One of the Best IB students of the Year, Marusya Havryliuk: “Don’t think about grades, just learn”
This year, Marusya Havryliuk, who successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) at Erudito Lyceum, encourages others: there are no problems you can’t overcome; it’s important to seek help when you get stuck. When she felt burned out and even wanted to quit IB, the support of her teachers and her own determination and persistence helped her greatly. In this interview, she shares her personal experiences and valuable advice for what to do and what not to do while studying in the IB program.
What study and time management strategies helped you excel in the IB program?
I believe my answer may disappoint many, as I don’t have a magic solution that fixes everything. To be honest, especially in IB DP Year 2, I was behind on almost everything and did not complete a lot of homework in most subjects (you can ask my teachers; they will confirm this). The most important thing you can do as a student is to choose your priorities. In IB, there are mandatory components: IAs (Internal Assessments) and the EE (Extended Essay); and non-mandatory components, such as homework. Now, I’m not saying “don’t do your homework”—definitely do it, and if possible, find some time to make notes on the units you cover. However, sometimes sacrifices need to be made.
Pro tip: Understand how the course is structured. In most, if not all, subjects, you learn the majority of new material in DP Year 1. Typically, all the new topics are completed before Christmas or spring of DP Year 2. Your teachers will urge you to start your IAs and EE in Year 1, and you definitely should, but also focus on learning the new material because later you might not have the time. My suggestion is that in DP1, your main focus should be note-taking and completing the majority of your EE. In the first half of DP2, finish the IAs and EE; in the second half, ensure you know everything you need for exams.
Warning: This is general advice that might not work for everyone. Ask your teachers, especially if your subject package is different from mine—they know better (smiles).
What were your biggest challenges in the IB, and how did you overcome them?
Mental health: I was probably mostly “alive” in the first half of DP1. After that, I burned out. The summer didn’t change much, as I had some personal matters that overlapped with my attempts to enjoy it. As a result, for the majority of DP2, I felt like a withered flower. I didn’t have enough energy to do work on most days; my body was exhausted and my brain even more so. It was mostly by sheer effort and the burning flames of deadlines that I was able to complete and submit the mandatory components and prepare for exams (largely because I had a strong foundation from DP1). I don’t think I fully overcame that; I just worked despite it. Yes, my capacity was much lower than I wanted, and I was rarely able to study as many hours as my classmates, but it taught me how to make the most progress in the small chunks of time when I was able to convince my brain to study. To avoid this, please refer to the tips I provide below under the 3rd question.
Lack of preparation for certain subjects: I took German B HL, even though I barely had A2 level proficiency before starting IB (I believe by the end of the Language B HL course, you will be at B2 or even C1 level). The way I overcame this was through blood, sweat, and tears . I had a very supportive teacher and a lot of homework (I got a 6 as my final grade).
What advice do you have for future IB students aiming for high scores?
Ask for help. Sometimes, IB can be overwhelming, and it’s hard to deal with everything yourself. Tell your teachers you’re struggling, talk to the school psychologist, send an email to administration, or just ask others who are or were on the same journey as you—we WILL help you out. Pro tip: Befriend a DP2 student or a graduate (preferably with a similar subject packet as yours). We know stuff and we don’t bite (smiles).
Forget about perfection. Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes you get stuck in a rabbit hole of TikTok and YouTube Shorts (we’ve all been there) and before you know it, you only have half an hour left to do work. USE IT! I know it might sound obvious to some, but I really needed to hear that. If you have an opportunity to study, no matter how small the amount of time you have, use it. Usually, during those quick bursts of time, you will get the most work done (80/20 principle). Yes, your progress might be slower than expected, but it’s progress nonetheless. Just try again tomorrow (smiles).
Never sacrifice your physical and mental health to the point that you’re burnt out. I’ve been there, and it was tough to get out of that state. It’s not worth it. Please don’t do that. Eat enough. Sleep enough. Drink water. Get sunlight and some kind of movement. Try to avoid bad habits (I know some people who started smoking during IB to relieve stress—please don’t, save both money and your health). Recharge. If you know the things you enjoy, continue them. Maybe the frequency will decrease, but don’t drop all your hobbies; put them in your CAS instead. If you don’t know what you like, try new things. Do it for a month, write about it in your CAS portfolio, and if you don’t like it, try something else. Use at least part of your weekends and holidays to rest and enjoy life. It’s better if you rest well and come back with a wish and ability to do work rather than come back to school even more dead inside than before.
