Royster Zhang Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 As the title would suggest. A little background info: I am a languages kind of guy. I am bad at math. Not that I don't get good marks in math - well, my marks aren't exactly the best - but I am bad in that I don't learn math. I really just memorize the theorems and the ways to solve a specific type of question. Right now with course selection for grade 11 IB coming up - I am grade 10 - I know with a fixed mind that I want to take Chem and Bio for my 2 sciences. However, I don't know which one I should take as the HL course. I hear that Bio HL is pretty much memorization, which is up my avenue, but Chem HL is easier in that you actually learn in class so there is not much of tedious reviewing. Sooooo any experienced and weathered forerunners of IB wish to bestow upon me their honest opinion? P.S If I am not clear, I am not just bad at math, I also hate math. I really considered Bio HL for a long time just for that there is pretty much 0 math invovled. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
isaiguana Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 This semester, I have HL Biology and I must say that the course is not all that difficult (at least for Year 1) in that it's basically memorization, like you said. I have many friends in HL Chemistry this semester (I haven't experienced that course myself yet though) and they frequently complain about how difficult it is and how low their class average is (although that could be because of the teacher, I'm not sure). As far as I've heard, SL Chemistry is quite easy, but the syllabus is changing in the year that you begin the IB so I'm not sure how it will be then. Since you say that you are more of a languages-oriented person, I would recommend HL Biology because it is more about memorization rather than a lot of application (like in Chemistry), which you said you are not that good at (that is, for Math). However, I think this is still up to your own discretion. There are many factors to consider, such as your career goals, quality of teaching of different subjects, and your own strengths. Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FChaosi_ Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) If you hate Maths, you should go with Biology HL for sure. There is minimal mathematics in Biology but in Chemistry and especially Chemistry HL, there is a fair amount of work involving applying mathematical concepts. Just be ready for the massive amount of content you will need to memorise for Biology HL. Here are the topics you will cover: Click me! Edited January 13, 2015 by FChaosi_ 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
veregudmen Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 If you're certainly taking both I'd say take Chemistry HL. The extra bits aren't quantitative; meaning if you take SL you have the math part of the subject anyway. In any case you said you can handle mugging up formulae and applying them and that's really all you need to do.Additionally, Chem SL is a lot tougher in our syllabus (the one you'd be having) than Bio SL, in that there's more of an overlap between the two. The Chem HL bits are mainly qualitative and help your understanding of the subject, which makes it more useful in my opinion. Lastly, there's Chem in Biology, but not too much Bio in Chem, meaning by taking Chem HL and Bio SL, you'd have less extra work than you would from Bio HL and Chem SL, you'd understand Chemistry better and it would help you in Biology, making that easier too. This is coming from someone who intends to major in Chemistry though, so I may be biased. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
km42 Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I would go for Bio HL because year two is half going over year one. I'm currently in both Bio and Chem HL. The first year of chemistry has a lot of math, so you'd have to face it either path you take; however if you take SL it will be more fresh on your mind. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I'd also say Biology HL. You need to understand lots of mathematical type concepts in HL Chemistry, Biology is just memorising. I'm also terrible at Maths and I found Chemistry very difficult as a result. Chemistry SL is also possibly the easiest SL science so it's win-win. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbTrojan Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 If you're a languages kind of guy, then I would suggest that you take biology. The curriculum's changed so it's very vocabulary based and it's more reading than application (at least for year one it was). For chemistry, whether you take HL or SL, there will be a lot of application and maths involved but it has its fair share of reading too. Based on your description, I would definitely suggest HL Biology and SL chemistry though. But just a heads up, HL Biology does have math involved (stats, basic calculations, lab calculations) so I wouldn't expect no math if I were you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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