IB Subjects

[sapphireblue]

Hi! I'm going to be starting IB next year and I'm having some trouble finalising my higher subjects.

I don't really have a definite idea of what I want to study in the future, but the social and life sciences really interest me and courses such as the Biological Sciences and Human Sciences seem very appealing. However I am also considering other courses that aren't so science oriented (Education? Communications?) It also really sucks because there isn't really a subject I would never do (aside from Higher Maths - I personally think that would be close to suicide ;P)

I'm probably going to go to the States for uni rather than the UK so I don't really have any prerequisites.. well it's more like I don't really know what they are/should be.

Basically, I am currently deciding between:

Higher English

*I used to read everyday in primary school but after I was introduced to the internet, the amount of books I've read has decreased dramatically. I don't mind reading English literature books but I don't know how good I'd be at analysing them. I'm also quite scared for the IOC/IOP because I'm not the most confident speaker. I don't mind writing a lot and I guess I'm not too bad at it because I am currently receiving the highest scores in my English class ( I apologise if I sound too cocky or boastful!) though I fear that may just be because my teacher is a generous marker and I don't know how differently it's going to be marked in IB. It is one of my favourite subjects right now but that might just be because of my awesome class and teacher I quite like analysing books but I don't think it would as useful I guess compared to Chemistry or something.

Higher Psychology

*I definitely want to do this though because I currently take Psychology now and I really really enjoy it so I think it would be a good idea to take it?

Higher Geography

*The last time I studied Geography was around two or three years ago.. but the IB course seems really interesting though I do have friends who currently take it for GCSE and complain about how boring it is. There are also people I know who tell me that IB Geography can be boring though it is quite easy. Apparently the IA's are quite a hassle and fairly time consuming but I guess it won't really bother me that much if I am interested in it and enjoy learning about it.

Higher Chemistry

*It might be relevant to my future major or career choice but I have been told that since I don't desperately need it, I can just take it as a SL subject and do the SAT II subject test in chemistry if it I desperately need to since I'm going to the US anyway. I know I'll probably find it quite hard however I hear it is quite interesting and worth it? Additionally, I'm scared that I might suddenly want to pursue a career/major that is extremely Chemistry based and that my SL Chemistry would not suffice for the more selective universities.

Combinations:

Higher English

Higher Psychology

Higher Geography

- I quite like this combination though I'm scared that it will be deemed as too unchallenging or something like that because I've heard people say that Group 3 subjects are one of the easiest ones to do well in and although it is statistically impossible to obtain a 7 in Higher English, it seems like an "easy way out" for people who don't want to do a higher science and it is the one of the subjects with the least differences between HL and SL. It also seems like the least time consuming course I guess? However I do have another Language A to worry about and SAT prep, CAS, etc so I guess it's not that much of a bad idea?

or

Higher Psychology

Higher Geography

Higher Chemistry

- I've been told by lots of people that I shouldn't really take a higher science unless I am really passionate about it or need it for university (Medicine & Engineering). The thing is I don't really mind sciences but although I still manage to get A*'s in the subject, I'm quite scared of what Higher Chemistry would be like since I'm already finding some of the stuff in the iGCSE Chemistry syllabus quite hard to grasp but then again I do lack practice

or

Higher English

Higher Psychology

Higher Chemistry

- I think this combination may cause my total IB score to topple a bit since I'll probably have to devote a lot of time to HL Chemistry in order to obtain a high mark. I think HL Geography would be easier for me since I am quite social science oriented and HL Geography will definitely be easier than HL Chemistry. This is probably the most time consuming and demanding choice I guess?

So yeah, any suggestions on what I should do?

I'm so sorry for the extremely long post and you are truly amazing if you've read it (any of it at all!) and any comments will be greatly appreciated

Thanks so much!

Edited April 9, 2011 by sapphireblue

[Drake Glau]

HL Psych seems great from what you've explained of yourself and you jut love it. I'd take it because of that alone.

