Subject combination..I really need help.

[Mariouma♥]

Hi,

I am starting IB September 2011, and I am à little unsure about my subjects, since my options seem limited.

Group 1

English À

Arabic À

I am not sure if the two options are offered in my school, which is one of the problems.

I am taking English First Language Extended and I got a not so good mark in it.

Group 2:

English B

French B

Spanish Ab Initio

The thing is, if there is only English À literature in my school, then I am not sure I can do it since English isn’t my first language. I heard English B is too easy, and I do need à good level of English for uni.

I hate French, though I have been studying it for several years now, I don’t like the conjugation and grammaire,, but I have learnt them. I am also unsure of Spanish Ab Initio, is there anyone taking it? How is it like? Easy? Hard?

For French B, what is it exactly about? Does it have the whole..conjugation, grammaire thing?

Group 3:

History

B/M

Geography

ITGS

The first two are out of the picture, no one recommended them for me.

Now it’s between ITGS and Geography. I am taking IGCSE Geography and I don’t really like it so much since I study so much yet still get à bad mark. I am worried it is going to be the same in IB. I need someone who’s taking IB Geography to advise me, how hard is it in terms of syllabus and IAs? ITGS seems like the easiest subjects of those, my sister took ITGS but their teacher wasn’t good at all and didn’t explain anything to them, so it was like à self-study and thus she didn’t get good marks in it. Do current ITGS students have the same problem? Does teacher quality depend on how old the IB School is? My school started IB March 2010, so I am somewhat worried.

Are there big differences between Geography HL and SL and the same for ITGS?

Group 4:

Biology

ESS

Physics

Group 6:

VA

TA

Chemistry

This is another problem I am having, my sister did not take physics in IB and she regrets it so much. So I have to take Physics. I am not sure about the level. I am currently doing IGCSE Physics and I got à high B in my mock exam. Since my school only offers Chemistry in Group 6 (besides the arts), I am obliged to take that. That means I have to take Chemistry and Physics. I am getting Bs in chemistry, and not sure I can do SL.

Group 5:

Math HL

Math SL

Math St

I am doing Math IGCSE Extended and I got à B on my mock exam. I am thinking of taking Math SL since I was told Math HL is too hard.

This may not seem like a problem at all, but I want to do engineering or Architecture in uni.

Please help me out, I am à little confused.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Mariouma♥

[Julie]

I recommend VA ( Group 6), but you have to be prepared for a big workload. The work is not difficult, there is a just a lot. Yet, I take VA HL and I love it. The work can sometimes be overwhelming, but I would never trade it out for a different subject.

I don't know what to say about Chemistry and Physics. Do you need two sciences? If you don't, I would take Physics (Group 4) and VA (Group 6). If you do need two sciences, switch out VA with Chemistry.

As far as languages go, I would do English A1 and Spanish ab inicio (Groups 1 and 2). The syllabus for the languages is changing next year, so the Group 2 B languages will be similar to the previous A2 languages. If you are not comfortable with french enough to do B, then I definitely wouldn't take it. Do you need arabic for uni? If you need arabic and not english, I would switch switch out English with Arabic A1.

I honestly adore History, but you say no one recommended it to you. I definitely recommend it if you love to analyze, discuss and write! But since you are against it, I would suggest ITGS (Group 3) because of your bad experience with not liking Geography.

Math SL is a good choice! It's solid for colleges. Don't go with studies, you are too good for that And HL is indeed harder. The middle option is the best

Therefore, when looking at what you want to study in college and compiling my thoughts, I would suggest the following variation:

English A1 SL/HL

Spanish ab inicio SL

ITGS SL/HL

Physics HL

Math SL

Visual Arts HL (if you do Architecture); Chemistry SL/HL (if you do engineering)

I'm not too sure about SL's vs. HL's. Do you have any ideas about which classes you would do at the HL level?

[Drake Glau]

A1 English - SL (from reading your post and what you say I don't think HL will do well for you, sorry)

B French or Ab Spanish - SL for either. All languages have conjugation and grammar.

ITGS - HL

Math SL (Math St. is worthless, don't even think of it as a choice)

Now, group 4 and 6...

