Crashing HL History

I'm trying to decide my subjects , and although I was pretty set on doing HL Global Politics , after thinking about what I wanna study in the future ( law, english or PPE) it seems that History would be a far better choice. The only problem is that I didn't do it for GCSE so I wondered how difficult it would be to crash it for HL in the IB , and if it isn't impossible, what sort of stuff can i do to catch up on the necessary skills before starting school in August . Does anyone have any experience with HL History? I am very interested in History so I would have the motivation to study it - I didn't study it at GCSE for the sole reason that French and Drama were much easier choices ( I was a rather lazy 14 year old..)

thanks in advance!

Reply 1

999tigger

It depends where you apply to as to whether doing History makes any difference. It doesnt really make any difference to study once you get there, but some unis prefer it. that said its good for understanding a situation and presenting an argument.

I dont think its any disadvantage to not have done GCSE. Just understand the situation and then the position if the country or leader at that time, then how they react to events. I looked at the syllabus an assuming I got the right one
History of Europe and the Islamic world or 20th century world history

Interesting syllabus- try and do the one that interests you.Read up a bit about the topics, watch some TV progs .
I cant say one looks any easier than the other
Is what i found

http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/individuals-and-societies/history/

Reply 2

Calsiwm_Silicad

Original post by 999tigger

thanks!!

Reply 3

rach6277

I really messed up my History GCSE and it really didn't matter in the end. IB History has little to nothing to do with GCSE history (what we did anyways).
It's really good for learning how to write kick ass essays and presenting a really good and convincing argument. In my opinion it'll be useful even if you won't do History at uni, although the paper 3 that comes with doing HL is pretty intimidating since it's 2 and a half hours long and they expect you to write 3 essays in that time. If that's alright with you then I'd say go for it, I personally really enjoyed it over the last 2 years.

Reply 4

Galaxie501

@Calsiwm_Silicad

I took HL History and completed my final exams in May 2015.

On some occasions it looked like I could get a 6 or 7 but I ended up with a 5 in the end, which is still ok if you ask me. History was the one IB subject where I wrote the most essays, by far. My teacher made me write tons of practice essays for each topic but I may have ended up with a 1 or a 2 if he didnt make me do that - good training.

I found HL history quite challenging due to the essay structure, especially blending the right amount of personal analysis with historical facts. If you like history you will have no problems though.

Ofcouse this is annecdotal, just keep that in mind.