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Are my subjects rigorous enough for Ivy League Universities and other top schools?


PJS18

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15 hours ago, Gaby said:

I'd switch B&M HL for something else. It's (arguably) seen as a soft subject by universities, and taking both Economics and B&M is likely to not look very good to universities. Other than that, looks fine to me. 

Yes, thanks for the advice, although I have a question.

Why is the combination of Economics and Business Management not advisable?

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1 hour ago, Gaby said:

They're considered to be too similar. 

Thank God the IB community hasn't seen this answer of yours or else you would be bashed. The syllabi are different. Just because two subjects cater to career in similar fields, that doesn't mean that they are similar. There's a huge variation between the subjects, which can be clearly separated by the NAMES.

Thanks a lot though, let me go see a counsellor now.

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2 hours ago, PJS18 said:

Thank God the IB community hasn't seen this answer of yours or else you would be bashed. The syllabi are different. Just because two subjects cater to career in similar fields, that doesn't mean that they are similar. There's a huge variation between the subjects, which can be clearly separated by the NAMES.

Thanks a lot though, let me go see a counsellor now.

I'm not saying there isn't a variation, they are different subjects, I am just relaying to you what I know (or have heard) about how a combination of those subjects is perceived by universities. You are of course free to disregard my opinion completely, but don't patronise me lol 

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8 hours ago, PJS18 said:

Thank God the IB community hasn't seen this answer of yours or else you would be bashed. The syllabi are different. Just because two subjects cater to career in similar fields, that doesn't mean that they are similar. There's a huge variation between the subjects, which can be clearly separated by the NAMES.

Thanks a lot though, let me go see a counsellor now.

Weren't you just looking for advice on the rigor of your subjects? You got feedback, and you're refuting it – there's no point in looking for others' perspectives if you only seek confirmation of your own beliefs and shun alternating views.

My two cents: take CS at HL, and Business Management at SL if you're still keen on keeping the latter. A rigorous course load of reasoning-based analytics is seen as more valuable and challenging than general business studies, especially since you want to go into Accounting/Finance.

Edited by IB`NOT`ez
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12 hours ago, Gaby said:

I'm not saying there isn't a variation, they are different subjects, I am just relaying to you what I know (or have heard) about how a combination of those subjects is perceived by universities. You are of course free to disregard my opinion completely, but don't patronise me lol 

I'm so sorry you feel this way. I'm not disregarding your opinion, I just wanted my opinion and my question to be validated.

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8 hours ago, IB`NOT`ez said:

Weren't you just looking for advice on the rigor of your subjects? You got feedback, and you're refuting it – there's no point in looking for others' perspectives if you only seek confirmation of your own beliefs and shun alternating views.

My two cents: take CS at HL, and Business Management at SL if you're still keen on keeping the latter. A rigorous course load of reasoning-based analytics is seen as more valuable and challenging than general business studies, especially since you want to go into Accounting/Finance.

Yeah. Agreed. I didn't mean to be a bigot. I was just frustrated with the mainstream opinion and therefore assumed that individual opinions from IB Alumni would be different and logical. So I spurt out my frustration on her, which I did apologise for. I'm a human.

For the advice, thanks. But I really want to get into Wharton and do a major in Economics, hence choosing BM as HL. 

Thanks a lot.

Rock On.

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3 hours ago, PJS18 said:

Yeah. Agreed. I didn't mean to be a bigot. I was just frustrated with the mainstream opinion and therefore assumed that individual opinions from IB Alumni would be different and logical. So I spurt out my frustration on her, which I did apologise for. I'm a human.

For the advice, thanks. But I really want to get into Wharton and do a major in Economics, hence choosing BM as HL. 

Thanks a lot.

Rock On.

The thing is, if you want to major in Economics at university, then BM HL won't really be helpful, as Business and Economics are quite separate fields, especially at universities (at my university they aren't even housed within the same school). It could be an interesting subject and give you a broad perspective of a business world (though I haven't actually taken BM in the IB, but I'm studying Business Studies at university at the moment), but you might want to consider whether it will help you create the strongest application possible, given the caliber of the universities you're going to be applying to. :) 

Best of luck

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7 hours ago, PJS18 said:

Yeah. Agreed. I didn't mean to be a bigot. I was just frustrated with the mainstream opinion and therefore assumed that individual opinions from IB Alumni would be different and logical. So I spurt out my frustration on her, which I did apologise for. I'm a human.