Don’t compare your progress to others. We are different humans, with different strengths and weaknesses. Some can study for 3 hours straight, some can’t. Just because someone studies more than you, doesn’t mean you should feel guilty. Track your own progress and see what you specifically need for improvement.
Do not think about IB scores. Instead, aim for the amount of time you want to study and how exactly you want to study. You can’t control what the IB people will give you in your paper. As my homeroom teacher, Donatas, said, “IB exams are meant to surprise you,” and he was right. In History P1, we got a topic that wasn’t even included in our curriculum (thankfully, that exam is mostly a source analysis).So make sure you do your best every single day before and during the exam, and no matter the scores, you can be proud of yourself because you know that you did everything you could.
Learn what IB wants from you and do that, not something else. Familiarize yourself with the topics you are expected to learn, with each exam component, how much time it takes, and what mark scheme it follows. Practice using past papers. Check your work with mark schemes, and see what points are awarded for which answers. Pro tip: Ensure your past paper is of the same level (SL or HL) as you take this subject on. Try to avoid practicing for an HL subject with an SL past paper (unless they’re identical for both levels). That happened to me with German B. While I understand why the teacher did that, I would advise swapping to an HL paper as early as possible if you take the subject at HL level.
Have summary notes. For each exam, take an A3 or A2 piece of paper and write down everything you need to know. Even if the exam is an analysis of an unseen source/extract, you can point out what exactly you should pay attention to and how to analyze it. Pro tip: Give these notes to your classmate/friend/family member and ask them to quiz you on it. This way, you practice active recall and also teach others, which helps you memorize better. When you successfully teach your grandma what the Manchurian Crisis was and how VPN works, you know you can deal with those topics in the exam room (smiles).
Try to avoid using AI. You can potentially use it for generating your practice questions or quizzes if you believe that’s beneficial, but I’d rather suggest you use past papers for that (ask your teachers, they must have them). DO NOT use AI for IAs, EE, and any other coursework that you want to be checked by a teacher. Spare yourself the trouble (fun fact, if you’re over 18 in the EU and you use AI and don’t quote it, you can be legally punished for plagiarism). If a teacher gives you homework, it’s usually exam-style. Please do it yourself. ChatGPT won’t write your exams—you will. Your essays might be poor at first, but you will improve. Train your brain, not a robot.
It is never too late. As I mentioned earlier, in DP2, I found myself in a very tough situation where at times I had thoughts of just quitting IB, and even some teachers would jokingly say that if I didn’t manage to submit my coursework, I would have to rewrite my exams in November (yes, it was that bad). But hey, I graduated with 38 points (out of 45), so… The moral of the story is you can always salvage the situation. Now, of course, you don’t want to create a situation that needs to be salvaged, but if it does occur, don’t give up. Ask for help and do your best. Even if it’s last minute and with 2 behavior notices, you can still submit your coursework and get decent grades.
I will leave my contact information down below if any of you might need it. I was brutally honest and shared the good, the bad, and the ugly about how IB went for me. So please don’t be afraid to ask for help, I’ll be more than happy to help you avoid the fate I faced. I also want to take this opportunity and give a little shout-out to all the other teachers who taught or helped me in IB whom I haven’t mentioned yet, without you and your compassion and understanding as well as support this would be much harder for me. The same goes for my classmates (both in Kaunas and the few people I knew in Vilnius). I’m very happy I had such amazing students around me and that we helped each other a lot.
I can answer more specific questions about the subjects I took which are: Ukrainian literature SL (same exam style is for Lithuanian and I speak it fluently), Maths AI SL, CS SL, History HL, English Language&Literature HL, German B (same exam style is for English B) HL. I’m more into humanities, but I know other graduates who did sciences, so I can try to connect you with them if needed.
My email: marusya.havryliuk@gmail.com
My messenger username: Marusya Havryliuk
P.S. For those who read this until the end – you have enough attention span to do IB, so don’t worry and enjoy your summer!
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