IB Science Decision Help?

[TF@bsz]

So, at this time of the year, people at my school are contemplating switching classes, etc. for their junior and senior year. So, I thought I was all set: doing IB Diploma, with Math HL, Biology HL, English HL, Spanish HL, History SL, and Latin SL.

Then I was presented with a possibility. You see, the people at my school have already made schedules according to every student's initial choice. So, you can only switch classes if it doesn't interfere with another class on your schedule. My friend wanted to take IB Latin instead of IB Art, but they wouldn't let her because IB Latin is at the same time as the IB Physics class she is in.

So then, after one of my friends mentioned it, I started thinking, what if I can take two sciences?? I'm sure that at other schools, this is done frequently, but at my school it has NEVER been done before. So, if I switched to Physics HL, my schedule would look like this: Math HL, Biology HL, Physics HL, English HL, Spanish SL, and History SL.

SO, now my question: Am I underestimating the difficulty of IB Sciences? I feel like I think that it will just be a breeze but when it comes to it, I may...die. That's what some of my friends are telling me: they all think I'm crazy. Anyone who has done IB, what are your thoughts on the difficulty of IB Sciences? Do you think taking two HL sciences and Math HL would be humanely possible at IB level?

[Guest some guy]

Of course it is possible.

It just depends on how much effort you want to put in and whether or not you could manage your time effectively.

The way I see it HL just means more work.

But do you really think you need to take 4 HL subjects? I think 3 is enough.

[Emmi]

Yes it is possible. But it will be very very difficult.

Now, you might be a science prodigy, I don't know. But some of the classes you've selected are very difficult. HL math and physics are the two toughest courses in the IB. The exams are HARD. That being said, many people have taken these classes before and passed them and earned high marks. It just requires a lot of time on your part to study, do your homework, and make sure you understand as much as you can of the material. Biology HL is also very content-heavy and you will be doing a TON of memorizing facts (from what the HL bio kids at my school said). HL English isn't as bad, but will also require a lot of work and lots of books to read. History SL also has a lot of content, but not as much as HL biology or if it was a HL class.

Consider what your plans are for college/university. If you want to go into a sciences/mathematics/engineering route, then I'd keep these subjects (maybe dropping one of your HLs because having four is hard work). But if you weren't considering a career in any of those fields, I would drop them to standard level. HL math isn't necessary for anything outside of engineering, computer science, economics, or other math-heavy fields. You can still take HL math if you really like math, but like I said if you don't need it and you're finding it hard I'd drop it to SL, which is a lot more manageable.

I know it's easy to say "these classes will be easy!" but those introductory-level classes you took in ninth or tenth grade are nothing compared to the IB-level courses. You can still do well, as long as you work hard. Good luck

[Summer Glau]

Agreed with some guy. 4 HLs isn't going to help you get into uni or make you look impressive. It's just more work for not much gain.

Someone at my school also did math, biology, and physics HL. It's a strange combination IMO but this person seemed to find it OK in terms of diificulty.

I did two HL sciences (bio and chem) and it's definitely not a breeze But it's not suicide either. It takes effort to do well in them but it is possible for sure. If you study by the syllabus (especially for bio) and don't waste time learning a lot of extra stuff (except maybe for better comprehension of the stuff on the syllabus) you will be good to go. Bio doesn't have a lot of hard concepts, it's just that there is a lot to remember which makes it hard.

Not too sure about IB physics, but when I did physics in regular school I did so many practice problems that I almost went insane...but it helped so so much.

[TF@bsz]

Well, I read somewhere that most colleges only accept credit for IB HL courses, and not the diploma. Is this true? So I want to take as many IB HL classes as possible while still taking the diploma.

Also, I want to take IB HL Math because my math teacher told me IB SL math would be fairly easy for me, and so I want to be challenged. And for IB HL Biology and Physics, I know that it is going to be a lot of work. But I am fairly determined to stay organized and do well. I know this is going to be challenging and a definite difference from the science classes in 9th and 10th grade, but I hope that my eagerness to learn and organization will help me meet the challenge (yes, I am fully aware of how cheesy this sounds...).