For the advice, thanks. But I really want to get into Wharton and do a major in Economics, hence choosing BM as HL. 

Thanks a lot.

Rock On.

Apology accepted :) 

You should note that Wharton's B.S. in Economics is significantly different from the typical BA in Economics as offered by all other universities. Wharton's undergraduate Economics is unique in the sense that it is applied economics in business settings, rigorous analytics, and overall designed to net you finance positions in Wall Street, as opposed to the more theory-oriented BA-version (which Penn also offers). They just don't call it a "business" degree since it's perceived as beneath the Ivy League's "liberal arts" curriculum to explicitly offer an undergraduate business degree. It's also why imo taking Business Management at HL won't do you as good as taking a more rigorous HL subject – Wharton's undergraduate curricula heavily centers around quant analysis and they want demonstrated capability of doing so from their applicants; CS HL achieves this goal better than B&M HL.

Finally, Wharton at the undergraduate level is as competitive as Princeton/Harvard/Yale etc. Though all also very competitive, they're not exactly at Wharton's level of competitiveness so you might also want to consider Cornell's Dyson for Applied Economics & Management (close to Wharton's level fo competitiveness), Berkeley's Haas (you can't apply directly there though; they only accept students in sophomore year of college so you're going to need to apply to a different major), NYU's Stern, USC's Business School and finally Michigan's Ross. There are definitely other business schools out there and I just can't remember off the top of my head. 

Edited by IB`NOT`ez
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2 hours ago, IB`NOT`ez said:

Apology accepted :) 

You should note that Wharton's B.S. in Economics is significantly different from the typical BA in Economics as offered by all other universities. Wharton's undergraduate Economics is unique in the sense that it is applied economics in business settings, rigorous analytics, and overall designed to net you finance positions in Wall Street, as opposed to the more theory-oriented BA-version (which Penn also offers). They just don't call it a "business" degree since it's perceived as beneath the Ivy League's "liberal arts" curriculum to explicitly offer an undergraduate business degree. It's also why imo taking Business Management at HL won't do you as good as taking a more rigorous HL subject – Wharton's undergraduate curricula heavily centers around quant analysis and they want demonstrated capability of doing so from their applicants; CS HL achieves this goal better than B&M HL.

Finally, Wharton at the undergraduate level is as competitive as Princeton/Harvard/Yale etc. Though all also very competitive, they're not exactly at Wharton's level of competitiveness so you might also want to consider Cornell's Dyson for Applied Economics & Management (close to Wharton's level fo competitiveness), Berkeley's Haas (you can't apply directly there though; they only accept students in sophomore year of college so you're going to need to apply to a different major), NYU's Stern, USC's Business School and finally Michigan's Ross. There are definitely other business schools out there and I just can't remember off the top of my head. 

Thanks a lot. What are your thoughts about Saad Business School which is under Oxford University? Also, do you have an idea about which extracurriculars matter?

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51 minutes ago, PJS18 said:

Thanks a lot. What are your thoughts about Saad Business School which is under Oxford University? Also, do you have an idea about which extracurriculars matter?

I could be wrong but I don't think Saad Business School has an undergrad program... In the UK imo the most notable business undergrad is at Warwick, though Edinburgh also has a great program. I didn't apply to UK schools so I'm not as familiar, though I do remember some things from college fairs.

What extracurriculars matter? *shrug* Just be yourself – do what you enjoy and just keep doing it. Look for opportunities when they come by, but avoid doing something you don't enjoy just for the sake of padding your CV~

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9 hours ago, IB`NOT`ez said:

I could be wrong but I don't think Saad Business School has an undergrad program... In the UK imo the most notable business undergrad is at Warwick, though Edinburgh also has a great program. I didn't apply to UK schools so I'm not as familiar, though I do remember some things from college fairs.

What extracurriculars matter? *shrug* Just be yourself – do what you enjoy and just keep doing it. Look for opportunities when they come by, but avoid doing something you don't enjoy just for the sake of padding your CV~

If you don't mind, can you tell me what subjects have you chosen?

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13 hours ago, PJS18 said:

If you don't mind, can you tell me what subjects have you chosen?

You can look at my signature – just click "Reveal Hidden Contents".

Anyways my HLs were Biology, Chemistry, Economics. Imo it's a fairly challenging combination, but in retrospect I felt I should have done Maths HL over SL, and Physics HL over Biology HL. 

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