How I Got The Perfect Score Of 45 For The IB

After taking her GCE O-Levels in Singapore, 17-year-old Christine Yong had the option to either enrol in a Polytechnic, work towards the GCE A-Level examinations or pursue a International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. After careful introspection, she chose to take the IB at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and two years later, graduated with the best possible score an IB student can attain—which gave her a better chance at getting into top universities around the world and winning scholarships. LUCK-IT had a chat with the now 24-year-old about her study techniques and snagged some tips for present and future IB students hoping to achieve the same.

“I don’t have a specific system other than placing importance on practice and repetition.”

Q: Hello Christine! First off, can you tell us why you chose to take the IB instead of the alternatives? And what subjects did you take and why?

A: The most crucial constraint on my choices was that I did not take Higher Chinese in secondary school. With my L1R5 of 6-2=4, Raffles Institution (RI) and Hwa Chong Institution (Hwach) were out of my reach. I decided to pursue the IB programme at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). Even if I had qualified for RI or Hwach, I would not have chosen to go to either. First, I felt it was too early for me to specialise in either the arts or sciences. As someone who was inclined towards both disciplines, I thought the holistic curriculum of the IB was more suited to my interests. Not only did it have a better breadth-depth trade-off for me, it also trains a more comprehensive set of skills. For example, in languages and literature, students are assessed via both written and oral examinations. For the sciences, independent research projects are part of the compulsory assessment. In retrospect, these were incredibly valuable for training my presentation and research skills. Secondly, I much preferred the continuous assessment format of IB over the one-shot style of the A-Level [Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level] examinations. I felt that this type of assessment was not only less stressful but more fair—based on aptitude, rather than ability to memorise.

I took HL [Higher Level] Chemistry, Biology and Geography with SL [Standard Level] Mathematics, English Literature, Chinese B (the subject for Chinese as a second language, since English is my first), Extended Essay (compulsory research paper) and Theory of Knowledge (also compulsory). The principle was to first take what I loved—Biology, Geography and Literature—then take what I felt was practical or necessary for my university applications/career—Chemistry, Mathematics and Chinese. Finally, this was rounded out by the required subjects: Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge. I would recommend taking Mathematics HL if you are unsure about your future career path—at once, it helps open up engineering, science, and medicine as career options. I ended up pursuing a Biology degree where Maths HL would have been immensely useful.

What grades were you aiming for and what grades did you think you’d get?

I didn’t have any particular aims other than at least my school average (I believe around 41 at the time I took the IB in 2013) and 7-7-6/7-7-7 for HLs (a requirement for my top target universities).

When did you start properly studying for the IB final exam or working towards getting those grades? How much time do you think you spent preparing for the final exam in total?

The IB involves lots of continuous assessments, so the effort was continuous. In terms of final examination preparation, I began studying intensively about 2 months before the first examination.

How do you study, really? Do you have a system you use? If so, where did you learn that system from?

I don’t have a specific system other than placing importance on practice and repetition. For Chinese, I simply followed the assignments and classes, and practiced on past exam papers. For the sciences, maths and Geography, in addition to ensuring I did all the regular assignments, I would go over all of the content of my subjects at least once prior to my examinations. In this first pass, I would make summary notes of all content as this helps to solidify the concepts, facts, and statistics in my memory. In the process, I would read around concepts or topics that I find particularly interesting (usually on Wikipedia or journal articles) and embed these insights into my notes. I would also identify the sections in which I have poorer understanding for further rounds of revision (this entailed reading over notes/making new notes depending on how confident I feel about the subject). For each round of revision, I would check my understanding either on a per-topic basis or through past examination papers, depending on my confidence level and what resources were available to me. For Literature, we broke up each text into parts and worked in a group to analyse the sections we thought were more likely to be significant. For the oral examination, we practiced answering questions with each other.

Can you share your study routine? How did your week look when you were preparing for the IB final exams?

