Help me choose my subjects!

[sundayrose]

This was what I was thinking so far:

English A

Spanish Ab initio

Maths

Economics

Biology

Chemistry

Other points:

I'm most probably going to anticipate Maths SL (so that leaves 5 subjects in year 12)

For HL I don't really mind which ones out of English, Economics, Biology or Chemistry. I mean I like all those subjects. So I think its just a matter of which one is easiest.

Does anyone know if doing two HL sciences would be really hard? (I heard from someone that it was hell, but I suppose I can deal with the work load??)

Or would English HL be a better choice??? Is it really hard to get a 7 in that?

Oh yeah, I could also do Maths HL (instead of anticipating SL, because its one of my stronger subjects ATM), but I've heard that so many people drop out of it- for many its like the hardest HL subject. Of course, if there's something easier then I would to that......but then again, I like maths!

If anyone out there is doing economics..what's it like? Is it a lot of writing? Do you have to be really strong in English?

I've also wondered if its worth doing Music instead of one of the sciences. The thing is, music is a subjective subject and I was thinking it might be harder to get a 7 because of the practise time and everything.

Yeah so that's about it. Do you think its a hard program? Yeah, my decision is quite complicated.....but hopefully some of you guys can give me some subject advice???

BTW, HAS ANYONE TRIED TO ANTICIPATE 2 SUBJECTS BEFORE??

THANKS!!!

[Julia32]

Hi I dont do chem or Bio but I know that Economics HL is quite easy so i highly reccommend you to take that. in my year now no one is doing SL Economics

Edited November 28, 2010 by Marsupilami
double posted :P

[iotabebraindead]

My advice to you is this: KNOW WHO YOUR TEACHERS ARE. Do some background investigation. I'M SERIOUS. If you hear students saying that the teachers SUCK in that subject, DON'T TAKE IT unless you REALLY love the subject and are willing to work hard for it. Take the courses with the best teachers and it will be easier for you.

Let me tell you what happened to me: I LOVE chemistry and I took the SL. Ended up getting a 6, but that was not because of the teacher; it was because I studied the Course Companion like crazy. I was attached at the hip to that book and I spend TOO MANY all-nighters studying for that class because I didn't have a very good teacher.

About your question to do 2 science at HL: It really all depends on how good the teachers are and how much you love the subjects/how much you are willing to work. I recommend it if you are going to do something with science as a career, but besides that, it's really going to be difficult.

[elmar]

So many answers, so little time.

First and foremost, I know students who are 'anticipating' (or taking an SL or two in their first year) two exams. I'm only doing one (my language). Others are doing their language as well as their Visual Arts, Film, and Music. But I do not know of anyone who is testing their Math SL out in their first year. That's a bit strange, at least for me.

You are right about Music being less specific in terms of what IB is looking for. If you're not experienced with music (it's required at my school that IB students who want to take Music have at least a year of experience; two years or more is recommended), take a science. It's, as you said, objective, and therefore, easier to score well in.

I heard economics is a bit of an easy class, but I don't take it nor is it offered at my school. However, if you don't plan to go into Econ in uni, why bother with HL Econ unless you really enjoy it.

From what I've read/seen/heard, you can't get a 7 in English A1 HL "unless you're the next Shakespeare" (I'm sure I read that from someone on here). Despite such comment, it is relatively easy. You read a few novels/poems/short stories, you analyze them, you write an essay. There's also a few presentations thrown in there, and that's basically what my English A1 HL class entails. If analyzing is not your forte, stick to SL, as they do one less World Literature paper and without a few novels than the HL does.

Regarding the 2 sciences, I think it really depends on what 2 you choose and what type of person you are. You could pick, in my opinion, the two easiest (Environmental Systems SL and Biology SL) and there's a possibility you could still fail. But, since you seem to like Maths, I'd suggest Chemistry HL or SL. If you like sciences, go with Chemistry HL. And since you do not want to take Music unless you have a sufficient amount of background knowledge, you could take Physics SL or HL, as it involves math. Take SL if you're questionable about Physics or HL if you love it and need it for your future. However, I noticed it's not on your list. Is it not offered at your school? If not, take Biology. It's mostly memorization rather than math though.

