What is Math HL like?

[KLSmash]

As long as you generally do well in Math, and you enjoy doing Math AS WELL--go for it.

[paccu]

Actually, even though Math HL is quite difficult, i still think it is worthwhile for you to study as you have to face the difficult math in university in certain subject(business-related, econ) anyway. so why don't we study a useful subject earlier if we have to tackle it eventually?

[SharkSpider]

Math HL will go beyond what you *need* as a science student, but will be pretty much required for advanced engineering stuff or a degree in math, just because it contains so much more than SL does. You go at a pace of about 1.5 to two times the speed of SL classes, but if you can stay on top and you understand math, there's no reason not to take HL, unless you're looking for an easy 7, in which case you'd be far better off in SL. I can say for sure that people who could easily get a 7 is SL have gotten 5s in HL, I've seen it happen.

If you're looking to fill up an HL slot without doing too much work, take physics HL instead, but if you're looking to gain a better understanding of things, I would recommend both in HL, just because they're great courses.

[Alouette]

Math Methods SL will generally meet most requirements for business and science courses at universities, so... I would take into consideration what you want to do post-secondary schooling, and post-IB. Our IB coordinator has constantly reminded us that Math HL is the toughest IB course, and that Math Methods SL is the toughest SL IB course. If you like/love math, have a talent in it/are generally good at it, and are willing to work hard to stay on top of things, why not? Go ahead and take Math HL if that's the case.

[fruttidee]

Maths HL in our school is really crazy pop quizes every single week and lots of work and new things and every lesson.

I've always been great at maths but now it's really hard and requires the greatest amount of work from my all subjects (Chemistry HL, BIology SL, ENglish B HL, Polish A SL, Geo SL) so u should take it if u really like maths or need it at uni

Maths SL is really easy and kinda funny for HL students

But not to make u feel bad about maths HL, most of my class does it

[hazemm]

physics HL is a fairly hard class aswell. I wouldnt recommend you take both unless you enjoy both Maths and physics and are ready to put alot of work into both classes. Personally, i think physics is a more useful course, but thats because I enjoy the subject more than maths. do your research before you choose

[ao711]

Hey everyone! Next year I am taking IB Math HL and I'm not really sure what to expect ... I heard its quite the challenege, and people that have gotten high 90's in honors classes are now getting 70's. What makes this class so hard?? This really scared me because I like math - when I'm good at it! This year I took Intermediate Algebra and trigonometry honors, which was an honors course for trig algebra II and some precalc. I received an overall average of 99 this year, but what will happen to me next year? Any input is greatly appreciated =)

Math HL in a nutshell is simply taking all the normal math you would take in high school plus so university level calculus. The purpose of the class is to give u a mathematical edge over ur peers who dont take the same class. by takin it u are exempt from taking teh sat 2s for math in many colledges becuase of teh sheer rigor of the course. many colleges offer transfer credits if u score a 5 or higher.

personally i find it very challenging and demanding. the class is tough and if u do get the transfer credit i would reject it personally. for me id rather learn the material in high school once then review it in uni to get a higher gpa and solidify my knowledge. thats my plan anyway. as for ur grades there will be a drop no question about it. my grade in maht was a 98 b4 i got into hl. then it dropped to a 73 however after a semester of acclimatization i average around an 80-85 now. therefore expect a 15% drop but thats alright because most schools offer a gerneous cruve

AO711

HL MATH

HL CHEM

HL PHYSICS

SL HISTORY OF AMERICAS

SL SPANISH

SL ENGLISH

Class of 09

[naturallemon]

I'm currently taking math HL and physics HL. To be honest, i think physics is harder than math, partly because my physics teacher sucks. For math, as long as you understand it, its ok. But for physics, its so difficult!!!

[oathblivion]

I'd say, if you're good at Math, and you really enjoy it, then go ahead and take it. I take Math HL because I enjoy it, and I have done fine other than with complex numbers.

[alereyes228]

i chose higher level maths and i was really nervous going into it and i didn't do great on the first test we had but after that it came easily. it's not as hard, there's 19 in my class out of maybe 60 in my grade... i really enjoy it.

let me know how everything goes!

[Striker654]

Hey everyone! Next year I am taking IB Math HL and I'm not really sure what to expect ... I heard its quite the challenege, and people that have gotten high 90's in honors classes are now getting 70's. What makes this class so hard?? This really scared me because I like math - when I'm good at it! This year I took Intermediate Algebra and trigonometry honors, which was an honors course for trig algebra II and some precalc. I received an overall average of 99 this year, but what will happen to me next year? Any input is greatly appreciated =)

First of all, I would really recommend dropping one of your HLs to an SL. Unless you really enjoy working or you're some type of genius (which I doubt, mainly since you're here =P) you're gonna get a load more work and have a heck of a lot of stress preparing for your exams. If I were you, I'd probably drop either Math or Chem for SL. Oh, and also, why take the extra IB course? Unless you're being forced or you really want to take phisics/psychology, don't put more strain on yourself by taking another IB course. It'll just make your life worse later.

On to the main subject. From my experience so far with Math HL, the main thing you're going to have to worry about is the process. It's all process process process. You can get the answer right, and get 1 out of 6 points. As soon as you get something wrong in your method, they stop looking at your work and give you a zero for the rest of the problem. I haven't taken the exam yet, but I heard that most of the problems aren't too hard, it's just the time management that gets most people. Personally, I probably would've taken SL except I'm planning on taking an engineering major in college and it would look better if I took HL. This is coming from someone with a student who has an evil witch as a teacher though. Seriously, everyone in the school hates her... Anyways, if your teacher is nice and you really really like math, you should probably take the course. Otherwise, consider taking SL. On the other hand, knowing you're part of the elite few (well, at least at my school) is sort of cool, lol.

