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My IB Subject Selection

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Harrigon

Harrigon

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Be wary about physics HL, many people say it is ridiculously tough! Saying that, im someone like you that thinks science is a heap of fun and pretty damn good at it, so you should definately go well! I take HL economics and it is a bit of a joke with the formulas after taking maths and physics :P

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Guest Lognarithm

Guest Lognarithm

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I'd say personally that Chem HL isn't as hard as some people crack it up to be... we went through the majority of the curriculum in AP chem 11th grade and all we're doing now is organic, options and some review. HL Physics is a great course, but be wary of the exams. Same thing with Math - the Exams are usually the 'gotcha' for some people, but I enjoy what the format of the course is (mainly self taught). I don't know anything about econ and I'm doing SL english to avoid poetry for my assessments :shifty:

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ryoika

Ryoika

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Hi there,

I am a current 10th grader (living in the UK, but German). I sort of have my IB courses figured out. To be honest, I dont really know where I want to go to University yet (either UK, Germany, Netherlands... unlikely: USA) or what I want to study there.

HL: - Math HL SL: - Chemistry SL

- Physics HL - English A Literature SL

- Economics HL - German A Language and Literature SL

Math HL because I have always been really good at math, I enjoy math and because I may want to include math in my future studies. (also see my other questions on Math HL: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/26509-help-on-math-hl-tutoring/)

Physics HL because I love physics (science in general), I am kind of good at it and (as Math) because I may want to include it in my future studies.

Economics HL because this is a subject I consider it the most interesting out of group 3, I already know a bit about it and because I know people who could (if all else fails ;) ) help me with it. (also see my other questions on Econ HL:http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/26670-econ-sl-difficulty-amount-of-work-introduction/) Although this topic isnt quite up to date as you will see (I want to to Economics HL instead of SL now).

Chemistry SL because as mentioned (see Physics HL), I love science and as I definitely prefer chemistry over biology, I thought I'd give it a shot. I have also heard that SL sciences are not that difficult. In addition to that, our chemistry teacher said that we will cover 60% of the IB chemiistry SL course this year, so I guess I will be well prepared. And as I already have 3 HLs (and prefer them all over chemistry HL)and as Chemistry HL is supposed to be very difficult, I will take IB Chem SL.

German A Language and Literature SL because I am fluent in German and as this is the only German A course my school offers. Plus, I will get the bilingual IB diploma if I do this course. And because I need this course to maybe go to uni in Germany later on.

English A Literature SL as all my other HLs are 'taken' and I personally dont want to do two SL LangLit courses, I thought I' ll just go with this one.

My current grades in the equivalent Grade 10 courses:

- Math 10 Advanced (96%)

- English 10 Adv (91%)

- Chemistry 10 (95%)

- Physics 10 (96%)

- IB German B HL {my school does not have a grade 10 native German course, so they put me in this one, but it is too easy for me... about 97%)

- Economics (I dont have a similar course, -)

First of all, thanks for reading through all of this :)

If you could just maybe give a brief feedback on the difficulty/ amount of work/ easiness of getting a good grade for each course (or simply the ones you took, for the German A LangLit SL maybe just refer to another LangLit course you took/take).

Thanks

Be careful of Math HL and Physics HL.

In our school, we only have Physics SL because apparently Physics HL is so hard that people will not choose it as their IB course

and disregard it. People will fail in that course and they are already suffering a lot in Physics SL too.

Don't forget that some universities allow Physics SL as credit for university courses. If they do that for SL, then how hard would HL be?

Math HL is really, really tough too. I have seen people getting 2s and 3s in there (not that you would get it, but yeah..)

It's definitely not a course to take if you are not really confident about Math.

Even people who got 100% in their grade 10 year suffer in Math HL and a few people get 7.

Make sure to always follow what you're passionate about, but don't overload yourself with too many hard courses (I don't know about Economics,

so I have nothing to comment about that) because it's really going to be stressful when you reach your exam year and have to take 6 exams.

I have seen people taking all hard courses and they are in agony.

My teachers have told me that one has to be a little pragmatic when choosing IB courses and don't choose all hard courses to deal with.

Balance with easy and hard courses, so that you can deal with IB a little better.

Don't forget that you also have 150 hours of CAS to do, plus an E.E and TOK presentation+essay.

I can see that you are already doing it with your SL courses.. German is going to be easy for you,.. I am not sure about English because

it's different for many people, and Chemistry SL (I am taking that courses) is one of the easiest courses ever in IB.

