The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

Ib that block there is Physics , ESS and B&M . I absolutely suck when it comes to physics and I despise it so much . So I'm basically left with ESS and B&M and honestly both are viewed as soft subjects and so I would rather choose the one I am more interested in . I don't even really like the idea of ESS .

I have a huge problem right now as I need to submit my IB choices by the end of this week . I previously posted that I'm taking :
English Lit HL
Biology HL
History HL
Business and Management SL
Math Studies SL
Arabic B SL

but now that I think about it , I have actually never really studied history at GCSE or even before that ( I studied some Islamic history in Arabic following my country's curriculum ) as it wasn't offered . The thing is I'm really curious about history and I would like to know and learn about it , so I wanted to take it in IB though I don't even know if I'm actually going to like it or if I am any good at it so that's really frustrating , my option other than history would be chemistry though the problem is I am good at chemistry but I actually don't like it . I find it boring and I'm not really interested in it though I am quite strong in chemistry ( Predicted A* in IGCSE chem ). What should I do , this is the kind of situation where I feel lost because no matter which one I choose I will regret it at some point and think oh I should've taken bla bla bla . The only part in the whole chemistry syllabus that I am remotely interested in is the Drugs option but that's pretty much it . I could go for chem at SL so I don't have to do it as much since I dislike it though that would mean taking B&M up to HL since I'm not really into Arabic . I am honestly so damn stuck . I am fluent in Arabic btw . Here are the blocks offered by my school :

Block 1 : English Literature SL/HL
Block 2 : Arabic B SL/HL , French B HL/SL , French Ab initio
Block 3 : Biology SL/HL , Art SL/HL , History SL/HL , Business and Management Sl/HL
Block 4 : Maths HL , Maths SL , Math Studies SL
Block 5 : Physics SL/HL , ESS SL , B&M SL/HL
Block 6 : Chemistry SL/HL , Biology SL/HL , Design Tech SL/HL , ESS SL

Another option would be to keep history HL and drop English Lit to SL and take B&M up to HL though it is viewed as a soft subject so I don't really know . How hard is English Literature ?

For uni , I'm seriously stuck between medicine and psychology though I am leaning much more toward psych as I find it more interesting so don't tell me to take chem HL just in case I wanna do medicine because I can study psych and then move to medicine since I may do psychiatry if that makes sense . Out of all these subjects I am 100% sure to take Bio HL and Math Studies SL and then its a problem . I am definitely taking B&M as I hate physics and ESS though I'm not sure HL or SL . I have never studied English Literature though my mum is an English Lit master and so she can help me even if I take HL I suppose . I can't take art as I'm not really any good at that kind of thing and same goes for design tech its just not my type of thing . Now its between history and chemistry . So freaking stuck . I know this is a really long post but I really need some help .

Option 1 :
English Lit HL
Biology HL
History HL
Business and Management SL
Math Studies SL
Arabic B SL

Option 2 :
English Lit SL
Biology HL
History HL
Business and Management HL
Math Studies SL
Arabic B SL

Option 3 :
English Lit SL
Biology HL
Chemistry HL
Business and Management HL
Math Studies SL
Arabic B SL

Option 4 :
English Lit HL
Biology HL
Chemistry SL
Business and Management HL
Math Studies SL
Arabic B SL

First of all, relax!!!

History: The IB history course is absolutely different to the IGCSE course so you won't be at a disadvantage if you end up choosing it but you obviously may be lacking a little background knowledge. That however shouldn't be a problem as you'll be taught everything that is required for your IB exams etc during the course of the 2 years. Since you seem so interested I definitely recommend you take it as having interest is one of the main thing that will enable you to bare the intense 2 years. Do keep in mind that history is a really a hard IB course, though and getting a 7 is quite rare. Nonetheless, if you are excellent at memorising a bunch of facts and can write coherent essays you'll be fine.

