MichaelOD27 Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Hi,I'm a Canadian student in Grade 10 who's going to be entering the IB program next year. Right now my choices are:HL EconomicsHL Computer ScienceHL MathSL HistorySL EnglishSL Spanish Ab InitioI'm pretty nervous about taking HL Math for the next two years. I have always been a relatively good math student, and I do have a passion for stats. However, I keep on hearing people say how much work that HL Math is. The main problem is that most Canadian schools are fine with me taking SL Math (for commerce, the program I want to go into) as long as I finish my calculus credit during the summer after Grade 12 (as SL Math does not complete the Ontario Calculus credit required for most commerce programs, while HL does). So, my main dilemma is whether I should take HL Math and put in more effort and likely get a lower mark but not have to spend the extra 20 or so hours after Grade 12 finishing the credit and have a potentially better looking university resume due to a more challenging high school schedule or take SL Math and score better with less effort but having to do the extra work at the end of the year. My advisor says I am borderline in ability as to which Math course I should take and it would not be a stretch for me to take HL History instead of SL if I were to switch my Math course. Any advice from anyone who has/had a similar problem would be greatly appreciated.Also, I have been looking around on this site and others, and I have not found too much information on Computers HL. If anyone has/is taking it, how hard is it relative to your other courses?Finally, are IB marks graded with percentiles? For example, in HL Math apparently getting a 75 or so on an exam nets you a 7. But what if that year, only one percent of kids got a 75? Would they lower the bar for the required exam marks in order to get a 7? Or is is stagnant year to year? This especially applies to my HL Math becuase if I am in the bottom half of my class, is it impossible for me to score above a certain threshold, say a 6, as potentially only the top third of the class is allowed to score a 6 or above?Thanks for reading this and especially for your responses! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlwiththeBlueBox Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 I can't help you with the Computers part of your question, but I can help you out with grade boundaries. Grade boundaries vary from year to year. If the test is really hard and very few people score high, that means it will be easier to get a better score. However, if the test is easy and everyone scores well, then the average score will be lower overall. For example, if one person gets a 75 and that was the highest mark, then the range for a 7 could be 60-100 instead of 75-100. On the other hand, if 10 000 people get a 75 then the marks boundaries will probably be higher, like an 80-100. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nid811 Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Why don't you start out by taking HL Maths, and drop down to SL if you find it difficult. That's what girls in my school did, we had 5 people drop from the HL class to the SL class for Maths.I personally would recommend that you take SL Maths and then do the extra credit course. The amount of work and stress caused by HL Maths isn't worth it if your capability is borderline. You'll get a much better mark in SL! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 The grade boundaries change year to year, depending on how well students do on the final IB exams. It doesn't matter if you're in the bottom half of your class, you might be good enough for a 7 compared to others in the world, but if you're in the bottom half of your class it could mean that you might not do very well unless your class is full of super-geniuses who can all get 7's. The boundaries are determined by the whole world's grades, and doesn't change from class to class.Why not take Math HL first and drop later if you find it too hard, and take up History HL after dropping? Or you can take both at HL to have 4 HLs and drop one of them later on. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomPeersoon Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 The extra course might be best since you'll have less stress with exams and are likely to get a higher score.Good luck 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.