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Ryoika

Ryoika

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Posted

Any other opinions out there?? :dontgetit:

It really depends on your choice of faculty in university. If you want to do engineering, I would suggest that

you should DEFINITELY do Math HL and probably go with Physics SL because Physics SL is worth taking it,

since it equals to university credit.

If you want to go to Science, You can go with Chem HL/Bio HL and Math HL, Physics SL.

Just having Physics in highschool is not enough for Science folks in university.

Well, good luck with choosing courses! Pragmatics is important, but always think of your passion and what you want to do in university :)

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r1111

r1111

Posted
Posted

Hey,

Considering you are good at math I think you would be fine with Math HL and Physics HL. I take Physics HL and it is difficult for me but I have improved drastically and i hardly knew any physics and wasn't very good at math when I started. And I know people at my school who are probably about as good as you in Math and Sciences and they easily get 6's and 7's in Math HL and Physics HL. Don't let the other comments deter you from taking the courses you like. Many people do suffer a lot in Physics HL because they weren't prepared for it or they didn't know what to expect and probably didn't even enjoy Physics that much. I was one of this people to an extent before I started studying A LOT for Physics. Although I take Maths SL I am guessing that Math HL is far harder than Physics HL.

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klhollomon

klhollomon

Posted
Posted

Hi there,

I am a current 10th grader (living in the UK, but German). I sort of have my IB courses figured out. To be honest, I dont really know where I want to go to University yet (either UK, Germany, Netherlands... unlikely: USA) or what I want to study there.

HL: - Math HL SL: - Chemistry SL

- Physics HL - English A Literature SL

- Economics HL - German A Language and Literature SL

Math HL because I have always been really good at math, I enjoy math and because I may want to include math in my future studies. (also see my other questions on Math HL: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/26509-help-on-math-hl-tutoring/)

Physics HL because I love physics (science in general), I am kind of good at it and (as Math) because I may want to include it in my future studies.

Economics HL because this is a subject I consider it the most interesting out of group 3, I already know a bit about it and because I know people who could (if all else fails ;) ) help me with it. (also see my other questions on Econ HL:http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/26670-econ-sl-difficulty-amount-of-work-introduction/) Although this topic isnt quite up to date as you will see (I want to to Economics HL instead of SL now).

Chemistry SL because as mentioned (see Physics HL), I love science and as I definitely prefer chemistry over biology, I thought I'd give it a shot. I have also heard that SL sciences are not that difficult. In addition to that, our chemistry teacher said that we will cover 60% of the IB chemiistry SL course this year, so I guess I will be well prepared. And as I already have 3 HLs (and prefer them all over chemistry HL)and as Chemistry HL is supposed to be very difficult, I will take IB Chem SL.

German A Language and Literature SL because I am fluent in German and as this is the only German A course my school offers. Plus, I will get the bilingual IB diploma if I do this course. And because I need this course to maybe go to uni in Germany later on.

English A Literature SL as all my other HLs are 'taken' and I personally dont want to do two SL LangLit courses, I thought I' ll just go with this one.

My current grades in the equivalent Grade 10 courses:

- Math 10 Advanced (96%)

- English 10 Adv (91%)

- Chemistry 10 (95%)

- Physics 10 (96%)

- IB German B HL {my school does not have a grade 10 native German course, so they put me in this one, but it is too easy for me... about 97%)

- Economics (I dont have a similar course, -)

First of all, thanks for reading through all of this :)

If you could just maybe give a brief feedback on the difficulty/ amount of work/ easiness of getting a good grade for each course (or simply the ones you took, for the German A LangLit SL maybe just refer to another LangLit course you took/take).

Thanks

I am taking Physics HL and it can be quite tough! You sound like you like it enough to succeed, so go for it. Also, I hope you sure like Math HL because my school doesn't offer it since it is so hard. Maybe you could run a 4 HL/2 SL schedule if your school would allow it! Mine does, but I am not sure if others do... Good luck!