Chemistry: Firstly, doing well in IGCSE chemistry doesn't guarantee you'll do well in the equivalent IB course as the IB chemistry course is much harder and requires a lot of dedication and hard work to get by. On that note, don't take chemistry if your not interested the slightest as you'll regret it (basically take history instead as you'll be doing yourself a favour by taking a subject your more interested in). Secondly, you mention wanting to go into psychiatry (a sub speciality in medicine (which your clearly not aware of)) in which case you must go into a medicine course to become one (you specialise later on). In case your not aware you MUST take HL chemistry to get into medicine in the UK so there is no way you can achieve your goal to become a psychiatrist without going into medicine. Therefore, if your still interested in psychiatry you've got to HL Biology + Chemistry as well as SL Maths (beware studies may be looked down upon, you need to confirm this by emailing unis though). However, if your mixing being a psychiatrist with a psychologist (which do research, counselling etc but don't prescribe medicine, psychiatrist are the ones that prescribe medication) then taking HL chemistry is unnecessary as psychology course only require HL biology.

Arabic: Seeing as your fluent in arabic you might consider taking it as a HL subject if you want an easy 7 but some unis may frown upon this if they realise it's your first language as you should be taking it as an A1 course. However, it's actually not that easy of a course if you're not fluent in fusha (or whatever it's called). I live in Saudi Arabia and many of the native Arabs still struggle with the course but they suck so don't take my anecdotal reference too seriously. I've lived here for around 13 years and don't speak much but can write a bit and have been allowed to take B SL so I think you taking it would be cheating the system. Have you considered taking french?

English Literature: Not haven taken literature before IB shouldn't pose as an issue as the depth of the course will be knew to everyone even those who've taken IGCSE literature. I'd know because I was in a similar stance this year as I wanted to take literature despite not taking it as an IGCSE subject. My teacher assured me that it's completely different and that if I work hard enough that I'd be able to do well. Don't let the fact that you've never taken literature before stop you from pursuing the IB course. Plus, you've go the added bonus of having your mom at your disposal to help you out whenever needed.

Basically, take history over chemistry* and take literature.

* Indicates that you must choose chemistry over history if you want to become a psychiatrist and not a psychologist.

For Psychiatry:

English Literature HL
Biology HL
Chemistry HL
Maths SL
Language (up to you)
B&M or History (both equally hard subjects, history however isn't considered to be a soft subject but since your HL subjects are hard as is, take the one where you think you'll obtain a higher score)

For Psychology: Option 2

English Literature HL
Biology HL
History HL
Maths Studies SL
Language SL
B&M SL (better as an SL subject since it's soft)

Thank you . I do know that psychiatry is a sub speciality in medicine what I meant was that I can take psychology then go into medical school with my Bachelor's grade so chemistry wouldn't be necessary . I honestly prefer clinical psychology over psychiatry so I'll probably take the second option . I actually live in the UAE so we're kinda close . The problem is my school has a rule which says if you are an arabic speaker you must take Arabic B SL/HL though I want to take French so I'm going to have to talk to the IB coordinator to check whether I can take French since my parents are fluent in French and I know a tiny bit because I am Tunisian . Taking Arabic would be sort of useless for me considering I'm already fluent so I'd rather learn a new language. I actually would rather take B&M at HL instead of English Literature , how bad do you think that would look on a university application ( I'm not planning on applying to Cambridge , Oxford or any top top universities , I'm thinking about universities like Kent and Nottingham those two universities are my wishes especially Nottingham uni )

If that's the case then not taking HL chemistry shall not be an issue for you! If you don't intend on applying to top universities then taking B&M over literature wouldn't be looked down upon that badly. Just talk to your school's IBC regarding the language issue i'm sure he'll be able to exempt you from the rule if your persuasive enough.

Umm , one last question . If I want to get into medicine as an international student , is this a competitive application ?

Bio HL, chem HL , B&M HL , English lit SL , Maths SL , French Ab initio ?

All your subjects are solid except I'd be wary of B&M HL. It's be better to take any soft subjects at SL rather than HL because unis won't mind it that way but they do frown upon taking a soft subject at HL. I'd verify by emailing universities since you don't want to lessen your chances before you even start as applying to medicine as an international student is VERY competitive.

So you're suggesting I take English Lit or Maths up to HL :/. Which one do you think would be easier ? Keep in my mind that I haven't really ever studied literature and that I'm not a huge math fan so I'm sort of stuck on that . What would you recommend ? ( if you have any information on how hard those two HL courses are could you please share it with me ? ) oh btw I think I got either A or minimum B on my math IGCSE but then again I never really listened in class nor studied before the exam so I honestly don't know .

