Choosing IB Subjects

[Rukitis]

Good evening,

I wanted to ask couple questions about IB subjects choise. I don't really know what I want to study further although at the moment the most believable for me seems studies of politics, maybe+economics and/or philosophy, or history.

But I've still kept in mind my previous thought about architecture. I think that I could do the visual arts pretty well (at least I used to do them well) and I have no problems with maths, so, if I choose IB subjects for further studies in architecture, HL Visual Arts (don't really know how the course is built up, it's just a guess) and Maths shouldn't cause any problems. But I'm not any good at experimental sciences (I understood this last year) but as I saw Physics are really useful and they should be taken in at least SL. Would that be decisive? What other subjects I could and should instead of taking physics? Aren't they replaceable?

Secondly, if I had chosen politics (plus, for example, philosophy and economics) would the following combination be good: HL History, HL Economics, HL Maths, SL English, SL Spanish ab initio and SL Biology?

Thank you for your time!

Best regards, Rukitis

Edited November 8, 2011 by Rukitis

[elmar]

I'm just going to organize your list by group so we can both see it more visually.

If you wanted to go the architecture route...

Group 1: English SL

Group 2: Spanish ab initio (SL)

Group 3: History HL or Economics HL

Group 4: Physics SL

Group 5: Math HL

Group 6: Visual Arts HL

Alright, that doesn't look too bad. I know students in my school who are taking the above courses, except they are taking the English HL course but plan to take the English SL examinations. If you're looking more towards architecture, I would definitely recommend the above schedule because you have your core subjects set at varying levels, but not that you're killing yourself (such as, taking Physics, Math, and Chem at HL).

Now, for political science? I'm planning on studying that subject in the future, so you can use my subjects as a reference. But you would be taking these courses, correct?

Group 1: English SL

Group 2: Spanish ab initio (SL)

Group 3: History HL

Group 4: Biology SL

Group 5: Math HL

Group 6: Economics HL

As you can see, you will have an easier course load if you take the second route over the first. Granted, you will still have Math HL, but if you seem interested in taking Math HL, it might be worth the work. Again, it comes down to what you want to study. My recommendation is to speak with teachers in the subjects you are interested in, ask your IB Coordinator, and even begin to look the standards of the universities you would like to study at.

I know many schools, especially those outside of the United States, require applicants to choose IB subjects that will allow them to build on their knowledge once they attend university. Knowing that architecture is a very structured subject, many colleges and universities require students who plan to study architecture take a certain course at a certain level and get a certain score.

My best advice? Go with the first schedule (the Visual Arts HL/Math HL/History HL). That way, you can learn the skills necessary to study architecture at the higher level, yet still allow some leg room to change into politics if need be. Good luck!

[dessskris]

I personally would suggest this:

Maths HL

English ALit HL

Economics HL

History HL

Physics SL

Language SL

take 4 HLs first for a few months, after you see what you like the most, decide on which subject you'd like to drop to SL.

taking Visual Arts I heard is not easy and I personally think that you can just learn&do Arts for your CAS, so you kill 2 birds with one stone.

at the end of the day it's your choice though. good luck!!

[Rukitis]

Thanks a lot.

I'll think about Physics at the SL, also considering English HL (so, 4 HLs) altough not so believable for me.

But in the case if I decide to study the PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), will it still be the best to take IB over A-levels where I can focus on only 3-5 subjects, in this case, Government&Politics, Economics, Philosophy and Maths? Which would prepare me better for this field of study?

Edited November 8, 2011 by Rukitis

[khalid]

You Should take Physics SL to keep your options open, because you might decide you want to go into architectural studies later. However, if your doing do maths HL I would suggest you do 4 HL's, and drop one later, since the course Maths HL is very challenging. Good luck!

[ShayHello]

Hello. I'm currently Pre-Diploma Programme (10th grade) & was curious how the IB subject selection works. How are we to pick the 3 HL courses and SL courses to take? Can we pick more than 3 HL courses if we know that we can pass the classes with good marks? Also, if someone could recommend courses that would be helpful/beneficial to take for me (I'm interested in going to medical school - hopefully UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD). Thank you!

[Emmi]

Hello. I'm currently Pre-Diploma Programme (10th grade) & was curious how the IB subject selection works. How are we to pick the 3 HL courses and SL courses to take? Can we pick more than 3 HL courses if we know that we can pass the classes with good marks? Also, if someone could recommend courses that would be helpful/beneficial to take for me (I'm interested in going to medical school - hopefully UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD). Thank you!

