The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

Perhaps it is more popular, but don't take that as a sign that it is better! I guess it's true that you probably won't need tons of prior knowledge to taking History, as I think the topics you learn are a bit different, but having taken GCSE History, you'd be more confident in terms of exam/revision techniques and the way you learn the information. Then again, I am not exactly sure if there will be any overlap with any of the topics done at GCSE and IB, but obviously it would be helpful if you've taken the GCSE course.

Once again, it's entirely up to you to decide what's best for yourself, if you think you are capable of doing the HL History course, go for it! (But make sure that you've thoroughly considered everything!)

I picked the wrong subjects for my GCSEs, and I can tell you that right now I must say that I painfully regret my choices, but I have no choice but to stick with it. One of many reasons was because I listened to a student a year above who warned me not to take a certain subject, but now I realise that it was really just his opinion, and I regret listening to him. I also think it was partly due to my lack of consideration, and ultimately, it has affected my IB choice options as well (but not so much, which is a relief). So my point is to make sure you choose carefully, especially as this is IB and not just some lousy GCSEs that most schools won't even pay attention to! xD

Having studied Philosophy + Religious Studies at GCSE, I think that I have quite a good grasp on exam technique - especially since PRS is a content and essay-based subject as well. Although the information at GCSE History is different, I do think that the skills I've learned from PRS will be sufficient to help me a little bit in IB.

I picked the wrong GCSE subjects too - instead of taking GCSE PRS and Physics, I feel that I should have done History and Economics instead, since I don't want to be studying a science in the future (I don't even know why I chose two sciences).

You've given me a lot of helpful advice, which I sincerely appreciate, but I've always been indecisive, so I think I'm going to have to do a bit more research. I'm leaning more towards IB History, though - although I haven't studied it previously, there are certain aspects to it that seem interesting (although Philosophy has that too), so I wouldn't mind taking it terribly. My parents are also leaning me towards taking History - they feel as if it will be a better choice for me. Can't help but feel like I should listen to them, since they have more experience?

If you don't mind me asking, what are your current IB options, and what did you pick for GCSE?

Well that's great! I'm glad that I could offer any help or insight at all, seeing as it's pretty much my first time helping someone out on this forum!
The subjects I took for (I)GCSE are: History, Geography (a terrible, terrible mistake), Music, and Chinese. For science, I did the double award course (there's a triple award option which basically counts as two subjects because you learn more of the syllabus and you also have more lessons per week than the double award). English, Maths and IT are mandatory subjects.

My initial choice was DT in place of Geography, but my options clashed as there weren't enough classes for me to take two art subjects, so I chose Economics, but I was indecisive, and ended up changing my choice to Geography after briefly flicking through the Geography course page. Looking back, I wish that I took Economics and Media (so I can take HL Economics with confidence and SL Film) instead of Geography and Music, but I guess it's too late to do that now!

For my IB choices (so far), I've selected HL Maths, Chemistry, and Economics, SL Chinese A, English A Literature, and Music. I am currently trying to drop down to HL Chinese B (SL A Chinese was the only option open for me and my teacher refuses to open the HL B option up for me...which sucks because I am already struggling with Chinese now..) and am planning to apply for a change from SL Music to Bio. As you can see, I am an extremely indecisive person hahah xD

45/45 here I go!! (just joking)

I am so annoyed - I typed up a response on my phone and my browser crashed I want to rip my face off.

You said that you took History at GCSE, but I can't help but notice that you didn't take it at IB. Could you tell me what studying History at GCSE was like, and why you didn't choose it at IB?

I'm indecisive too, so I'm a bit happy to see that there's a kindred spirit like me :P

I think you're going to get a 45/45 - I have faith in you!

aww I hate it when that happens :/ (By 'that' I mean applications crashing)!

Okay, so the reason I didn't take it at IB is because I have a horrible memory and I simply cannot retain all that information in my head. I've done decent so far on my History mock exams though, and the revision I did was overnight cramming (which I highly do not recommend haha). I'm also not that good of a writer (in my opinion) -- I'm not one for essays or things which involve lots of non-fictional writing (so humanities in general are probably really not my thing) and I'm a slow writer so I don't do well in any circumstance under timed conditions, but that's not to say I don't like the subject itself -- I love learning about history, it's just the part where I have to absorb information that I have trouble with.

For my IGCSE History learning experience, I think I have a good teacher, albeit a bit lenient for marking, he teaches well and is very passionate about history. He makes me enjoy learning about the subject, but I just find it difficult to actually remember all the specific dates and facts/information.

Another reason I picked Economics as my humanities option instead of History is because I think it will be more beneficial for me in the future -- I don't plan on going into the field of law or politics in the future (or anything that really requires History), but I am considering to go into the finance/business field as my backup if my first choices don't go through (i.e. for uni apps). My parents are both involved in this field as well, so I think they can offer at least some help and guidance if I ever have trouble on a certain topic.

Overall, if there was an option to not take humanities, I would probably pick that, unless there was another option that would allow me to learn without having to take exams haha (in my dreams!) x)

The only part I'm worried about IB History is the memorisation part. I'm interested in the content, so I think that it will make memorising the information slightly easier, but I've still heard that it's very content-heavy (help!). My plan so far is to take History HL for about a month, and then if I feel as though it is too hard, I will switch it out for Philosophy HL (which the school will hopefully allow).

