Course combination for the IB

[CatherineM]

Hello everyone,

So basically I'm a 10th grader and I decided next year to attend IB instead of my regular High School. But, I'm facing some problems with the choices of courses that I have to make in less than two weeks. Because I want to study biochemistry I structured the following program:

Biology HL

Chemistry HL

English B HL

Economics SL

Greek SL (because I am greek)

Math SL

So, I'm very nervous about English B HL and Math SL.

I wanted to take English B because I wanted to have a quite easy 3rd HL subject so that I will be able to put much more effort on Biology HL and Chemistry HL. Do you think that the universities will not like the fact that I chose English B HL rather than English lang & lit SL because I' ve heard that they count more lang & lit no matter its level.

My second big problem is math.. so I'm not good at all in math but I know that this summer I can fill all my gaps. I know that most of the universities appreciate the fact that someone chose Math SL and not Studies and especially for majors that have to do with biology or chemistry. Do you think that because of the gaps that I currently have in math I won't be able to choose Math SL instead of Studies? I mean I've read in other forums that people who would struggle to take a 4 or a 5 on Math SL they dropped at Studies and got an easy 7.

Thank you very much for your time

Edited June 3, 2014 by CatherineM

[_corrina_f]

It may depend where you want to go for uni like if it's a country with an english speaking majority. Id' suggest taking English lang lit, I've also heard that that is better recognized.

Also, many people agree that there is not a large different between English A HL and SL so I think that you should go full out with english HL! Of course this depends on your liking of english and how well you speak it.

Take Math SL. Studies is often not recognized at all, and with some effort Math SL should be fine, just because others have struggled, doesn't mean you will!

Good luck!!

[CatherineM]

Thank you very much! :)

[Isaac Wong]

I am taking English B as well and i also notice the same problem. Actually, most of the universities state their requirements for language b (english) but um...they kinda don't recognize it (i mean they obviously would take into account but not the most favorable)... So i suggest you maybe to take the IELTS cause it is definitely and highly recognized by universities. I plan to take mine in this summer~

And for taking lang and lit. i would say um...it might be a little hard for a non-native speaker, maybe you should find some past papers( 2013 onwards) and have a look first:)

[Gaby]

English B HL, got a 7, got into Oxford without any additional requirements. Just saying.

[yii yann]

English B HL, got a 7, got into Oxford without any additional requirements. Just saying.

To be fair, Oxford and Cambridge do things a bit differently compared to most other UK universities. For example, I got an offer from Oxford while having a 6 in English A1 Literature HL, whereas Manchester and Warwick asked me for IELTS.

I'm not sure for Language and Literature, but if the English A1 Lit course is anything to go by, HL and SL are quite similar, with HL having only a bit more work and a stricter markscheme.

Best thing to do is email the universities you might possibly be interested in, and see how they regard English B. If they just require you to do IELTS, then you're good to go. If they don't really view it as a legitimate subject and say that it would probably be detrimental to your application, then you might wanna move it to lang & lit, although I really don't see this being the case.

[Gaby]

English B HL, got a 7, got into Oxford without any additional requirements. Just saying.

To be fair, Oxford and Cambridge do things a bit differently compared to most other UK universities. For example, I got an offer from Oxford while having a 6 in English A1 Literature HL, whereas Manchester and Warwick asked me for IELTS.

I also had offers from UCL, QMUL, Newcastle and Exeter. My friends applied to various UK universities for various degree courses with just English B HL, no one had a problem.