Subject Choice for Engineering in the US / Canada

[Y-Heritan]

I am an international student just got admission in IB year 1. Getting confused with the subjects to choose. With the little knowledge that I have about IVY colleges, I understand that for engineering, that I too am keen to get into, they prefer students with Physics, Chem and Maths as HL. However in grade 9 and 10, I did not score too well in CBSE, primarily due to the fact that CBSE is more of a rote learning and I somehow I didn't like the pedagogy. Concepts, though were very clear and interesting. Please advise if following subject choice would be ok for me and not suicidal. I am ready to go all out and work very hard in these below mentioned subjects:

1. English SL

2. Hindi SL

3. Business Management SL or HL?

4. Physics HL

5. Chemistry SL or HL?

6. Mathematics SL or HL?

 

Please help me choose the ones with '?'

[ShootingStar16]

The requirements depend on the uni you want to go to. If you're aiming for Ivy, take business management at SL and physics, chem and math at HL. For other unis you're considering, look at their specific requirements and go from there because some may only need math/chem/physics at SL. Sometimes, it's not necessary to take HL math if the uni you're going to doesn't require it or if you're not too fond of math (you have to really like math to go into math HL). You can always contact admissions if you have any questions.

 

How you do in grade 9 and grade 10 doesn't necessarily reflect how you're going to do in IB. You don't need that much of a foundation to do well because the teachers will start you off fresh and if you're willing to put the time into it, then you're good to go  

 

Good luck and welcome to IB1 (kind of)  

[Aninda Saha]

Depending on what the universities ask for and depending on the TYPE of engineering that you're keen on pursuing, I think if possible you should take Math HL plus Chemistry HL. I reckon that at this stage Business SL knowledge would be sufficient and you can always further pursue Business by doing the MBA. This would be ideal since Engineering is very science based and you want to be developing that penchant towards these subjects if you wish to thrive in the field. I'm also doing the same subject combination. But keep in mind that I am assuming that you are able to deal with the pressure. The main key to doing well in IB will be proper time management and dedication. Nothing else can get you through it. 

 

I mean, that's just my suggestion. If you're really saying that you're willing to go all out, these subjects will open up a lot of doors for you.

 

Hope this helps. Cheers!

[Emmi]

I want to point out that with the the exception of Cornell and Princeton, the Ivy League is actually not where you want to study engineering. While their other programs are great, their engineering programs are available usually subpar. Heck, my large state school in the Midwest is ranked higher than Yale or Harvard for engineering.

If you want to aim for the best schools for engineering, these would be Stanford, MIT, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, Purdue, and the the University of Illinois, Michigan, or Wisconsin.

[Forgy]

Business Management SL definitely. Chem and Math should ideally be HL but it really depends on the requirements of each university. You will have to do some research about 4 or 5 universities you are aiming for to get a better understanding of what you need.

 

Emmi has already listed out the best universities for engineering, start by narrowing down that list first. Another thing you should look at is the SAT score requirements, check out this tool that tells you what score you'll need in the SATs for specific universities: https://www.cappex.com/hq/scattergram?code=HO1038-8-

 

Math HL is hard, so do that only if you really love it (or if a university specifically requires it). This is an article that points out the differences between Math HL and SL: http://callidolearning.com/blog/2015/05/27/blogib-diploma-maths-should-i-take-maths-hl/