ITYPEINALLCAPS Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Currently I'm planning to do the ib diploma and the classes I signed up for next year(junior year) are, IB English HLIB Spanish HLIB Psych HLIB Bio HLPre-CalcIB History(20th Century World) SLHonors Chem/Honors Physics(both 1 semester) But what I have been thinking about is dropping Psych down to one year, taking out Honors chem and physics, and doing IB Chem HL. I want this because I want to go to college for something with animals and lots of what I read talks about chem classes and bio so I thought I would try and stay on track. So if I do this my schedule would be,IB English HLIB Spanish HLIB Bio HLIB Chem HLIB History SLPre-calcIB Psych SLSo what I'm wondering is, does this new schedule sound right? Is 2 HL sciences more difficult than another class pairing? Thanks for reading this far, and hopefully replying! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alefal Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hey there!First thing that pops up in my mind is that it might be somewhat much with four HL subjects and seven subjects in total, but that might be just me. If you think you can handle all the workload, then there shouldn't be anything wrong with this. Perhaps you could start with the HLs you have listed here, and drop down a level if you feel it is becoming too much? Keep in mind that the IB is structured in a way that you will normally not need more than six subjects, and the workload is already quite high with those six subjects (in particular during the last two semesters).If you end up wanting to remove a subject, I would suggest that you should remove either History or Psychology, as they will most likely not be that useful in the field of work you are looking into. And what level is the pre-calculus maths? I am only used to the math studies, standard level, further mathematics and higher level classifications. Regarding your future plans, it would make sense to actually check what subjects the universities require for the degrees you might end up in. Check the university degrees you might want to do and check their requirements. If one of these degrees do require a subject, let's say Biology HL, then I would make sure you do biology at higher level even though you might consider another degree more tempting at the moment. Since it does not seem to me that you know exactly what kind of degree you want to do yet, it is smart to keep the possibilities open in case you change your mind later. Make sure you check the requirements at multiple universities, as some universities may require a different subject choice. If they don't require a subject at a higher level (or at all), take note of that and consider this if you feel the need of lessen your workload by either removing a subject or reducing the level. As for whether it is more or less difficult, it all depends on you as a learner. Do you like studying the experimental sciences? Do you prefer them over social studies? Do you feel a greater enthusiasm for learning for instance chemistry than history? If yes to any of these, and I would say you would cope rather well with the subject choice, and perhaps remove one of the social study subjects in order to give you more time studying for the other subjects. If you would say the opposite is more true, then I would suggest that you re-evaluate your subject choices, and perhaps your university studies. That's all the tips and recommendations I can think of right now. Good luck! 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabelle07 Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 First of all, your schedule is REALLY extended! If you cope - all right, but it's somehow risky - 7subjects and 4 hls. (I guess you have no extracurriculars?) (And I'm wondering how it's possible the you don't have IB math and get an IB diploma. But I'm not really familiar with U.S. education)Second point. If you want to study something about biology - it's a very good idea to change psychology to chemistry. Chemistry will help you in college. 2 sciences are difficult, I've heard about doubled labs, but 2 social subjects are difficult too, because of doubled essays (I've heared about it too). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITYPEINALLCAPS Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Oh I wasn't clear enough, sorry! I forgot that different schools do it differently too. First off, for our school HL courses we take for 2 years and SL for 1 year. About math, I will take an IB math its just that junior year I will do non-ib precalc but senior year I would take SL math. Then relating to some of my choices, at my school to do the ib diploma you must do HL English and History at SL or HL. Also in the second option when I called it SL psych i was incorrect, our school does the first year of HL psych mixed with AP; To put that simply, it would be AP psych just in case that changes anything. Later on during Senior year I will do TOK(replacing one of my SL's from junior year), SL math(replacing pre-calc), and then SL businesses(replacing the other SL). Finally, I do participate in track and field during the spring but no other sports the rest of the year. I liked Alefal's advice on trying with 4 and dropping an HL to SL if its to difficult(Spanish would be the only one I can do that with), I'll look into that. Thanks for answering, I think I'm closer to being confident in my schedule! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 What everybody else said - the IB is designed to require your full effort for 6 subjects and 3 at HL, 3 at SL. Some people will take 4 subjects at HL or an extra subject although they're often 'soft' subjects that require less effort and also a lot of people go on to drop one or two. If you stick with 7 subjects and 4 at HL, be aware that it's actually a significant commitment. It's not quite like american courses where it just means it takes more time but you achieve it steadily, with the IB you can really end up coming unstuck towards exam time.Two sciences at HL is manageable for sure, if you put the work in. My advice really would be to start out with what you've got and have a back-up plan as to how to change them, or to just make it all equivalent to a normal IB diploma. For instance:IB English/Spanish HLIB Bio HLIB Chem HLIB Spanish/English SLIB History/Psychology SLPre-calc --> should be = IB Maths???Although, having just read your latest reply(!), if you split all your IB exams up and finish your SLs off within a year, the whole diploma should become a lot easier so perhaps you'll find that you don't have to drop any of them. Most of the challenge of the IB lies in the intensity of the course towards the end, and if your course actually becomes less intense with fewer subjects and fewer final exams moving into your second year, you can probably chill out a bit, actually. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomPeersoon Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 That seems like too much to handle :/ Personally I wouldn't be able to handle it...How would you have time for TOK or CAS, two of the core requirements to obtain an IB diploma?Don't worry about the two HL sciences but be careful with having 4 HL's and 7 subjects in total. Do you really need to do that much for the career you want to follow? Maybe it would be easier to take 3 HL's instead but guarantee you get an amazing grade. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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