Pre-Requisites around the World... HELP!

[veikkr]

So I have started investigating Unis in the USA, UK, Canada, Europe, etc. I have to say, I'm very confused at the moment and I would like someone to clear it up for me.

At first I thought that only UK universities required specific iB courses depending on the course you want to enroll (i.e. you need physics HL and math HL to enter mechanical engineering, or you need bio HL and chem HL for medicine, etc.)

Unfortunately, my school offers few IB subjects, so I (being a person who is interested in a science-related career) had to choose History, English, Math, and Spanish HL (yep, 4 HLs, knowing that they will not care about Spanish since it is my first language)

Anyway, I'm not sure about my career yet, I'm just sure that it will be either an engineering or medicine. I now know that with these HLs it will be impossible to study in UK an engineering or medicine, but what about the US? Does a pre-med course in US requires chem HL or bio HL? Does an engineering course requires physics HL?

Thanks much in advance

[Emmi]

I can answer about the US.

In the US universities don't really have prerequisites for certain courses (pre-med, engineering, business, etc.) although it's very recommended that certain courses that would aid in preparing for university-level courses be taken. For example one interested in engineering would take physics and math, someone interested in medicine would take bio and chem, and so forth. But it's not required. The US cares more about the difficulty of your courses (seeing that you took the most rigorous that your school offered and did well in them) than your subject combination. In the US you can receive credit for HL courses (and sometimes SL courses) that will place you out of lower-level, introductory freshmen courses and either exempt you from taking it or let you take a higher class (for example instead of Bio 101 you could go to Bio 201 for a good score on the IB exam). Your HL combination isn't bad, although if you possibly want to do medicine wouldn't you want Bio HL instead of Spanish HL? In any circumstance, just do well in your IB courses and US universities shouldn't be a problem, whatever you decide to study.

Good luck with university

[veikkr]

I can answer about the US.

In the US universities don't really have prerequisites for certain courses (pre-med, engineering, business, etc.) although it's very recommended that certain courses that would aid in preparing for university-level courses be taken. For example one interested in engineering would take physics and math, someone interested in medicine would take bio and chem, and so forth. But it's not required. The US cares more about the difficulty of your courses (seeing that you took the most rigorous that your school offered and did well in them) than your subject combination. In the US you can receive credit for HL courses (and sometimes SL courses) that will place you out of lower-level, introductory freshmen courses and either exempt you from taking it or let you take a higher class (for example instead of Bio 101 you could go to Bio 201 for a good score on the IB exam). Your HL combination isn't bad, although if you possibly want to do medicine wouldn't you want Bio HL instead of Spanish HL? In any circumstance, just do well in your IB courses and US universities shouldn't be a problem, whatever you decide to study.

Good luck with university

Thanks for the response

There is no chem HL or bio HL in my school, that's a problem. Anyway, the thing that you said about them looking for students who took the most rigorous courses, what do you think about History HL? In the humanities group, my school offers only two courses: History HL and Business & Management HL. Which of these two do you think is better to take? I like them both btw

[Emmi]

History HL is much more respected in the US than business and management. I have yet to see a university that offers credit for business on its website, but every university I've researched gives credit for history. Ultimately it's up to you, but if you are looking for the most rigorous course possible then go with history definitely. I take it myself. It is demanding, but I think history is interesting so it isn't that bad.

[dessskris]

why don't you move school to one that offers those subjects? anyway I don't think you could enjoy taking subjects that you don't intend to study for in uni. it's not worth it. yeah AFAIK you can't apply to UK unis without those subjects, so you can't study there. why don't you change your mind and study History or Literature or Law? would've been more suitable with the subjects you're taking.

[veikkr]

why don't you move school to one that offers those subjects? anyway I don't think you could enjoy taking subjects that you don't intend to study for in uni. it's not worth it. yeah AFAIK you can't apply to UK unis without those subjects, so you can't study there. why don't you change your mind and study History or Literature or Law? would've been more suitable with the subjects you're taking.

Well, I'm a man of science.

Thanks for the response btw

[veikkr]

History HL is much more respected in the US than business and management. I have yet to see a university that offers credit for business on its website, but every university I've researched gives credit for history. Ultimately it's up to you, but if you are looking for the most rigorous course possible then go with history definitely. I take it myself. It is demanding, but I think history is interesting so it isn't that bad.

Well, I want to be clearer in something. I am neither looking for the most rigorous, nor the one that will give me a credit in Uni... I'm looking for the subject that will give me better chances to have successful applications. History seems to be the right choice, not Bus & Man,

Thanks for the reply btw