So, you would have...

Maths HL

Chemistry HL

Spanish Ab initio SL

English A HL or SL

Economics HL or SL

Biology HL or SL

You only need 1 more HL, so you could choose between English, Econ, or Bio. Each of them have distinctive aspects, so choose whichever one you're best at!

Edit. If you took Chem, Bio, Math all HL, that would be a bit of a stressful. I lost track of the course load of each class when I listed them above, sorry! Since Math HL is challenging for most students, I would primarily suggest English as your final HL, just because there are kids who are doing such combination (Chem HL, Math HL, English HL) who do not seem to have too many problems. Again, I cannot comment on Economics HL.

Edited November 28, 2010 by elmar

[sundayrose]

Thank you Julia32, iotabebraindead, elmar!!

I really appreciate your responses.

@ Elmar:

Yeah with the Maths SL Anticipating, I've already done like practically 70% of the course this year because that's just what our maths course was like. Wow, your doing 4 HL subjects? How are you finding HL English? Is it much harder to do well and what about the time constraints with writing essays and stuff? (Don't know much about the course) Thanks!

@iotabebraindead:

Hmm, I better ask around now that you mention it. Yeah, it would suck to have a bad teacher, and it would be so FRUSTRATING as well! Thanks.

@Julia32:

That's really good to here- I was thinking of doing Economics HL but I wasn't 100% sure. Thanks~

[dessskris]

Does anyone know if doing two HL sciences would be really hard? (I heard from someone that it was hell, but I suppose I can deal with the work load??)

well it depends on you, really. I wanted to do Physics HL and Chem HL but a lot of people did ask me not to, and for some other reasons I changed my mind and deicded to only take Physics HL and Chem SL. I am not doing really well in Chemistry anyway so I'd rather have it SL. with those two I've already had a lot of lab reports to write, but this is because I am doing Chem lab every week and this might not happen in your school so this is a different case.

but a friend of mine do Bio HL and Chem HL and still survived, doing kind of well in both subjects.

it depends on you. if you are the hardworking type, you love sciences, it won't be hard for you.

oh and you can study Medicine with Biology HL and Chemistry HL. so if you want to study Med, take both of those.

Or would English HL be a better choice??? Is it really hard to get a 7 in that?

no no.. I'd say that A1 SL is already hard and taking A1 HL would be really hard. or at least for me, because of the analysis, just like what Elmar said. or if you really love literature, you can do it then. but it is not really worth taking unless you want to study Literature in uni.

Oh yeah, I could also do Maths HL (instead of anticipating SL, because its one of my stronger subjects ATM), but I've heard that so many people drop out of it- for many its like the hardest HL subject. Of course, if there's something easier then I would to that......but then again, I like maths!

well some people could not survive in Math HL but some people can. if you like Math, just try HL first, if you cannot cope with it, you can drop to SL just like what those people did. however it is not worth taking if you do not take Physics HL, because with Math HL only and without Physics HL you could not study a lot of courses in uni -- like only Math? if you do have both, you could study Engineering, Comp Science and Math still (who wants to study Math anyway? oh wait, me!). Math HL is interesting. very! it's my favorite class, too.

If anyone out there is doing economics..what's it like? Is it a lot of writing? Do you have to be really strong in English?

Econs is very easy objectively. yes it is quite a lot of writing -- my hand got paralysed after my econ semestral exams but it is the easiest group 3 subject in my opinion. the IA is very easy, you only need to find articles and write commentaries. I am only taking English B and I am doing quite well in Econs SL. so I guess there is no need for you to be really strong in English. but of course you would need to be able to express your thoughts in English well -- so the examiner would not misunderstand your sentences. Econs is very simple yet worth taking. with Econs HL and at least Math SL you can study Business in uni.

I've also wondered if it's worth doing Music instead of one of the sciences. The thing is, music is a subjective subject and I was thinking it might be harder to get a 7 because of the practise time and everything.

no no, if I were you I'd rather take an extra curricular which is related to Music for my CAS instead of taking the subject itself in IB because a second science or a second humanities subject is more worth it. you know what, you can join Choir or whatever related to Music if you are really interested in it. and then you can get CAS hours!

my music teacher has been singing since he was in middle school, yet in university he studied Engineering. he has won a lot of awards and he is bringing us (my school Choir) to an international choir competition in March. it means that if you like Music, it doesn't mean that you must study it in IB. you can still study it in other forms (i.e. Choir) and yet still get a benefit in IB (i.e. CAS hours).

