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What to Take for IB

Hello. I just finished my first year of IGCSE'S but I moved to Switzerland this summer and will probably start IB early. These are the subjects I am thinking about. Also the school I will attend has the IB course but it is bilingual German and English.

English HL
German SL
History HL
Biology HL
Mathematics SL
Economics HL

Am I allowed to take four HL and 2 SL? (I am not sure)

I am planning to go to St Gallen's University in Switzerland for law/international affairs.

Are the above subjects manageable?

What is better: Geography or History?
What is better: Geography or Economics?
What is better: History or Economics?

Please help me and thank you.
I'm no expert seeing as I'm taking the IB next year but from what I've heard:

Geography: easiest
History: hardest
Economics: most interesting


Wether you can take 4 HLs depends on the school, some schools allow it and some don't.

That looks like a strong set of subjects for law depending on your proficiency at languages. I'm not taking a language at HL and am not really sure how difficult they're supposed to be.
I took history HL (just finished exams in may and am also in Switzerland :smile: ) but history it is a lot of work. It is hard to get a 7 but it is doable, but i would advise to only take it if you are really interested in it because it takes up a lot of time and takes interest to succeed. If you aren't fully interested in it I would advise to do econ or geography :smile: oh and you can take 4 HLs but It isnt advised and some schools (like mine) don't usually allow it.
Reply 3
Avatar for Firerose
Firerose
OP
Thanks To both of you for your replies. I am in a dilemma, as I enjoy both History and Geography (I didn't take economics at IGCSE, I took global perspectives instead). I got a A*s for both History and Geography throughout the past school year, and like them both.

It seems that economics is a better choice than geography perhaps? Will ponder on it...
Reply 4
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by Firerose
Thanks To both of you for your replies. I am in a dilemma, as I enjoy both History and Geography (I didn't take economics at IGCSE, I took global perspectives instead). I got a A*s for both History and Geography throughout the past school year, and like them both.

It seems that economics is a better choice than geography perhaps? Will ponder on it...


Economics does tie in better with international relations than geography but take whichever you are more interested in. They're both manageable courses so don't worry about that aspect of the courses.

I advice you to skim through both their syllabi to get a better understanding of what each subject entails.
Original post by pbunny
Economics does tie in better with international relations than geography but take whichever you are more interested in. They're both manageable courses so don't worry about that aspect of the courses.

I advice you to skim through both their syllabi to get a better understanding of what each subject entails.


This isn't entirely true. Paper 3 for HL geography is entirely on globalisation. Most IR courses focus on the globalisation of world politics and HL geography certainly helped me more than economics would have in the earlier stages of my IR course. Economics would help with IPE (international political economy) but that's quite specialised and most places don't make you take it.

OP, I would opt for HL History and Geography. I got a 7 in History (with hard work) and a 6 in Geography (with minimal work)

Original post by Firerose
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