[taylorswiftx]

I'm predicted
IGCSE grades:
English lit A
English Lang A
Maths A
French A*
History A*
Business Studies A*
Double Science A/A
Geography A

I have no real idea what I want to do at university. Perhaps Law, journalism or French/translation.

How difficult is higher level English? Would a A grade, rather than A*, IGCSE student be able to cope with it? Same said for HL maths?

Thinking of doing.
Eng SL
Maths SL
Environmental systems SL
French HL
History HL
Psychology HL

Any ideas on this?

Thanks.

[chickenonsteroids]

HL maths is quite difficult. You'll probably need to do a lot of it.

The subjects that you've chosen look fine but why not take a science instead of ESS?

[taylorswiftx]

Don't particularly enjoy science.. except maybe biology occasionally

[chickenonsteroids]

(Original post by taylorswiftx)
Don't particularly enjoy science.. except maybe biology occasionally

Ok I was just wondering. ESS is fine.

[XxelliexX]

There's people in my HL English class that got Cs at GCSE, lol, an A is perfectly fine for HL English and there isn't that much difference between HL and SL.
I'd recommend HL English instead of the Psychology, but that's just my view.

[XxelliexX]

Oh and if you don't enjoy science then you probably won't enjoy HL Psychology.

[taylorswiftx]

Thanks for the info guys

[kingcoltzan]

1. Do A levels (unless you don't have a choice)

2. DON'T DO HL MATHS!!!! Only do it if you want to do Maths, Economics, Physics or something DIRECTLY maths related. You do NOT need it for medicine! It is THE hardest IB subject, everyone will tell you that. We have our exams on Thursday and Friday, and everyone is crapping themselves haha, it is common for people to come out from P1 in tears. I have spent 75% of my revision time on Maths. If I had done SL, that would probably have been 20%. Which would mean more time to focus on my Chem and Bio, which is what I need. Now I fear I have spent so much time on Maths, it is going to jeapordise my other subjects. So doing SL Maths, you will be able to get a 7 much easier, but ALSO the other higher you take instead (within reason) will not jeapordise your other subjects, so you will also maybe push up 1 / maybe even 2 points higher. So in effect, doing HL maths can take 3 points away from your score! And that's if you can manage to get a 6........ So my advice would be, stay far far away. I tell the younguns only do it if you are top set, ie top 10 MAYBE top 20 in your yeargroup or if you need it for your uni subject ( phone them up and ask!). You may feel you are "good" at maths up to GCSE, but that is a complete joke of an exam compared to HL. People who you never expected to struggle will suffer badly, and vice versa as well, some people will shine and just find it a doddle. Not just exam time, but think about the hwk time as well, the revision time pretty much reflects the amount of time I spent doing the Maths HW, probably 75% if not more of my time....

Just think about it carefully

(These are my own CURRENT experiences!)

EDIT: Now that I have actually read your thread!..... Your choices sound good for law etc, maybe HL english instead of Psychology. I know someone who is doing law at Cambridge with Physics Maths and Spanish HL...so it shows you anything is possible really for Law.

[logiadoevus]

If you don't know what you want to do in university (or, actually, unless you know with quite good certainty what you want to do in university), my advice would be to keep your options as open as possible, so I would swap Maths with Psychology (or add Maths as a fourth HL if you think you're happy with 4 HLs) - it is always good to have different subjects at HL - Maths, French and History being a great set of HLs.

I disagree vehemently about the massive thing most people make out of Maths at HL (a lot of whom did not even take Maths at HL, thus only spreading misinformation) - it's not that hard. Of course, it's not easy, but then no HL courses really are. It's just different - History HL will ask you to write and remember lots and lots of stuff and to understand lots of dynamics and relationships in the events from the past, while Maths HL will ask you to understand numbers and systems, and have good problem-solving skills. Yes, it's difficult. But it's not much more difficult than other HL subjects, it's just different.

(Disclaimer: yes, I did Maths HL.)