You have more group6 options than you listed. Any of the 3 sciences can be counted as group 6 as long as it's not your group 4...

So you have Chem, Bio, Physics, VA, and TA for group 6 and Chem, bio, physics, and ESS for group 4.

Course now this leaves you with 2 more HLs to pick...

You didn't talk about Bio at all so I'm assuming you don't want it. And you said you have to take physics so you'll have HL physics.

HL Physics can be group 4 or 6 though so you can HL in Chem, Bio, VA, TA, and ESS still...take your pick.

SL A1 English

SL French B (you might hate it, but you have experience already. Trust me I hate learning a new language but I had to take the one I was good at

HL ITGS

SL Math Methods

HL Physics

HL Chem/Bio/TA/VA/ESS.

[Summer Glau]

Since Arabic appears to be your native language why don't you take Arabic A1? You don't seem to like English that much so I wouldn't recommend you take it at A1 level (especially if you're more comfortable with Arabic than English). If you still want to take English you could take it at B level, then maybe do an English test like TOEFL just to prove that your English is OK for university.

Yes in French B you will learn grammar, but you do the same with any language (including Spanish ab initio).

If there's a better ITGS teacher at your school you could take that, though I think geography is a bit more useful. I don't take geo or ITGS and they aren't offered at my school so my opinion on this is a bit limited

For engineering, it's better to take chemistry and physics HL. For architecture, I recommend visual arts instead of chemistry, and also physics HL. So either way you should take physics HL because you'll need it for architecture and engineering. The other choice is based on which career path you wish to pursue.

Go with SL math. Math studies is not accepted by some universities and since both careers you're considering require that you have a decent math background, you should take SL math at least. Do HL if you really enjoy math. Otherwise, stick with SL.

So I recommend:

Arabic A1 SL

English B HL

Geography SL

Physics HL

Math SL

Chemistry/Visual Arts HL

[Austin Glau]

Welcome Mariam!

I think Arabic A1 would be a pretty good choice for your language, since it looks like you already got background in it.

For the A2 langagues, i would probably recommend French or Spanish, since if you are billingual with English then it might be a bit too easy on most levels. French and Spanish basically are the same difficulty level, altohugh in my opinion it really depends on the teacher you have, for me i have a bad Spanish teacher which results in less learning then I could have. Ab inito really isn’t that hard though from what I’ve heard, and SL and HL have oral components to them.

And for Geo and ITGS, SL and HL are pretty similar. You do portfolios in each (not sure about Geo, probably same though). HL basically is an expansion of SL, it includes a bit more stuff than SL, unlike some subjects like Maths where, at least in my experience, hl adds a lot more to sl and is like a whole new class, adding a lot more concepts.

And for the engineering subject, I agree with sam, you should try and focus on physics and chem. More, since that is usually what unis look at engineering. Also, most uni’s don’t accept math studies for engineering or physics majors if you are planning to use IB to skip classes or get in solely on the diploma, so try to get at least Math SL in.

[Bishup]

To start with, let me just pretend I had your subject combination.

French B, Chemistry, Physics at HL

History, Arabic A, Math at SL

I don't think you need to bother with English. Do you need to prove to anyone you speak English? If not then scrap it. French B is an easy 7 and conjugation and grammar is not as prominent in the sense that the focal point is that. Its, perhaps, dreary learning is made more sleek and subtle by contextualising it. You would have a cultural or literature scenario and you'd be studying the piece and be learning how to express yourself to the best degree of accuracy. Grammar will always be present but it's not as horrible as it may seem, at least it's not taught along the lines of the Francophone system.

For your humanity please do History. History sharpens you're intellect and is much more enjoyable than the two other humanities. A lot of people would agree with me and there is a reason.

I strongly suggest doing 2 sciences because they're the most viable choices and VA just seems naff. However I'm indifferent about whether you should do both at HL. The most pertinent question is, do you need it for architectural school or engineering school?

Math SL because there is absolutely no point doing in HL. That being said, Math HL here in the UK is a requirement for some engineering programs at a small handful of engineering schools so I wonder how it plays out over where you wish to pursue your studies.

Arabic A. Mother tongue and is not English. Much more interesting than boring, mundane, mass diffused English. It is easier to achieve a 7 in Arabic in English. It just is.

