The Extended Essay encompasses all subjects and one can choose to write about anything and everything as long as it relates to a subject-specific topic. I chose to write about team-sporting for Psychology. It is best if you pick a subject that you are very comfortable with and that you enjoy doing research and writing. It is a really long and hectic process and it will take months to be able to fully extract and finish your EE. Psychology EEs are really really difficult. No joke. You will be needing approximately 10 research studies in total, 5 for support and another 5 for your counterclaim. It is a very tedious thing especially since IB Psych EEs do not recommend physical experimentation and are mostly secondary research-based. With all these said, here are a few tips and tricks before and during you write your EEs.

1. What interests you?

Picking an EE topic and subject may be quite hard, but you need to really think of something that you enjoy learning and researching because this is what you will be working on for the majority of your second year. This will also really help you to explore and write as effectively as you can.

2. Organize your sources

In finding various EE sources, a lot may arise, but you must be able to differentiate whether it is going to benefit you and your paper. Collate sources that are relevant for the EE to have a good flow of ideas and for yourself and the audience not to be confused on the aim of the research. When dealing with studies and articles, it is best to create a document where you can outline the aims, procedures, conclusions, and such for easier compilation and writing.

3. Set personal deadlines

The EE takes a lot of motivation to write especially because of its lengthy nature; however, you should be able to set personal deadlines within your own schedule to avoid procrastination. This helps improve both the quality of your work and your time management skills.

4. Write at least 250 words every week

4000 words seems like a lot; however, this is to prepare you for various college essays in the future. Writing at least 150-250 words a week (depending on when you start), really helps you to progress and revise to reach the desired word count.

5. Always update and ask questions!

Updating your researcher reflection space and reflections on planning and progress is a way for your EE coordinator, EE supervisor, and yourself to track your progress. It is best to update them right after the consultations so it won't be hard for you to remember what transpired during the meeting. Don't be afraid to also ask and inquire questions as this will help you further explore your EE. (Aubrey Apelario Ong, Cohort 1)

For me, EE was an opportunity to learn more about something I love and share it with others! I chose to do my EE in Business Management (about marketing in China). If I could start the process all over again, I would make a general outline of the paper, then compile research for each section (put all the links in one document). When you actually get to writing the paper, you then only have to refer to one document for all your research. This makes the process much quicker and easier! Also, start as soon as possible, because time flies really fast in IB! Set a specific deadline for yourself and stick to it. Overall, writing an EE was a really interesting experience that taught me how to research properly. I also learned loads about the Chinese market, which really deepened my understanding of the IB Business Management curriculum! (Kate Ong, Cohort 1)