---

can you take Spanish B instead of Spanish Ab initio? I mean, do you have any experience in Spanish? well not that important but language B is really easy if you have a background in that language, and lang B SL is realllllllyyyyy easy, trust me. but if you have no experience in that language, go for Ab initio then.

is it possible for you to take Physics HL? any background in Physics?

what do you want to study in uni?

if you want to study Medicine, I'd recommend:

English A1 SL

Spanish B SL

Maths HL

Economics SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

if you want to study Business, I'd recommend:

English A1 SL

Spanish B SL

Maths HL

Economics HL

Biology SL

Chemistry HL

if you want to study Engineering (less likely, though, since you did not even mention Physics), I'd recommend:

English A1 SL

Spanish B SL

Maths HL

Economics HL

Physics HL

Chemistry SL

any comment on this?

[kiwi.at.heart]

Regarding which HLs to take, that is really up to you. None of us personally know you or know what your real strengths are. When it comes down to it, its your own strengths that will depend on whether that subject is easy or hard for you. Take me for example. Personally I find HL maths easier to understand and do well in than SL Biology, SL A1 English or Spanish ab intio. But that is just me, and there will be hundreds out there that disagree with me. What you need to do is talk to you teachers who know you best, know your own strengths and that will hopefully help in making a decision. And if you are not sure, you may be able to take 4 HL for the first year and then drop one when you have more of an idea of what you want to do.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Kiwiatheart

[Mahuta ♥]

if you want to study Medicine, I'd recommend:

English A1 SL

Spanish B SL

Maths HL

Economics SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

You do not need Math HL to get into Medicine, if you do want to study medicine then take something else as HL. Biology and Chemistry HL are enough, lol. You really don't want the stress of the Math HL, and I mean it.

Does anyone know if doing two HL sciences would be really hard? (I heard from someone that it was hell, but I suppose I can deal with the work load??)

I did both chem and bio HL. If you are a scientific person, then no, they wont be really hard. They just need attention and more time than other subjects, which is why I said if you are taking Bio and Chem HL, do not do not do not take math HL. You will be spending your time on math and leaving the other two, never mind the other 3 subjects!

Or would English HL be a better choice??? Is it really hard to get a 7 in that?

I would say you do not need A1 HL for anything unless you are thinking of doing something that requires English HL.

You need to tell us what you want to study in uni so we can give you better advice.

[dessskris]

You do not need Math HL to get into Medicine, if you do want to study medicine then take something else as HL. Biology and Chemistry HL are enough, lol. You really don't want the stress of the Math HL, and I mean it.

but she likes Math, and with Econs she will have a lot more to memorise, after she has Bio HL and Chem HL. so she better takes something which requires less memorising or otherwise it could kill her during the exams lol jk

[sundayrose]

Yeah I want to do medicine. With the maths thing: I think I'm going to anticipate SL, because then I can get one subject out of the way.

The reason why I was thinking HL English was because I'm doing pretty well in English so far as well- plus I heard you only study one more text, so its an 'easier' HL subject.

BTW Which subjects require the most memory?

Because initially I was actually thinking of doing Bio, Chem and Economics at HL or maybe English HL.

Is Chemistry HL harder than Bio HL?

@ Marsupilami:

Yeah I have no spanish background whatsoever...so ab initio is the way for me. I can do Chinese B but I'm not that strong in that subject. I think ab initio will be easier....(Is that true??)

Also with music, I already learn an instrument and Music is also one of my better subjects. The thing that's bothering me at the moment is whether or not I'll need to spend a lot of time with it, because I know practise and everything takes forever, and when it comes to the performance you can never really guarantee how you'll end up performing. I'm not really worried about the actual performance or written component, rather its the time that I'll spend on the subject and how I will be able to balance it with my other subjects.

If its not too time consuming, or difficult to get a really good mark (difficult as in even the geniuses and prodigies find it hard to do good), then I think I will pick HL Music. Thanks so much for your advice.

