[Alaya]

A bit of background here:

I skipped 5th form, so that I am going to be in Lower 6th next year, even though I was in Remove last year (or rather last school year).

My Options are:
Mathematics HL
Economics SL
German HL (I am german)
English SL
Physics HL

And now, because for some reason I am not allowed to take 7 subjects, I have to decide between Visual Arts and Chemistry. On the one hand, I love sciences and it's the only thing that actually interests me. I'm not saying that science is what I'm gonna do later in my life, just that it fascinates me.
one the other hand, I'm very creative and I love art as well as I love sciences. I got an A* in my end of year exams both for Chemistry and for Art, and art was one of the things I got awarded for on Commemoration day.

It's really difficult... what would you recommend? Is art very difficult and very time consuming?

[TimHuak]

Do chemistry at school and then draw pictures at home

problem solved

[Alaya]

You obviously have no idea about what art means
It's not just about drawing pretty pictures...

[RyJ]

I'd say it depends on what you want to do at university (if you're going, that is ). You already have two sciences there - so unless you want to do something strictly related to Art or Chemistry, either would be advantageous .

Edit: I'm Scottish, but my friends have who have done art in school say it can be very time consuming.

[Alaya]

Thank you!
Yes, I'm planing to go to Uni by the way^^ Problem is, I have no idea about what to study at University. In the USA you usually do 2 years of general education first, don't you? I mean, before you specialize yourself. Couldn't I just catch up Chemistry?

[RyJ]

Sorry, I'm not sure about the American education system at all really

[Flip1]

Do chemistry. It's a lot less subjective, meaning that, if you know your stuff for the exam, you will do well.

[CLS94]

If you like Chemistry, I'd do that. If you want to study in Europe having a second science will be very helpful for any science course, plus you can do Art in your spare time and count it as CAS so your talent there wouldn't be wasted and you could keep up your art whilst fulfilling an IB requirement at the same time :P

[Alaya]

Yeah, that sounds quite reasonable... I'm kind of changing my mind every few seconds...

[c.anez]

If you choose Chemistry your 2 HL's will match with it (Math and Physics) which is the best combo for Engineering. I would think judging by your choices that it would be more beneficial to choose Chemistry since it leaves open doors for Science, Engineering, etc. Another option for uni is Economics since you're taking it with Math HL so you've got some good options there.

I also love Art and draw almost every day just to get my creativity/imagination out there so I also had a difficult deciding whether to rule it out with Computer Science, but in the end I chose CS since I'll be able to draw during CAS for Creativity (not to mention CS will be better for my uni plans). Art will only be beneficial if you want to pursue something which involves strong analytical skills such as English, Psychology, or Art itself, but judging from your 2 HL's, Chemistry seems like the better choice.

[Alaya]

(Original post by c.anez)
If you choose Chemistry your 2 HL's will match with it (Math and Physics) which is the best combo for Engineering. I would think judging by your choices that it would be more beneficial to choose Chemistry since it leaves open doors for Science, Engineering, etc. Another option for uni is Economics since you're taking it with Math HL so you've got some good options there.

I also love Art and draw almost every day just to get my creativity/imagination out there so I also had a difficult deciding whether to rule it out with Computer Science, but in the end I chose CS since I'll be able to draw during CAS for Creativity (not to mention CS will be better for my uni plans). Art will only be beneficial if you want to pursue something which involves strong analytical skills such as English, Psychology, or Art itself, but judging from your 2 HL's, Chemistry seems like the better choice.

_______

That's a very good advice, thank you.
But in case I don't want to study in Europe, which I probably (probably...) don't: don't american Universities want a variety of subjects rather than just subjects in one kind of branch?

[saachi]

(Original post by Alaya)
You obviously have no idea about what art means
It's not just about drawing pretty pictures...

You're right about that. I took Visual Art HL, and it was probably my toughest subject (and I took English HL as well). It's also a lot harder to get a 7 in than Chemistry even if you're really good. My art teacher lost some of my RWB pages and sent the incomplete file to the IB so he basically ruined my grade, and I was grateful for the 6 I got (predicted a 7 by both the IB art teachers in school and also got an A in IGCSE) so yeah... Make sure your teacher is responsible and motivating.