HL Chem...hmm...it's pretty complex, not going to lie. If you don't fully understand what you're getting now you'll likely struggle through the last year where concepts are introduced to you that make iffy sense and have quantitative analysis plugged in with it...Kinetics (on the SL level) for example has very little numbers involved, same with acids and bases, when you hit the HL year though both of those topics become really math heavy...

HL English, you need to like to read and you need to be good at seeing the details and you need to be good at seeing 2 details and going "ooooooooooooooooooooooo they go together!" or something along those lines

HL Geography just sounds boring to me to be honest. But I have no idea what it's about because our school does not offer it nor have I looked through anything related to it to even give a tiny opinion

Personal combo?

HL English

HL Psych

HL Chem if you like chem and are ok with quantitative chem...

HL Geo if you don't like chem and aren't ok with quantitative chem...

[sapphireblue]

HL Psych seems great from what you've explained of yourself and you jut love it. I'd take it because of that alone.

HL Chem...hmm...it's pretty complex, not going to lie. If you don't fully understand what you're getting now you'll likely struggle through the last year where concepts are introduced to you that make iffy sense and have quantitative analysis plugged in with it...Kinetics (on the SL level) for example has very little numbers involved, same with acids and bases, when you hit the HL year though both of those topics become really math heavy...

HL English, you need to like to read and you need to be good at seeing the details and you need to be good at seeing 2 details and going "ooooooooooooooooooooooo they go together!" or something along those lines

HL Geography just sounds boring to me to be honest. But I have no idea what it's about because our school does not offer it nor have I looked through anything related to it to even give a tiny opinion

Personal combo?

HL English

HL Psych

HL Chem if you like chem and are ok with quantitative chem...

HL Geo if you don't like chem and aren't ok with quantitative chem...

Wow, thanks so much for your advice! And best of luck for your IB exams!

Edited April 9, 2011 by sapphireblue

[dessskris]

Have you talked to the IB Coordinator at your school? They should be the first person to talk to.

I don't know how many people you've asked and what they've told you but perhaps somebody has mentioned this before: take 4 HL subjects first and drop one to SL after a few weeks.

Most schools allow you to change subjects in the first (three) months (note: not sure how many months, depends on the school, really). Dropping from HL to SL is usually allowed anytime. Please ask your IBC if those can be done at your school so you know if you could go with the 4 months trial or not.

May I know what your SL subjects are? One must be Math. And the other one is what language?

Higher Psychology

*I definitely want to do this though because I currently take Psychology now and I really really enjoy it so I think it would be a good idea to take it?

LOL @ this.

I took Chem IGCSE too last year (even got A*) and I totally loved it. It was even my 2nd favourite subject (I think you can guess my first... but let's not talk about it). I loved Chemistry very very much. So I also thought the same way as you... I loved it, so I thought I should take Chem HL, and taking Chem SL would be a total waste. So that's what I did. It turned out that Chem HL was NOT a piece of cake. I still can't believe that the first few HL topics were so damn hard I couldn't understand. I hated Chemistry since then and dropped to Chem SL. haha. (note: I still don't like Chem, but not that much anymore)

I went through the same dilemma as you actually: deciding which HL subjects to take. I did talk to a lot of people and was recommended to take 4 HL first and then drop one after the first quarter. and I actually dropped Chem. I am now glad that I experienced the 4 HL subjects and that I knew how hard each of them actually is so that I could decide by myself which 3 HL subjects to take.

I think it would be highly advantageous for you to try all your 4 HL so you really know how each class is like. They might be harder than, easier than, or just as what you expected. Who knows? We can't tell you which you'll do well in, difficulty is very subjective. I would say all your HL subjects are hard because I myself am not good at those; but maybe you'll find them very easy and enjoyable...

Anyhow I'd still tell you...

English A HL

Analysing skills can be learned. Your teacher would help you getting the hang of it and you'll naturally get it eventually. I can tell from post #1 that you are good at writing essays, so you wouldn't have to worry about it. Lit is useful for certain careers/majors in uni, but I can't tell if you'll need it as you yourself haven't figured out what exactly you want to study in uni. I think you should take English HL.

Psychology HL

meh... As I said earlier... but it is worth trying, may be very interesting to study. You should try Psych HL.

