On the SAT and all that

Just wanted to say that if you do “badly” on something like the SAT, don’t feel horrible about yourself.

Proctors for standardised tests like the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT will tell you that these tests measure how well-prepared you are for university level courses. If you’ve been taking university-level courses and are doing well in Advanced Placement, or IB classes and get a bad score on the SAT, then you might feel horribly inadequate. These tests don’t actually measure “how well prepared for college” you are, they really just measure how prepared you are for their tests.

Do you really think that because someone filled in just the right bubbles on a sheet that they’re prepared for university stuff? Not necessarily.

I am not, of course, saying that these tests are complete BS and you should just disregard them. I’m saying you shouldn’t beat yourself up so much if you didn’t get the score you wanted. Don’t let a number on a test define you entirely. Tests scores are of course considered in admissions, but someone with a perfect 2400 on the SAT with bad grades and little extracurricular activities isn’t necessarily going to get into a top tier school. OF course some schools look for people who both do extraordinarily well on standardised tests and also do well in school/are involved in clubs, etc. But again, test scores aren’t the only thing to look for.

Where I live, we have a few “highly selective” secondary schools that you apply to by sending in your middle school transcript and taking a standardised exam. Once these transcripts are received, these schools calculate your score out of 1000 based on your marks in middle school and how your attendance was, and how well you did on the exam. If you didn’t receive a good score, well, tough luck; they reject you outright (unless you fall under certain demographics). No interviews are done; you’re just a number out of 1000. You’re only as good as your numbers in order to get accepted to these schools.

I think that’s one of the things I liked about applying to IB (at least at my school). You’re more than just a number. When I applied, yes, test scores were considered but even if you didn’t do as well on such tests the admissions people considered other things about your student life like involvement in the middle school student groups, etc. Things of that nature. They actually had a damn interview, so I knew that I wasn’t just going to be a name and a number. Now I wish I could say the same thing about IB in general, but that’s another rant.

You might be saying, oh don’t give me this shit, IB Student. The presumption is that anyone who complains even slightly about grades and testing is a bad student and a bad tester/a commie.* No, on the contrary, I do very well on standardised tests and was accepted to many of those selective schools back in my early teens. I’m just saying, don’t feel too bad about yourself if you didn’t score as well as you wanted on some fill-in-the-bubble test.

*(Or maybe you’re saying “OMG Why are you posting about this, IB Student! I’m already freaking out.” I’m not sure how to respond to that).

Because I have nothing to post

I’ve been on break the entire week, which is why you see more posts than usual. You see, even if I’m not in school, I think about IB. It’s hard not to think about something that’s been a non-mathy integral part of your life for 4 years. I…

Re-watched movies. What is with us IB-ers and movies?? Ha.

Studied. For the Battle of the Blitztests. Oh jeebus.

Researched. For EE. And for University .

Slept. More than usual.

My life is dull.

Of Sleepless Nights and Coffee: An Interview with IB Students Pt 1

Backs hunched, eyes in the middle of a shallow gray pit, and dulled pencils in their hands, the IB students saunter labouriously towards the interview table. Their faces contain an expression of weariness, as if the world had beat them up. I return to them an expression of pity.

Screw the fluffy introduction. For the record, this interview did not actually take place around a table. Now anyway, for anyone who has read this blog, you’ve read mostly my (IB Student) experiences and viewpoints as to how Life is like in this institution called IB. I’ve decided to take a break from my utter narcissism and have interviewed two other IB Students about their lives (or the lack thereof) in IB.

How long have you been in IB?

NoboruFails: For a while.

Vague and Anonymous: Ninety-eight years. No actually, 17 years.

So why did you choose IB anyway?

NF: Because NERDS ARE TOTALLY HAWT….that’s NOT my answer. Cuz I didn’t get into the school I really wanted to go into.

VA: Cause I fail at life.

What do you do to stay up during the day?

NF: Pinch myself in the face.

VA: Drink coffee…?

So how IS the homework load?

NF: It Depends On How You Schedule The Homework.

VA: *refuses to answer*

What about those tests?

VA: Deathly.

NF: If you study more than a day before, it’ll kinda help…but usually I don’t study and then fail. Or not. It’s just kinda…that way.

How is your social life?

VA: …Better than yours.

NF: Kinda fail.

At this point of the interview, we got extremely sidetracked and began talking about things unrelated to IB…we learned different ways to say “fail” or “failure.”

To be continued…!

UPDATE: I edited this post because a CERTAIN VAGUE SOMEONE decided to be anal about the spelling/grammatical errors in this post.

Overactive Imagination.

It’s A Disease I’m Infected With.

…Fine, It’s Not Really A Disease.
But It Does Cause Me A Lot Of Problems.
For Example, Describe To Me A…Hippopotamus In A Tutu Smoking A Bubble Pipe Sitting On A Teeter-Totter While A Chocolate Bar Starts Singing As It Starts Melting Under The Blazing Sun.
I Can See It.
In My Mind’s Eye.
And Sometimes, The Images I See, They Burn.

Then, My Friends Will Use My Overactive Imagination Against Me.
Causing Me To Flail In Agony Because Of The Horrible Images They Paint. Although…Most Of The Time It Really Is My Fault Since I Give Them The Ideas. And Then, I Can’t Get Back At Them Because Their Imaginations Are Fried From IB. At Least, That’s What They Say.

They Also Think IB Just Kills The Imagination.
…Then What’s My Problem?

