The Student Room Group

IB dicision for a newbie from a non-IB country

Hi there! I'm a foreign student, who is going to study in the UK next year. I'm just about to enter my Sixth Form and I've decided to take the IB course.
But here the problem comes: I have no idea how to make a balanced, well-rounded curriculum. I've already examined all the possible IB subjects my school offers, but still not confident about the whole system. BTW, at uni I'd like to study journalism.
I would like to know a bit more about subjects I'm tending to chose and they are the following:
English Lit HL (I really do need to find out whether it's possible for me as an actual resident of a non-english speaking country to deal with all the difficulties of this subject. I mean like, can anybody give me at least rough list of books to be studied during the IB)
History HL (no questions about that, history is history)
Global Politics/Film HL (not sure about which to take! Is Global Politics HL difficult?)
Maths SL (Anybody! What is the difference between regular Maths and Maths Studies? In my country we only have compulsory algebra&geometry)
Italian ab initio (I would really like to take French, but unfortunately I have no clue about this language and IB French requires at least A at GCSE)
And... Science. This is the biggest problem. Hesitating between physics SL and environmentl studies SL(I'm definetely not a science person even though it's not a problem for me to cope with it, i simply don't enjoy science)

What would you advice? I really need your answers.

Thanks!
Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Why not try posting in a specific subject forum- you might have more luck there.

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses. :redface:

:h:
Original post by TSR Jessica
Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Why not try posting in a specific subject forum- you might have more luck there.

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses. :redface:

:h:


Piss off jessica
Original post by Valerie17
Hi there! I'm a foreign student, who is going to study in the UK next year. I'm just about to enter my Sixth Form and I've decided to take the IB course.
But here the problem comes: I have no idea how to make a balanced, well-rounded curriculum. I've already examined all the possible IB subjects my school offers, but still not confident about the whole system. BTW, at uni I'd like to study journalism.
I would like to know a bit more about subjects I'm tending to chose and they are the following:
English Lit HL (I really do need to find out whether it's possible for me as an actual resident of a non-english speaking country to deal with all the difficulties of this subject. I mean like, can anybody give me at least rough list of books to be studied during the IB)
History HL (no questions about that, history is history)
Global Politics/Film HL (not sure about which to take! Is Global Politics HL difficult?)
Maths SL (Anybody! What is the difference between regular Maths and Maths Studies? In my country we only have compulsory algebra&geometry)
Italian ab initio (I would really like to take French, but unfortunately I have no clue about this language and IB French requires at least A at GCSE)
And... Science. This is the biggest problem. Hesitating between physics SL and environmentl studies SL(I'm definetely not a science person even though it's not a problem for me to cope with it, i simply don't enjoy science)

What would you advice? I really need your answers.

Thanks!


Hi!
I am away to sit my IB exams in a month and at my school we have a range of different nationalities exactly, a couple of people in similar positions to you actually so I hope this helps!
If journalism is something you are thinking of perusing then HL English is definitely a good idea! Personally I do Sl English because its really not a strong point for me but lots of my friends do it and there doesn't seem to be much of a gap between the two - they are just marked slightly differently, you get more time in the two exams and the majority of the course (55%) is course work anyway! The texts you study will really depend on your school and the teacher you have - every class at my school did different texts for different things so i would maybe contact the school or even better the department for that info! So even if you are a non-native English speaker you will honesty be fine! My friend is Colombian and before joining my school lived in Colombia and was speaking Mexican 24/7, she is now doing HL English and is acing it!!
I am doing HL history and it is not the easiest of things... but if you really like history and writing lots (and lots!) you will do well! and if your going for journalism history will good super on your application.
I cant offer anything on global politics and film my school doesnt offer it - but for journalism I would think Global politics would work better but im not sure! My best advice would be go for the subjects that are going to get you the highest grades - the difficulty varies!
Do maths studies for sure!! Unless you actually need SL maths its really not worth doing and maths studies is so so much easier. On UCAS maths studies shows up as Maths SL so even then it makes no difference - you will probably get a higher grade easier in studies.
I think AB Italian is a good idea! I'm doing HL french and I am fluent in it and I'm going getting 5s it's really hard! AB language is much easier (from what i''ve heard)
And last but not least science; taking ESS will be the best decision you've ever made I kid you not - I hate science so much always have, always will, but ESS is honestly the dream - I am predicted 7s! Top tip - if you are considering ESS maybe consider geography? A lot of the things you learn in ESS is covered in the geography course you you are saving yourself time and means less content to learn! and Physics is one of the hardest IB subjects- unless you have a passion for it or need it for uni avoid it trust me!
I hope this helps and if you have any more questions I am more than happy to help in anyway I can xx

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