Higher Level Maths?

[pandabear]

I just finished my Pre-Ib year and thinking over my future. I think I've made my choices for Ib which are the following;

Higher Level

Mathematics

Chemistry

English A1

Swedish A2

Standard Level

Biology

Philosophy

The choice I'm really insecure about is math. I'm not really too sure about my direction in terms of possible career paths. I really just picked subjects that would serve as a proper foundation for future studies and that I like, to some extent. I scored pretty much all 7's this year with the exception of Swedish, History and Math where I got 6's. The math grade is mostly due the fact that I had to teach myself everything over the year (worthless teacher). Anyways, thing is from what I've heard Higher Level Maths is extremely difficult. I'm not some mathematical genius, even though I do like it. I'm wondering if I should take it or not. I was actually set on taking Standard until I got all ambitious over how good a 7 in HLM would look when applying for university. Standard's obviously the safer choice and I can always drop down from Higher. I'll be dropping either Maths higher or one of the languages depending on how it goes. But if I were to do the Standard level book over the summer and become quite confident I think it should be manageable. Just want to hear some opinions on all this. And oh yeah, any recommendations with books? Thanks.

Edited June 9, 2010 by marcusengwall

[Bishup]

I recommend you do HL maths and I recommend you take a look at the Oxford Higher level Mathematics for the IB diploma.

[The Economist]

My advice to you is not to drop maths, because after all you are not sure which career path you want to follow. You may end up interested in a course that requires (or even says that HL is preferable) math HL, but you are stuck at standard level. The only difficulty with math HL is that the syllabus is way too broad (you cover most of the A-levels calculus) and there is almost no time to finish it. If you keep up with the h/w you'll be fine and of course it is not true that you need to be a math genius in order to get a 7! Paper 3 is extremely difficult, but if you manage to handle P1 & P2, you should be fine.

I wouldn't recommend Oxford Higher level Mathematics for the IB, as the exercises are way too simplistic compared to what you'll be facing at your final exams. It is good though, for everyday practice. You could also take a look at Maths Higher Level Core, it's IBID press or even Cambridge Mathematics for the IB Diploma.

[pandabear]

My advice to you is not to drop maths, because after all you are not sure which career path you want to follow. You may end up interested in a course that requires (or even says that HL is preferable) math HL, but you are stuck at standard level. The only difficulty with math HL is that the syllabus is way too broad (you cover most of the A-levels calculus) and there is almost no time to finish it. If you keep up with the h/w you'll be fine and of course it is not true that you need to be a math genius in order to get a 7! Paper 3 is extremely difficult, but if you manage to handle P1 & P2, you should be fine.

I wouldn't recommend Oxford Higher level Mathematics for the IB, as the exercises are way too simplistic compared to what you'll be facing at your final exams. It is good though, for everyday practice. You could also take a look at Maths Higher Level Core, it's IBID press or even Cambridge Mathematics for the IB Diploma.

Thanks for the advice! I agree with pretty much everything you said The one thing is that I've been told that prior knowledge of at least some concepts, that are covered in Standard for example, would be extremely useful. That's why I'll be studying over the summer for maths. I think I'll take look at the Oxford Higher level Mathematics and take one of the other recommended books for when I actually start the course. Again, thanks for the advice!

[The Economist]

You're welcome

If you take a look at the maths HL booklet (I could send it to you), you'll see that there is a section called pre-assumed knowledge. Probably these are the elements that you've heard that the SL covers. I can assure you that they are extremely easy and your teacher will surely go through them in class. I'd say that you don't need to study ahead during the summer, but you could definitely revise the material that you covered this year.

The Oxford book is really good for practice. I even use it myself sometimes and it can help you grasp the basic concepts of each chapter, as there are a lot of exercises for you to solve in combination with solved examples.

I don't think that you should worry for math HL and even if you see during the year that you can't handle it, you can always drop it and take a language as an HL (in languages there is not much difference between SL & HL).

If you switch to SL you'll have no problem because during IB1, the HL class covers almost 3 times the syllabus that the SL does and in greater depth

Hope you do well

Edited June 11, 2010 by Watermelon =3

[Tilia]

I advice you to stick with this, see how it goes and then possibly drop some HL if it's too difficult. Remember that if you intend to study in Sweden, you actually don't need any HLs at all, basically.

[giantsushi]

If i want to do dentistry in university (preferrably in the UK) do i need HL math? because the new school Im moving to probably wont let me in the class because it's already full

[Sandwich]

If i want to do dentistry in university (preferrably in the UK) do i need HL math? because the new school Im moving to probably wont let me in the class because it's already full

Nope! At least not in the UK. To be honest, I think even Maths Studies would probably be okay, but your safest bet is SL.