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emantse

emantse

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Posted

Just a heads up, if you are going to take HL English (or SL for that matter, tbh I think you should go with what you have or switch out for Chem), take Lang + Lit (unless you absolutely love literature) - explanation is right here, but it really is up to you: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/18405-a-literature-literature-and-language-an-explanation/

I personally was forced to take HL Eng Lit by our school and although it's not terrible, I would not recommend it unless you love english and love to analyse literary features/styles etc

And I'd like to agree with those who said go for it, Math HL is definitely doable for those who love + excel at math and likewise for Physics HL (which as I perceive to be the more difficult of the two) I personally did not take either course but I have heard of pretty good marks- do your best + in the end go with what you really like :)

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Connaitre

Connaitre

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you are in the UK, and want to do something physics-y related (I.e. Physics, Chemical Physics, Engineering) you will need HL physics. This is because you need HL physics to go to most decent universities here and take those subjects. Many people are speaking of a credit system, but we simply do not have that for our applications in the same way. Considering looking into some universities and think of courses you may be interesting in, and look at their requirements.

The best thing to do is to use the search facility on UCAS!

Edited by Connaitre
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  • 2 weeks later...
IBidiot

IBidiot

Posted
Posted

My school doesn't offer Physics SL/HL or Math HL, but I take Chem HL as well as English, History, which is content heavy, and Art all as HLs. From what I've heard around this site, your 4 combined subjects at higher level will be difficult, not because of the content but maybe because of the work load. Do you do any demanding extra curricular activities? I would factor in those.

If I had had the choice, I would have definitely Math and Physics HL, and I probably wouldn't had taken Art, but I wasn't given the choice. History and English HL are required by my school, which doesn't bother me since they don't offer the other courses I might want. Art, right now, is probably my most work heavy class, which is surprising! You should have an easy time in English and German. Chem HL isn't that bad, and I would definitely recommend taking it.

However, be cautious in choosing your subjects. I know it may seem appealing to be one of THOSE kids who takes four HLs (because we're awesome :shifty: ) but this planning is actually good preparation for later in life when you may have to show the wisdom to acknowledge what you cannot do, instead of what you kinda maybe sort of think you can do.

That being said, I love your combination of subjects, and if I were in your position, chances are, I would probably do the 4 HLs. Its doable, but take into account what you have to do after school and what subjects you like. Also, it would really help if you knew what you might want to do in college. I know you have mentioned areas, but a more specific route could help your planning.

All the best!

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IBidiot

IBidiot

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Posted

My school doesn't offer Physics SL/HL or Math HL, but I take Chem HL as well as English, History, which is content heavy, and Art all as HLs. From what I've heard around this site, your 4 combined subjects at higher level will be difficult, not because of the content but maybe because of the work load. Do you do any demanding extra curricular activities? I would factor in those.

If I had had the choice, I would have definitely Math and Physics HL, and I probably wouldn't had taken Art, but I wasn't given the choice. History and English HL are required by my school, which doesn't bother me since they don't offer the other courses I might want. Art, right now, is probably my most work heavy class, which is surprising! You should have an easy time in English and German. Chem HL isn't that bad, and I would definitely recommend taking it.

However, be cautious in choosing your subjects. I know it may seem appealing to be one of THOSE kids who takes four HLs (because we're awesome :shifty: ) but this planning is actually good preparation for later in life when you may have to show the wisdom to acknowledge what you cannot do, instead of what you kinda maybe sort of think you can do.

That being said, I love your combination of subjects, and if I were in your position, chances are, I would probably do the 4 HLs. Its doable, but take into account what you have to do after school and what subjects you like. Also, it would really help if you knew what you might want to do in college. I know you have mentioned areas, but a more specific route could help your planning.

All the best!

Thanks for the reply :) And no, i don't do (or plan on doing) any demanding extra curricular activities...

And also in grade 11, in my school, we start with just IB1 courses (where we cover the core, overlapping stuff from HL and SL) in Physics, Chemistry and Economics. But we do it 'as usual' with the languages and math.

To be honest, I think that economics will be quite easy for me (sounds snobby, i know) because i already did a lot of work around and with economics and its concepts and they all make total sense to me... so i got that going for me, which is nice :)

I believe that the 2 languages shouldn't be a problem...

I think I'll just start grade 11 with: Math HL1, Eng A LangLit SL1, German A LangLit SL1, Physics IB1, Chemistry IB1, Economics IB1

Then, at the beginning of grade 12, I will take all my IB1 courses (Econ, Chem, Physics) and turn them into HLs.

Then, in the middle of grade 12, I will just see how it goes with the 4 HLs. If it doesn't work out, I will probably just drop my worst/ most boring (or whatever) HL to SL...

And maybe, just maybe, until the start of IB2 I have a better idea of what I want to study at university, which might also influence 'the drop' of one of my HLs.

