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Thrashmaster last won the day on January 8 2018

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264 IBS Phenomenon

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About Thrashmaster

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    May 2015
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  1. A 4 isn't necessarily bad in IB. A 4 is passing. However, you'll want to do better on your IOP because you have time to fix it, unlike on your written exams. Therefore, you should probably aim for a 6. Well, aim for a 7, reward yourself if you get a 6, and be happy if you get a 5. As to etiquette, the different IB exams have different criteria. The IOP definitely does put an emphasis on your presentation skills, but it's the only one that does that. If I remember correctly, content is only one third of the grade for the IOP, so adjust your work so that you have an awesome presentation. Ideally, you'll have great content that you communicate in a great way.
  2. Thrashmaster

    EE help!!!

    I've been out of IB for over a year now, so I'm a little out of the terminology. But I don't know what subject 'peace and conflict' is under, but I assume its history. If it is history, I'd say you need more work on the question. You can draw real conclusions about 'human instinct and aggression' from historical events like that (at least you can't until you're writing your sociology and history dissertation). While you can look at a more personal element in history, they are usually based on individual motivations. You look at documents and decide why a leader chose to take a certain action, that sort of thing. This question would be difficult to argue for, or against.
  3. Thrashmaster

    5 days until IB results!!!!!

    Good luck to all of the candidates this year!
  4. Thrashmaster

    Points for Ivy League Schools

    Add these two replies together and you've got your answer US schools care about a lot of different things. Your scores are probably going to be good enough to get your foot in the door. But you'll need other things to impress them enough to let you in. Do some amazing things for CAS, write a killer essay with your application, ace your SAT, and you'll have a decent chance.
  5. Thrashmaster

    Is taking HL chem and HL bio a bad idea?

    It depends on you, mostly. Do you find science easy? Perhaps you wouldn't have to spend so much time. But in general, it is definitely a lot of topics to cover. Depending on how your school does things, you might be able to choose options for Paper 3 in both subjects that have some overlap to save you some time (like the biochemistry option). Honestly, 3 HLs is not too difficult for most people. While those two together might make it a harder course load than choosing something else, I don't think it's impossible or even significantly more time consuming. My friends took Hl Chem (and 3 other HLs) and SL Bio, and they did great and thought HL bio was not much harder than SL. Obviously, you choose in the end. But if you think you do well in Science, and you're only taking 3 HLs, I can't see a good reason not to try. In my school, we can start with 4 HLs and drop down if necessary. Perhaps you could take History at an HL level at first and then drop either it or a science to SL later?
  6. As a freshman in college now, I can say that when I was in IB, I thought I related more to college students. But now I know that I really didn't. College is a different lifestyle entirely. Though, I should mention that the IB work was harder than the academic work in college, so far.
  7. Thrashmaster

    Euclidean and non-euclidean geometry

    I have read that cliche examples are bad in ToK essays, though I haven't heard this specific example enough to call it cliche (doesn't mean a ToK examiner wouldn't think so though). I'd say go with it if it is very clearly linked to what you're trying to say. If it's a stretch, think of something else.
  8. Thrashmaster

    How did you guys succeed in IB Mathematics?

    HL Maths was easily the hardest course for me, and I always considered myself to be good at maths. Take lots and lots of practice exams, even from years on a different syllabi (get familiar with the one you're on so you can identify which questions you won't need to do). Realize, if you end up in HL, that it is a really hard class, and that's reflected in the boundaries at the end. If I recall correctly, getting a 4 is something like 40% and getting a 7 is 75%. It varies year to year. Most of the points you'll get will be method points, so show your work! That's another reason to take a lot of practice exams - they'll show you what is often counted as a method point and what isn't so you'll know what to write down. Finally, you need to be comfortable with and without your calculator, but you can become completely dependent on your formula packet! What I'm trying to say is that memorizing all the trig identities, for example, isn't necessary a good use of your time. Flipping to that page is not a lot of time spent during a test, and reading it off the page will probably prevent some mistakes anyway. Plus, trig identities are only one example out of the large number of pages on the test. Whether you choose to memorize or not, just be sure to remember that the formula packet is a tool available to you.
  9. Thrashmaster

    Chemistry IA HELP!

    Thank You Thrashmaster for the advice. Going about keeping the experiment simple and finding something that has a room for error, I am now thinking about something in the direction of the heat of combustion of a homologous group of organic substance (fuels). Would the complexity of the idea suffice the requirement of IBO and get me a good mark if i've done it in the right way? It's an internal assessment, so ask your teacher. He/She will be the one grading it, after all.
  10. Thrashmaster

    Chemistry IA HELP!

    My tips for Chem IAs: 1. Choose something relatively simple. Being creative does you no good here. 2. Test something obvious: We all know that surface area and temperature affect the rate of reaction. But, why not test how changing one of those affects magnesium strips dissolving in sulfuric acid? It should have a clear trend for you to analyze and you'll be able to justify it (and be able to explain the science in the intro. Note: Do what's commensurate with your progress in HL Chem. This one might be too simple, but you get the idea. I think all of your Vitamin C ones are too hard/unrelated.). 3. It's okay to fail. If you make a calorimeter and it loses a ton of heat (your numbers have a huge total error), that's okay, perhaps even preferable. For your Chem EE, you want good results. For an IA, that isn't necessarily true. Failed results give you a great conclusion. You talk about what went wrong, why, and how you'd fix it next time. And you still have all the graphs and numbers (including error) in the data section.
  11. Thrashmaster

    IOP shawshank redemption

    I think figuring that out for yourself is the whole point of the IOP. I'd say Freedom sounds inherently external and imprisonment internal in the obvious sense that you're stuck inside. From what I remember of Shawshank, I'd probably classify kindness as internal and brutality as external, but you need to figure it out for yourself so you can justify it during your IOP. If you can't, you should choose a topic you can talk about.
  12. Thrashmaster

    Exam DISCUSSION Schedule

    Good luck to you! This is the final stretch - make it count!
  13. Thrashmaster

    That time of year again...

    I'll be the ghost of an IB student. Not because I'm dead, but because I've moved on!
  14. My HL IA was on Newton's Method, and it did well. Just make sure to incorporate higher level concepts. Do it with a hard calculus problem, for example.
  15. My first instinct was that this absolutely is not plagiarism, but after rereading your post, I guess I can see where you're coming from thinking it might be. I think the chances of you being caught are almost none, though. I guess I'd say this: 1. If that video you found was of another ToK presentation, don't do the same thing. 2. If that video is very popular or likely to have been seen by your grader, don't do the same thing. 3. I don't think you should be taking their ideas without citing them. If you were impressed with some of their ideas, and want to include them, just cite them. 4. As far as ending your presentation the same way, if it is a "famous art piece," then the idea of referencing it can't be claimed by anyone, so it wouldn't be plagiarism to use that to make your point. But if you're using it to make the same point as the video did, then you could certainly be seen as 'unoriginal,' if the person grading you has seen the video. 5. All of the above sums up this way: Do your best to be different, but you're probably fine.

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