[kingcoltzan]

(Original post by logiadoevus)
If you don't know what you want to do in university (or, actually, unless you know with quite good certainty what you want to do in university), my advice would be to keep your options as open as possible, so I would swap Maths with Psychology (or add Maths as a fourth HL if you think you're happy with 4 HLs) - it is always good to have different subjects at HL - Maths, French and History being a great set of HLs.

I disagree vehemently about the massive thing most people make out of Maths at HL (a lot of whom did not even take Maths at HL, thus only spreading misinformation) - it's not that hard. Of course, it's not easy, but then no HL courses really are. It's just different - History HL will ask you to write and remember lots and lots of stuff and to understand lots of dynamics and relationships in the events from the past, while Maths HL will ask you to understand numbers and systems, and have good problem-solving skills. Yes, it's difficult. But it's not much more difficult than other HL subjects, it's just different.

(Disclaimer: yes, I did Maths HL.)

People wouldn't make a massive deal out of it for nothing... As I said, to some people it comes naturally and is alright, to others it isn't. And as I said, unless you are easily top few in your year, there is no way of guarenteeing that you will be able to cope with it. I have seen people in set 5 become the best in our year and those previously in set 1 struggle to get a 6 if not a 5! (myself included - as I said, exam is tomorrow haha!)

[taylorswiftx]

It's really good to hear some first hand experiences. Thanks again. Still deliberating x

[saachi]

Trust me, IGCSE is NOTHING like IB. I got an A* in IGCSE French too, and barely scraped a 4 in IB over the past 2 years. There's a huge difference. I got an A in math, and had to struggle with a 6 in Studies. As an IB student in the middle of my exams, if math isn't important to you take Studies SL- that exam was a breeze, and all the SL people were complaining about how hard theirs was.

I take EVSS and Geography too, and those subjects are fine if you aren't into science. Geography is like a heavier course of general knowledge, environmental science, and light economics. EVSS is a light version of physical geography and general knowledge again. English HL is demanding, but totally worth it if you like literature. My only problem with it is that we hardly do any British literature- most of our texts are American. Which is nice and everything, but I wish they'd balanced it out. You'll manage it if you're actually interested in literature, otherwise take SL. I got an A in FLE, but consistent 6's and 7's throughout IB so really, you can't really use your IGCSE grades to predict how well you'd do in IB.

History HL and Math HL have an infamous reputation for being difficult subjects, Math HL especially. You know you could always try out HL and then shift to SL after the first month if you don't like it, right? I don't take any of those subjects so can't speak for them. But there is a boy in my Studies class who started off in HL, then moved to SL, and then to Studies. As a result he's now top of the class

As for IB French... It's quite tough. But I've always been very lazy at it, so maybe that's why. I managed a 5 in the mocks (I take SL) but as far as I know the difference between HL and SL isn't huge. HL has to write 400 words for Paper 2 while we write only 250, and their papers are marked far more strictly than ours. Though that's not such a big deal if you like French.

[kingcoltzan]

My advice is pretty simple. Do studies unless you are going for a maths related degree. If you are applying to Cambridge for Law or History or English, they are not going to even notice you do Studies, and its just easier points in the bag, and more time to focus on highers, which is what a SL should be!!!! (I advice SL Geog for that )

[aeyurttaser13]

ur subjects seem to be really good for a course like law, history, or english related at uni.. however id say go for hl english instead of psych and also u can take maths at hl if u want to, u can see for urself and drop down to sl later on if u like.. i know many people who took chem bio and math at hl, cudnt cope with math, so dropped it to sl at the start of their second year
oh and i took 4hl's too, then dropped business to sl cz i had decided on medicine so u can choose to go on with 4, or drop to 3 hl's at any point

[kingcoltzan]

(Original post by aeyurttaser13)
ur subjects seem to be really good for a course like law, history, or english related at uni.. however id say go for hl english instead of psych and also u can take maths at hl if u want to, u can see for urself and drop down to sl later on if u like.. i know many people who took chem bio and math at hl, cudnt cope with math, so dropped it to sl at the start of their second year
oh and i took 4hl's too, then dropped business to sl cz i had decided on medicine so u can choose to go on with 4, or drop to 3 sl's at any point

Why do people insist on doing 4Hls?! It's not like doing 4 A levels vs 3 A levels.... there is no advantage to doing it, and you end up working yourself even harder in an already hard diploma.