For the 2 months I spent preparing for the final exams, I spent every day except Sunday studying for about 8-10 hours each day. I would usually allocate 2 subjects to 1 day and alternate between reading/memorisation and practice, to reduce the monotony. Sundays and mealtimes were essential breaks that ensured I was fresh for my other study sessions. I spent some days studying together with friends, where we would talk about the subject, quiz each other, and take some well-earned breaks.

How did your week look when you weren’t close to any exams?

I would usually be dedicating around 12 hours per week to completing assignments, reading, and whatever continuous assessment was ongoing at the time. 4 hours went to extracurriculars. The rest was free time spent with friends, at home, and/or pursuing hobbies.

How did you spend your weekends then?

Some mix of work and chilling, according to the weekly schedule above.

Did your parents do anything special to prepare you for the final IB exams?

Nag at me when I appeared too relaxed i.e. whenever I was not studying, and not disturbing me when they saw me studying!

What advice do you have for someone thinking of getting 45 for the IB?

Choose subjects you love, pace yourself well for the 2-year grind (marathon, not a sprint!), and don’t forget to set aside time for your family, friends and hobbies.

Can you map out a recommended path for students who want to get 45 at IB to follow?

The IB offers lots of flexibility, so it’s difficult to recommend a path. But I would say choose the right school, with teachers who care for you as an individual, and who have a good grasp of the IB assessment rubric.

What are the key things/people/situations that enabled you to get 45, in your opinion? Who/What do you believe you never would have done it without?

As I mentioned above, I felt very blessed to have teachers who cared about my personal growth and learning, and who were experienced in the IB. In comparison with friends and family from other schools or countries who did the IB, I feel that ACS(I) [Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)] provides one of the best environments for doing well in the IB.

How did getting 45 change you as a person? Or did it not change you?

It didn’t change me very much, other than helping me get into the university and course I wanted. Personally, I don’t think there is a significant difference in ability between people who scored within the range of 42-45 (this is also reflected in universities’ IB cut-offs).

If you could go back and replay your entire education process all over again, what would you do differently?

Now that I am on the verge of starting my career, I feel that I should have taken the more difficult Mathematics HL, taken a philosophy or sociology subject at an earlier age (though this was not possible for my O-Levels [Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level]) and worked harder to express myself in Mandarin Chinese, dialects, and other languages. These are skills that I see as very important not only in the current global job market, but in defining my personal identity.

What were you like as a child? What about as a teenager and young adult? How did you change at every decade? Or did you not change?

I was as interested in a wide range of academic subjects as I was in things society didn’t seem to value as much—writing, design, baking, cooking, and gaming. I did begin to realise that others did not consider these latter pursuits potential career paths, so I became less invested in these areas (to my great disappointment) and more in academic science. However, these all continue to be a part of my life in some way today.

Which major event in your life has made you who you are, in your opinion? Why do you think so?

I can’t identify a single major event!

Which 3 objects/people in your life could you not live without when studying for the IB final exams and why?

My IB friends, my family, and my Wah Chee teh bing and butter chicken.

Of all the objects you bought when preparing for IB, which was most helpful? Why?

My laptop, where all of my notes and assignments live.

Which person do you wish LUCK-IT would interview for you to learn from? Why?

I’d like to learn from entrepreneurs and artists in Singapore about their struggle to change or adapt to Singaporeans’ behaviour—whether as consumers or as individuals in society.

What’s the worst advice you’ve been given, or have heard people giving, with regards to studying? And what’s the best?

The worst: to study everything. Sometimes spotting is necessary for efficient studying. The best: to use mnemonics when you need to memorise something that is organised or named in an effectively senseless way.

Christine is presently a graduate student studying the fields of science and tech policy. She also works part-time in a Japanese startup in the field of computer vision within the mobility sector and keeps a portfolio of her thoughts and work on her website. If you wish to get her advice on studying and taking the IB, you may drop her your question in the comment box below.

Other interviews with Christine Yong:
COVID-19 Diaries: The Situation In Japan, 84 Days In

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Christine Yong. Interviewer: Sy
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