How to get a 45 in the IB? (part 1)

Year 11 and 12 are challenging years and getting a 45 requires a lot of strategic planning, hard work and a bit of good luck. Here are some tips from a 99.95 ATAR and IB 45 student:

Step 1: Massive Commitment

Commit to getting a 45. Most of the students who get a 45 have set that as their goal from day one. If you are unsure about whether you can or cannot get a 45, whether it is realistic - that uncertainty will be reflected in your work ethic and study plans.

Firstly, take that first step and solidify the fact that you are getting a 45. Now the question is how you are getting there.

Often a mental barrier is:

I don't want people to know that I am aiming for a 45 in case I do not get it or I don't want to really set my heart on getting a 45 since I might not get it and then be disappointed...

Just remember, if you set your mind on a 45 and truly act with the intention to get it - you will either get it or you will still get a grade that you are proud of. The worst feeling is to receive your grade and wish you could go back in time and work a bit harder, if you put in the work - no matter what you get you will still be proud.

Actionable Task: Write the number 45 on a piece and paper and keep it on your desk. Every time you begin studying, remind yourself of your goal.

Step 2: Take Full Responsibility

Are you happy with your grades right now? If not, why are your grades like that?

If you said something along the lines of: my teacher doesn't teach all the content well, online class is too distracting, my friends keep asking me for help, other obligations that take away your time ... STOP

I'm sure some of those do factor in, but until you take 100% responsibility for your grades you cannot improve them. Until you realise your grades are a product of your effort and decide to change your approach instead of complaining you will not see a change.

Actionable Task: Write down all the reasons why are not getting the grades you want and then rewrite them to frame it in terms of your responsibility e.g. my teacher doesn't teach all the content well becomes currently, I am not taking enough initiative to ask my teachers for extra clarification and feedback

Step 3: Personalise your study approach

Many students devise a study plan but often it is very general and not personalised to them. There are 2 main ways of personalising your study plan:

1.Identify your weaker and stronger subjects and allocate your time and resources effectively

Study your weaker subjects more consistently and if you can, get a tutor or an extra study guide. For your stronger/favourite subjects, don't spend all your time on it. HOWEVER, do not neglect it either.

2.Identify how you study and how much you are actually able to study

Often, students write out the most ambitious study plan known to humanity where they are studying 24 hours a day and expect them to be able to follow through. Be realistic.

You can build up to your ideal study plan, but trying to go too fast too early will either lead to you being discouraged or getting burnt out. Start slow and steady, make sure you build a study plan you will actually follow.

Actionable Task: Write your stronger and weaker subjects down and how much you study them right now and how much you want to study each of them. When doing this, only increase your study time per subject by a maximum of 1hr extra - this is your MUST study. Of course, if you are motivated - feel free to study more but that is OPTIONAL. Each week, try increasing your study time slowly until you reach your optimal study plan.

Step 4: Start early and be consistent

When I was studying French, I wanted to improve my reading section of the exam. Unsure how to do this, I decided that after every class I would make flashcards with about 20 new words and learn them that day. After doing this almost daily for 3 months, when I did a mock exam, I ended up getting a high 7 for reading and since then my score never went back down.

So a really small change can make such a huge difference in just 3 months, so imagine how much change you can make if you start even earlier.

Actionable Task: Identify your weakest subject and make a commitment that everyday for 10 minutes you will effectively study that subject.

- If your weakest subject is literature, maybe find a random poem/text and annotate it and then read the mark scheme/study guide so you improve your interpretation skills.

- If your weakest subject is content based, maybe every day for 10 minutes spend 5 minutes reading over a hard topic and then the next 5 minutes re-explaining that to yourself so you understand it.

Step 5: Study Methods

There are probably 1000s of study methods that exist and several that you have tried: flashcards, hand written notes, typed notes, Anki, practice questions, past papers, rereading, spaced repetition, the Feynman technique, blurting etc.

Which one is the best? That depends on you.

Each technique has a different use, for example, generally it is best to have a set of notes to use so writing notes will be effective and then in order to learn the notes it may be effective to use the blurting method and then to ensure you remember the notes use spaced repetition or Anki to ensure long-term recall and then to test your application it would be effective to do practice questions or past papers. That is one example of a study method.

Thus, what you ultimately choose will depend on the particular subject and what works best for you.

A key piece of advice about study methods is not to get too carried away researching study methods and tips and actually study - which seems obvious but is a very common mistake.

Personally, all of the above study methods I listed - I have tried. Ultimately, what I found worked best was having hand written summary notes for subjects with less content and typed notes for subjects with more content and learning everything by rereading everything a couple of times and after rereading just re-explaining it to myself to make sure I understood and memorised it. Then, if I had time, I would attempt a short question on the topic just to make sure I truly understood it.

For more tips, continue to part 2...