Subjects Workload Query

[Rish1]

Hello! I’m a student who has just finished year 11 and will be starting diploma in August. I’m really concerned about my subject choice. I normally get above 6 for my MYP assessments but I know how much more difficult DP is.

The subjects I have taken are:

HL Math AA, HL Physics, HL Art and HL English Lang Lit, SL Economics and Chinese Ab Inito

I’m super unsure about having four higher levels. Originally I thought that my mix of subjects was okay but having spoken to others, they think that its not a good idea. It’s high risk low reward.

Thoughts? Tips? Should I switch now before it’s too late?

Thank you

[kw0573]

HL Math AA and HL Art are both time consuming subjects and I would not recommend taking both. Usually people who finish with 4 HLs because they are unsure of university requirements or what they will be doing. So for example a slightly more sensible combo is HL Economics with SL Art. Having said that, about 15% of my graduating class (about 10 out of 70) took Computer Science as a 7th subject, along with HL Math, Chemistry and Literature, so yours is not as risky as people may make it out to be. 

I am not familiar with Group 6 subjects in general, but I think it would be much better to take Art at SL because 1) it generally does not make you stand out in university applications and 2) SL is easier than HL and Art SL can be an opportunity to relax. IB can be quite stress at times (all the time) so I fully understand having an art class. I would not exactly characterize the overall combination as high risk low reward, but if SL Art is offered then take that instead.

[Sandwich]

I would think quite hard about doing 4 HL subjects. Is it really necessary for you? Depends what you're thinking of doing at University but that combination doesn't seem super coherent so I imagine you could drop down one (?Art). There's nothing to be gained from doing an extra HL unless you really need it as a strict requirement for a Uni course or are doing it just for yourself as a person (and then I guess you'd need to be quite passionate to justify the work, because an extra HL will detract time from your other subjects). I would suggest doing 3 HL / 3 SL. You can do the 1st year of IB with 4 HLs and then drop one after a year if you're struggling or once you're clearer on what you'd like to do, I suppose, if your school will let you.