[milson_99]

Hey everyone! Next year I am taking IB Math HL and I'm not really sure what to expect ... I heard its quite the challenege, and people that have gotten high 90's in honors classes are now getting 70's. What makes this class so hard?? This really scared me because I like math - when I'm good at it! This year I took Intermediate Algebra and trigonometry honors, which was an honors course for trig algebra II and some precalc. I received an overall average of 99 this year, but what will happen to me next year? Any input is greatly appreciated =)

In my opinion i think that Maths HL is not as hard as people think they are!! All u need to do is just study it!! I need to study for it because i only get one period a week doing HL Maths...which in my opinion is not enough But yea...Just study and u'll be fine!

[Cyros]

HL is very awesome, you don't get homework and you learn the core topic in like one class and you move on to the options. Its so fun to have a substitude because they usually don't know anything and you just explain it to them. The tests are hard, mostly because ppl don't do their home work but even if you get low your teacher does massive scaling to your marks.

[moneyfaery]

HL is very awesome, you don't get homework and you learn the core topic in like one class and you move on to the options. Its so fun to have a substitude because they usually don't know anything and you just explain it to them. The tests are hard, mostly because ppl don't do their home work but even if you get low your teacher does massive scaling to your marks.

Wtf are you on about. You don't get homework but people get low marks because they don't do their homework? What homework... the ones they didn't receive? And it doesn't matter if the teacher 'massively scales' your marks. IB will not mark that way, so prepare for extreme mark adjustments come exam time.

[ivy12003]

Hey everyone! Next year I am taking IB Math HL and I'm not really sure what to expect ... I heard its quite the challenege, and people that have gotten high 90's in honors classes are now getting 70's. What makes this class so hard?? This really scared me because I like math - when I'm good at it! This year I took Intermediate Algebra and trigonometry honors, which was an honors course for trig algebra II and some precalc. I received an overall average of 99 this year, but what will happen to me next year? Any input is greatly appreciated =)

What makes Math HL difficult is that there is A LOT of material to cover compared to the Standard Level course. Essentially, it is the equivalent of a first year university math course. Some schools have a separate HL class but our school doesn't because there are only like 5 people doing that course. So that might mean a lot of self-study. If you're disciplined enough and passionate enough, you can take it, but keep in mind that another challenge is time. It doesn't matter how good u are at math.. if you can't finish everything, then your mark will go down considerably.

[Starz]

im doing maths HL

i used to love maths

until IB maths HL came along

i have a great teacher and everything

but you get those annoying depressing chapters

which make you hate maths

take maths HL if your thinking of engeneering

im taking maths HL and im not doing engeneering but i did it

because i enjoyed it and took over the other subjects that my school offered

good luck

[Mr. Shiver]

im doing maths HL

i used to love maths

until IB maths HL came along

Yep. Math HL destroyed me. All because I wasn't willing to give up my life for it.

[Desi_Dakku]

I am finding HL math actually hard. i ahve dropped in my expectations. Until now i have always been doing really good in math, but all of a sudden my marks are starting to drop. its not like i dont get the content, but i end up making the "dumb" mistakes which cost me a lot of markss! And I don't kno how to fix this problem.

[diabolicalangle]

so far, math hl has been a breeze, excpet for the IA's, in which you really have to work hard to get 17+.. we're 2 weeks from finishing the core.

[Hughie]

Maths HL for me is my favorite subject; ask any of my classmates and they'll all testify my love for Mathematics.

Strangely enough, unlike some of you who've said that you began to hate Maths after having started HL,

I think I grew to love it this year when I began my HL course.

'Course it's tiring, cuz the timetable of my school requires us to have outside-school-time classes, i.e. before-school (from 7:30 a.m) and after-school classes (from 3:20 p.m. often goes on till 5:00) and most of us are dozing while the teacher's explaining stuff to us But still it's great fun.

It IS a lot of work, considering that you're doing HL work on top of all the SL work; so you get double the amount of homework the other kids do. But you have to do all the homework to be on top of everything; that was me, being slack on my homework this year - got a literally heart-crushing score in my yearly exams. I actually cried then.

But as long as you do all your homework and do a bit of a revision (just go through the book and skim across it) you'll be fine, cuz that way I got 96% in a Statistical Distribution test that I didn't even know existed until that very day we had it. Had to do some mad-rush revision before that, but hey

It's not gonna be the right subject for everybody, though, cuz one of my classmate who moved up from SL to HL dropped back down to SL later this year. And it is hard; we used to celebrate if we get over 70% in a test or something. Well, we still do. So don't be too shocked if you get below 70% in your first test, cuz that's just normal.

Oh and don't forget those damn portfolios; man they almost killed me this year. But then you gotta do them in Maths SL anyway, so who cares. If you do take HL and ever wanna drop down from HL to SL, then make sure you drop down BEFORE you do your portfolios in HL; they don't count towards your score once you're an SL student and you gotta do more portfolios than you need in that case.

And it's really important to get a good teacher I think - unlike other subjects, I think Maths really requires you to understand it; and for me it's much easier to understand those stuff when there's someone explaining them to me. My teacher; she's just fantastic, the best you could wish for.

So in summary, if you love and enjoy Maths to the point where you feel as if Maths is a part of your everyday life, Maths is just plain perfect and beautiful, Maths is an universal language and you're ready to feel the beauty, the power and the usefulness of Mathematics, then take Maths HL. If you don't feel like it (yet), just try it out in the beginning and you can drop it down later.