We offer different services depending on what stage in the process you are in and how much help you need. You may want help throughout the whole IA process, or you may just want one final review before submitting your final draft. Whatever your need, we are here to help.
This is you if:
a) You want to learn more about the IA/EE/TOK Essay process before you start
b) You are trying to decide between multiple ideas,
c) You have an idea and need help with what to do moving forward
d) You have an idea and you want help with outling in your essay.
How we can help:
Over a zoom meeting we can help you with the ideation process. We can discuss your ideas, help refine your research question, outline a draft and figure out what the next steps are.
We cannot:
Give you "eAsY iA iDeAs tHaT wILl gUareNteE you a 7". We have IA suggestions on our website you can look at, however it is up to decide for yourself which IA topic is best for YOU.
This is you if:
Essentially if you are stuck with the writing part of your IA,
a) You do not know how to write a particular section of your IA.
b) You want certain parts of your IA to be revised before you move onto the next part
c) You feel like your IA needs restructuring
How we can help:
Over a Zoom call we can address whatever problems you have with the writing stage. If there is an area which you do not know how to write then we can teach you what will be needed to write it well. We can also help clarify your ideas, refine your structure and give you specific writing advice.
We cannot:
Completely rewrite whole sections for you. We are here to help and guide you, not to do the work for you. We may give you example topic sentences, or suggest alternative ways of phrasing ideas however it still up to you to make sure you are communicating through your authentic voice.
This is you if:
You already have a finished draft which
you would like to recieve proof reading for. You want help to know how you can improve to maximise your marks.
You want help with formatting, citing references or cutting words.
How we can help:
Before the meeting, yout tutor will read through your IA and give detailed comments. Comments will include the indication of an error or suggestion that can be made followed by advice on how to fix it. We will then send you back the revised IA. (Optional, but recommended) Then, you can then have a zoom call with the tutor where you can discuss in more detail how to improve. We found that there are often follow up questions to comments tutors make and thus the Zoom call is a helpful to clarify any confusions students may have.
We cannot:
Give detailed comments on largely unfinished IAs. If it looks like there is not much to work with then we will advise you to continue to work on your IA or have a zoom lesson to discuss what parts need to be filled in.
Want to discuss with us about how we can help you? Schedule a call with Sinead to discuss your needs. (Note that whilst it says it is for 1 hour, the meeting does not have to be that long. Usually calls are 15 minutes long)
Schedule here!Currently we offer help for:
Languages: English, German, Mandarin, Indonesian
Sciences: Phyiscs, Chemistry, Biology, ESS
Humanities: Economics, Psychology, History, Geography
Math: ALL Math AI and AA (HL and SL)
Art: Theatre
Base Prices (3-7 day turnover)
1. Ideation and Writing Stage
$40/hour for discussion over zoom
2. Draft Iteration stage
$40 for comments and feed back (students can email tutor any brief follow up questions they may have)
$60 for comments and feedback + direct access to text tutor + 1 hour zoom meeting to ask questions and discuss feedback (Recommended)
We can return IAs with 48 hours for an additional $25.
How to Pay:
The easiest way to through Paypal. We also accept bank transfers, Zelle and Venmo. Apps like PayNow and Transferwise also work. These apps may help you avoid transaction fees. We are flexible, its only important that you actually make the payment
lIs your feedback any good?
We may be a bit bias here but as the founder I can truthfully say that all reviews so far have been very positive. Only tutors who are passionate about their subject are selected and I monitor their progress really closely to make sure that they are giving high quality feedback. Essentially what we will do is point to problems that we see in your IA and then give you advice on how to act on that suggestion. We will also suggest ways you can rephrase your writing to make it sound more sophisticated. You can check out our example feedback to see our work in action.
When do I have to pay?
Once we have responded and confirm that we can match you with a tutor then you can either pay full up front which is simplest or pay via the 50/50 method. This protects both you and the tutor. Basically, we ask you to pay 50% before we review and 50% once the review is complete. We will send you the reviewed IA as soon as payment is made. If a payment is processing, then we will take receipts as evidence of payment.
Are you IB IA examiners?
No. We are IB graduates. Most of us are enrolled in University.
What qualifies you to give IA advice? Each of our tutors are past IB students who have all been through the same IA process as you are going through right now and have gotten 7s in their IAs. Most tutors have gotten about 40 points as well. Our IAs and the marks they got can be viewed in the resources page as evidence. Whilst we are not teachers, as past IB students we believe that we are able to empathize with students in a way that teachers cannot. Having been through the process we understand your struggle and will be able to teach you the tactics that we developed to be able to achieve high marks. Additionally, all of our tutors are also enrolled in rigorous academic universities, and thus have ample experience with writing academic research assignments.
Should I give the tutor context about my IA?Yes. The more the better. Feels free to give your tutor as much relevant contextual information as you want. For example it is really good to let your tutor know what your teacher or other people have to say about your IA. Feel free to outline this in the form below.
Ideation Stage
Can I base my IA off one of the examples IAs? How do I avoid plagerism?
