Class change and college dilemma? help guys?

[Isabel Tang]

hi guys,

so ive been taking Chinese Lit SL for nearly one whole year already, im getting 4/5s for my reports and im feeling really stressed about it since im trying to aim for higher total grades for my report. im considering about changing classes to Mandarin B SL which im pretty sure i'll be getting 7s for my reports, but what im most concerned about is would it actually affect my college application??

the school further education counselor told us how there was this one student who was capable of taking Chinese A but ended up taking Mandarin B just to earn higher grades to get into better schools but backfired and was rejected by a few colleges. im not sure if they were telling the truth or were they just trying to prevent people from taking easy courses.

i really wanna get into a good school, but if changing classes might get me rejected then i might as well just stick to the class im taking right now.

do you guys have any opinions on this?? would help out a lot!!

[Gonzalo]

I am surprised nobody has replied to this.

Frankly, I believe that dropping a level should not be a problem DEPENDING on where you decide to apply. If you apply to China for example they might find it unusual that you opted for an easier course (judging that you're fluent).

[Tony Stark]

Why not Lang&Lit? It'd be a compromise between the two, and provided you have another Language at Lang&Lit or Lit level you shouldn't be disadvantaged, though it depends on the particulars of each university's admissions system.

[jmw]

If it is an SL subject then most universities will not really care. Besides, almost every IB student does a language B, so I cannot see how that would be a disadvantage.

Also, assuming that you are not going to study at a Chinese university or will be using Chinese in your Uni course, then I see no need to do it at a harder level.

As long as you HLs are decent subjects and are relevant to the subjects you will to study at University, your second language would be irrelevant to most Universities. Besides, all the US colleges think that just doing the IB Diploma is an EC, so don't worry about your second language.

[ro_1293x]

hi guys,

so ive been taking Chinese Lit SL for nearly one whole year already, im getting 4/5s for my reports and im feeling really stressed about it since im trying to aim for higher total grades for my report. im considering about changing classes to Mandarin B SL which im pretty sure i'll be getting 7s for my reports, but what im most concerned about is would it actually affect my college application??

the school further education counselor told us how there was this one student who was capable of taking Chinese A but ended up taking Mandarin B just to earn higher grades to get into better schools but backfired and was rejected by a few colleges. im not sure if they were telling the truth or were they just trying to prevent people from taking easy courses.

i really wanna get into a good school, but if changing classes might get me rejected then i might as well just stick to the class im taking right now.

do you guys have any opinions on this?? would help out a lot!!

Like was mentioned, most schools really don't care about your SLs apart from the fact that you are expected to have some language, some english (if studying at an english-speaking uni) and some math etc. I've applied to a range of places and based on what I am applying for I have rarely seen anyone ask about my SLs apart from math because I have to ace it since its SL -- see that's where I should've taken HL math instead but I thought I'd fail so I didn't. But honestly a lot of schools are looking more at the total and then your HLs or relevant subjects to your course which is only IF they require some prerequisites or want some proof that you can handle their program (though IB should attest to our ability to handle anything!). So if you are really unsure try getting in touch with some of your top choice uni's because they can be reallyyy helpful. Try not to make it sound like you are dropping a subject, make it sound like you were already in B and if it would've have been better if you weren't. My friend actually went from French B SL to HL in the starting of our DP2 year just because her college admissions required it if she wanted to study french and she's been going crazy, but in that case she needed it. I take ab initio and no one cares hehe.