ISB’s Diploma Programme Teachers Share Test Prep Advice

by Anna Janowski

April 2023

“May of your senior year.”

It’s arguably the most common phrase ISB Diploma Programme students hear from their teachers, and it’s synonymous with the IB exams awaiting seniors at the end of their high school careers. With the buildup of stress that accumulates from a year and a half of hearing about how everything they do in class leads up to those exams, seniors are understandably worried. And now, with the start of exams less than a month away, it’s time for seniors to start reviewing - which is itself a daunting task.

It’s important to review with a strategy. If you try to study for all the exams the day before taking them, it’s not going to work, says IB Psychology teacher and DP coordinator Ms. Schuff.

So how do you develop, and carry out, an effective strategy for reviewing?

In an effort to make the exams - and the studying process - feel more approachable, I interviewed several teachers about their advice for seniors preparing for the exams. Below are a few ideas that teachers mentioned consistently.

• Develop a strategy and a schedule for reviewing: what you’ll do when and how much time to spend on each subject or topic.

• Make a plan for how much time you’ll spend on each subject and topic.

• Don’t try to relearn all the material; identify what you know, don’t know, and need to know, and review accordingly.

More detailed advice from individual teachers can be found at the bottom of this article.

Good luck to all seniors with studying for and taking the exams!

Ms. Schuff:

• Take time over spring break to clean out all your materials, go through everything, and start organizing your units.

• Every teacher should have given you a “here’s what you need to know for the exams” document of some kind (or what’s in the book). It depends on the class. Find out what you need to know and start making unit study guides for each one.

• Start to develop study groups.

• What do you need help with? Who are you going to ask for help? Who can you help?

• Set up a timeline for yourself to make sure you’re hitting all your key content. Have a to-do list and an organizational structure.

• It’s important to develop a strategy. You can’t learn everything equally well. Identify what you need to know, and pick and choose what to study more.

• Rewrite and consolidate notes. Handwrite them.

Dr. Nauert:

• Start with the old stuff.

• Go through and identify what you know and don’t know. Go back and look at the things you don’t remember as well.

Ms. Velasco:

• For math, go by topic, but don’t try to relearn everything in the textbook.

• Make a schedule.

  • Know how you’re going to split up your time between topics and subjects.

• Don’t spend time doing problems you already feel good about.

• Talk to your teachers about things you aren’t sure about or don’t understand. 

  • They can help you figure out whether it’s something you shouldn’t worry about studying or something you should review.

Bibliography: 

Nauert, James. Personal interview. 7 March 2023.

Schuff, Amy. Personal interview. 7 March 2023.

Velasco, Gina. Personal interview. 14 March 2023.