Many people have voiced their concerns about accidentally plagiarizing other peoples ideas. It is indeed a valid concern. However, I like to remind students that IB is not asking you to reinvent wheal and discover something completely new. You are allowed to learn from others, and you can use their work to build on top of. What I recommend is to try and identify the method they took and then think of way to make it personalized to something that you are interested in. There are thousands of IB examiners, and you will not be penalized from doing the same topic as someone else. If you are really worried about plagiarism.
Can you just give me an easy IA idea to do?
If you want to see out suggestions for IA ideas, you can check out our resource page. We empathize that it is a struggle to find a topic for your IA, however we cannot simply give hand you an IA idea. As you are the one writing the IA, only you know your academic abilities and thus you need to be the judge of what IA topic you think you will be able to excel best at. I have a lot of IA ideas which I know that I will be able to execute well on if I were to repeat the IB. However, the I cannot guarantee that you will also be able to execute on my idea in a way that is effective. Our job is to really help you figure out a topic that works best for YOU based on what your goals are. This works best if you are able to come to us with concrete ideas which we can then help you work through. If you are just looking to pass, then yes we can probably help you figure out something simple to do. However, the highest marked IAs take a lot of work regardless of how good your research question is, and thus it is important that you pick something that you are personally interested in such that you put in the effort to execute on it well.
Can you tell me whether my idea can get me a 7?
These are always difficult questions. Most of the IA points come from being able to execute well in the writing process. When most students ask this question, their topic is also usually pretty vague which makes it difficult to judge. For example, if you were to ask me “if I do a math IA on musical guitar strings do you think it will work?”, it is difficult to give a meaningful answer as it will completely depend on what method of mathematical analysis will you use to execute on this topic and whether you have the ability to do it well (We get these types of questions all the time). Remember that there are many ways to get a 7 and there are no “perfect” IA topics. What we can do is judge whether we think an IA has the potential to do well, if we are given a clear topic and your plan for how you will attempt to answer your research question or fulfil your AIM. Writing Stage
Can you teach me how to write the _____ part in my IA?
If you have a section of the IA which you are confused about how to write then you can schedule a class with your tutor to learn how to do so. In that lesson you can discuss what you would need to include, analyze example paragraphs and develop an outline with your tutor which covers the main points you will need to cover.
Can you teach me how to make graphs and do data analysis?
Yes. All of our science and math tutors are skilled in data analysis and data visualization. In a Zoom lesson will be able to show you how to format your equation to make them look sophisticated, compute necessary values and make accurate graphs which look sophisticated. We are also working on putting together resources which will teach you how to do the basics of this so check out the resources page for more information.
Can you teach me how to calculate uncertainties?
Calculating uncertainties are usually the most difficult part of the IA. So long as you have the values needed, we should be able to figure out how to calculate uncertainties for your IA.
Can you teach me how to format and format my IA?
Yes. Your teacher should be able to teach you how to format and reference your IA according to IB standards.
Draft Iteration Stage
Can you tell me what grade me IA is?
As students we have rough estimate of what IAs of different levels look like and we will try to make our best judgement according to the IB rubric. However, we are not IB examiners and thus we cannot guarantee that our predictions are accurate. Teachers often are not accurate with their IA marks and thus may mark you differently to how we anticipate. Additionally, the IB grading system is sometimes sketchy and you may not receive the grade you desire due to systematic problems which are uncontrollable.
Can you guarantee to make my IA into a 7?
Short answer is no. Getting a 7 takes a lot more work than most students initially anticipate. We find that often the IAs we receive would require substantially more work and research to achieve the 7 boundary. If students are willing to do multiple sessions to try and improve their IA then that can be done. However sometimes it is the idea which is flawed. A student would have to do another experiment or restart their essay if they wanted to have a shot a 7. Additionally even in the IB there is a lot of subjectivity and sometimes the IB can be sketchy when it comes to their grading. Nevertheless, there is still a lot that can be done. If given the time, what we try to do is try to make your IA as good as possible to increase the probability of you getting a high mark.
What is the point of the zoom call if I can just read the comments?
Some students may not need to have a zoom call to discuss suggestions. However, often students have follow up questions regarding suggestions that tutors make. There is only so much that can be said in a comment. We have found that these additional zoom calls are really helpful for students to clear up any confusion they may have. We also often get IAs where huge important sections are missing. In a Zoom call, tutors can explain to students in more depth how to write sections to fill the missing piece. For science, these meetings can also be a helpful place for tutors to demonstrate students how to tools for graphing and data analysis. These meetings are typically more efficient than back and forth emails.
What if my IA is so perfect that I do not need feedback?
From the dozens of IAs that we have reviewed, this has yet to happen. However if we do feel like there is not much more progress that can be made then we will let you know and if we you have paid already then we will refund you the money.
In what circumstances will you not be able to give advice?
There have been IAs in the past which are so confusing that the only solution we can suggest is to rewrite most of it (rare, but it happens). In the case we find that an IA needs more work before it can be reviewed, we will let you know and not charge you for the brief feedback we give. However, you may want to have a zoom discussion to discuss the issues and how you can restructure your IA.
Student run organization created to help democratize IB resources and provide high quality tutoring and mentorship for students.