[aeyurttaser13]

(Original post by kingcoltzan)
Why do people insist on doing 4Hls?! It's not like doing 4 A levels vs 3 A levels.... there is no advantage to doing it, and you end up working yourself even harder in an already hard diploma.

i didn't say it coz it has an advantage to it, the reason it's my advice is that so taylorswiftx can see the hl subjects in detail and decide, im not telling taylorswiftx to go with 4 hl's til the end coz that won't help. im just telling taylorswiftx to drop one later on, but start with 4 to know which one's r more preferable in this case, so that which one to drop can be answered after seeing all those subjects at hl.

[logiadoevus]

(Original post by kingcoltzan)
Why do people insist on doing 4Hls?! It's not like doing 4 A levels vs 3 A levels.... there is no advantage to doing it, and you end up working yourself even harder in an already hard diploma.

I don't think anyone insists on doing 4 HLs. I just suggest it as an option - because if you're interested in a subject and want to do it, it's good to consider doing it at HL. And it is incorrect, in my opinion, to see IB/A-levels as only there for university applications - firstly, because learning for the sake of learning is very valuable, and secondly, because if someone wants the easiest way to fulfil entry requirements to unis, they should just do A-levels.

[xAditi]

(Original post by taylorswiftx)
I'm predicted
IGCSE grades:
English lit A
English Lang A
Maths A
French A*
History A*
Business Studies A*
Double Science A/A
Geography A

I have no real idea what I want to do at university. Perhaps Law, journalism or French/translation.

How difficult is higher level English? Would a A grade, rather than A*, IGCSE student be able to cope with it? Same said for HL maths?

Thinking of doing.
Eng SL
Maths SL
Environmental systems SL
French HL
History HL
Psychology HL

Any ideas on this?

Thanks.

Don't take HL Psych. It'll be a complete waste. If you are considering Law, you should seriously consider either Maths or a Science at HL. Because Math is a logical subject, it can be very useful when pursuing Law. I considered whether or not I wanted to study Law for a while when choosing my IB subjects, because Oxford requires HL History and strongly recommends HL Math for prospective law students.
As for ESS, I would recommend switching it for Biology, unless you have a SERIOUS aversion to the Sciences. Doing so would keep more options open for you, especially considering that all of us starting the IB this year are only 16 and will probably change a lot during the next two year!

I want to study Maths or Chemistry at undergrad with a possible minor in French, and I've chosen HL Math, Chem, French B and SL Literature, Physics and HL/SL Econ. I will probably be doing 4 HLs.

Good luck!

[chickenonsteroids]

(Original post by xAditi)
Don't take HL Psych. It'll be a complete waste. If you are considering Law, you should seriously consider either Maths or a Science at HL. Because Math is a logical subject, it can be very useful when pursuing Law. I considered whether or not I wanted to study Law for a while when choosing my IB subjects, because Oxford requires HL History and strongly recommends HL Math for prospective law students.

This just isn't true.

There aren't any subject requirements to do law. They don't recommend HL maths for law either. So the OP doesn't need those two subjects if he doesn't want to. HL psychology isn't a waste if they find it enjoyable.

[xAditi]

(Original post by chickenonsteroids)
This just isn't true.

There aren't any subject requirements to do law. They don't recommend HL maths for law either. So the OP doesn't need those two subjects if he doesn't want to. HL psychology isn't a waste if they find it enjoyable.

My apologies, I cross-checked again and you are correct. I would swear that when I was studying the Oxford website last summer I saw something about History and Maths.

I'm going to stick to what I previously said on the question of Psych. OP doesn't seem certain about what he wants to study, and Psych, as opposed to English or a Science at HL closes quite a few doors.