Seriously the criteria for the grades is so messed up and subjective, I started hating the subject in school even while I was illustrating professionally outside of school.

[Alaya]

(Original post by saachi)
You're right about that. I took Visual Art HL, and it was probably my toughest subject (and I took English HL as well). It's also a lot harder to get a 7 in than Chemistry even if you're really good. My art teacher lost some of my RWB pages and sent the incomplete file to the IB so he basically ruined my grade, and I was grateful for the 6 I got (predicted a 7 by both the IB art teachers in school and also got an A in IGCSE) so yeah... Make sure your teacher is responsible and motivating.

Seriously the criteria for the grades is so messed up and subjective, I started hating the subject in school even while I was illustrating professionally outside of school.

_____

That's horrible! It's just so unfair when teachers mess up your stuff because you really can't do anything about it...
So you wouldn't recommend doing art?

Do you really think it's harder to get a seven in art? I mean, I know how hard art is and I think I can imagine it being really really tough. But even though I'm quiet good at sciences, I'm probably not gonna be the best Chemistry student ever. I'm interested in sciences, but there are also some people how would say that my destiny is art, or even languages (and I'm not the biggest fan of languages). So.... I don't know. My art teacher already told me in Remove I would get an A* in my IB if I stayed. I'm not sure so sure about it, but I'm also not sure about getting 7 (or something really good) in Chemistry.

Is art a lot about evaluations and writing essays?

[saachi]

(Original post by Alaya)
_____

That's horrible! It's just so unfair when teachers mess up your stuff because you really can't do anything about it...
So you wouldn't recommend doing art?

Do you really think it's harder to get a seven in art? I mean, I know how hard art is and I think I can imagine it being really really tough. But even though I'm quiet good at sciences, I'm probably not gonna be the best Chemistry student ever. I'm interested in sciences, but there are also some people how would say that my destiny is art, or even languages (and I'm not the biggest fan of languages). So.... I don't know. My art teacher already told me in Remove I would get an A* in my IB if I stayed. I'm not sure so sure about it, but I'm also not sure about getting 7 (or something really good) in Chemistry.

Is art a lot about evaluations and writing essays?

No no, I'm sure you'll get at least a 6 in Chemistry if you're interested in it and work reasonably hard, sciences are more scoring and unlike Art, you have an idea of what you're going to get all throughout the 2 years.

There's not too much essay writing, but like with all things IB you have to analyze things a lot and link together everything. That was fine for me because English HL was my other strength, so the combo worked well, but it depends on whether you're doing Option A or Option B- your teacher must have told you about those. Option A is more studio and less research and B is the other way round. In both cases it's a 60: 40 % ratio depending on what your school chooses.

I'd recommend Art ONLY if your teacher is good. Really. And there is one thing I cannot stress enough: be prepared to change your natural style to adapt it to the criteria. Like, I was always an illustrator, very fussy about technical perfection and skill, but my teacher insisted on more abstract work. So if you're ready to experiment, and willing to bend your artistic style to the criteria, go for it.

[Alaya]

(Original post by saachi)
No no, I'm sure you'll get at least a 6 in Chemistry if you're interested in it and work reasonably hard, sciences are more scoring and unlike Art, you have an idea of what you're going to get all throughout the 2 years.

There's not too much essay writing, but like with all things IB you have to analyze things a lot and link together everything. That was fine for me because English HL was my other strength, so the combo worked well, but it depends on whether you're doing Option A or Option B- your teacher must have told you about those. Option A is more studio and less research and B is the other way round. In both cases it's a 60: 40 % ratio depending on what your school chooses.

I'd recommend Art ONLY if your teacher is good. Really. And there is one thing I cannot stress enough: be prepared to change your natural style to adapt it to the criteria. Like, I was always an illustrator, very fussy about technical perfection and skill, but my teacher insisted on more abstract work. So if you're ready to experiment, and willing to bend your artistic style to the criteria, go for it.

