Subject Choices

[THE SLAYER]

My subjects are:

Computer Science -HL

Physics -HL

Business and management -HL

Math-SL

English-SL

Hindi - SL

 

are these subjects rigorous enough.Is it enough to get into an Ivy league or any university at that level.

[beth-]

Yeah, those look great, physics and computer science are rigorous and quite mathematical and they're all academic subjects. Some universities require Math SL as a basic requirement, so props to you for doing that.

Having that said, what do you mean if they're enough to get into an Ivy League university? You're selected based on your grades, SAT, and your academic score in general, not according to what subjects you choose. You need to know what's required for the specific course that you want to study.

[bguloglu]

Yeah, those look great, physics and computer science are rigorous and quite mathematical and they're all academic subjects. Some universities require Math SL as a basic requirement, so props to you for doing that.

Having that said, what do you mean if they're enough to get into an Ivy League university? You're selected based on your grades, SAT, and your academic score in general, not according to what subjects you choose. You need to know what's required for the specific course that you want to study.

 

I agree, those subjects seem to be fine. I just feel like I should add that universities do look at subject choice as a selection criteria (even if it is not as impactful as something like your SATs of course). There are some subjects that especially UK universities consider to be soft, like Design. Some universities will even disregard your application completely if they see one or more soft subjects. That said, US universities want applicants to be taking the most rigorous combination of subjects offered at your school, so it does make sense to choose subjects that are both considered to be harder than others, and have something to do with what you are applying for (which by the way isn't always the case since some universities like UPenn will allow students to take what ever subjects they want to so their background subject combination is less important).

 

Please please correct me if I'm wrong. I myself haven't applied to the US but this is what my friends who have and my university counselor told me.

[kartikeya]

I would recommend economics instead of business because business is a soft subject

[beth-]

 

Yeah, those look great, physics and computer science are rigorous and quite mathematical and they're all academic subjects. Some universities require Math SL as a basic requirement, so props to you for doing that.

Having that said, what do you mean if they're enough to get into an Ivy League university? You're selected based on your grades, SAT, and your academic score in general, not according to what subjects you choose. You need to know what's required for the specific course that you want to study.

 

I agree, those subjects seem to be fine. I just feel like I should add that universities do look at subject choice as a selection criteria (even if it is not as impactful as something like your SATs of course). There are some subjects that especially UK universities consider to be soft, like Design. Some universities will even disregard your application completely if they see one or more soft subjects. That said, US universities want applicants to be taking the most rigorous combination of subjects offered at your school, so it does make sense to choose subjects that are both considered to be harder than others, and have something to do with what you are applying for (which by the way isn't always the case since some universities like UPenn will allow students to take what ever subjects they want to so their background subject combination is less important).

 

Please please correct me if I'm wrong. I myself haven't applied to the US but this is what my friends who have and my university counselor told me.

 

Really? I stand corrected, then, but I know people who have done art, media studies and English at A-level (two out of three which are considered soft subjects) and still have multiple of offers from unis like Cambridge for law. Traditional subjects are obviously recommended, but it's not a requirement to apply, and OP already has academic subjects. I'm not sure how the US university system works, but I'm quite sure that it works the same way (or at least, in a similar way). You have to check with the individual university, and asking whether Business, Physics and Computer Science is fine for Ivy Leagues is a too broad question to answer. OP did not specify which university or even what course they were applying for. Do those subjects look fine to study, say, Economics?

Sure. Do those subjects look fine to study History or Medicine? No.

Edited October 1, 2015 by beth-

[bguloglu]

Really? I stand corrected, then, but I know people who have done art, media studies and English at A-level (two out of three which are considered soft subjects) and still have multiple of offers from unis like Cambridge for law. Traditional subjects are obviously recommended, but it's not a requirement to apply, and OP already has academic subjects. I'm not sure how the US university system works, but I'm quite sure that it works the same way (or at least, in a similar way). You have to check with the individual university, and asking whether Business, Physics and Computer Science is fine for Ivy Leagues is a too broad question to answer. OP did not specify which university or even what course they were applying for. Do those subjects look fine to study, say, Economics?

 

Sure. Do those subjects look fine to study History or Medicine? No.

 

Definitely, you're right. It all depends on the individual university, and on the subject you wish to study. If say you're applying for visual arts, you will need art in the IB Probably as long as you fulfill the core requirements for the course, other subjects won't be that important.