THANKS EVERYONE!

Edited November 28, 2010 by sundayrose

[Mahuta ♥]

Ok you want to study medicine, here's my advice:

English A1 SL

Economics SL

Language B HL

Chemistry HL

Biology HL

Math SL.

Biology and Chemistry HL is obvious, you do not want to get into medicine with one of these as SL..don't think you even can.

Math: like I said, you still don't know what IB stress means, you will be desperate to change ANY of your subjects to reduce stress. Math HL would be too stressful for you, and you will not give the other subjects the time they need, especially Biology and Chemistry HL.

Chemistry HL is a bit harder than Biology HL, however it is a very good preparation for Uni.

A1 HL: It's not only one more text, there are many other differences and the people I asked always said A1 HL is MUCH harder than SL and requires much more time. Once again remember that you are going to want the minimum number of HL subjects when it comes to IAs and Exams.

I personally believe you will be waaaay too much stress if you take Bio, Chem and Math at HL. I also expect you to drop Math HL and do SL when you realize how stressful it is.

Chemistry and Biology HL are enough for you. You like them..yes, so did I, but yuo wont have the time to like them when you are swamped with Math HL.

I am not trying to scare you or anything, but I am telling you everythying, and you can ask any IB student..it is hard to imagine how stressful you're going to be in IB..before you even start it.

[sundayrose]

Ok, thanks a lot, I mean, who likes stress?

I can't do language B HL though, cos I'm doing Spanish Ab Initio...

Anyway, thanks for your career specific advice- I didn't actually know you needed Bio and Chem HL to get into medicine...is that just generally for universities in American and UK or something?

[Mahuta ♥]

I believe in almost all universities. I am all the way in north Africa, yet looking at the biology and chemistry syllabus, they required both to be at HL. Besides it's logical that they require it, Chemistry HL for the biochem or equivalent module you will need for the first years of medicine..and Biology HL will help you with almost everything else.

[kiwi.at.heart]

Look into what unis you think you might want to go to and see their requirements regarding subjects for medicine. I know that in Australia, generally you just need SL chem and then a good overall score. You dont even need bio, but its different all over the world so do some research.

[elmar]

@ Elmar:

Yeah with the Maths SL Anticipating, I've already done like practically 70% of the course this year because that's just what our maths course was like. Wow, your doing 4 HL subjects? How are you finding HL English? Is it much harder to do well and what about the time constraints with writing essays and stuff? (Don't know much about the course) Thanks!

That's good! If you already know it and your teacher is not rushing the class to finish, then get it out of the way. It'll be one less class to study for the next year when you'll have your sciences.

And yes, I'm doing 4 HLs. From my experience, it's not difficult, except my school has no idea what they're doing (). Either way, HL English is not that hard for me. Then again, I'm experienced in writing essays. At the beginning, I wasn't so great. I talked with my English teacher and my History teacher (as you write a plethora of essays for History, as well), and my writing improved greatly. As far as time constraints, my teacher gives us a due date probably a month or half a month ahead for our essays and we just do them before then. Of course, my whole IB class is full of procrastinators who wait until the weekend before.

Anyway, thanks for your career specific advice- I didn't actually know you needed Bio and Chem HL to get into medicine...is that just generally for universities in American and UK or something?

Not so much in U.S. as it is for the UK. In the U.S., your first two years of uni require you to take a plethora of subjects, just like the IB(!). You have to take English, maths, natural science, social science, and a few electives (hah, I never realized that). After those two years, you pick what you want to study. Most IB graduates in the U.S. get college credit for their HLs, so if I get a 6 or something on my English A1 HL, I don't have to take those English classes the first two years of college. So, therefore, your subjects in the IB do not matter so much when it comes to what you want to study in uni. However, taking Biology HL and Chemistry HL and all those other hard classes prepares you for uni. I'm taking Bio HL, so when I take Biology 101 in uni first year of college, I won't be as lost since I'll already know a majority of the topics.

[sundayrose]

Yeah I've heard that IB prepares you well for university.

Thanks for all your suggestions! I really appreciate them.

If anyone has any other ideas that'd be great too.