I know that for my school's History teachers are quite good - they're better than the Philosophy teachers, so I'm going to bear that in mind when I make my decision.

I agree with you - I really want a version of IB where we can study all the things we're interested in without the need for exams. Sometimes it's a bit sad how society places such a large value and emphasis on exam grades.

I know right? Exams take the fun out of everything

I'm sure that if you're truly interested in learning about the topic, memorisation will be a lot easier, so don't worry! (Just check out Saoirse:3's comment!) Go for it

Thanks! I had another talk with the History Department and they said to go for it as well.Just one last question - do you reckon I should be taking HL Chemistry (along with HL English and History) or HL Economics? I take Chemistry at IGCSE but do not take Economics. However, since I'm a bit worried for HL History, I want to lessen my workload, and I've heard that HL Economics is easier than Chemistry (apparently it's a real pain in the butt). Also, I'm studying humanities in Uni, so I shouldn't need Chemistry at HL, right?

hmm.. well if you want to lessen your workload, then yes, not taking HL Chemistry would be a good choice -- I've heard HL Chem is rather difficult too. I can't say for sure that you won't need Chemistry at HL if you're doing humanities in Uni since I haven't done much research about undergrad requirements for humanities degrees, but I suppose so? If you think you'll benefit more from HL Economics then I think it wouldn't hurt to take it (I mean, I chose HL Chem and Econ )

Nice! Thanks! Since you take HL Economics, how hard would you it is to pick up? I've taken a look at the syllabus and it seems quite interesting, but IDK what it'd be like in terms of the difficulty of the content.

oh no! haha I meant that I picked HL Economics -- I haven't started IB either so I can't help you on that one :P Sorry about that confusion! I have heard that it is one of the easier HLs to do though which is reassuring, but then again 'easy' probably isn't included in the IB's list of vocabulary x)

Oops sorry, I misunderstood! XD

That's true, IB as a whole is probably really difficult. As if taking 6 subjects isn't enough, we still have the EE, TOK and CAS >.<

The only part I'm worried about IB History is the memorisation part. I'm interested in the content, so I think that it will make memorising the information slightly easier, but I've still heard that it's very content-heavy (help!). My plan so far is to take History HL for about a month, and then if I feel as though it is too hard, I will switch it out for Philosophy HL (which the school will hopefully allow).

I know that for my school's History teachers are quite good - they're better than the Philosophy teachers, so I'm going to bear that in mind when I make my decision.

I agree with you - I really want a version of IB where we can study all the things we're interested in without the need for exams. Sometimes it's a bit sad how society places such a large value and emphasis on exam grades.

Hi, I know this has been replied to, but I'd just like to say that in my opinion, a month is not enough to know if History is too hard or not. Each individual topic is very straightforward and not that hard, but put together for final exams, the workload increases exponentially. Throughout my 2 years in history I thought it was easy and was getting 6s/7s. I'm barely scraping a 5 for my predicted grades. You are correct, its insanely content heavy, but more than that. You don't just have to memorise, you need to memorise the content then analyse on the spot.

I love the content of history but by the end of it, it really wore me down. I would not suggest Chem and History HL, this year both exams are at the same time D: But then again it might change

I very much regret not taking Econ HL instead. But it really is up to you and you're studying XD Don't get me wrong I liked history, I'm just struggling so bad for exams right now

Hey there! Thank you so much for your opinion

I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and yes, I've heard that the History exam is a pain in the butt, especially for HL since the amount of work is insane. However, I do think that it's a good challenge, and paired with my interest for History, I think I'll be fine doing it. Courses I want to do in University also recommend History, so at the end of the day, I'll probably end up sticking to it (as opposed to changing to HL Philosophy).

I don't really mind when the exams are for each subject, but after some consideration, I've decided to take Econ HL instead of Chem HL. I picked Chem HL as a back-up so I could study science in University, but I've heard that in order to do so, you either need one HL science and HL maths, or two HL sciences (both of which I don't have - I only have one science).

Again, thank you very much! Good luck on your exams

I have chosen the following subjects for IB because I felt they best suited both my strengths and the degree I aspire to do at uni, however I have been told on frequent occasions that these subjects will generate an extraordinary workload, and that it will be far too much to cope with.

Maths HL
Physics HL
Russian B HL

English A SL
Economics SL
Latin SL

I do not doubt my abilities in these subjects, but will it really be too much to handle?

Hi I'm Peter

I'm a GCSE student and got my results recently (12A*!) which I'm really happy about. But my decisions in my IB subjects are really worrying me.

I really enjoy the science and do well in them, especially Biology which I have chosen for Higher Level. I've been advised to take another science to make sure I open all doors for a career in the sciences so I have decided to take Higher Chemistry

I'm also interested in finance and look forward to a career with a kind of business like surrounding and lifestyle. So I have chosen to take Maths Higher with Economics Standard.

So overall I'm taking:

Higher Level
Maths
Chemistry
Biology

Standard Level
German
English
Economics

I understand that the subjects I have chosen are really hard, and I'm wondering if I should switch economics with geography which is a subject I do well at and could boost my overall IB score? Would it give me less options in the future for a career in finance? I've also heard that standard levels aren't that important?

Sorry, Its a bit long winded xD
I'm grateful for any replies
Thanks =D