HL: English or Bio?

[Guest newman500]

Hey guys hows it going,

I was just wondering if any out there had any advice on this, I'm not doing so good in bio at the moment (end of first year) but i've chosen to do bio HL becuase i was guessing i might start to understand it better later on but now I'm not so sure this is going to happen, on the other hand im doing pretty well in english but i dont really know what it entails for HL so if anyone can enlighten me on what these subjects are like at HL thatde be great

thanks alot guys

Matt

[cixelsyD]

I'm probably biased because I found english HL to be extremely challenging compared to bio HL, which is simply memorization. I've heard that english SL isn't much different than english HL though so even if you drop english HL, the marks won't differ too much.. I think you just get 2 extra points on the essay writing portion to (at least that's how my english teacher explained it to me when I had to make a choice)

If you're a good writer and if you're good at in-depth analysis, then go for english. If you're a better at memorizing things, then go for bio HL. bio -- you can basically teach yourself. English requires a pretty good teacher.. at least that's the case with me

[Bandev]

The difference between HL english and SL english is that you have to an extra World lit essay, in Paper 1 SL get guiding questions while HL doesn't, in Paper 2 HL essay questions are a lot harder, and you get marked more harshly than SL. In HL bio you do 7 more topics, which are generally harder than the SL topics, the exam is longer, it is one of the largest syllabuses in the IB. So make your choice. I think it depends on what you are good at, for me it was easy I am not so good at english and i am good at bio.

[snowday]

Hey, I really think the comparison between HL bio and english is a tough one. Both of them have components that make them quite demanding; in English, the ability to analyse works in the way that the IB wants you to is quite difficult, and requires practice. Furthermore, the pace at which you move is very fast (we just read and finished The Great Gatsby in a week and a half, which is a pretty brisk pace), so you have to be ready to read and analyse the works on your own time. Conversely, in biology the ability to simply memorize will get you quite far; however, the sheer amount you have to memorize is what makes it so difficult. Though I am quite strong in chemistry and physics, I am finding biology frustrating because it is not very well explained; it is simply expected that we know the concepts. This may simply be the nature of the course, or simply my inaptitude in biology in general. In short, I think your choice is really is based on strengths, and which subject you feel you will enjoy the most.

Hope it helps.

[Caitlin]

If you're doing well in SL English, I would do HL English. It's really not that much harder than SL, and there's a hell of a lot less work than Biology.

[Ashika]

I would also take into consideration what you want to do once finishing high school.

I know I chose Chemistry HL because I want to do my major in chemistry.

A lot of people based their HL option on what they thought would be more beneficial to their future.

[Guest newman500]

cheers guys thats given me something to think about thanks for the help