IB Subject Choices and Uni

[ibmanila]

1. Is economics and business a good combination? Some say it's not a good idea.

2. Is Maths HL really that difficult?

3. Which IB science? Physics or Chem? At HL or SL? 4. If I want to take engineering in college, is physics SL good enough? Is Physics essential?

5. Any suggestions for which subject combination I should do?

Uni choices:

1. Please categorize under reach, target and safety: Columbia, Stanford, NYU, UBC, University of Sydney

2. Suggest any more universities which you think would be good.

3. What should I be aiming for in SAT I? Which and how many SAT II's should I take? What should I be aiming for?

4. Should I do any more EC's? I'll be continuing the sports I do plus CAS stuff for IB.

5. Is it worth it to apply Early decision? Does it dramatically increase my chances?

Edited June 14, 2011 by ibmanila

[Drake Glau]

Ummm, kind of need to know what you want to do/learn in life. HL Math+HL Econ/business seems really odd to me. And you're taking mandarin B which is the business language of the world almost so I'm assuming you like business yes? I'd take HL A1 English, HL econ, and HL business with SL (pick a group6...), SL Mandarin and SL math.

SAT is out of 2400, 4 tests, 800 each so a 1835 is around 450ish per test which isn't bad with no prep and still a sophomore in my opinion.

EC's are up to you, colleges like people who lead and get active, just sayin'.

Early decisions do increase your chances, colleges like to think you will pick them no matter what because you were so interested that you did early decision but you really don't have too

[dessskris]

Sorry I cannot advise you about universities but I will try with the subject choices.

I would recommend:

English A1 SL

Mandarin B SL

Economics HL

Physics HL

Mathematics HL

Business & Management SL

With the above subjects, you can study most Engineering courses (if you take Chem SL instead of B&M SL, you might be able to study all the Engineering courses), Computer Science, Mathematics and Business.

I heard Econs is more important than B&M even if you want to study Business. B&M is kind of irrelevant, I heard, but I suggest you taking it SL, might help with your Econs.

Too bad you didn't tell us what subjects you are taking in IGCSE if you are taking Additional Math (I guess it's not too late for you to register for the exam. perhaps.), Math HL would be managable since the basic of some topics is already covered in A-Math IGCSE. We (Math HL students in my grade) skipped some chapters because we have already learned them in A-Math

For Physics HL, you just need to score around 70% (according to IB grade boundaries 2009) or 72% (according to IB grade boundaries 2010) to get an IB7. So if you are doing quite well, you should be able to score 6 or 7

Since your dad wants you to study Engineering, what do you yourself want to study?? Business?

Enough of EC's! I don't think you would want to take all those at the same time, though.

Sorry I cannot comment much about the University choice

[Drake Glau]

I don't see the point of HL Math and HL Phyiscs for anything business related, they just seem like two classes that would possibly mutilate your IB score for no reason. Physics only requires about a 70% to get a 7 as Desy said (varies year to year) but that's because that 70% is still hard to get

[dessskris]

I think they are different

I was in a *cough cough* special *cough* class last year thus I did not do full IGCSE. I only took 4 subjects and one of them is A-Math. The other class, the normal one, in my grade last year did full IGCSE and those who took A-Math still took the normal Math. Imagine taking 2 sets of Math paper..haha and in the normal Math IGCSE you choose either Core or Extended right? I think they all did the Extended one, but I'm not sure.

You may want to consider English A1 HL btw, as Drake suggested. Especially if you are not really interested in Engineering then you can just take 1 science SL instead. And still, the science with the lowest minimum to get a 7 is Physics. You need to score 66% (according to IB grade boundaries 2010) or 68% (according to IB grade boundaries 2009) for an IB7.

You may want to keep your Guitar lesson for Creativity (CAS) hours, btw.

EDIT: no Drake! I heard some universities prefer Math HL students for a Business course. Math SL will do, though.

[Drake Glau]

Hesitation is bad, just saying. Personally I was a little intimidated by physics but then I just decided to teach myself and then enter SL2 and now love it. If you WANT to take a class, just cause you like it, you can always 7th subject it That is to pick your 6 for what you "need" and then take a 7th that doesn't affect your IB grades at all. Like for my physics i could completely fail the IA and exams and it wouldn't matter at all to my IB grade

[dessskris]

Hey! Not everybody is as nerd as you to take 7 IB classes and still be alive, Drake! So I wouldn't recommend a 7th subject, really. I myself am already suffering with 6 subjects plus EC's.

