Help on tough choice

[veikkr]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

In one of the areas of my school's IB program, I have to decide whether to study Business & Management HL, or History HL. I find both topics incredibly interesting, it's a shame I have to choose one.

Anyways, it would be very helpful the opinion of students who have been accepted already to a college (or who are in the process, or really anyone involved in these courses) to answer my question: which of this two topics do colleges like more in a student's curriculum?

Btw, I am still not sure about my profession, perhaps engineering (but haven't ruled out medicine lol), I certainly know that my profession will not involve deep history (despite the fact that I really like it)

One more thing, I am mexican, looking forward for studying in US or Europe

Thanks a lot in advance

Edited July 22, 2011 by veikkr

[Access Denied]

I do history HL but not business sorry but i can say for history that you learn about the 20th century in route 2

its very essay based almost entirely

and a lot of memorisation

but if it interests you go for it

[Arrowhead]

The following list of subjects that are 'non-preferred.' The list is regularly reviewed by admissions tutors:

Accounting

Art and Design

Business Studies

Communication Studies

Design and Technology

Drama/Theatre Studies*

Home Economics

Information and Communication Technology

Law

Media Studies

Music Technology

Sports Studies

Travel and Tourism

An A level (or equivalent) in your first/ native language may not be counted.

While the above is only for LSE, I imagine most UK Unis are of a similar mindset. When I was in school, we had a number of Universities from the US come and visit us and tell us about their Unis. One memorable meeting for me was with UPenn and the representative very clearly said that "if a school offers a choice between a Business course and Economics, we would prefer that the student take Economics."

That being said, it is still very probable that it won't make a lick of a difference for you if you're planning to go into Medicine or Engineering. In the UK, they would only look at your HL subjects which are expected to be Sciences, they don't really consider your SLs as all that important. That being said, if they are comparing you to another student with the exact same predicted grades and similar qualifications as you and they have to make a choice, they might give the other student the spot if he had taken Economics or History, while you took Business, or he had taken Maths SL while you took Studies for example. But that is just mere speculation.

Personally, for your case and your idea for a future profession in the Sciences, I don't think it will make any difference if you take Business or History. Fair warning, compared to Business, History is much more demanding a class with a lot more work on your part involved. Whichever way you decide, you should keep that in mind.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Arrowhead

[veikkr]

the following list of subjects that are 'non-preferred.' The list is regularly reviewed by admissions tutors:

Accounting

Art and Design

Business Studies

Communication Studies

Design and Technology

Drama/Theatre Studies*

Home Economics

Information and Communication Technology

Law

Media Studies

Music Technology

Sports Studies

Travel and Tourism

An A level (or equivalent) in your first/ native language may not be counted.

While the above is only for LSE, I imagine most UK Unis are of a similar mindset. When I was in school, we had a number of Universities from the US come and visit us and tell us about their Unis. One memorable meeting for me was with UPenn and the representative very clearly said that "if a school offers a choice between a Business course and Economics, we would prefer that the student take Economics."

That being said, it is still very probably that it won't make a lick of a difference for you if you're planning to go into Medicine or Engineering. In the UK, they would only look at your HL subjects which are expected to be Sciences, they don't really consider your SLs as all that important. That being said, if they are comparing you to another student with the exact same predicted grades and similar qualifications as you and they have to make a choice, they might give the other student the spot if he had taken Economics or History, while you took Business, or he had taken Maths SL while you took Studies for example. But that is just mere speculation.

Personally, for your case and your idea for a future profession in the Sciences, I don't think it will make any difference if you take Business or History. Fair warning, compared to Business, History is much more demanding a class with a lot more work on your part involved. Whichever way you decide, you should keep that in mind.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

Thank you for your detailed response, I appreciate it.

Lets say that I'm planning to go into Engineering and then take an MBA, would you say that Business would be the right way to go? Or still would you recommend History to have stronger applications?

[Daedalus]

Business is apparently a bs course. Also, most programs don't offer it, so any university course will lay the groundwork regardless.

History is much more challenging and useful in every field of life, including living. I wish I'd taken it!

[Arrowhead]

Thank you for your detailed response, I appreciate it.

Lets say that I'm planning to go into Engineering and then take an MBA, would you say that Business would be the right way to go? Or still would you recommend History to have stronger applications?

You're talking way into the future. After an Engineering degree if you went in for an MBA, most Unis wouldn't look twice at your IB grades. They would see how you did overall at Uni at Undergrad level, did you pass with Distinction, Honours, what? And especially for an MBA, they would, of course, look at your GMAT scores. Taking a Business class in anticipation of it being helpful for an eventual MBA at Graduate level is, well, no offence, its a bit silly. IB is important, but what you do at IB isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

If it helps at all, my roommate from boarding is studying Business at King's right now, even for him, the Economics course is what made the most difference, mostly everyone who gets in has taken Economics. If you are hoping to prep for an MBA, it would still be Economics that would be more helpful for you in the long run, assuming it matters at all.

What the OP said about Business being a bs course I agree with. Most good schools tell their students that before they take it and most good Unis make it clear what their position on that course is as well. Its still a very interesting course, but never as useful, challenging, or respected as other Social Studies courses that you have at your disposal.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Arrowhead

[dessskris]

does your school offer economics? if so I suggest you to take it! its IAs are the easiest among group 3. business and history have damn big and complicated IAs so econ is easier in a sense...

and if the course you want to study is related to math, I suggest taking econ or business because they involve some calculations and math... whereas history doesn't at all I don't think except for remembering the years in which some event took place.

when choosing your subjects, there are several factors to consider; not only whether you like the subjects or not but also its relevance/importance in the major you want to take in uni. I mean, if it's not going to be helpful, why take it, knowing that there are other subjects that can be more helpful? it's up to you though.