My school doesn't offer Physics SL/HL or Math HL, but I take Chem HL as well as English, History, which is content heavy, and Art all as HLs. From what I've heard around this site, your 4 combined subjects at higher level will be difficult, not because of the content but maybe because of the work load. Do you do any demanding extra curricular activities? I would factor in those.

If I had had the choice, I would have definitely Math and Physics HL, and I probably wouldn't had taken Art, but I wasn't given the choice. History and English HL are required by my school, which doesn't bother me since they don't offer the other courses I might want. Art, right now, is probably my most work heavy class, which is surprising! You should have an easy time in English and German. Chem HL isn't that bad, and I would definitely recommend taking it.

However, be cautious in choosing your subjects. I know it may seem appealing to be one of THOSE kids who takes four HLs (because we're awesome :shifty: ) but this planning is actually good preparation for later in life when you may have to show the wisdom to acknowledge what you cannot do, instead of what you kinda maybe sort of think you can do.

That being said, I love your combination of subjects, and if I were in your position, chances are, I would probably do the 4 HLs. Its doable, but take into account what you have to do after school and what subjects you like. Also, it would really help if you knew what you might want to do in college. I know you have mentioned areas, but a more specific route could help your planning.

All the best!

Thanks for the reply :) And no, i don't do (or plan on doing) any demanding extra curricular activities...

And also in grade 11, in my school, we start with just IB1 courses (where we cover the core, overlapping stuff from HL and SL) in Physics, Chemistry and Economics. But we do it 'as usual' with the languages and math.

To be honest, I think that economics will be quite easy for me (sounds snobby, i know) because i already did a lot of work around and with economics and its concepts and they all make total sense to me... so i got that going for me, which is nice :)

I believe that the 2 languages shouldn't be a problem...

I think I'll just start grade 11 with: Math HL1, Eng A LangLit SL1, German A LangLit SL1, Physics IB1, Chemistry IB1, Economics IB1

Then, at the beginning of grade 12, I will take all my IB1 courses (Econ, Chem, Physics) and turn them into HLs.

Then, in the middle of grade 12, I will just see how it goes with the 4 HLs. If it doesn't work out, I will probably just drop my worst/ most boring (or whatever) HL to SL...

And maybe, just maybe, until the start of IB2 I have a better idea of what I want to study at university, which might also influence 'the drop' of one of my HLs.

Ok, your school is different than mine in that it will allow you to drop to SL if needed, which makes it more convenient. That being said, I would definitely take the shot of 4 HLs since you really don't have much to lose. Good luck, and I hope you do well! It seems as if you have an awesome schedule for next year, and I can honestly say that I'm jealous! (Y)

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Blackcurrant

Blackcurrant

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Posted (edited)

You've got a good course combination - well balanced and sensible. How easy or hard or painful a particular course is will depend on the teacher. If the teacher is inspiring, you will do well or excel in a subject that may not have been an obvious first choice. This is especially true of uni. So keep that in mind later.

Usually you have a few weeks or a month to switch courses if needed, (at least in most of the schools I know) so you are not stuck with a course or teacher you end up not liking. Find out first, though. Otherwise, go with the selection you have. Looks like you've given it plenty of good thought already :)

Edited by Blackcurrant
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Carl Martin

Carl Martin

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I forgot: you can find the requirements for the acceptance of IB as a german "Hochschulzugangsberechtigung" in the following document: http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/pdf/ZAB/Hochschulzugang_Beschluesse_der_KMK/IB_Diploma_09.pdf

this is the most up-to-date version. Make sure to check with your federal "Kultusministerium" that your subject selection is compliant and get some sort of paper from them that confirms this. That can save you A LOT of trouble later on.

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  • 3 weeks later...
SSWYF9

SSWYF9

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Posted

Hey,

Considering you are good at math I think you would be fine with Math HL and Physics HL. I take Physics HL and it is difficult for me but I have improved drastically and i hardly knew any physics and wasn't very good at math when I started. And I know people at my school who are probably about as good as you in Math and Sciences and they easily get 6's and 7's in Math HL and Physics HL. Don't let the other comments deter you from taking the courses you like. Many people do suffer a lot in Physics HL because they weren't prepared for it or they didn't know what to expect and probably didn't even enjoy Physics that much. I was one of this people to an extent before I started studying A LOT for Physics. Although I take Maths SL I am guessing that Math HL is far harder than Physics HL.

thanks :) it's nice to have someone who backs you up ;)

lol

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