We have one really good teacher and one teacher, who is rather moderately good. i don't know which one i would get...
thank you very much for your answers though, it was really helpful!!

[butter_god]

(Original post by Alaya)
A bit of background here:

I skipped 5th form, so that I am going to be in Lower 6th next year, even though I was in Remove last year (or rather last school year).

My Options are:
Mathematics HL
Economics SL
German HL (I am german)
English SL
Physics HL

And now, because for some reason I am not allowed to take 7 subjects, I have to decide between Visual Arts and Chemistry. On the one hand, I love sciences and it's the only thing that actually interests me. I'm not saying that science is what I'm gonna do later in my life, just that it fascinates me.
one the other hand, I'm very creative and I love art as well as I love sciences. I got an A* in my end of year exams both for Chemistry and for Art, and art was one of the things I got awarded for on Commemoration day.

It's really difficult... what would you recommend? Is art very difficult and very time consuming?

I took IB art HL and it did kill me slowly- it's not all about the art, it's about the IWB (or 'book of doom'). If you are seriously looking into a career which has art in it, go for it. I'm currently doing law- but when I made the decision to do Art HL I was confused between doing law or media/advertising.

It depends on what you want to do in uni- make your decision based on that. Also, you already have a science. If you want to do 7 IB subjects, go for it- but you don't do the IBDP and you won't have to worry about CAS, EE, TOK and all that jazz.

[Alaya]

(Original post by butter_god)
I took IB art HL and it did kill me slowly- it's not all about the art, it's about the IWB (or 'book of doom'). If you are seriously looking into a career which has art in it, go for it. I'm currently doing law- but when I made the decision to do Art HL I was confused between doing law or media/advertising.

It depends on what you want to do in uni- make your decision based on that. Also, you already have a science. If you want to do 7 IB subjects, go for it- but you don't do the IBDP and you won't have to worry about CAS, EE, TOK and all that jazz.

The Problem is, I have >not the slightest< idea about what to study in University or what my future job could be.

Would you say IB is worth all the stress and pressure? I mean, I made the decision, I'm doing it, but sometimes I wonder if a happy life with more freedom could be more important than going to a good school and having the most respected Diploma worldwide...

[c.anez]

(Original post by Alaya)
_______

That's a very good advice, thank you.
But in case I don't want to study in Europe, which I probably (probably...) don't: don't american Universities want a variety of subjects rather than just subjects in one kind of branch?

Not at all. On the other hand, if you're confident in what you want to do and take courses related to what you want to take, the better. That's why AP is considered the same as IB in the US (which I disagree with but whatever) so don't worry about it. What people mean by well rounded and 'variety' for US universities, they mean you've done activities and gotten yourself into more things like sports or something like CAS and TOK which is already in the IB so your best bet would be choosing subjects related to your career choice + CAS and TOK should be good enough.

[Alaya]

(Original post by c.anez)
Not at all. On the other hand, if you're confident in what you want to do and take courses related to what you want to take, the better. That's why AP is considered the same as IB in the US (which I disagree with but whatever) so don't worry about it. What people mean by well rounded and 'variety' for US universities, they mean you've done activities and gotten yourself into more things like sports or something like CAS and TOK which is already in the IB so your best bet would be choosing subjects related to you career choice + CAS and TOK should be good enough.

Oh okay...
I'll probably take Chemistry then, finally...

[paperstars123]

I agree with choosing Chemistry. Chemistry SL is easier to get a 7 imo, but Art SL probably requires similar time commitment to Art HL and it's also very subjective. You're already taking Math HL which I believe will be time consuming for practice, so I'd avoid taking Art with it.

Taking Art won't be that beneficial to US universities too, compared to Chemistry (unless you apply to an Art/Design course). For other majors, I think the course rigour is seen as more important at top US universities instead of a wide range of different subjects. Being able to do well in Chem, Math and Physics will present you as an analytical person. Also, getting a higher predicted grade for Chem and your other subject combinations will be better than getting a lower predicted grade for your subject combinations including Art.