I Guess Sometimes, It’s Fun To Be Able To Think Up Such Weird And (Most Of The Time Very) Creepy Things. But Then, At Other Times, There’s Just No “Off” Switch. So I’ll Be Sitting In A Class And Then…Look At Maybe The Floor, A Ceiling Tile, The Buttons On A Teacher’s Shirt, Somebody’s Shoelace, Or Anything Else That’s In The Room. From There, My Mind Just Wanders Into Really Weird Thoughts, Some Of Them Making Me Want To Curse, Laugh, Or Flail Wildly. But I Can’t Because I’m In Class…

So Something Inside My Head Makes Me Not Pay Attention In My Classes As Much As I Could (…Or Should).

It’s Kind Of A Bad Thing. But I Like My Imagination And I Think I’d Feel Less Like Me Without It.

Besides, Even When My Friends Mess With My Head, I Do Find It Hilarious…

…Most Of The Time.

Player Two Has Joined The Game.

In Other Words…
An Introduction To Me.

…Hi.

So Uhm, I’mma Be Joining This Blog To Talk Aboot The Insanity (Insert Other Adjectives And Such If Ye Want) Of IB And Any Other Things I Think Up.

…And My Mind Just Blanked Out There For A Minute.

Who Knows, Maybe I’ll Tap Into My Emotional Side And Write About All My Silly Little Feelings.
Oh, You Don’t Want That?
…You Cold Hearted Blog Readers…
Are You Sure?
Well, I Might Do It Anyways.
Just To Be Annoying.

Anyways, Think I’ll Write A Little Bit About Myself…
Let’s See…

3 Things To Know About Me:

1. I Have No Specific Gender
2. I’m An IB Student
3. I Have My Own Little World Not Based In Reality.

And That’s Really All You Need To Know.

IB Student Type A: Gunnerius Typus

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The Gunner. Persons under such a classification are perhaps the most ostentatious and obvious of the student population. Like its Law or Medicine counterpart, characteristic of Gunnerius Typus in IB is an insatiable need to impress their teachers with their seemingly vast intellect. A notable sign of the presence of the Gunner is the rapid-output of seemingly inane questions about the subject being taught; the Gunner themselves will pose such questions to appear as if they were capable of questioning authority (namely, the teacher). The rapid out-put of questions is accompanied by the marked inability to lift up their hands to indicate that they want to be called on by the instructor. Oft-times, a lack of social aptitude is displayed when members of this type are found in their adoptive habitat, the classes in which they are enrolled. Such lack of social aptitude manifested itself during the course of the study in a series of events in which members of the Gunner type seemed to be unaware of their peers’ presence and frustration with the already-lengthy class duration; this lack of social aptitude may also be displayed when the Gunner refuses to assist their classmates with subjects they seem to have mastered. Interactions with the Gunner type is dangerous, especially in academic settings; be warned that this type is sensitive to academic disappointment and will not often accept that they are wrong (in the rare event that they actually are).

IB Student Types: An introduction

Expert anthropologist and self-proclaimed pompous academic-type I.M. Fancischmanciphantz, PhD, recently conducted a study of a population of IB Students in the hopes of forming different classifications for students. The 125-page report is unfortunately not available online, but Prof. Fancischmanciphantz has given me her permission to publish an extremely condensed version of the study on this site. Under what classification do you fall into?

Anthropological Classifications for Students in the International Baccalaureate Programme: A Detailed Study of the Types of IB Students

by I.M. Fancischmanciphantz, PhD
University of Biggnayme

Introduction

The main objective for this extensive, two-year study of a population of students in the International Baccalaureate Programme is to provide a basis with which the general public can classify IB Students in their midst. The classifications are accompanied by their descriptions. Note that some classifications may overlap with others.

The outcome of this study may also be utilised as a reference for studying other populations consisting of persons possessing high intelligence (as determined either through standardized testing or psychometric testing), masochistic complexes, and a varying degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder; such populations may also be found in medical colleges, law schools, and other professional schools designed to fit the characterisations aforementioned.

This will be a continuous series on the types of IB Students…

Lost in the land of Spam

If you’ve been trying to comment, only to find that your comment did not appear, I apologise as I accidentally marked everything from this week as spam. >.<

I’ve been getting a massive amount of comments from Viagrabots. As if I would need such a thing.

To attempt to fix this, I’ve disabled moderation and installed a wp plugin for spam catching.

UPDATE: Apparently, that plugin doesn’t work. I asked people to comment, and they were all marked as “spam.” WTF. Let’s hope this other one works. -_-

Happy Pi Day!

[From mightywombat]
To commemorate this special day, I give you…this link for Pi formulas. You know you love me.

The Big Battle

The Big Battle approaches, and it approaches rapidly. Every second that passes by is a second closer to potential peril! Masses of soldiers around the world are fluttering about, freaking out, and flailing their arms in moments of insanity. Peril…
In another life, in another world, perhaps in another time, this would be no worry, The Big Battle. But this is not a parallel universe. It is your world, the earth of chronological time (depending on whether or not you are a post-Modernist). It is your IB life.

Madness ensues! Peril is possible! Absolute peril!

The Generals of this War try to keep up your morale, but whatever they do cannot assuage the stirrings of a frightened heart. Whatever they say cannot slacken the steepness of the precipitious quest ahead.

For indeed it is an uphill journey, a battle against those which are strange to you, foreign to you…A step up can be overwhelmed by a slide downward; an occupied territory is a transient case, after all…

[This is one of my cryptic posts. You'll see what exactly I mean by such a Big Battle...soon!]