This admissions season brought more good news from Seoul National University. The first student was admitted to the Department of Physics.
We did not talk much outside the lesson, but this student attended every class without fail and worked with remarkable consistency. I was genuinely delighted to hear the result. Congratulations on a well-earned offer.
The second student was admitted to Seoul National University's Department of Chemistry. This student already had an exceptional command of the subject, so my role was often limited to clarifying the occasional difficult point. Seeing that ability lead to a place in Chemistry was especially rewarding.
One student who earned 7s in almost every IB subject also shared a useful reflection on preparation. Past papers should be repeated until students recognise common patterns, but that practice only works when each chapter's concepts have first been learned well enough to explain them clearly to someone else.
As final examinations approach, anxiety can lead students to rush through past papers while leaving gaps in the theory. A better approach is to strengthen the concepts, mark every difficult question, and keep an error notebook containing the types of problems that could not be solved correctly.
Difficult questions should not be postponed simply because they feel uncomfortable. Unresolved points return later as gaps in knowledge. The student therefore worked through problems immediately and measured each study session by a concrete amount of work completed rather than by hours alone.
The student also reflected that hard work should be sustainable and efficient. Consistency, honest review, and a clear daily target are more valuable than the feeling of having studied for a long time.