I heard some universities prefer Math HL students for a Business course. Even though Math SL will do, you can always take HL. It allows you to study Mathematics in uni btw.. Just in case if you change your mind.. And you are not so confident in other subjects HL anyway.

Yeah A1 HL is hard actually.. I would suggest language B HL then Econs HL is a must. It's easy, btw. For the science I really recommend Physics because it's Math-related. Especially if you are definitely taking Math HL, go for Physics! SL will do, don't worry. Unless you are keen on Engineering (like me!), you must take Physics HL.

Read my 2nd post above (post #6) btw, just in case if you missed it.

[Drake Glau]

A1 HL isn't that bad, my school forces us to take it But yea I guess if you like math you might as well go ahead with math HL and SL physics and then get your HL econ and stuff done and you would be fine.

[MaryamB]

i gotta say you got a pretty strange combo there

LOL

it depends what you wanna do in the future, so i cant really judge for now. However, i know one thing's for sure.about your sciences, Physics, it is very "mathematical". LIKE ALOT. no joke. if you are prepared for extra maths problems, go for physics, if not....good luck with chem (i DESPISE chemistry).

I have to say though that i am not "scientifically programmed" myself

[Tilia]

I say, do the subject combinations you like and DON'T do anything just because your parents say so. It's your life, not theirs. If you like economics and business, go for it. I see no reason why it should be a bad idea.

IB maths HL is hard, but not impossible and if you like it, do it! When it comes to science, I don't think it matters so much. At SL, both physics and chemistry are fairly easy, especially if you're into maths. but if you like formula and logic, go for physics. Chemistry is a bit miore memorizing.

[ILM]

Sorry I cannot advise you about universities but I will try with the subject choices.

I would recommend:

English A1 SL

Mandarin B SL

Economics HL

Physics HL

Mathematics HL

Business & Management SL

With the above subjects, you can study most Engineering courses (if you take Chem SL instead of B&M SL, you might be able to study all the Engineering courses), Computer Science, Mathematics and Business.

I will go with that subject choices, but you can take Business HL instead Economic HL; i heard that business is easier than economics.

[ILM]

Physics HL is one of the most difficult subject in the IB, if you do not like it, or you are not capable to understand. For Business, it need a teacher and a good teacher, so if the Eco. teacher will teach you bus then okay, because Bus is a nice subject, but it is not difficult as physics. Take what you think will be prefered in the university.

[Abu]

If it were up to me, I'd do Economics at HL, B&M at SL (or not do it at all, I love the subject but it's irrelevant and a "soft" subject) and definitely do Maths at HL. A decent university would have a maths heavy business course. If you do Economics at HL, it'll definitely help you at university.

No, that combination is not strange.

[Yiruna]

I know a friend doing both Econ and Business Management at higher and a lot of the teachers at out school advised against it as they said that it would seem limiting to Universities. Of course, Econ HL would be the ideal choice and you might as well do Math HL while you're at it.

On the other hand, I do HL Math, with Physics SL and I got Engineering offers for most Canadian Universities that didn't require Chemistry at IB level, didn't apply UBC though, I hate Vancouver . Although I'm aiming for Comp Eng so it might change for you.

Also, I can say that for UBC, Physics and Math alone is fine, it doesn't matter whichever one you take at HL or SL, so go with the one you feel would score you higher. I would put that as your likely/safety DEPENDING on what you score. For other universities, it really depends, looks up the requirements on the websites and it should tell you.

Econ and Math HL would qualify you for most, if not all, business programs, so it shouldn't matter whether you take BM at HL/SL since it is a 'soft' subject.

EC's are fine, just maintain them and Unis will see your commitment.

It is really too early to tell which one will be your reach/likely/safety considering you haven't started IB yet, but any Ivy League (Columbia) will always be reach.

Edit: As a side note, most of the people in my Physics SL class aren't really that motivated but then considering we have a well, bad, teacher, it's not surprising. So take Physics HL if you're truly interested in it, otherwise go for BM HL if you feel it'd get you higher.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Yiruna