Geography HL

The last time I myself studied Physics was around two years ago.. but the IB course seems to be a prerequisite for what I want to study at uni though I do have friends who currently take it for IGCSE and complain about how boring and hard it is. I took it anyway and am doing quite okay (actually my report card tells that I'm doing really well, though I don't feel so) though I regret not taking Physics IGCSE. I forgot most of the stuffs I learnt 2 years ago, but it's okay, I can learn from square one.

So I guess you might be fine with Geog HL. Although I heard from my friends that Geog HL is really hard. Anyhow you should try Geog HL.

Chemistry HL

It would definitely be relevant to my future major but I had been told that since I don't desperately need it, I can just take it as a SL subject. I knew I would probably find it quite hard however I heard it was quite interesting and worth it? Additionally, I was scared that I might suddenly want to pursue a major that is Chemistry based like Chemical Engineering and that my SL Chemistry would not suffice for the more selective universities. Anyhow I tried Chem HL and struggled with it. So here I am now in Chem SL; I am happy and I finally decided I don't want to study Chemical Engineering. I know that Chem HL could still be useful for my future major but Chem SL will do and I can still learn them later at uni. So I suggest you to try Chem HL. It is worth taking, but I have to say that it's objectively hard; my teacher said the HL contents are too rigorous. My friends who are taking Chem HL never scored higher than a 6. You should try it anyway.

Learn from experiences, even though it's not your own experience. I think you should definitely take English HL. Btw History might have been interesting for you, but idk. I personally can't suggest the best 3 subjects to take as idk what to suggest. None of those seem like the best combination to me anyhow I highly recommend trying all 4 first. Then you'll see which one is the hardest or the least useful or least enjoyable and you'll know which to drop to SL.

[Guest Soiboist]

When you say Human Sciences and Biological Sciences for university the first subjects that come into my mind are Chemistry, Biology and Psychology. What about those? I mean if you're going to study something involving them for university you should definitely like them enough to take them for the IB.

[sapphireblue]

Have you talked to the IB Coordinator at your school? They should be the first person to talk to.

I don't know how many people you've asked and what they've told you but perhaps somebody has mentioned this before: take 4 HL subjects first and drop one to SL after a few weeks.

Most schools allow you to change subjects in the first (three) months (note: not sure how many months, depends on the school, really). Dropping from HL to SL is usually allowed anytime. Please ask your IBC if those can be done at your school so you know if you could go with the 4 months trial or not.

May I know what your SL subjects are? One must be Math. And the other one is what language?

Higher Psychology

*I definitely want to do this though because I currently take Psychology now and I really really enjoy it so I think it would be a good idea to take it?

LOL @ this.

I took Chem IGCSE too last year (even got A*) and I totally loved it. It was even my 2nd favourite subject (I think you can guess my first... but let's not talk about it). I loved Chemistry very very much. So I also thought the same way as you... I loved it, so I thought I should take Chem HL, and taking Chem SL would be a total waste. So that's what I did. It turned out that Chem HL was NOT a piece of cake. I still can't believe that the first few HL topics were so damn hard I couldn't understand. I hated Chemistry since then and dropped to Chem SL. haha. (note: I still don't like Chem, but not that much anymore)

I went through the same dilemma as you actually: deciding which HL subjects to take. I did talk to a lot of people and was recommended to take 4 HL first and then drop one after the first quarter. and I actually dropped Chem. I am now glad that I experienced the 4 HL subjects and that I knew how hard each of them actually is so that I could decide by myself which 3 HL subjects to take.

I think it would be highly advantageous for you to try all your 4 HL so you really know how each class is like. They might be harder than, easier than, or just as what you expected. Who knows? We can't tell you which you'll do well in, difficulty is very subjective. I would say all your HL subjects are hard because I myself am not good at those; but maybe you'll find them very easy and enjoyable...

Anyhow I'd still tell you...

English A HL

Analysing skills can be learned. Your teacher would help you getting the hang of it and you'll naturally get it eventually. I can tell from post #1 that you are good at writing essays, so you wouldn't have to worry about it. Lit is useful for certain careers/majors in uni, but I can't tell if you'll need it as you yourself haven't figured out what exactly you want to study in uni. I think you should take English HL.

Psychology HL

meh... As I said earlier... but it is worth trying, may be very interesting to study. You should try Psych HL.

Geography HL

The last time I myself studied Physics was around two years ago.. but the IB course seems to be a prerequisite for what I want to study at uni though I do have friends who currently take it for IGCSE and complain about how boring and hard it is. I took it anyway and am doing quite okay (actually my report card tells that I'm doing really well, though I don't feel so) though I regret not taking Physics IGCSE. I forgot most of the stuffs I learnt 2 years ago, but it's okay, I can learn from square one.

So I guess you might be fine with Geog HL. Although I heard from my friends that Geog HL is really hard. Anyhow you should try Geog HL.

Chemistry HL

It would definitely be relevant to my future major but I had been told that since I don't desperately need it, I can just take it as a SL subject. I knew I would probably find it quite hard however I heard it was quite interesting and worth it? Additionally, I was scared that I might suddenly want to pursue a major that is Chemistry based like Chemical Engineering and that my SL Chemistry would not suffice for the more selective universities. Anyhow I tried Chem HL and struggled with it. So here I am now in Chem SL; I am happy and I finally decided I don't want to study Chemical Engineering. I know that Chem HL could still be useful for my future major but Chem SL will do and I can still learn them later at uni. So I suggest you to try Chem HL. It is worth taking, but I have to say that it's objectively hard; my teacher said the HL contents are too rigorous. My friends who are taking Chem HL never scored higher than a 6. You should try it anyway.

Learn from experiences, even though it's not your own experience. I think you should definitely take English HL. Btw History might have been interesting for you, but idk. I personally can't suggest the best 3 subjects to take as idk what to suggest. None of those seem like the best combination to me anyhow I highly recommend trying all 4 first. Then you'll see which one is the hardest or the least useful or least enjoyable and you'll know which to drop to SL.

That's a really good idea! I will definitely try to talk to my IB coordinator about this next week, but I know for sure that I won't be able to study four subjects at HL

Yep I'm doing Maths SL and Chinese A Language and Literature. One of the books we have to study is around 400 pages long! So I'm pretty screwed for that.. hehe.

Thanks so much for your advice! Yeah I've constantly been told by my friends from the year above to stop worrying about the IOC's and stuff because they say you'll have two years prep beforehand so it won't be that bad! But I can't help feeling scared already You're so lucky to got to experiment with 4 HL's first! And you must be pretty psychic! I currently take History for GCSE right now and although I find it interesting, there are just too many dates and events to remember

Thanks again!

[sapphireblue]

When you say Human Sciences and Biological Sciences for university the first subjects that come into my mind are Chemistry, Biology and Psychology. What about those? I mean if you're going to study something involving them for university you should definitely like them enough to take them for the IB.

Haha that is very true! But the thing is I don't have my mind fixed particularly on those two courses, they were simply just ones that intrigued me whilst I was browsing through the course descriptions on various websites I guess I wouldn't mind doing Bio, Chem and Psych higher, it's just that I also really want to study Geography as well and there's a part of me that really wants to do HL English. Two higher sciences also seems pretty daunting to me, though what you said about studying it anyway since I'm going to continue on with them in university is very true. I would definitely do that if I had ultimately decided to pursue a career in the science field however my indecisiveness prevents me from reaching that conclusion. I guess I don't reaallly feel comfortable moving in a specific direction right now and I just want to keep my options open quite ironic really since if I did want to continue on with a Chemistry related subject in Uni, my chances of being accepted will probably be zilch without HL chem and/or bio.

Edited April 9, 2011 by sapphireblue

[S:)]

I think the combination of English,Psychology and Chemistry HL is the best. You can study on psychology in uni cos you have an interest in the subject. English is the most relevant subject with psychology, so even if you dun like it, it's better to take Enlish HL course. And I dont recommend to take Geo HL because it is very tough!!!

[dubyawhy]

Higher English

Higher Psychology

Higher Geography

^^ this. If you go to the states for uni, don't worry about courses not being "deemed challenging".