Help! English A1 or A2

[Dr Marcel Proust]

Hello Everyone!

I am new here . I will start doing IB in a few days and I will apply mainly to Ivy League Universities for Literature or Philosophy or Law.

So my question is about English: Currently I have chosen English A2 HL, but over the summer I was wondering whether it'd be better for me to change from A2 to A1 HL. I mean do Ivy League Universities prefer English A1 rather than English A2? If I get A1, how much harder is it going to be than A2? Is it easier to score a 7 in A1 or A2 and how much easier? I speak and write in English pretty well, and I LOVE Litearature (that is the main reason why I want to change it ).

Please reply as soon as possible!!! I desperately need some help on this dilemma because school starts in a few days and I have little time to decide

Thank you all in advance!!!

[Cynthia]

A1 in your actual mother tongue should be alright for the Ivy League - if you've done the IB that's enough proof of English language proficiency, and A1 grade shows that you are good at literary analysis in other languages as well. This might be slightly different if you're applying for Literature (please note that you need to finish your undergraduate studies before you can apply for Law in the US ). A2 is really really easy if you are good at English whereas getting a good grade in A1 English is apparently very hard You will do literature in your A1 language anyway (if you're doing the full IB diploma).

[Dr Marcel Proust]

A1 in your actual mother tongue should be alright for the Ivy League - if you've done the IB that's enough proof of English language proficiency, and A1 grade shows that you are good at literary analysis in other languages as well. This might be slightly different if you're applying for Literature (please note that you need to finish your undergraduate studies before you can apply for Law in the US ). A2 is really really easy if you are good at English whereas getting a good grade in A1 English is apparently very hard You will do literature in your A1 language anyway (if you're doing the full IB diploma).

Thanks for replying! I see your point, but still wouldn't it be more preferable to have A1 rather than A2, especially in my case, since I am orientated mostly towards Philosophy/Literature? Is it so hard to get a 6 in English A1? I am asking because I really like Literature, and I feel that A2 doesn't suit me with all those cultural options and the stuff. Finally, what's better: a 6 in A1 or a 7 in A2 for the aforementioned majors. (I know about Law, but just asking ).

Anyways thanks again

[Cynthia]

A1 in your actual mother tongue should be alright for the Ivy League - if you've done the IB that's enough proof of English language proficiency, and A1 grade shows that you are good at literary analysis in other languages as well. This might be slightly different if you're applying for Literature (please note that you need to finish your undergraduate studies before you can apply for Law in the US ). A2 is really really easy if you are good at English whereas getting a good grade in A1 English is apparently very hard You will do literature in your A1 language anyway (if you're doing the full IB diploma).

Thanks for replying! I see your point, but still wouldn't it be more preferable to have A1 rather than A2, especially in my case, since I am orientated mostly towards Philosophy/Literature? Is it so hard to get a 6 in English A1? I am asking because I really like Literature, and I feel that A2 doesn't suit me with all those cultural options and the stuff. Finally, what's better: a 6 in A1 or a 7 in A2 for the aforementioned majors. (I know about Law, but just asking ).

Anyways thanks again

I assume 6 in A1 would be better (as in, harder to get) out of those two! If you have your A1 language you will have lots of literature anyway : ) I really enjoy literary analysis myself and with 2 A2 literary options in English A2 HL and 15 works in Finnish A1 HL I'm getting quite enough of it myself! If you are thinking of taking two A1 languages that's quite pointless - it's simply a lot more extra work for little benefit. Seriously, during the IB you will very much appreciate the easy 7 that English A2 gives you

I think it should be alright to have English A2 for most US colleges. To make sure you could possibly email some Ivy League ones and ask if they have a problem with A1 Greek (?) instead of A1 English .

[Dr Marcel Proust]

A1 in your actual mother tongue should be alright for the Ivy League - if you've done the IB that's enough proof of English language proficiency, and A1 grade shows that you are good at literary analysis in other languages as well. This might be slightly different if you're applying for Literature (please note that you need to finish your undergraduate studies before you can apply for Law in the US ). A2 is really really easy if you are good at English whereas getting a good grade in A1 English is apparently very hard You will do literature in your A1 language anyway (if you're doing the full IB diploma).

Thanks for replying! I see your point, but still wouldn't it be more preferable to have A1 rather than A2, especially in my case, since I am orientated mostly towards Philosophy/Literature? Is it so hard to get a 6 in English A1? I am asking because I really like Literature, and I feel that A2 doesn't suit me with all those cultural options and the stuff. Finally, what's better: a 6 in A1 or a 7 in A2 for the aforementioned majors. (I know about Law, but just asking ).

Anyways thanks again

I assume 6 in A1 would be better (as in, harder to get) out of those two! If you have your A1 language you will have lots of literature anyway : ) I really enjoy literary analysis myself and with 2 A2 literary options in English A2 HL and 15 works in Finnish A1 HL I'm getting quite enough of it myself! If you are thinking of taking two A1 languages that's quite pointless - it's simply a lot more extra work for little benefit. Seriously, during the IB you will very much appreciate the easy 7 that English A2 gives you

I think it should be alright to have English A2 for most US colleges. To make sure you could possibly email some Ivy League ones and ask if they have a problem with A1 Greek (?) instead of A1 English .

My college councelor told me that it's not a catastrophe if I have English A2 rather than A1, but certainly it would be a little bit better to have A1 - provided that I can handle it! Yes, I do have Modern Greek A1 HL, but I feel that Greek A1 along with English A1 shows more willingness and passion about Literature and generally what I want to study.

Are you going to study in US or UK?

[Cynthia]

My college councelor told me that it's not a catastrophe if I have English A2 rather than A1, but certainly it would be a little bit better to have A1 - provided that I can handle it! Yes, I do have Modern Greek A1 HL, but I feel that Greek A1 along with English A1 shows more willingness and passion about Literature and generally what I want to study.

Are you going to study in US or UK?

I'm applying to UK, you can see the universities in my signature actually I did consider the US but I'd rather stay in Europe really.

In that case I don't think choosing A1 English would be such a great idea simply because there is so much you need to do in both subjects combined - it is simply not worth the extra effort!

To give some actual numbers I worked for maybe 20 hours on my A1 Finnish WL1 (and I still need to do the other one) and am expecting to do similar amounts of work for the IAs and WL2. For A2 English I have done two of my three orals, I spent around 2-3 hours on each, and I wrote my literary task in around 3 hours. I'm predicted strong 7s from both subjects Especially for the US it would probably be preferable for you to spend the extra time on, for example, extracurricular activities and wider reading - even though my subject combination is not the hardest I still don't have much time for recreational reading with the IB workload, extracurriculars and uni admissions stuff