Course Selection Help

[crowooze]

Hello there fellow IB sufferers, itsa me, Mario, joining y'all in this hellhole

• Here are my two options:

HL: Turkish A Lit, English B, Biology

SL: Maths AA, German AB Initio, Business

or

HL: Turkish A Lit, English B, Maths AA

SL: Biology, German Ab Initio, Business

Basically the only change is the levels of Maths and Biology.

I want to be a character and/or environment designer for animations and/or video games, and I want to study that in Berlin. My German is currently B1/B2 I believe, but my school only offers German as AB. I am also currently preparing an arts portfolio and doing freelance work every now and then. (I make enough money to support my hobbies and even save a little on the side)

I'm also a huge Biology nerd, but my parents want me to take Maths AA HL because they think that having a Maths HL on my diploma will change my whole life (their knowledge on the IBDP is very limited but they are both very stubborn and it was really hard for me to even convince them to let me take Biology instead of Physics)

My questions are:

• Will I lose anything if I do Maths SL instead of HL???

• Also, while we are at it, is there any way to complete the Action in CAS without actually doing sports? Does chess count as an activity?

[MayaJay]

Heyyy crowooze,

Firstly, I'd suggest you choose the first option in which you take Biology as an HL and Math AA as an SL. I say so because I wouldn't recommend taking maths AA as an HL unless you require it from a university/career perspective. In my experience, all my friends who wanted to become engineers or mathematicians chose Maths AA HL. Instead, I'd suggest choosing Biology as an HL because even though you don't require it to become a video game designer or an arts student, atleast you enjoy the subject and will be able to score better and handle the pressure of studying the subject on a Higher Level while you multitask other DP priorities.

Secondly, you will not lose anything if you do Math SL instead of HL as most universities have a minimum requirement of Math AA SL. However, if you're still uncertain, I'd suggest taking a look at some of your preferred universities and the degrees you'd be interested in and view their subject requirements. 

Thirdly, there isn't any way to complete Activity in CAS without doing ANY kind of physical activity. However, instead of indulging in intense sports, you could join a local gym, try a 30 day push-up challenge, skip rope on a regular basis or try a 10k steps a day challenge. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head but I hope you understand that you can easily complete the Activity aspect from your own comfort zone.

Hope this helped! Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have