Introduction
Students sometimes question the purpose or usefulness of the three IBDP core components: Extended Essay (EE), Creativity Activity and Service (CAS), and Theory of Knowledge (TOK). The purpose of IBDP core components is to teach students to apply their knowledge and skills. Specifically, students practice conducting research, organizing and participating in various activities, and understanding the nature of knowledge.
After graduating the IB and starting university, I was able to directly see the impact and benefits of these components when it came to my university applications, writing essays, and conducting research. Here is how each component has helped me succeed in university so far.
Extended Essay (EE)
Writing your EE is a long process that includes selecting a topic, finding relevant research, collecting primary or secondary data, and writing your final essay. In university, conducting research has become a primary activity that we are expected to know how to do. Coming from the IB, the EE gave me a real advantage in contrast to other students with different educational backgrounds.
Namely, whilst some of my university peers had never previously conducted research or written longer essays, the EE introduced me to finding literature from academic journals, analyzing their content, and seeing which evidence is most relevant for my essay. Similarly, the EE taught me how to structure a 4,000 word long paper, how to present my findings, and importantly also how to revise my paper according to given feedback. Writing my EE on World Studies gave me a big advantage, as I was already quite familiar with the process of brainstorming, analyzing, and drafting a paper, therefore allowing me to conduct research even more successfully at a university level.
Creativity Activity Service (CAS)
The CAS experience that helped me to get into my preferred university was being a member and later the head of my school’s Yearbook team. My role evolved from structuring assigned pages and photographing events to managing the Yearbook team, and further planning the outline of the entire Yearbook for the upcoming year. The experience taught me much about myself, including my passion for leadership, creative project work, and communication. I reflected on this in my university applications, demonstrating how CAS activities are so much more than just a ‘task’.
Instead of viewing CAS as an obligation, one of my biggest pieces of advice is using CAS to your advantage. Think ahead of how the sport you do, the creative project you plan, the event you organize, or how assisting your local community can help you grow as an individual. With CAS, students have a lot of freedom in picking an activity, so you can help your future self by picking something where you will develop a particular skill. Whether it is soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, or communication or hard skills such as programming, graphic design, or learning a new language, there are so many opportunities through which you can demonstrate in your university applications who you are, what you are interested in, and why you belong at your dream university.
Aside from university applications, once I got to university, the skill I developed through CAS that has helped me the most is collaboration, which relates directly to communication and leadership skills as well. Through leading the Yearbook team and volunteering at a local church sale for example, I got to interact with various people. This taught me the importance of being adaptable and recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses in group settings. For instance, some people prefer more indirect communication or feedback styles, whereas others prefer more direct and top-down communication. Having this awareness and adapting to it helped me become an effective communicator in group work, when interacting in professional settings, and maximize my communication skills as a leader.
Theory of Knowledge (TOK)
Out of all the core components, TOK may be the one students find most difficult to see why it can be relevant for university. There is a final exhibition and an essay students write rather than a research paper or a real-life activity you must participate in. Regardless, TOK is about challenging the way students think and understanding why we formulate our thoughts and knowledge. Although it may sound somewhat philosophical, TOK has also helped me in university.
By challenging me as a learner and making me question knowledge, TOK has allowed me to evaluate information or research beyond its face value, for example. What this means is, I have adopted a more analytical lens in university which has helped me develop my critical thinking skills. This is a long term goal of university, which already starts in the IB. Essentially, these two education systems both hope to guide you in becoming a thinker who can balance being open-minded and critical.
Conclusion
Overall, the three IBDP core components have benefitted me in university by giving me a foundation in research experience, helping me develop skills that I reflected on in my university applications, and deepening my critical thinking skills. If you are ever in doubt about these components or are struggling to see their relevance, think ahead of how you will benefit from them in the long term.