If I am determined enough, would you say that this is possible while still getting high marks?

[Sandwich]

If I am determined enough, would you say that this is possible while still getting high marks?

I'm not sure it's a question of determination so much as masochism. In my opinion, the normal diploma is very time-consuming and tiring and just memorising all the stuff for those exams simultaneously at the end is sufficient for burn-out for most people who're doing any of the harder HLs. I think it might be possible to do additional HLs (your original 4) because languages are easy if you're good at them and so they're not going to take up too much extra time at HL versus SL except for more lessons every week. However doing additional HLs which are heavy in content (Maths, Biology, Physics) I would personally advise against.

Nobody ever truly believes that it's going to grind them down into a cynical and exhausted heap at the beginning If I'd known, I would never have done the IB at all, haha. However, in my "oh it's okay, I'm bright, I can cope" arrogance, I went for it and chose to disbelieve other people as being somehow just less equipped than I was. So I ignored dire warnings as not applying to myself because I had perfect grades from before - and I figured hey if I can ace 11 subjects now, I'm sure I can cope fine with 6. But you know, I did a normal diploma and by mid-way through IB2, wished I'd elected to do anything BUT the IB. Thing is, I know that no matter how bad the stories were I'd been told beforehand, I'd probably never have believed them.

So, perhaps you should just find out for yourself because at the end of the day, for many of us then it's only our own experiences that count. I can tell you that it's going to totally knacker you and make you very miserable and down all the time trying to take on too large a workload, but if you're anything like I was, you won't quite be able to comprehend this as applying to yourself. Which is fair enough. IB1 will probably be okay because it's the much easier year - by IB2... well, who knows what you'll think!

As somebody who's done the IB, I would personally just take 3HLs and 3SLs and unless you're truly exceptional at Maths, not do HL Maths. But I doubt you'd pay attention to that I wouldn't have. So start out with all those things if you want, and leave yourself options to drop out and down into SL is my advice. Then you can decide in a few years whether you agree with me or not!

[Emmi]

Well, I read somewhere that most colleges only accept credit for IB HL courses, and not the diploma. Is this true? So I want to take as many IB HL classes as possible while still taking the diploma.

Partially true, but why would you want to cause a lot of stress and additional headaches to yourself? Plus, most universities only allow a certain number of credits to be brought with you, so just because you take 4 HLs and 7 AP classes doesn't necessarily mean you can get all that credit. Some colleges don't even award credit for certain subjects, even if it is a HL class! Think about your career motivations first.

[Vincent Casey F]

Nobody ever truly believes that it's going to grind them down into a cynical and exhausted heap at the beginning If I'd known, I would never have done the IB at all, haha.

So true!

I strongly advice against your choices. I graduated in a class of 90 and did not meet a single person who would consider your choices even possible. Biology HL has too much material to cover. It has pages and pages of long terms to memorize and diagrams to draw and label. Math HL and Physics HL on the other hand are two of the most fearsome courses in the IB. Lots and lots of work with extremely hard exams. All of these plus History SL?? No. History has a lot of memorizations too. You're just multiplying your work by a factor of 5. I thought I was a pretty bright and determined kid too when I started. I took Math HL and Chemistry HL and honestly in January 2011 I broke down. I had to drop these two and raise two other courses. They are HARD. They are probably different than anything you've ever studied.

Of course you can do it, but you'll be practically wasting 2 years of your life for ONLY 6-10 credits in college. They won't let you skip a year if you have Bio HL for example. Every HL course counts for 6-10 credits in college (10 is veeery rare. It's mostly 6-8). We had a kid in our graduating class who had no social life whatsoever and was believed to be the smartest kid on the planet. She still struggled to get a 6,6,5 in Chem HL, Bio HL, Math HL. I mean she studied for 3-4 hours on a daily basis. She would stay home during weekends and study during the year and would study for 150-200 hours for each course for finals. I feel like it's a waste of your youth when you should be having fun too.

And then comes the other aspects of these courses. IB labs aren't easy to write up. I aced almost all my Chemistry labs and they each took me 4-6 hours. Doing this for 3 courses can be extremely over whelming specially when you take into account all the writing you need to do for Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and your English essays. By choosing these courses, you're tripling the amount of good quality writing you need to do.

Your school plays a big role here too. I don't know your school but to be honest IB science is something that's hard to teach at some points. Check your school's results in science HL in the past couple of years. In my opinion, a good teacher can make a bad student perform well and a bad teacher can make a good student perform poorly. It highly depends on your teachers too. I won't even consider doing those courses if I wasn't enrolled in Sevenoaks!

After all it's your call. If you're a true genius, you're amazing with math, you were born a mad scientist, and writing 3000 words every 2 weeks isn't a problem for you, then totally go for it. But keep in mind that a very very few people in the whole world can perform extremely well doing those courses at the same time. Also keep in mind that although you COULD possibly do good, what the costs of doing good would be? Are you willing to sacrifice your social life and physical health? I'm really not exaggerating! 25-40 hours of studying and writing per week it's really not healthy.

It;s up to you cause after all you know yourself better than anybody else but I say it's highly likely that you'd regret it 4 months into the IB program.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Vincent Casey F

[ChocolateDrop]

I would suggest taking HL Chemistry in the place of HL Biology simply because you might find it easier due to the overlapping content. Or if you're more of a memorisation/ data interpretation person Biology and Psycology HL might be a better option. I've heard some universities consider Psycology a science, however if you want to study engineering it's not considered a science. Biology and Physics are polar opposites and the only link between them is Chemistry and some medical physics. If you wish to study engineering Physics and Chemistry HL will open more doors. There is engineering with Physics and Biology called Biomedical engineering (B.E.) but even then the advised route would be getting a bachelors degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering (M.E or E.E) then later specialising and getting a masters or Ph.D. in B.E. In which case Chem HL would be better when studying ME and EE. Switch English HL to SL, as it's notoriously harder to get a 7 in HL whereas in SL it's more do-able and wouldn't take away too much time from Maths HL and your other subjects. History is a lot of dedication/ essays if you want a high grade e,ven at SL and this might take away time needed for Maths HL and whatever sciences you'll take. 4 HLs is good when starting off with Math HL (it's advisable in my school) because if Maths HL gets too much, there's no shame in dropping the level.

Considering you're applying in America (presumably) having good extracurriculars could potentially be benefitial when applying to the top universities. I would try considering making your life less hectic and concerntrating less on the number of IB subjects and more on the quality of your application i.e presenting yourself as more attractive with awesome extacurriculars.

My advice would be: Start out with 4 HLs, see how it goes but do not be afraid to drop one if it all gets too much. You have other aspects to focus on like CAS/ extracurriculars.

[yomanyomo]

HL Biology and Physics??

That is kind of strange. Biology and Physics is the total opposite. Biology = almost pure memorization, Physics = almost all maths.

Its either Biology and Chemistry, or Physics and Chemistry. I would say...instead of physics do chemistry. Now, i might be sligthly biased cuz I love chemistry.

But I think that it would look better on your transcript.

And taking Chemistry, Biology and Maths HL (drop English if its uneccessary), you can do Medicine, since its the perfet combination for medical studies.

[Guest HayashiEsme]

Interesting: my school doesn't allow us to take up HL Maths and English together in one combination. On top of that, Physics and Biology huh? I was considering that at one point too.

Practically everyone in my school takes 2 HL Sciences (we have 6 HL Classes for 2013) and it's basically second nature to most of us because the local system (which you had to clock in 6 years in before switching to International school) was so rigorous in the Sciences. Guess what I'm trying to say is that if it's something that's almost second nature to you - then go for it! The key to 7s in the subjects you've chosen (minus HL English) is loads of practise and past year papers anyway. As long as you're willing to do that, you'll be fine!