(Part 2) Top products from r/IBO

Personally, I really like the Cambridge University Press ones, like this one for Chemistry. I only have them for Chemistry and Physics but they're much better than the Oxford ones in my opinion. I also like it because my school use the Oxford IB Diploma Programme Textbooks to teach the course in the first place, and having a study guide with a different brand to the textbook has been really useful for me to find extra examples of questions or different ways of explaining topics that I may not have wholly understood in the main textbook.



For Geography, I use this study guide, though I don't really know if it's the best one because we got lent them by the school. I think it's pretty good, but maybe there is a better one out there.


I don't think you really need them for the other subjects - you can always buy individual study guides for the books you study for English or, if you have to buy the books themselves, try and get the 'Methuen Student Edition' because it has lots of information at the beginning of the book. For French, you could buy a vocabulary book like this or a grammar book, like this, but there's loads on the internet anyway so I wouldn't worry about it too much.



And for Maths, I don't think a study guide will be that useful, as I think the main thing is practice, practice, practice!




Oh, and maybe hold off on buying anything just yet (especially for Chemistry and Physics) - the IB really like messing around with the syllabus and it won't be that useful to have an outdated version of a study guide

If you're retaking three subjects then you'll want to start as soon as possible. I'd recommend picking up a past exam paper and working through it (in exam conditions, preferably) to figure out what you're not understanding. Start with those chapters.

For math, not being able to do a question is generally a consequence of lack of understanding rather than lack of practice (although the latter should certainly not be ignored). Try running through the syllabus and explaining all of the concepts out loud. This is easier done with a friend or two, but record yourself if you don't have an audience. Try to see if you're capable of explaining every topic simply enough so that someone who hasn't done the course before would understand you. (Can you draw a diagram to explain how derivatives work? Are you able to give a geometric argument to explain what a system of linear equations is telling you? Can you draw pretty pictures to illustrate what a function is doing?) I strongly recommend doing this before jumping into questions, or you'll just get increasingly frustrated as you stumble over the same kind of problem over and over again.

For physics, on the other hand, I recommend going through questions straight away. The tricky thing with physics is that since the concepts aren't that hard to get, it's easy to convince yourself that you're understanding everything, although in truth you wouldn't have the slightest clue as to how to solve a physics problem. Working on getting the right "intuition" is key. The Tsokos textbook has some nice questions. I also really like Exercises for the Feynman Lectures on Physics - mind you this is way beyond the scope of IB's syllabus, but it's a wonderful tome to "correct" your intuition.

Good luck! :o)

I wanted to do a theatre EE originally, but I ended up doing an English Lit EE. Why? Because I wanted to explore contextual work (i.e. Waiting for Godot ) and about how its themes were represented in the text. While this sounds like a theatre EE it is technically an English EE because I was exploring the text itself and not the production of Waiting for Godot since different directors may choose something different for the text.

Idk what you want your EE to be specifically about, but if it's about studying the play through the text, it's better off as an english EE.

If you want to write an EE about theatre in specific (e.g. how proxemics influence a character's story arc, or how lighting affects moods of scene or whatever) then a theatre EE would be optimal.

In IB Theatre, a lot of emphasis is placed on the 'creative process' which is fancy way of saying 'how did you come up with this original theatre?'. A very low scoring answer would be 'i saw it online lol' while a higher scoring one would be along the lines of 'I experimented with different ideas of presenting this topic, and I asked a bunch of people what they thought and worked from there." Honestly, IB theatre isnt a great place to start for an EE in theatre unless your EE is specifically about a creative process. If you really need something to work off of, you could read this book by Frantic assembly about their own creative process. Maybe it'll spark your interest which you can then bring to your supervisor. Here's the link -->
https://www.amazon.com/Frantic-Assembly-Book-Devising-Theatre/dp/1138777005/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

have fun with your EE!

This is a lifesaver for french, even if you are doing ab initio!
http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Revision-International-Baccalaureate-Diploma/dp/1904534252
for bio this is FANTASTIC for studying
http://www.amazon.com/Biology-IB-Diploma-Andrew-Allott/dp/0199151431/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344831709&sr=1-1&keywords=ib+bio+study+guide
The chem and english ones in this series are great too...I would easily attribute my 7's to these books! :)

the official textbook for bio is not worth wasting your money on...I don't think I've used it in the last year because it is so badly organized. I wouldn't worry about books being cheaper on amazon, I bought all of mine there and they are identical but saved me so much money.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions :)

I was in the same boat, except that I didn't have any warning (the teacher was new my junior year). First, study the syllabus and make sure you know what is expected of you. Choose your own options for paper 3 if you teacher isn't clear on which she wants you to study.

