfect person in the world, but you will still have at least one grade that is a serious disappointment. This is universal. Make time to be sad and cry, then get up and try again.
  • Know what you respond to - you to know how you become motivated and what ways you learn best and then use those to really dig into the IB skills and Content. I, for example, really to well with positive reinforcement and feedback. So I set myself little prizes for when I finish something big... sometimes those prizes are naps.
  • Listen to Everything - I know sometimes it can feel like you’re hearing something on repeat and you already know what you’re being told. If you have the time, however, take an extra minute to listen. You might find out you’re doing something totally wrong or that you’re missing a piece of a larger puzzle 🤷🏾‍♀️.

I will be continuing this post when I get new tips and tricks for you guys, especially my friends who are at the end of their diploma road, but that’s all I have for now. If there are any that you particularly liked, please comment below! I’m happy to hear from you all!

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