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IB Combinations?

Hey, so I've got to choose my IB subjects soon and I honestly have no idea what I want to pick because I want to do so many subjects and I don't know what the best combo would be for me. I would say I'm pretty balanced with pretty much all my subjects but I do have a few concerns. Here are a few of the possible combinations that I'm considering to take:
1)
HL Film, Langlit/lit, History
SL Maths, Chinese A, Bio

2)
HL Econ, Langlit/lit, History
SL Maths, Chinese A, Bio

The reason why my SL's are the same for both combos is because I'm really not interested in doing any of those things in the future and I'm usually stronger at humanities. However, I'm a bit concerned about HL English (though I got an A* at GCSE I'm not sure if I can manage). Also , I don't know if I should do two humanities at HL because I know history is quite demanding. Let me know what you guys think!
Reply 1
Original post by emma.sn
Hey, so I've got to choose my IB subjects soon and I honestly have no idea what I want to pick because I want to do so many subjects and I don't know what the best combo would be for me. I would say I'm pretty balanced with pretty much all my subjects but I do have a few concerns. Here are a few of the possible combinations that I'm considering to take:
1)
HL Film, Langlit/lit, History
SL Maths, Chinese A, Bio

2)
HL Econ, Langlit/lit, History
SL Maths, Chinese A, Bio

The reason why my SL's are the same for both combos is because I'm really not interested in doing any of those things in the future and I'm usually stronger at humanities. However, I'm a bit concerned about HL English (though I got an A* at GCSE I'm not sure if I can manage). Also , I don't know if I should do two humanities at HL because I know history is quite demanding. Let me know what you guys think!


--> History HL is very hard. But.... Nothing is impossible. If you think you can do it and you set your mind to it you will achieve. However, the reality is that HL history is extremely difficult.

-->English Lang Lit is not very different to SL English but the examinations for HL english is much more difficult of course. They expect more from you.

-->I personally find SL maths very hard but that's only me. If you want to do economics then maths would really support you on that. Economics has a reputation of being one of the hardest IB subjects but once again, if you put your mind to it and if you really enjoy it then your fine.

--> Do you want to do SL bio or HL bio? Because there isn't much of a difference. The only thing I'm going to say which you may have heard a million times is that Bio is ALOT of memorisation.

--> I'm sorry I don't know much about Chinese but I have heard that mandarin in general is a very easy language to learn.

Overall, you have a balanced subject choice. However, what are your possible career choices> Have you considered universities and which subjects they demand (depending on your chosen course)

Remember, you will only be able to do well if you enjoy these subjects. Don't choose something you will regret. Good luck with your studies! I hope this helped :smile:
Reply 2
I found HL Econ and SL maths piss easy (I did HL maths and that was piss easy, so I'm assuming the same could be said for SL) - I'd go for those if I were you. Plus HL Econ does actually teach a few interesting topics and has a super easy Paper 3 - you can easily score a 100% on that if you pay careful attention to not making silly mistakes.
Reply 3
Original post by cheryne
--> History HL is very hard. But.... Nothing is impossible. If you think you can do it and you set your mind to it you will achieve. However, the reality is that HL history is extremely difficult.

-->English Lang Lit is not very different to SL English but the examinations for HL english is much more difficult of course. They expect more from you.

-->I personally find SL maths very hard but that's only me. If you want to do economics then maths would really support you on that. Economics has a reputation of being one of the hardest IB subjects but once again, if you put your mind to it and if you really enjoy it then your fine.

--> Do you want to do SL bio or HL bio? Because there isn't much of a difference. The only thing I'm going to say which you may have heard a million times is that Bio is ALOT of memorisation.

--> I'm sorry I don't know much about Chinese but I have heard that mandarin in general is a very easy language to learn.

Overall, you have a balanced subject choice. However, what are your possible career choices> Have you considered universities and which subjects they demand (depending on your chosen course)

Remember, you will only be able to do well if you enjoy these subjects. Don't choose something you will regret. Good luck with your studies! I hope this helped :smile:





I want to do SL Bio! I'm actually considering sports science now, have any opinions on that?
Reply 4
Original post by emma.sn
I want to do SL Bio! I'm actually considering sports science now, have any opinions on that?


Sports science is a great choice! Some of my friends are considering that career as well so I do know some things about that! Unfortunately you do need to do biology at higher level. Thats what my friends are doing. There is a subject called: Sports, exercise and health science and you can do that at standard level no problem. In the universities I looked at for you they specify to choose any science you want. (only 1 is fine) but I would advice biology HL... If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to send me more messages :smile:
Reply 5
I haven't considered doing sports science in uni or as a career yet, tho I am definitely interested in sports as I play sports at a competitive level! Do I have to do HL Bio if I'm thinking about sports at uni? Haha
Reply 6
Original post by emma.sn
I haven't considered doing sports science in uni or as a career yet, tho I am definitely interested in sports as I play sports at a competitive level! Do I have to do HL Bio if I'm thinking about sports at uni? Haha


Yes supposedly you are supposed to do biology higher level :smile:
Original post by emma.sn
I haven't considered doing sports science in uni or as a career yet, tho I am definitely interested in sports as I play sports at a competitive level! Do I have to do HL Bio if I'm thinking about sports at uni? Haha


No, I'm looking at rowing competitively at Uni, especially since I've going to nationals for the last four years, and I dropped from Bio HL to Bio SL. The difference isn't actually that much, but I wanted to bump up Latin to HL.
Reply 8
Original post by crystalkimberley
No, I'm looking at rowing competitively at Uni, especially since I've going to nationals for the last four years, and I dropped from Bio HL to Bio SL. The difference isn't actually that much, but I wanted to bump up Latin to HL.


Hey :smile:

I feel like with the combinations above- it's gonna be very hard to score high - not sure why i'm doubting myself but like i feel as if i wont have time to do sports or have a balanced life and though i could possibly score well on those subjects, it might cost me a lot and i don't know if its worth it ... i mean do unis mind if you sort of opt for easier subjects but score well? i have no idea what to do and i have to pick in almost a months time!!
Reply 9
Original post by Zacken
I found HL Econ and SL maths piss easy (I did HL maths and that was piss easy, so I'm assuming the same could be said for SL) - I'd go for those if I were you. Plus HL Econ does actually teach a few interesting topics and has a super easy Paper 3 - you can easily score a 100% on that if you pay careful attention to not making silly mistakes.


Hey :smile: I feel like with the combinations above- it's gonna be very hard to score high - not sure why i'm doubting myself but like i feel as if i wont have time to do sports or have a balanced life and though i could possibly score well on those subjects, it might cost me a lot and i don't know if its worth it ... i mean do unis mind if you sort of opt for easier subjects but score well? i have no idea what to do and i have to pick in almost a months time!! I really want to do HL econ but what can i do with it in the future? i know there's tons but i'm not sure if they're right for me :/

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