Usually you pick your 3 HL/3 SL based on your interests and what you're good at. However your school might not offer certain subjects or might only have a certain one at HL only or SL only, so you're limited to what your school offers. Since you're in the US you might end up with HL English and History, just because that's how a lot of schools in the US structure their IB programs. You can choose UP TO 4 HL so your combination would be 4 HL/2 SL. Anything else would have to be a certificate, but I don't know why you would want to take more than that because HL classes are HARD.

If you want to go to medical school it is very beneficial to have biology and chemistry. Take both of these at HL if possible, or SL if you can't do HL. Your schedule might look like this if you are interested in medicine:

Language A1 HL or SL

Foreign language HL or SL

Humanity (History, economics, psychology) HL or SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

Mathematics SL

You don't really need HL mathematics for medicine. SL is more than enough. If you really like math you can take it at HL, but keep in mind how many you already HLs you have. Math at HL is VERY HARD and you probably don't need it.

[ShayHello]

Hello. I'm currently Pre-Diploma Programme (10th grade) & was curious how the IB subject selection works. How are we to pick the 3 HL courses and SL courses to take? Can we pick more than 3 HL courses if we know that we can pass the classes with good marks? Also, if someone could recommend courses that would be helpful/beneficial to take for me (I'm interested in going to medical school - hopefully UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD). Thank you!

Usually you pick your 3 HL/3 SL based on your interests and what you're good at. However your school might not offer certain subjects or might only have a certain one at HL only or SL only, so you're limited to what your school offers. Since you're in the US you might end up with HL English and History, just because that's how a lot of schools in the US structure their IB programs. You can choose UP TO 4 HL so your combination would be 4 HL/2 SL. Anything else would have to be a certificate, but I don't know why you would want to take more than that because HL classes are HARD.

If you want to go to medical school it is very beneficial to have biology and chemistry. Take both of these at HL if possible, or SL if you can't do HL. Your schedule might look like this if you are interested in medicine:

Language A1 HL or SL

Foreign language HL or SL

Humanity (History, economics, psychology) HL or SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

Mathematics SL

You don't really need HL mathematics for medicine. SL is more than enough. If you really like math you can take it at HL, but keep in mind how many you already HLs you have. Math at HL is VERY HARD and you probably don't need it.

Thank you for this! It was extremely helpful, especially the example of what classes to take. Just a couple more questions if you would be able to answer them(=

- can you take more than 1 science course (you said i should take bio and chem...can i take them both during the two year period?)

- what is the difference between HL and SL classes, besides the difficulty level? (more work, less help, etc.)

& off topic, but what are some examples of what you can do for your CAS project? Is it just community service, or is it more rigorous than that?

Thanks again! & good luck with your IB classes!

[sarahlouise]

Hello. I'm currently Pre-Diploma Programme (10th grade) & was curious how the IB subject selection works. How are we to pick the 3 HL courses and SL courses to take? Can we pick more than 3 HL courses if we know that we can pass the classes with good marks? Also, if someone could recommend courses that would be helpful/beneficial to take for me (I'm interested in going to medical school - hopefully UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD). Thank you!

Usually you pick your 3 HL/3 SL based on your interests and what you're good at. However your school might not offer certain subjects or might only have a certain one at HL only or SL only, so you're limited to what your school offers. Since you're in the US you might end up with HL English and History, just because that's how a lot of schools in the US structure their IB programs. You can choose UP TO 4 HL so your combination would be 4 HL/2 SL. Anything else would have to be a certificate, but I don't know why you would want to take more than that because HL classes are HARD.

If you want to go to medical school it is very beneficial to have biology and chemistry. Take both of these at HL if possible, or SL if you can't do HL. Your schedule might look like this if you are interested in medicine:

Language A1 HL or SL

Foreign language HL or SL

Humanity (History, economics, psychology) HL or SL

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

Mathematics SL

You don't really need HL mathematics for medicine. SL is more than enough. If you really like math you can take it at HL, but keep in mind how many you already HLs you have. Math at HL is VERY HARD and you probably don't need it.

Thank you for this! It was extremely helpful, especially the example of what classes to take. Just a couple more questions if you would be able to answer them(=

- can you take more than 1 science course (you said i should take bio and chem...can i take them both during the two year period?)

- what is the difference between HL and SL classes, besides the difficulty level? (more work, less help, etc.)

& off topic, but what are some examples of what you can do for your CAS project? Is it just community service, or is it more rigorous than that?

Thanks again! & good luck with your IB classes!

- Yes, you can take two science courses. The second one takes the place of group 6, which is arts or music, or that sort of thing.

- The difference between HL and SL is different for different courses. For example, Biology HL means that you cover extra content in addition to the SL syllabus, and it tends to be more in-depth. However, in English HL the only difference from that and SL is that you write an extra World Literature essay. Mostly it's that there's more content to cover, except for in languages.