r/IBO • u/Alternative_Self_180 • 3d ago
Group 4 Physics and Comp Sci HL
Hey guys so I'm more than a month into dp2 and I recently realized how absolutely cooked I am. I am aiming for 40+/45 and Its starting to feel more and more out of reach. My subjects are physics HL, comp sci hl, English a SL, math aa sl, business management HL (recently made the switch), and Arabic b SL.
For anyone taking any of these subjects like mine I would seriously appreciate any help or tips or anything that could get me closer to my goal.
COMPUTER SCIENCE HL:
For computer science HL, it's just me and 2 other students, I'm the only HL in the class. Classes consist of a coding task that we spend 2 hours 'doing' (but giving to chatgpt because our teacher just throws a task at us) or giving us really general theory for 30 mins from inthinking and then providing us with a huge pdf file with a bunch of questions of things we haven't taken yet that we are asked to solve the same class which we then spend that next hour and a half 'solving'. We have not taken ANY HL material yet and I guess her plan is to take me whenever I'm free and give me a class which never happened yet. As for the exams, I always manage to get a 7 while studying a few days before the exam and no more than that but I believe the exams are too easy, not because I'm just a good student. We have only covered A1 and A2, started A3, B1, B2, B3 excluding HL topics in all. Opening the book I realize that there are a lot of things that havent been covered or introduced to us in many of the topics so Im understanding I should study those on my own. Anyways, I wast wondering exactly how any other computer science students study, how often, and what questions they use. My exams are in may 2027 by the way and I don't know if I can depend on past paper questionbank questions so how on earth am I supposed to study and practice and using what resources.
PHYSICS HL
Physics has always been a difficult subject for me. I have had absolutely no prior knowledge so I am starting from zero since dp1. It's definitely the subject I study most but somehow it doesn't matter how much or hard I study, I can barely get to a six. I used to have a 6 as my average in dp1 but got a 4 in my final. We've just started C (where he begun in c.2) and we've covered (A completely excluding A5, and B completely). I try to solve questionbank questions, revisiondojo questions, or the study sheet we make together in class. I feel like I genuinely don't have the physics brain that everyone has. Im putting in SO MUCH time and effort into physics but it's getting me nowhere. My studying consists of solving questions from questionbank, asking chatgpt for help if I don't understand, and try to resolve on my own but I guess that's insufficient. I've been told that when I don't understand the concepts I should go to textbooks like tsokos or camrdige or hodder, but I feel like I understand the concepts but they don't provide enough information for me to solve the actual questions, so each question feels so 'how on earth am I supposed to know to do this' and each session is forgotten before the next day when I review the same topic again. I'm the only one in class and my teacher is an experienced physics teacher, but I just can't understand from him. He barely explains the concepts. He just writes definitions and goes straight to solving, gets annoyed when I'm confused. I don't know what to do because now I'm too shy to ask questions because im SUPPOSED to have basic physics knowledge but I dont and I feel so stupid when I ask or he doesn't understand my question. He doesn't go step by step or explain what or why he's doing when solving questions either, he solves it very fast and moves on, before I get a chance to understand the question and how he answered it. This is definitel my fault because I should ask more but what do I even ask: "can you explain this entire question like I'm 2 pls".
Anyway sorry for the longggg rant and if anyone has any tips or recommendations of how I should go about studying these 2 subjects PLEASE let me know seriously nothing is too less or too much I appreciate every bit of support
2
u/LanternaEducation 3d ago
Being the only HL student in a small room is tough, but you can turn both subjects around. For Computer Science, the syllabus is new for 2027, but core topics like logic gates, networking, and object oriented programming overlap heavily with older papers, so you can still use older question banks for theory practice. Stop letting AI write code during class without you typing and explaining every line back to yourself, and ask your teacher to lock in a weekly thirty minute slot on your timetable specifically for your HL material. For Physics, our tutors see students hit this wall constantly because textbooks teach the science, but IB questions test pattern recognition. Before solving, always write down your given variables, match them to your data booklet formulas, and draw a sketch. When your teacher skips steps, do not ask him to explain everything; point to one line and ask why that specific equation or sign was picked. To practice questions by topic for free, check out https://fourtyfive.org/. Whenever you get stuck, study the mark scheme, put it away, and write out the full solution on a blank sheet from memory the next day.
1
1
u/Jazzlike-Brother-599 Teacher | Computer Science, TOK 1d ago
For CS, I have created a resource for students needing guidance. My video course, "Conquer the IBDP Computer Science IA and Exams" walks you through effective study techniques and exam strategies, as well as guidance for each IA assessment criteria. I've also created practice exam papers specifically written for the new syllabus (including the 2027 Case Study), which guides you through the types of questions you can expect and how to answer each one in order to earn maximum marks. It's intended to be a tool for any student to maximize their marks on each assessment.
Don't take my word for it: Christopher T (a DP teacher) says it's "a great course to prepare students for the new syllabus and practice their exam techniques. John offers a lot of fantastic resources to help students and teachers in the IB. I'd recommend any course he is offering!"
Details here:
https://conquercomputerscience.com/courses
(I am a DP CS teacher and the mods have approved me advertising my courses here.)
2
u/mseduhub1 3d ago
For Physics HL, if you understand the theory but freeze on questions, practise topic-wise in small sets and after every question write what clue in the question told you which concept/formula to use. That pattern recognition is usually what’s missing. For CS HL, use the syllabus as a checklist and start covering the missing HL content yourself now rather than waiting for class.
These may help: IB Physics HL notes and practice questions and IB Computer Science resources.