Subjects to choose

[inlost]

I'm a Pre-DP and we are soon going to choose our 6 subjects. I am freaking out, and I dont know what to choose! So, my goal is to become a doctor in the future, does anyone know which subjects i need to get in medical school in Cambridge, Oxford, John Hopkins or Harvard. Yeah, I know it sounds impossible, BUT I dont give up easily and I am good at school. I know i can maintain a 40-42 point average, but i really insecure about which science subjects to choose. please help

I want to take Chemistry HL, Psychology Hl, Biology HL or Physics HL. I have a hard time choosing between physics or biology. Does anyone know which higher level subjects I should choose so that I can get into the unviersity of my choice?

[Drake Glau]

HL Biology if you want to be a doctor, hands down.

HL Chem might help too.

So would Psych maybe but so could HL A1 (whatever language)

I don't see much need for HL physics for a doctor or any med program at all, and it would seriously put a dent in your IB score to be honest with you unless you devote your entire mind to it...

[Summer Glau]

If you want to go to med school then biology is likely a better choice. Plus you don't really know that you can maintain a 40-42 point average until you actually start the program (and even after you start the program nothing is really certain until your results come out, you're only given a prediction) But of course you can aim for that.

I don't know about psychology since it's not offered at my school and I don't know much about physics since I don't take it. Since you can't do three sciences in IB (unless you do one on the side or get an irregular diploma), I would suggest biology, chemistry, and psychology at HL. Good luck!

[ILM]

I think in Cambridge or Oxford you should have Bio HL and Chem HL. English Hl will be good if it is not your first language. Some universities also prefer (not must) that you have math HL, espically big universities, with good reputation.

[AnjaJ]

Hi.

I just looked up the homepages of cambridge and oxford.

Cambridge (http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/medicine/requirements.html#alevel):

It says that, most applicants for Medicine at Cambridge have at least three science/mathematics A levels. If you only have two science/mathematics subjects you are still expected to have comparable ability with those who are taking three.

Oxford (http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/courses_and_entrance_requirements/table.html)

There it is only said, that it is essential to take Chemistry with either Biology or Mathematics or Physics.

So, all in all it seems as if it is your decision which of these two subjects you want to choose. But maybe you should also ask one of your teachers. E.g. I asked my biology teacher sth. about oxford and she knew everything. And she was willing to do some extra research and got in contact with a professor.

I hope i could help a bit

[inlost]

thanks for all the help everyone. I think i will go with chemistry and biology hl. i still don't know about physics because im afraid it might lower my total points later, like someone said, its hard to know what will happen. what subjects do you guys have? anyone who plans on studying medicine?

[ILM]

i have a plan to study medicine and i chose:

Chemistry HL

Biology HL

English B HL

Math SL

Arabic A1 SL

Business and managment SL

Edited February 1, 2011 by inm

[fan]

I don't plan on doing medecine.. But i have heard that some universities require physics of some sort. You might want to check that with the universities. If it is so then probably you can take physics at SL. But for medicine Biology is definitely a must so is Chem HL so that you can broaden your options.

[Guest Soiboist]

You can't take Physics along with Biology and Chemistry unless you're either doing an irregular Diploma or one of them as an extra certificate. However for medical school Chemistry is usually definitely required while most schools, and especially those that you seem to go for, ask for Biology aswell. If you're applying in Sweden you will need all three sciences unfortunately.

[bigbangfan]

You can't take Physics along with Biology and Chemistry unless you're either doing an irregular Diploma or one of them as an extra certificate. However for medical school Chemistry is usually definitely required while most schools, and especially those that you seem to go for, ask for Biology aswell. If you're applying in Sweden you will need all three sciences unfortunately.

A well balanced subject combination for entering a medical school might be:

Language A1 HL/SL

Second Language HL/SL

Psychology SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

Mathematics HL or SL (SL is more compatible with medicine, but HL could impress the prestigious unis)

If you urge to take physics, maybe you can take an extra certificate subject that is Physics SL, although the course load might be a lot! Good Luck!!

[kiwi.at.heart]

Do your research into not just what you dream schools are, but what you back-up schools want as well. There are so many variations out there for what unis want for medicine, but with my research, I have found that most unis want chemistry with either biology or physics and at least SL maths. Also if you are looking to go to some of the colleges you mentioned, they aren't just going to accept ordinary so taking all your sciences at HL is almost a must and maybe even consider HL maths if you think you maintain a decent grade and don't pick any subject some consider soft.

[JustAnotherAsian]

actually...In terms of university accepting for sciences and what not

Take Physics>Chemistry>Biology

People who say, take biology instead are wrong, because physics or chemistry (usually physics) is favored over biology. The reason is that biology is mostly memorizing (and thus is still challenging), but it doesn't involve quantitative calculations that physics or chemistry (to some extent) requires.

So the best choice is PHYSICS and CHEMISTRY

Okay choice is PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY

Not-so-good choice is CHEMISTRY and BIOLOGY

[Sandwich]

All of this advice depends very much on where you want to go. Some places might desperately want you to do Physics, but the fact is that you're basically ineligible for Medical Schools in the UK without HL Chemistry, and it's silly not to do HL Biology because at the end of the day, they assume that everybody did, so any intention of applying in the UK somewhat pre-determines your science choices.

Also, I suggest that aiming for 40-42 ought to be replaced by aiming for 45 if you want to be truly competitive! Aim to be the absolute best if you're going to pin all your hopes on getting into highly competitive places. Also I wouldn't put any Uni in the UK as any form of back-up for Medicine, it's like a lottery over here. Every Medical School has enough applicants that you can't really separate them based on competitiveness, they each have a shedload of people so you have to try hard for all of them.

[dessskris]

JustAnotherAsian, you are wrong because Cambarta wants to be a doctor and go to a med school thus they need Bio and Chem, and not Physics.

Cambarta, if you are capable, take Math HL instead of Psychology HL. Otherwise, go for Language A1 HL. I do not favour Psych HL, some unis consider it as a soft subject, I believe.

If you want to know Physics, just take SL as a 7th subject if you want. It's not so necessary actually but having it would be great.

[Guest Soiboist]

actually...In terms of university accepting for sciences and what not

Take Physics>Chemistry>Biology

People who say, take biology instead are wrong, because physics or chemistry (usually physics) is favored over biology. The reason is that biology is mostly memorizing (and thus is still challenging), but it doesn't involve quantitative calculations that physics or chemistry (to some extent) requires.

So the best choice is PHYSICS and CHEMISTRY

Okay choice is PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY

Not-so-good choice is CHEMISTRY and BIOLOGY

That maybe goes for US and Canada, I don't really know a lot about the universities there, but I guess they look at the difficulty of the subjects as an important factor? Kind of stupid really as you should definitely pick what you're interest in.

Talking about the UK in general and especially Oxbridge, it would be very hard to motivate why you did not pick Biology when you want to become a doctor as it is what it is most related to. Looking at the world generally Chemistry HL and Biology HL is what you should pick. Yeah and medicine is probably the most competitive course (someone should maybe confirm that though?) so you should definitely be aiming above 40-42, also I think they want to see good IGSCE grades, what you're in Sweden doing during Pre-DP basically.

[Summer Glau]

actually...In terms of university accepting for sciences and what not

Take Physics>Chemistry>Biology

People who say, take biology instead are wrong, because physics or chemistry (usually physics) is favored over biology. The reason is that biology is mostly memorizing (and thus is still challenging), but it doesn't involve quantitative calculations that physics or chemistry (to some extent) requires.

So the best choice is PHYSICS and CHEMISTRY

Okay choice is PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY

Not-so-good choice is CHEMISTRY and BIOLOGY

That maybe goes for US and Canada, I don't really know a lot about the universities there, but I guess they look at the difficulty of the subjects as an important factor? Kind of stupid really as you should definitely pick what you're interest in.

Talking about the UK in general and especially Oxbridge, it would be very hard to motivate why you did not pick Biology when you want to become a doctor as it is what it is most related to. Looking at the world generally Chemistry HL and Biology HL is what you should pick. Yeah and medicine is probably the most competitive course (someone should maybe confirm that though?) so you should definitely be aiming above 40-42, also I think they want to see good IGSCE grades, what you're in Sweden doing during Pre-DP basically.

Actually the US and Canada would not prefer physics to biology either. JustAnotherAsian, physics isn't as relevant as biology in medicine (although it is more difficult in IB) so that's why a university would prefer HL biology. Plus chemistry is apparently required for medicine in the UK so don't leave that out either!

Edited February 2, 2011 by Summer Glau

[Drake Glau]

A lot of US universities don't really care what class it is You get accepted based on a lot more than just your score (which is actually not as big of a deal as everywhere else). Anything you take HL and get a 5+ on though will get you credit so wanting to be a doctor is going to include a ton of bio/chem so doing those HL will give you a head start with extra credit at the beginning and you won't feel like an idiot when you start

Take SL physics for a 7th subject if you want, it's fun anyway And it won't count for anything, you can't fail IB because of it but it also won't be part of your end score.