I'd only suggest literature never maths especially in your case since maths is extremely hard and you pretty much are required to get an A* in IGCSE and have a strong aptitude/interest in maths to even consider it. So let's forget HL maths Nonetheless, literature is also really hard as well but I think the average student would do better in literature HL than maths, just work hard and you'll do fine in literature.

I'd advise you to consider taking another group 3 subject at HL. Economics, History, Philosophy and Geography are all respected subjects. The other group 3 subjects however, are not. I just looked at your school's option blocks that you mentioned in the previous post and it seems like you can't even do history and the only other group 3 subject offered in the block is ESS (SL only) which isn't a respectable subject either . So I suggest you take HL literature and drop B&M to standard level. Try out literature for however long your school allows you to test subjects out and then choose accordingly. Since your mom has a masters in literature you might consider asking her to introduce you to literature analysis etc during the summer to make things easier for yourself.

Good Luck! Everything will hopefully work it self out!

I see what you mean, I searched up a few things about both courses and I suppose that I'm better off with English as my HL . By the way I noticed there is something called a data booklet for some subjects (chem,physics, maths etc…) could you explain that to me ? do you get a copy of it in the exam or what ? Also for the options , do you like study all of them and then choose what to solve in the exam or do you study the options of your choice only ? I know I ask way too many questions and they're rather stupid and useless but I really want to understand the system .

Yep, you use the data booklet during your exams. Usually the options your class studies is chosen by your teacher well at least that's how it's done at my school according to my IBC. I doubt there's the time to study all the options, that's way too much!

I will be studying the Ib course and I looking to go into economics at uni, my subjects I have taken are between two choices:

HL
Maths
Physics
Economics

SL
English
Chemistry
Chinese Ab initio

or
HL
Maths
Economics
Chemistry

SL
English
History
Chinese Ab initio

However I have heard that maths higher level is really hard and goes into almost university level, is this true? Also I have been told that both combinations would be really hard to cope with due to the work load but these are my best subjects. But which one would be better for economics, does it matter if I do history or physics as long as I do maths and economics?

Done! I just submit my subject choices . I just really wanted to thank you because other people would just tell me to make up my mind already and to stop asking questions , I really appreciate your support . It means a lot to me . Good night !

Both combinations are absolutely perfect! You've got HL Maths which is the only requirement since taking economics isn't actually required but it's obviously good to take to obtain background information. Yes, Maths HL is extremely hard but there is no way around it as it is a requirement to get into the course you'd like to study unless you'll settle for taking an economics course at a much less reputable university. Just practice and work consistently daily and keep your mind on your goal and I'm sure you'll do great.

Regarding the history and physics dilemma: Are you more of a science person or do you prefer humanities? History involves a crazy amount of memorising where as physics involves understanding and applying really hard concepts - take your pick. I personally think the second subject combination is easier because HL Maths + Physics is really hard although they complement each other really well. However, if your not fully decided on studying economics and would like to keep the option of studying engineering open then definitely go with the first combination.

I think I may go for the second option even though I'm more of a science person I think I am better at history than physics, and since I don't really want to go into the engineering I might as well go for the second option, thanks for the advice

hello, I'm new here so sorry if I'm doing this forum thing wrong haha

I'm currently yr 10 and will take IB next year, the current subjects I've picked are
HL Eng Lit
HL History
HL Geography
Math Studies
SL Chinese Language & Literature
SL Biology

I'm just worried about what to take at University and what sort of career path there are, and if I should change one of my subjects. A lot of careers I googled are oral-oriented (I'm not good at public speaking) or otherwise is so competitive they need some ridiculously high qualification like masters or something.

Also, I'm wondering how hard the subjects are, particularly History, Geo & Chinese? Because
1. everyone says history and geo in IB is really hard and it's really really hard to get a 7
2. I'm a native Chinese speaker so i'm not allowed to pick Language B, but I really suck at Chinese writing, I can't remember enough characters. With reading, I can understand well enough, it's the writing part I struggle with. Is there anything I can do or do I just have to study Chinese like crazy? I'm worried I'll get a 2 or something and affecting my entrance to uni especially since people say UK universities require very high IB marks, and ideally I want to study eng lit in UK (though again, for what reason other than interest, I have no idea)