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Should i switch IB subjects ?!


Georgia :)

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Ok so at the moment these are the current lessons i take:

Higher:

English

Business

Biology

Standard:

Italian

Geography

Maths

I just took my mocks exams for the end of year 12 and i utterly failed them. I really struggle with IB because im not the most academic person whatsoever. In the end i came out on average with 3's in my mocks for all of my subjects and that was with revision :( So im thinking of switching Biology with Geography, i know theres SO much to cover for biology and thought that maybe it would be easier to swap ? My essay skills arent exactly perfect either. Ive never done a language before so cant change italian and i cant do maths to save my life. Ive also decided that im going to stick IB till the end, theres no point changing over to A levels because i know ill get something better at the end and i would of wasted a year. Any ideas ?

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Welcome to IBS! Well ^^ I see you're a new member...

I don't take Biology, but yes, there is a lot to cover! I can't really help you much since Geography is not offered at my school, but I think you need to rethink your decision. Look carefully the outlines for Bio and Geo, and if you REALLY feel comfortable switching, I would recommend it. You may want to hear from someone that has actually taken the subject, but switching courses, (looking how far you are already in it) is not fun when you have to catch up.

As for your essay skills and other things, we can't do much to help. Take the initiative to practise and you will naturally be better. In the end it's all you. No one is perfect, and that is why practise makes improvement. Practise practise practise. You will see yourself improving. I know this advice makes you sound like you have no life, but after all, you and I have both decided to continue the IB...

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Yes, switch it out. I dont think your marks will change significantly, but the work load will be easier. Geography is a fun class and not much difference between sl and HL. I am taking geography HL. I myself dropped out of biology HL to take Physics HL because there was just so much stuff to remember, but from what i've heard biology SL is a cakewalk.

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[quote name=Georgia :)' timestamp='1311003172' post='124375]

Ok so at the moment these are the current lessons i take:

Higher:

English

Business

Biology

Standard:

Italian

Geography

Maths

I just took my mocks exams for the end of year 12 and i utterly failed them. I really struggle with IB because im not the most academic person whatsoever. In the end i came out on average with 3's in my mocks for all of my subjects and that was with revision :( So im thinking of switching Biology with Geography, i know theres SO much to cover for biology and thought that maybe it would be easier to swap ? My essay skills arent exactly perfect either. Ive never done a language before so cant change italian and i cant do maths to save my life. Ive also decided that im going to stick IB till the end, theres no point changing over to A levels because i know ill get something better at the end and i would of wasted a year. Any ideas ?

I've also heard that Biology SL is like child's play but I don't take biology.I do think you should switch,or at least just try out a Geo HL lesson and see what you think.

Is Maths Studies an option for you?If it is,think about universities.Where I'm from,maths studies isnt accepted by universities so if you do decide to take it,beware!

In any case,refer to Khanacademy.org because as an SL maths student myself,I don't know what I'd be without it.

Get help wherever possible,google everything (there are resources for I reckon every type of Internal assesment) and don't give up :)

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You need to make sure that the teacher who teacher Geography HL at your school is good enough because at my old school the teacher was terrible and the course terribly taught so the highest grade in the class was a 5.

But I do agree that Bio SL is much easier than Bio HL, or so I heard from my friends.

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Im currently taking maths stuides, theres no chance of me ever being able to even do maths at standard level! Im not entirely fussed about university (some people may hate me for saying that) but its recognised as being higher than A levels so would that help in the fact that ive done more than the average person ?

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[quote name=Georgia :)' timestamp='1311024964' post='124401]

Im currently taking maths stuides, theres no chance of me ever being able to even do maths at standard level! Im not entirely fussed about university (some people may hate me for saying that) but its recognised as being higher than A levels so would that help in the fact that ive done more than the average person ?

Mhm. I see, if you want to have more chances, you can go up to Maths SL, with a lot of effort, you can get a good grade. (;

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could you drop to maths studies it is a lot easier and therefore easier to get a higher mark, i do Biology SL and its still a lot of memorising however no where near as much as HL, HOWEVER- biology is a guarenteed 7 if you memorise everything, Geography you could still learn everything, but if your essays are not good you could get a lower band...

Good luck

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I think you also need to consider where abouts in the course the Geo class is. I take geography SL because I didn't have enough HLs to do all them :P If the course is anything like at my school going in at the start of IB2 won't be too bad as they didn't start the HL part of the curriculum until term 2 - which meant I had free periods yay!! But from what I know there isn't much difference regarding difficultly for Geo HL, it's a case of more breadth rather than depth! Which is certainly not the same for sciences/maths, they get significantly harder at HL as well! The best people to talk to would be your teachers and your co-ordinator :)If you know your case studies - the essay structure itself doesn't matter overly much, as long as you can write!

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