Economics HL/SL difference

How big is it?
I'm in my IB Year1 and the HL and SL has been doing the same class for now.
Next year, the class will focus on HL content.
I haven't decided on my 3rd HL subject yet, so I'm contemplating on which HL to do.

How big is the difference between the HL and SL works? My teacher says that it is only a little bit more content. Is this true? Do the exam questions tend to be easier in SL Econ? Also finally, would examiners be more generous in giving points in SL than in HL?

If you could answer my questions, that would be very helpful.
Thanks!

Reply 1

MOORE_LAWSTUDENT

Bizarre. Normally you choose your 3 HLs and 3 SLs at the very beginning. I don't know how you have followed a syllabus if you have not done this already. For example, MATHS HL is much more difficult than MATHS SL. 1 year would not bring you up to the level needed.

Speak to teachers immediately.

Reply 2

IB-betterthanyou

Actually, I think there is a lot more content to learn for HL. Certain chapters are basically the same, like Intro to Economics and Economic Development. But for Markets, there is a whole other 100-page HL section called Theory of a Firm. In Trade and Macroeconomics, there are also a bunch of smaller subchapters that only HL students need to know.

Personally, even SL Economics was a nightmare for me so I can't imagine learning the 200+ extra pages of content for HL. But if you are good at economics, then you should be able to understand everything in one reading and rely on general knowledge for the exams. SL exam questions do tend to be easier because there is less content they can ask you about, so the questions tend to repeat themselves every so often.

Reply 3

HJV

IB-betterthanyou

But for Markets, there is a whole other 100-page HL section called Theory of a Firm.

Theory of the Firm.

Amount of pages is an inadequate measure for the length of a section, as there isn't an official IB Economics textbook that everyone uses. For example, the Oxford (A-level) book is only about 120 pages in total.

Anyway, some schools do leave the HL/SL level selection very late for some subjects, where the two overlap greatly. E.g. in History papers 1 and 2 are exactly the same, meaning the two classes can in theory be taught parts of the course together.

OP: What two HLs are you choosing between? You did not mention what the other choice is, making it very hard for us to say what we think is 'easier' or 'more useful' (subjectively).

Just look at the Economics syllabus. The grey boxes are the HL stuff. It tells you precisely how much more HL needs to study...

Reply 4

IB-betterthanyou

HJV

Theory of the Firm.

A little nitpicky, are we :wink:

?

Anyway, I suppose I should have said how long my textbook is in total (something like 600 pages).. 100 pages, of course, means nothing.. but in my particular textbook, Theory of the Firm :smile:

represents about 1/6 of the book. All books are different and I guess they will talk more or less about different topics, but in my understanding, there is a good deal of extra information to know for HL Economics.

Reply 5

Deus

Theory of the firm is actually incredibly easy. All of micro is so simple.

Reply 6

La Môme

In my school, you don't choose HL/SL until you are in IB2. We don't have Math HL so I guess that doesn't really matter...but when I brought up HL/SL with some of my teachers, they just changed the subject. :smile:

Reply 7

funnyeggplant

IMO not much of a difference; the Theory of the Firm stuff is not that difficult, and Economics is one of those where there is little difference between HL and SL; one could theoretically (get a decent 6 or something) not study theory of the firm altogether and study what roughyl the SL economics ppl study (minus like, concepts such as the Phillips Curve which is easy to learn anyway even if you are SL, or the Gini Coeffficient which again is really easy, or the Marshall-Lerner Condition which again even if you're a SL student you can just read a chapter of a book ad you'll undersatnd)

not much of a difference. if you're having trouble filling up a HL spot HL economics would be a fine filler.

Reply 8

mal00

I agree with the above post. I chose Econ HL because it was very much like the SL course... and the addon chapters are mostly very easy (especially Theory of the Firm).... I also find Theory of the Firm the most interesting part of the syllabus.. so that helps

I say go with HL!

Reply 9

o.Ob

I agree with the last few posters. If you look at the gap between HL and SL economics and compare that to a course such as computer science and physics, it's relatively minute.

Reply 10

buzhidao

HL eco have got 3 papers
- data response
- short answer question
- essay

SL -> 2 papers
- data response
- essay

HL have got a bit more theory to learn than SL...but the internal assessmentsnare all the same whether u'r SL or HL

i do SL eco and ive already finished the whole SL course..so i have 1 whole term to revision before my november exams