Jump to content

What is the difference between HL, SL, Studies? Which to take?


Guest El_Nano

Recommended Posts

I am ending Math SL. I though I was good at math but these practice tests are proving me wrong...

save yourself and take math studies.

I used to be a 7 in math until Semester 2 where i completely spaced out, now I'm doing math review tests from now to the 3rd :\

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Will schools really not accept you for certain things if you don't do HL math?

What if a student never went to an IB school at all??!

I can understand why math studies is not accepted, because at least compared to the Ontario curriculum, it looks like grade 9 and 10 math to me. But math SL covers quite a bit more than grade 12 math.

My school doesn't even offer HL math, we don't have enough students to offer so many options. Everything is basically set in stone for us. :(

Edited by SmilingAtLife:)
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I don't plan on taking and math or science programs in college, but I think I have above average math skills. Right now, I am taking AP Calculus and am on track to take IB Math SL. I am certain that I'd do significantly better in Math SL than in Math Studies but I know that some international universities don't accept Math Studies regardless of what major you choose. Is it better to take Math SL or Math Studies just to keep my options open?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Math SL is the safest way to go if you're not sure what you want to do. It's usually accepted for non-math/science programs so you won't run the risk of not being accepted because of math. If you want to study something math-related in business you may need math HL, just warning you.

But studies will require less effort and you can concentrate more on other subjects. But if your math ability is above average as you say, math SL shouldn't be too hard. I say go with math SL.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks! And I meant that I think I'd do better in Math Studies than in Math SL. :P My school has been doing IB for some time but it was only until last year that they offered something under than Math Studies. Looking back, it seems incredibly strange why that happened.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I started with Standard level but I really disliked my teacher and didn't learn anything which lead me to dropping into Studies around 2 months after starting. Studies now is amazingly patronising, my teacher literally treats us like we're primary school children and does not answer questions directly (example: girl asks if question is worth 2 or 3 marks, teacher replies not to worry about marks and do the best she can.) As I'm not doing a math-related course at Uni I'm pretty much alright and looking forward to a 6+. I am however going to recommend any who may even consider doing any type of math-related degree to steer clear of Studies as I went through a period of wanting to do Architecture which required Standard and I really wished I didn't drop. I've come to terms with that now though and I'm liking what my course has to offer.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Math HL, comapred to SL is a lot harder. We take more lessons, and have less time to learn it in class. This is quite different from Math Studies. Math Studies have special periods or lessons even reserved for learning to use a graphing calculator. So, yea. I hope it give you a general image of it.

If you're confident and good in Math---> TAKE HL!

If you're not that confident and good in Math---> TAKE SL!

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello everyone! I hope that you can help me. At the moment I am tossing up whether to drop to maths studies. This is because at the moment I have 3 courses I believe will find difficult in the future (Physics, English and Maths). I am unsure what I want to do in uni. I am considering marketing/advertising or maybe a commerce degree at UNSW. I've tried to find the pre-requisits but was unsucessful. Would it be worth dropping? I'm not the brightest student at maths. Would it be better for university if I got say a 7 in Maths Studies or a 5 in Maths Standard? Thanks!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Supposedly Math Studies SL is the easiest of the four IB offers, which is probably true. However, for me, I found Math Studies to be difficult thus ensuing in my getting a 3 on the exam. I know it's reaaaally low, I admit that, but I couldn't see myself getting higher than a 4 if I really tried and studied. Financial math is hard!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I do HL English and SL maths too. I've only been doing IB since September, but so far I have to say that the maths is not very hard and its more about having the time to go over my notes than it involving mind boggling concepts. As for HL English, it's not too bad. I'm not the greatest at English but as long as you read and reread the novels, plays or poems you should be fine. Make sure you keep practicing your essay writing skills and keep going over the notes. Finally, for physics SL I can't really judge myself as I don't take the subject but I'm guessing that it shouldn't be too hard seeing as it's only SL. Also, from what I've heard, HL business management is quite easy to get a good grade in, and Ab initio Italian shouldn't be causing you any problems as it's from the very basics.

I hope this helped.

Edited by brofessional
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I've started Maths HL and am not finding it impossible... yet. But I've had to spend 60-80% of all my time outside of school studying/revising/working through the stacks of work that our teacher enthusiastically gives us. So I'm managing to keep on top of the concepts learnt thus far, but only with quite a bit of work. I've spoken to pretty much everyone at our school who's left doing HL maths (unsurprisingly, about 80% of students drop to SL or even Studies out of the initial group from what I've heard) and they say it's achievable, but only with lots of work. Apparently, we are "shielded from the truth" of HL maths to begin with.

SL maths seems quite challenging in terms of content, but I've been told the exam questions aren't as hard as in the HL papers. Also, there are less lessons to cover SL - at our school, we do an extra 50% worth of unscheduled lessons outside of our allotted 200 minutes a week, because we "need more time", but that might be different. Maths Studies sounds quite easy - some people have said that they routinely sleep in class and still get 7's, but that might just be them.

In Australia, I've been told by careers advisors and our teachers that doing HL/SL/Studies makes no difference in terms of what courses you can get into, only that you may have to do bridging courses to catch up on "assumed knowledge". But then again, I do think that doing a higher level of maths signals that you are willing to challenge yourself. It's much harsher overseas, I think.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • kw0573 locked this topic
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...