Andyboi Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 alright so last year as i had to go in for Ib forecasting (talking with the coordinator about what subjects i would choose) i was informed that to take economics you had to be in Math Sl or Hl, not math studies. Now at the time it didn't really bother me because i knew i would at least try math Sl. I just kinda found it odd that 1) 1 girl last year took physics and math studies at the same time and i'm pretty sure physics is a lot more demanding mathematics wise and 2) that when i looked up the economics outline on ibo.org i couldn't find anything on having to take Math SL to take economics. i wanted to talk to my coordinator about this because last year the head of the social sciences department was considering having psychology as subject choice and she gave us a lecture and a handout about psychology and on the requirements part it says: Math SL or Math HL. MY friend takes psychology and takes math studies as well. Any comments on these supposed requirements? I also talked to my Economics teacher about how much math we were going to use in economics and she said just basic formulas where you'll plug in information given. It just sounds unfair that THIS year they decide to change it :/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbangfan Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 Yes it is unfair. It is just all about your weird school's IB subject policy. The IBO lets you take whichever subject combination as long as you satisfy the six subject groups requirements. Good luck on this issue! Hope you can reach to an agreement! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpediem Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 I think it's more about the requirements for universities. Often, in particular UK universities, that the requirements to study economics is at least for you to have studied Maths SL, because that's what the course requires. For IB Economics HL, I know that Maths SL isn't needed (I heard the rumours about that too), but unfortunately you need it for uni.I don't think it matters for US or Canadian universities, as you can take maths courses to bring you up to speed. (But don't quote me on that.)What are you thinking of studying, and where? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyboi Posted October 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 I think it's more about the requirements for universities. Often, in particular UK universities, that the requirements to study economics is at least for you to have studied Maths SL, because that's what the course requires. For IB Economics HL, I know that Maths SL isn't needed (I heard the rumours about that too), but unfortunately you need it for uni.I don't think it matters for US or Canadian universities, as you can take maths courses to bring you up to speed. (But don't quote me on that.)What are you thinking of studying, and where?No i totally agree that for university if you want to study economics you need to either be in Math Hl or attain a near perfect score in Math SL. But i'm sure out of the 30 of us that take Economics, not all of us are going to major in Economics, and i'm sure my coordinator is well aware of that. I want to do something with International relations/Political Science, that sorta area. The only math that will realyl be needed is basic statistics if any. This requirement does nothing but unnecessarily make our IB lives harder than they really should be, especially for those who are not good in the math area and do not anticipate a need for maths in the future. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Filipino Limner Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 It depends on your school, really, but from what I know, it will help a lot if you're SL. My Econ friends generally just took SL for Math. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 IT SHOULD NOT be a problem. Speak to your IB coordinator again and try to persuad him/her to let you take ECO without Math SL.Though personally, I highly recommend you do SL math. It really isn't all that hard..... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopTheLops Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 yeah i take Economics HL and math studies, my friend did the same thing last year, he's studying in US right now, it just depends on which universities ur gonnna apply to, and i also plan on studying in the states 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Economist Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 Well, you certainly have to discuss it with your IB Coordinator or your teacher because the mathematics added to the new economics syllabus are part of my 9th grade math syllabus and I am the one teaching the newbies these stuff It really is nothing exceptional so you could certainly deal with it even if you had math studies. On the other hand, I am pretty sure that mathematics at standard level are far more prestigious than math studies so if I were you, I would choose SL maths, see if I can cope with the workload and accordingly either switch to studies or stay at the SL class. Anyways, good luck with it and make sure you have a serious talk with the coordinator! 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 I think it's because the new Economics course is mathematical, and I think it would be advantageous if you're in Maths SL because you'll need to understand some stuff about graphs and if you're good at Maths it'll be easier for you to understand the concepts.but, there you go. it's your school's policy! if I were you I'd just go with it unless I always got 0 in Maths and could not take Maths SL. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Economist Posted October 17, 2011 Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 I think it's because the new Economics course is mathematical, and I think it would be advantageous if you're in Maths SL because you'll need to understand some stuff about graphs and if you're good at Maths it'll be easier for you to understand the concepts. but, there you go. it's your school's policy! if I were you I'd just go with it unless I always got 0 in Maths and could not take Maths SL. Nah, Desy, it is not really mathematical. For Microeconomics they just give them the demand/supply functions and some x values I guess and they have to draw the demand/supply curves simply by plugging these values in the equations to find y and then locating the points on graph paper Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocas Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 To study Economics at university, having HL Maths is pretty much needed,but then I also suck at maths. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Internationalbaccawhat Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 I think it's because the new Economics course is mathematical, and I think it would be advantageous if you're in Maths SL because you'll need to understand some stuff about graphs and if you're good at Maths it'll be easier for you to understand the concepts. but, there you go. it's your school's policy! if I were you I'd just go with it unless I always got 0 in Maths and could not take Maths SL. Nah, Desy, it is not really mathematical. For Microeconomics they just give them the demand/supply functions and some x values I guess and they have to draw the demand/supply curves simply by plugging these values in the equations to find y and then locating the points on graph paper Theory of the firm requires a bit of basic qualitative calculus thinking, but that's about it. There are other small sections of the syllabus which requires very basic calculations e.g- elasticities, multiplier effect, D/S diagrams, Terms of trade and Harrod/Domar model, but studies level maths should cover that. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ro_1293x Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 alright so last year as i had to go in for Ib forecasting (talking with the coordinator about what subjects i would choose) i was informed that to take economics you had to be in Math Sl or Hl, not math studies. Now at the time it didn't really bother me because i knew i would at least try math Sl. I just kinda found it odd that 1) 1 girl last year took physics and math studies at the same time and i'm pretty sure physics is a lot more demanding mathematics wise and 2) that when i looked up the economics outline on ibo.org i couldn't find anything on having to take Math SL to take economics. i wanted to talk to my coordinator about this because last year the head of the social sciences department was considering having psychology as subject choice and she gave us a lecture and a handout about psychology and on the requirements part it says: Math SL or Math HL. MY friend takes psychology and takes math studies as well. Any comments on these supposed requirements? I also talked to my Economics teacher about how much math we were going to use in economics and she said just basic formulas where you'll plug in information given. It just sounds unfair that THIS year they decide to change it :/ Hey so I know alot of people have replied and I didn't read through all of them, but this might be helpful. IB doesn't actually require you to take any specific level of math, regardless of what other subjects you have chosen. Your particular school may discourage it, or even demand a specific choice of subjects but if you really feel like you want to take math studies then you should speak to them about why you are having trouble and make a request that they let you take what you are more comfortable with. However, the reason why they probably suggest you do Math SL is because if you plan on studying economics at a university as your major, than it is likely that you won't even get accepted without having passed Math SL, because when you study deeper economics you start to get into the all of the math and calculations that are the base of many economics theories. If you ever wanted to be an economist than you would be doing a LOT of complicated math and actually Math HL is reccommended for a student who would want to major in Economics in the future. So if you plan to take Economics HL, I would also suggest you try and cope up with the Math SL portion, that's what I am currently doing as well. And in general if you are unsure of what you want to study in the future but you are sure it is not something in the liberal arts/arts direction, if you can score at least a 5 in Math SL than you are much better off just taking it. Hope that could be of some help, let me know if you have any other questions Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ro_1293x Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Oh and for the record, I'm applying all over the US and I'm pretty familiar with the basic requirements you need to get in. Like I said, if you plan on going to any sort of field that really doesn't require math, then you are okay, but if you aren't and you plan on applying to prestigous universities (not just Ivys) then you have a better chance if you've proven that you can challenge yourself and do well. And if you need to take the SAT II's, then you can pretty easily take Math Level II (which looks really good) if you've done SL because it doesn't even cover calculus. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalid Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 Well for the IB Diploma Economics course, you really don't need SL to do the economics course. The mathematical elements are basic, but you must be at least decent in maths in order to solve them. Note that if you want to go to study Economics in university, Some universities ask for higher level, You NEED standard maths to study economics at university level. However, you should take standard level maths to begin with, and when you really tried and see it becomes to challenging then drop to studies Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut Butter Jelly Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 is it even possible to get a 0? Isn't the lowest a 1? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.