bigbangfan Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) hey guys! this time I´m talking on behalf of my 16 year old bro who is starting IB this year for exams in Nov. 2012. He wants advice about the subjects he is planning to take, and help him build a suitable course combination. These are his initial ideas:English A1 HLFor sure, he loves Literature.French B HL or SL?He´s doubtful about HL, he took only 2 years of french.Philosophy HL or SL?He loves philosophy Psychology HL or SL?He loves psychology as well. Then, what subject do you recommend at HL?Which is easier? Psych. or Philosophy?Biology SLHe´s sure enough about Bio. SL.Mathematical Studies SLSure about maths studies. He sucks at math, unlike me. jkOkay, any advice from you guys will be appreciated, cuz although he asked me, he wants to be secure enough with the IB Survival Community! Thanks! Edited January 14, 2011 by bigbangfan Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILM Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 what his plans for the university. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbangfan Posted January 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 what his plans for the university.Actually, he is unsure about his university major, he is considering a liberal arts college right in america. He loves psychology and philosophy but does not want to major in those areas. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Okay, here is my advice based on what you have written about your brother:English A1 HLPhilosophy HLPsychology HLBiology SLFrench B SLMath Studies SLMy reasoning behind this is:If he is not comfortable with his French, he shouldn't force himself into when he has other subjects he likes, such as Psychology and Philosophy. From what I have noticed, it seems like he loves to write and analyze. Having English, Philosophy and Psychology as HL subjects would have a lot of that and would help him develop his abilities further. Obviously, he's not a math person, so math studies is a great idea. Biology- he said he wants it SL, so that's just fine...Also, TOK will probably help him with his Philosophy class, but don't quote me on that because my school doesn't offer Philosophy so I do not know much about the IB curriculum for that.Hope this helps. Tell me if I've "analyzed" his personality incorrectly and I'll give a different opinion Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Tell him he can join IBS beforehand we welcome new members As always, my first question would be: what does he want to study in uni?If I were him I would take the following subjects:English A1 HLFrench B SLPhilosophy HLBiology SLMath Studies SLPsychology HLPerfect, 3 HL and 3 SL.Concerns:I don't know whether this is true but I think universities consider Philosophy, Psychology and Math Studies as soft subjects. Maybe..idk. Some unis simply reject Math Studies students. For instance, University of Toronto. I would honestly suggest taking the common Math SL first and then if he can't survive, drop to studies.Would you tell us the list of courses offered for groups 3 and 6? If Visual Art is offered I would suggest taking it at HL. I prefer Psychology over Philosophy btw.EDIT: meh, late reply, reload the page I edited my post Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 In response to what Desy said about soft subjects:If he is going to the USA, there is no difference between the IB HL's. They will give you credit for them regardless, if the credit is applicable to his major. Uni's in the USA mostly do not look at the SL subjects for credit. Therefore, it should not be a problem. But as Desy said, starting with Math SL is a better route generally.Also, I didn't realize you wrote he wants a liberal arts college. With that in mind, having social languages, social sciences and philosophy as HL's are a good idea. although USA college do not require the IB Diploma, they will honor those HL subjects highly. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbangfan Posted January 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Tell him he can join IBS beforehand we welcome new members As always, my first question would be: what does he want to study in uni?If I were him I would take the following subjects:English A1 HLFrench B SLPhilosophy HLBiology SLMath Studies SLPsychology HLPerfect, 3 HL and 3 SL.Concerns:I don't know whether this is true but I think universities consider Philosophy, Psychology and Math Studies as soft subjects. Maybe..idk. Some unis simply rejects Math Studies students. For instance, University of Toronto. I would honestly suggest taking the common Math SL first and then if he can't survive, drop to studies.Would you tell us first what your brother wants to study so we can give more specified advice on what to study. And maybe list of courses offered for groups 3 and 6.Yet, he´s unsure about what to study, he loves philosophy and psychology but is also unsure about studying them as majors, he prefers psych and philo as hobbies or background subjects. Nevertheless, during IB, I´m sure he will engage so much into psych and philo that he will end up studying that. He´s also passionate about Sociology and Anthropology but they are not offered as IB Subjects at my school. Thanks for the mathematics advice I will tell him that if he stuggles with SL Math, drop to studies. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 I edited my post btw, when I open this thread I saw no reply yet and when I replied, a number of other replies appeared hahahaAnd I apparently misunderstood liberal arts never mind about visual art hahaha. I'd suggest history if he is interested. As Julie said philosophy is touched a bit in TOK already. He can still study that if he wants to, though, and forget about history. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Well, liberal arts encompasses all groups of knowledge. They categorize it as: literature, languages, mathematics, sciences, history and philosophy. Therefore, he could basically choose anything. But liberal arts also greatly emphasize analysis, thinking. If you were to study liberal arts you would take classes such as: cultural anthropology, english literature, economics, music history, psychology and world religions history. The major would have a minor emphasis on statistics and probability, environmental sciences and simple biological concepts Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 in my opinion i would chose:English HLpsychology HLPhilosophy HLFrench SLBiology SLMathematics SL Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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