A lot of IB school use J. A. S. Grenville's book. IMO, it's absolutely terrible if you're trying to be successful on the IB history HL exam. Grenville isn't very organized and takes a narrative approach when instead the focus should be on basic background knowledge followed by analysis of causes and effects, etc. If you're looking for good books, the IBO has written their own for the subject and they're quite good, like this one.

Looking at past tests will give you a good understanding of the types of questions that will be asked. Also, look up the examiner's reports (sometimes called subject reports). They are specific for each subject, level, and even different options. This will give you a good understanding of past students' mistakes and what the examiners are looking for. Also, make sure you are aware of the mark schemes used by the examiners. Often times these are generic, so you can get an understanding of how detailed you need to be in your approach.

A note about historiography: just using quotes from a historian won't get you points. You have to give multiple arguments from different historians and analyze the similarities, differences, and merits of each argument. This is only required if you want a 6 or 7 on papers 2 and 3. You can get by without it, but if you're shooting for a high score, make sure you include it.

My teacher was terrible and I learned very, very little. I didn't study enough because I didn't have enough time once I realized how little I had actually learned. Make sure you start very, very early (like right now) to cut down on the stress. Even with my small amount of relevant knowledge, I submitted a good IA (I think I got a high 6 or a 7) and managed to pass with a 4 overall. Good luck!

I know the university I'm headed to is using University Physics. I have a PDF of it, if you want it. It basically covers all the fundamental physics using calculus, so I would definitely regard it as a post-IB book.

I've heard many say that Resnick and Halliday's books are the best out there. They are perhaps a bit old, but seem to be the favorite among undergraduates.

If you want a more intuitive understanding of physics, then The Feynman Lectures are a must. He covers some material that requires knowledge of undergraduate level physics, but a lot of it I've found to still be enlightening. The intuition you'll get is invaluable.

Thanks man. I'll be honest I was originally supposed to do HL maths so I didn't really revise much/ make notes for studies. I found this book somewhat useful though, I'd highly recommend it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematical-Studies-Standard-Diploma-Preparation/dp/110763184X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=maths+studies+ib+revision+guide&qid=1562416399&s=gateway&sprefix=maths+studies+&sr=8-1

Is this for the 2nd section? Cuz for the 1st part there seems to be a relevant textbook: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Nature-Introduction-Philosophy/dp/0534624782

I feel like having a textbook is easier for beginner to pick up the concepts. Reading original papers is very hard(most were very academic and assumed a high level of philosophy jargon and knowledge). If the same mode of teaching were to used in my mathematics or economics course, I don't think I can master the ideas thoroughly enough. Somehow they have the balls to do it this way with philosophy.

We were using a text book by Ibrahim Wazir during our classes, but Haese was a primary source as well. Both are very good books.

EDIT: Sorry that is an outdated version we were using this one (2012 edition)

I used an earlier version of this book. It's really concise, and contains a stripped-down version of basically everything you need to know. For the parts you don't understand, there's always the internet. Good luck!

I don't really have much advice. I procrastinate much less than I use to because I can't afford to procrastinate. There's a great quote in House MD: "You want people to drive safer, take out the airbags and attach a machete pointing at their neck. No one will drive over three miles per hour." It's really the same thing for me. If I procrastinate, for even a day, I'll be crushed the day after. After a month or so, I lost the ability to procrastinate.

For physics, I first start by reading the study guide. I see if everything seems familiar to me. If anything, even to the slightest bit, seems unfamiliar; I read the course companion. When I fully feel like I understood everything, I start solving past papers and the questions in the book. After I finish all of those, I move onto college(ish) level books. For example, I used THIS book a lot. I try to solve the juiciest questions I can find. After I feel confident on those questions, I go pack to past papers and try to solve everything mentally. If it was really easy, I'd know I'm good for a test. If I'm slow and inaccurate, I'll do everything again.

Well, not really. They respect me more because they see me study more but not as much as I expected. They were even pissed off at me for spending a lot on books.

Edit: Grammar.

> our Biology

I do Biology SL and have the Oxford IB Study Guide (2014 edition). I've found it extremely useful: all of the questions in the exams could be answered using this book. Are we talking about different books?

Sixth edition?
( http://www.amazon.com/Physics-IB-Diploma-Coursebook-Tsokos/dp/1107628199?ie=UTF8&keywords=tsokos%20physics&qid=1464458237&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 )

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Standard-Level-Diploma-Preparation/dp/1107653150/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492597430&sr=1-3-fkmr3&keywords=cambridge+math+sl+exam+revision+guide

this is what i'm looking for

This should be the right one: https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-Math-Stella-Carey-M-Ed/dp/1438003927

Not sure if this is helpful, but I found it for around $10 on amazon here

https://www.amazon.com/Origins-First-World-War-Controversies/dp/0582418720

For World War One - I used it in undergrad

Without your topics, I can't help you further; every teacher can pick their own topics.