The Student Room Group

IB - Law

Hey Everyone :biggrin:

So in college I'm planning on studying Law/Political Science, so can anyone advise me and tell me which IB subjects i should take?

im thinking about:

English A1 H
Biology H
Arabic B H
Math Standard/ Studies
Islamic History SL
and my sixth subject is unknown :s-smilie:

So any advisee ??

Thank You :smile:
Reply 1
I am going to do law/ political science, too, and I am taking:

English A1 - HL
Spanish B - HL
Math - HL
History - HL
Native A1 - SL
Chem - SL

I would say that English A1 and History are indispensable.
If your school offeres Philosophy I would highly recommend that it be one of your HL choices as, especially in the US, philosophy and math are porbably the 2 most important subjects for law.

Why math? Shows ability to think logically.

So basically emphasize on social sciences (history, philosophy, even psychology) and languages, but do not leave out math. It is more important than you think and, if it won't be a burden then take it on HL.
Reply 2
Original post by Redvines

Original post by Redvines
Hey Everyone :biggrin:

So in college I'm planning on studying Law/Political Science, so can anyone advise me and tell me which IB subjects i should take?

im thinking about:

English A1 H
Biology H
Arabic B H
Math Standard/ Studies
Islamic History SL
and my sixth subject is unknown :s-smilie:

So any advisee ??

Thank You :smile:


Depends on which branch of Law you go into.... I think English and History are essential at HL. And then possibly, the area of Law you're going to specialise in... If, for example, you go into Film Law, then I'd suggest you take Film at HL as well. (Replace film with the area you're specialising in, if you specialise).

Maths would be useful, I guess.... and the others are your choice. :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by Redvines
Hey Everyone :biggrin:

So in college I'm planning on studying Law/Political Science, so can anyone advise me and tell me which IB subjects i should take?

im thinking about:

English A1 H
Biology H
Arabic B H
Math Standard/ Studies
Islamic History SL
and my sixth subject is unknown :s-smilie:

So any advisee ??

Thank You :smile:



DO NOT DO HL IB ARABIC

IT IS SOLID.

i went to a taster course for it (doing GCSE arabic at the moment) absolute hell
Reply 4
For law, there aren't any subjects you actually NEED. Some universities say that english and history are beneficial, but I haven't seen anywhere that states that you NEED them (Oxford/Cambridge may be exceptions so if you're aiming for those then check them out first).

My subjects are completely irrelevant, yet I received offers from all universities I applied to. (I took physics, chemistry, maths, information technology, english and french - english being the only subject remotely relevant to Law).

However, if you're looking for related subjects, then I recommend: english, history, latin (if you can do this), philosophy and perhaps psychology (just suggestions - not all of them).
Reply 5
I would say:

Eng A1 HL, History HL, another essay subject HL
Maths SL, Science SL, Second lang SL
Reply 6
I spoke to several advisors at Oxbridge and LSE before sending my UCAS application and they said that for Law the most well-reflected subjects were English A1 HL and History HL. Preferably your third HL should be a subject with heavy focus on essay submissions and theory like Economics or Psychology perhaps. Political Science is essentially the same I would wager.

Most good Law schools have very specific requirements: a combination of 6,6,6 or 6,6,7 or 6,7,7 in HLs and an overall score of 38. This is the standard minimum requirement at Oxbridge, LSE, UCL and King's. As you go lower down the rungs of Law Schools, Warwick accepts 36 points overall with a 5 in English HL and a 4 in Maths SL I believe.

At the end of the day, what matters most is English specifically and that is extended to History. Of course your overall IB score is also significant so your other 4 IB subjects should be ones you can easily score in.

amk933
Why math? Shows ability to think logically.


While I don't disagree with that, I do think that for Law school Maths HL is more than a little excessive. If a Uni wants to gauge your ability to think logically they make you sit for the LNAT exam. Also Law schools tend to have higher requirements than other social science degree courses in general. The very fact that you've been predicted with high enough scores to apply to them means you've succeeded to a large extent in the IB Program and there is no way you achieved that without thinking logically.

Maths HL is irrelevant for Law or Political Science for that matter.

However I can see how it can be useful if you're applying to America I guess. Shows them you're diverse in your subject choices and are not afraid of challenges. But in Britain, its pointless and not to mention that Maths HL would greatly reduce your overall IB score (unless you're some kind of Maths genius or something) because getting a 6 or 7 in that class is nigh impossible. Especially since getting a high score in SL is comparatively much easier.
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by Callum

Original post by Callum
DO NOT DO HL IB ARABIC

IT IS SOLID.

i went to a taster course for it (doing GCSE arabic at the moment) absolute hell


.................

On the contrary, Arabic is very easy for me. It is my first language, but I'm taking it as a second because English as a first is a requirement! But thankss anyways :smile:
Reply 8
Thank You everyone, its been helpful. So I've chosen my subjects and here they are:
Arabic B HL
Biology HL
Islamic History HL
Business SL
Math SL
Text and Performance SL (although this might be changed into English A1 next year)

Thank You again :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest