AM I MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION?

[LeeIB]

Hi! I'm currently in 10th grade and I will be doing IB diploma for the next 2 years. I am not really sure of my decisions on the courses for IB. 

These are the courses that I have in mind.

- Math HL

- Chemistry HL

- Biology HL

- ESS SL

- Korean SL

- English Lang/Lit SL

I believe that this is kind of rigorous and I am not so confident in chemistry but I want to do medicine. Should I really take Chemistry as HL or can I take it as SL and do English B HL instead? What career prospects do I have for this?

Like This:

- Math HL 

- English B HL

- Biology HL

- ESS SL

- Korean SL

- Chemistry SL

Also, I'm planning to take study hall but do you think I should or nah? What other course do you think would be better instead of study hall?

Please Help. I don't have much time left :/

Edited May 3, 2017 by LeeIB

[jojofletchh]

Hey,

 

I'm not sure taking HL or SL for chemistry will really affect your career prospects.

 

However I would advise you to take English B HL as it is really really easy and chemistry requires you to study 12 topics which is a lot compared to english HL.

 

I would definitely recommend you to take HL english B. 

[Kai_Harry]

1 hour ago, LeeIB said:

Hi! I'm currently in 10th grade and I will be doing IB diploma for the next 2 years. I am not really sure of my decisions on the courses for IB. 

These are the courses that I have in mind.

- Math HL

- Chemistry HL

- Biology HL

- ESS SL

- Korean SL

- English Lang/Lit SL

I believe that this is kind of rigorous and I am not so confident in chemistry but I want to do medicine. Should I really take Chemistry as HL or can I take it as SL and do English B HL instead? What career prospects do I have for this?

Like This:

- Math HL 

- English B HL

- Biology HL

- ESS SL

- Korean SL

- Chemistry SL

Also, I'm planning to take study hall but do you think I should or nah? What other course do you think would be better instead of study hall?

Please Help. I don't have much time left :/

 

32 minutes ago, jojofletchh said:

Hey,

 

I'm not sure taking HL or SL for chemistry will really affect your career prospects.

 

However I would advise you to take English B HL as it is really really easy and chemistry requires you to study 12 topics which is a lot compared to english HL.

 

I would definitely recommend you to take HL english B. 

Do not take chemistry SL. You need at least HL Chem & Bio for med (source:https://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/20918-ib-subjects-to-become-a-doctor/ & http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/subjects/medicine/subject-requirements.html). To me, what would sound good is:

-HL Chem (med req)

-HL Bio (med req)

 

-English A HL (English skills)

-Math SL (math skills)

-Psychology SL (skills which might be useful for becoming a doctor / med school)

-random subject SL which doesn't have to but it would be good if it associates itself to medicine. I wouldn't recommend taking Korean unless of course you would need to practice the language (I didn't take my second language because I figured keeping a foreign language out of my application might do a little good in proving I'm what I describe as "English capable")

[Guest]

Where are you planning to apply for Medicine? It really depends on that. Look around at some of the university requirements, and that should help clarify HL and SL. Personally, I don't agree with Kai_Harry about choosing subjects because they sound good. For medicine, other than the subject requirements, your most important thing is your grades and extracurriculars (and any other tidbits unis might ask you to do). For the most part they don't give a damn what subjects you do (other than the required ones), they care about what grades you get.

Of course, this might not always be the case for every university everywhere, but for the most part, don't take a subject that doesn't interest you/you're not good at unless it's a prerequisite. I think @mac117 has similar subjects so he should be able to offer some insight about the combination at least.

[jojofletchh]

18 minutes ago, apoello said:

Where are you planning to apply for Medicine? It really depends on that. Look around at some of the university requirements, and that should help clarify HL and SL. Personally, I don't agree with Kai_Harry about choosing subjects because they sound good. For medicine, other than the subject requirements, your most important thing is your grades and extracurriculars (and any other tidbits unis might ask you to do). For the most part they don't give a damn what subjects you do (other than the required ones), they care about what grades you get.

Of course, this might not always be the case for every university everywhere, but for the most part, don't take a subject that doesn't interest you/you're not good at unless it's a prerequisite. I think @mac117 has similar subjects so he should be able to offer some insight about the combination at least.

Yes I agree.

 

Taking subjects that you are good at and able to score high levels is first priority. Especially for higher level subjects as you need a total of 12.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Befuddled]

55 minutes ago, apoello said:

Where are you planning to apply for Medicine? It really depends on that. Look around at some of the university requirements, and that should help clarify HL and SL. Personally, I don't agree with Kai_Harry about choosing subjects because they sound good. For medicine, other than the subject requirements, your most important thing is your grades and extracurriculars (and any other tidbits unis might ask you to do). For the most part they don't give a damn what subjects you do (other than the required ones), they care about what grades you get.

Of course, this might not always be the case for every university everywhere, but for the most part, don't take a subject that doesn't interest you/you're not good at unless it's a prerequisite. I think @mac117 has similar subjects so he should be able to offer some insight about the combination at least.

I agree.

I'm planning on doing Medicine as well. 

I've researched a bit about universities in the UK. In the UK, Biology HL and Chemistry are often necessary. Maths SL/HL doesn't matter. However, I recommend you take Maths SL unless you are quite advanced for your grade. Other than that, you're free to do whatever other subjects you like and will you provide you a points advantage

36/45 is what they like at least. 

P.S

Beware: Cambridge requires HL Maths.

[mac117]

Your subject combination is very much like mine. I was warned it'll be very tough and all that, yet I managed to pull 41/42 in first semester, with the 6 being in my SL subject. It's about the amount of work you're willing to pun in in order to do well - for the sciences you have to do constant revision (read your notes at least once a week even when you don't have tests so you don't forget what happened at the start of the unit). 

For maths study as often as you can. I didn't take maths seriously the second semester and I dropped from a 7 to a 6 - don't be me.

But generally it's a good combo for medicine especially in the uk if you want to make your application more competitive (maths hl). I find chemistry more straightforward than biology as there's less memorising and more application of what you know, but it's up to the individual. 

 

8 hours ago, Befuddled said:

I agree.

I'm planning on doing Medicine as well. 

I've researched a bit about universities in the UK. In the UK, Biology HL and Chemistry are often necessary. Maths SL/HL doesn't matter. However, I recommend you take Maths SL unless you are quite advanced for your grade. Other than that, you're free to do whatever other subjects you like and will you provide you a points advantage

36/45 is what they like at least. 

P.S

Beware: Cambridge requires HL Maths.

Just wanted to say that HL Maths isn't a requirement for Cambridge for medicine. It is recommended in order to have a more competitive application, but according to the statistics 6% of all applicants got in with only 2 sciences HL and no maths HL. I personally know someone who got in with maths SL, though it was on a gap year and they did score a 45  

[Befuddled]

13 hours ago, mac117 said:

Just wanted to say that HL Maths isn't a requirement for Cambridge for medicine. It is recommended in order to have a more competitive application, but according to the statistics 6% of all applicants got in with only 2 sciences HL and no maths HL. I personally know someone who got in with maths SL, though it was on a gap year and they did score a 45  

Interesting. Very interesting....