When I first heard that IB would be offering Biology, I knew that I would be taking this subject. I was always interested in Sciences and since I was planning to take a pre-med course in college, it was just right for me to take Bio. I eventually decided to take it as an HL subject after realizing that I was pretty interested in the lessons we would be learning and I couldn’t see myself taking other subjects as an HL. Although before fully deciding on taking HL bio, I asked some of my IB friends in cohort 1 about the subject. Most of them described Bio as manageable but just really heavy on memorization and terms. Now that I look back, I laugh at my past self for thinking “That’s fine, I’m pretty good at memorizing.” because I honestly need 5 brains to fit all the information we need for tests.

However, if you ask me right now, I would tell you that I don’t regret taking HL Bio. I have to say, there have been times wherein I truly feel this genuine jealousy towards SL students and their free time because the discussion for that day is “an HL topic”. The needing 5 brains is a bit of an exaggeration but what I mean by that is there is a lot of terms and concepts HL Bio students need to truly understand to grasp the entire lesson. If you’re the type to cram for a test the night before, you’re not going to make it in HL Bio, unless you’re really phenomenal at cramming. HL Bio students need to know how to break down all of the complex concepts and understand things part by part instead of just mindlessly memorizing and forgetting what you studied 5 minutes after the test.

Be prepared for a lot of reading. My one piece of advice is to not focus on taking handwritten notes. There will be a lot of things to take down and each unit is pretty long so writing notes during class might distract you from actually listening to the discussion, but if it helps you study better then that’s fine too! The key to any Bio student’s success is not the very long Bio book but Bioninja! It’s pretty good at summarizing concepts and giving actually useful examples. However, don’t rely fully on Bioninja. Reading the book at least once helps you understand the topic better. For anyone considering taking HL Bio,

I would tell you that it isn’t the easiest subject and from time to time, you’ll question why your past self signed you up for this, but I can also tell you that as long as you take time to understand the concepts and take things step by step, it’s pretty manageable. Many of the lessons are genuinely interesting and if you’re truly interested in Science, then I recommend that you take Bio, may it be SL or HL. Just don’t cram! Good luck and I hope you choose the subjects that are right for you! (Adrienne Wang, Cohort 2)

Bio is a very fun and interesting subject because you get to learn so much new things but expand your previous knowledge as well. So much analysis and critical thinking is required in the exams so you really need to memorize concepts and other things. There's also a lot of IAs to do so you have to be really creative! Still really fun and worthwhile overall.

IB Bio and JHS Bio are every very different. In JHS, once you take a test, the lesson does not really appear in future tests and you are done with that lesson. In IB, old lessons keep on appearing. For example, our first lesson in grade 11 was about cells and that included drawing cells. In our first Grade 12 Bio Unit Test, we were asked to draw these cells. In other words, you need to remember everything. One tip is for tests. When studying for tests, I find it helpful to start by reading the book and taking notes, then reading bioninja and taking notes from there, and rereading the notes I took down in class. After that, I would compile all the notes to make very short but complete notes. Another tip is for the IAs. It is best to have topics ready and to submit them very early because a lot of things can and will go wrong with your IA. It is also important not to cram it because you will really have a hard time. But, do not worry too much about Bio. Once you figure out the best way for you to study and manage all the tasks, you should be fine. It will only be hard if you think that it is hard. (Nicole Go, Cohort 1)