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What to choose for IB?

Im going to choose my IB subjects soon, im not sure if i want to do medicine or finance/ economics


Im considering taking:
Chinese B HL (this is compulsory from my school i cant drop it to SL)
Chemistry HL
Biology HL


Maths SL
Eng Lit SL
Econ SL


im wondering if study 2 HL sciences is a must for medicine? Is taking 4 HL subjects hard? because i might consider taking HL Econ
If i dont have to study 2 HL sciences for med, then i might consider dropping bio for HL econ. Any advice?
You must study HL chem and bio for medicine. Take the subjects you do best in as IB Is quite challenging
Reply 2
Original post by heyo123
Im going to choose my IB subjects soon, im not sure if i want to do medicine or finance/ economics


Im considering taking:
Chinese B HL (this is compulsory from my school i cant drop it to SL)
Chemistry HL
Biology HL


Maths SL
Eng Lit SL
Econ SL


im wondering if study 2 HL sciences is a must for medicine? Is taking 4 HL subjects hard? because i might consider taking HL Econ
If i dont have to study 2 HL sciences for med, then i might consider dropping bio for HL econ. Any advice?


Eh, I suggest you decide between economics and medicine soon as you'll be in a sticky situation when it comes to selecting your subjects. For medicine, you need to take higher level chemistry/biology. For economics, you need to take higher level maths, economics would be preferable too but is no way a requirements - most student WILL take economics a level or IB if they want to apply for economics, though.

This is the best combo for your intended majors:

Biology HL
Maths HL
Chemistry HL
Chinese B HL

Economics SL
English Literature SL

Good Luck!
Reply 3
Original post by pbunny
Eh, I suggest you decide between economics and medicine soon as you'll be in a sticky situation when it comes to selecting your subjects. For medicine, you need to take higher level chemistry/biology. For economics, you need to take higher level maths, economics would be preferable too but is no way a requirements - most student WILL take economics a level or IB if they want to apply for economics, though.

This is the best combo for your intended majors:

Biology HL
Maths HL
Chemistry HL
Chinese B HL

Economics SL
English Literature SL

Good Luck!



Take it from me, I just finished IB and 3 HL subjects is hard enough. It's a very taxing programme and you really need to look into whether you really want medicine or economics as I think taking 4 HLs might just be too much, especially as those subjects are all v dense as they are. You'll thank me a year from now when you're juggling your EE and ToK essay and IAs for each subject and exam revision and uni applications!! Even if you suddenly realise you made the wrong decision its not the end of the world; crammer courses and foundation years at uni can easily fix anything :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 4
Original post by 4n14
Take it from me, I just finished IB and 3 HL subjects is hard enough. It's a very taxing programme and you really need to look into whether you really want medicine or economics as I think taking 4 HLs might just be too much, especially as those subjects are all v dense as they are. You'll thank me a year from now when you're juggling your EE and ToK essay and IAs for each subject and exam revision and uni applications!! Even if you suddenly realise you made the wrong decision its not the end of the world; crammer courses and foundation years at uni can easily fix anything :smile:


I'm very much aware of the fact that doing 4 Higher level subjects is crazy hard. However, in the case of the OP he has no other option as economics requires higher level maths and medicine requires higher level chemistry/biology. Plus, Chinese B HL is compulsory so there is no way around it. If he doesn't take those highers he won't meet the requirements for the courses he wants to apply for. That is why I suggested he decide between medicine/economics soon.
If you can, I'd avoid doing HL Maths, but I don't think you need that for either Economics or Medicine (LSE may want HL Maths tho)

You don't necessarily need to have studied Economics before studying it at uni, but unis rate the HL Economics course highly.
Reply 6
Original post by Bude8
If you can, I'd avoid doing HL Maths, but I don't think you need that for either Economics or Medicine (LSE may want HL Maths tho)

You don't necessarily need to have studied Economics before studying it at uni, but unis rate the HL Economics course highly.


Actually all the highly ranked universities require higher level maths - not just LSE. Don't know why but they do.

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Reply 7
Original post by heyo123
Im going to choose my IB subjects soon, im not sure if i want to do medicine or finance/ economics


Im considering taking:
Chinese B HL (this is compulsory from my school i cant drop it to SL)
Chemistry HL
Biology HL


Maths SL
Eng Lit SL
Econ SL


im wondering if study 2 HL sciences is a must for medicine? Is taking 4 HL subjects hard? because i might consider taking HL Econ
If i dont have to study 2 HL sciences for med, then i might consider dropping bio for HL econ. Any advice?


Honestly I wouldn't reccomend taking 4 HL subjects at all. It just creates too much work for yourself and it is not necessary at all. Although if you are fluent in Chinese already, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take 4 HL subjects...?

I'm also pretty sure that for Medicine you have to study both HL Chem and Biology - at least in my school all the Med applicants studied them both.
hi, my sister is gettin gto IB next year and she wants to study ECONOMICS WITH SOCIOLOGY in the university of Edinburgh.
What courses she would choose for IB.
?
thanks!!!
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by heyo123
Im going to choose my IB subjects soon, im not sure if i want to do medicine or finance/ economics


Im considering taking:
Chinese B HL (this is compulsory from my school i cant drop it to SL)
Chemistry HL
Biology HL


Maths SL
Eng Lit SL
Econ SL


im wondering if study 2 HL sciences is a must for medicine? Is taking 4 HL subjects hard? because i might consider taking HL Econ
If i dont have to study 2 HL sciences for med, then i might consider dropping bio for HL econ. Any advice?



Since you're stuck with Chinese B, if you ever need help, try NTK's writing guide. They have a lot Chinese B sample essays and useful vocabulary.
Original post by panayiotas
hi, my sister is gettin gto IB next year and she wants to study ECONOMICS WITH SOCIOLOGY in the university of Edinburgh.
What courses she would choose for IB.
?
thanks!!!


I am thinking of economics and I chose
HL : maths history economics
SL english lit mandarin and biology


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