Edit: The only reason why i chose history over geography was that the geography IA was about measuring the sizes of pebbles and the incline of the beach. I think I'd rather become immobile and get gangrene than have to measure and draw ****ty conclusions of something completely pointless. But if the IA does not concern Physical Geography then you're in for a treat.

Kind Regards Marcus

Edited February 14, 2011 by Bishup

[fan]

Ok several of the other members have provided you with very useful information that should hopefully guide you in the right direction.

I want to help you decide on what you should probably choice for Group 3. Ok lets start with the first question. which interests you more, geography or information technology? do you fancy understanding how IT systems work? do you want to know the ethical and social implications of IT systems? if so then you are heading towards ITGS.

you say that you don't get the grades even when you study for geo? Well remember that IB is not the same level as IGCSE hence i would advice you to give ITGS a try. It is actually easier to pass in my opinion. But that's not to say that it can easily get you a 5,6 or 7. Most people struggle for higher marks in ITGS. However i find ITGS more related to the course that you want to take in uni hence would be more appropriate.

from the situations that you have given you have said that you don't do well in geo and your sister didn't do well in ITGS. so i would advice you to give it a try. 1) Because you are not your sister and 2) You have not given it a chance yet

another thing to keep in mind, you are allowed to change subject during the first few months of school. So if you find ITGS dreadful then moving to geo would be a better solution

Edited February 14, 2011 by ∑fan

[dessskris]

Because you want to study Engineering, I suggest:

Arabic A Lit SL

English A Lang&Lit SL

ITGS HL

Physics HL

Math HL

Chem SL

Why 2 A Languages?

A student completing a bilingual Diploma might select one literature and one literature and language course.

(Diploma Programme Developments Presentation 2007, page 9)

In that case you'll study 14 works. Why both A and not Arabic A+English B? Because as you said you need a good level of English for uni but you're not capable of doing English A Lit. I think it would be the best solution. However if that is not possible, do English B HL+ITGS SL instead of English A Lang&Lit SL+ITGS HL. Don't worry, you will only need to take the TOEFL or IELTS later on.

Why ITGS?

IMO, Geography is useless for an Engineering course. At least ITGS is a bit related to technology and perhaps machinery. I am not taking Geo but from what I heard from my friends who are taking Geo, maybe it's just my school but it's very research-based and the Geo students in my grade are not doing well at it. Even a top student is scoring a 5 only. Maybe it's just my school, though.

Why Phy HL and Math HL?

They are the prerequisites if you want to study Engineering. No bargaining.

Why Chem SL?

Chem SL is not that hard compared to Chem HL, IMO. I took Chem IGCSE and got an A*. The first few topics (in IB) were very hard for me because they are very new to me. However as I go through the next chapters, I find them easy because they have been taught in IGCSE and there is not much of a new thing, only a few.

If you want to study Architecture, take VA SL instead of Chem SL for group 6. It's still under Engineering or at least related to it, isn't it? If yes you might still need Math HL+Phy HL but idk, you should check that.

Just want to point out you don't need Chem that much for Engineering. Some universities want Math HL AND Phy HL/Chem HL. Some others want all three.

If you are not capable of doing Math HL, I suggest finding fields other than Engineering (still not sure if Architecture requires you to take Math HL) that you want to study in uni, that are not so related to Math.

[Mariouma♥]

1) Do you have any ideas about which classes you would do at the HL level?

-Not yet, but im sure physics in going to be one of the three...

2) which interests you more, geography or information technology? do you fancy understanding how IT systems work? do you want to know the ethical and social implications of IT systems?

- i used to be interested in IT last year, but this new teacher made me hate it!!!

- i just took geography this year... so i find it kinda hard.. but my marks aren't that bad!!=/

3) The most pertinent question is, do you need it for architectural school or engineering school?

- i might need physics as HL, but i really dont know about chemistry!! =/

[Bishup]

i might need physics as HL, but i really dont know about chemistry

To my knowledge, Chemistry is required for neither of those courses, so taking it at SL might just be another chess move in your advantage. I use the UK as my reference because it is the most encompassing for all prospective university students as it the clearest example of a higher education system of where requirements exist.