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Ib subjects for law

Hi all, I will be starting my first term of ib in a weeks time and as wondering if the subjects I have chosen would be suitable for me to pursue a law degree in the UK.

HL :
English Lang Lit
Psychology
Biology

SL:
Math AI
Visual Arts
Mandarin Ab Intio

Also how difficult is visual arts for a person who has no prior experience in any art subject as visual arts was not my preferred subject choice.
Original post by gordoncheers
Hi all, I will be starting my first term of ib in a weeks time and as wondering if the subjects I have chosen would be suitable for me to pursue a law degree in the UK.

HL :
English Lang Lit
Psychology
Biology

SL:
Math AI
Visual Arts
Mandarin Ab Intio

Also how difficult is visual arts for a person who has no prior experience in any art subject as visual arts was not my preferred subject choice.

Hi there!

For your HL subjects, I would recommend taking History, just because it's an essay writing subject and those tend to be favoured; almost all law students that I know applying to the UK take HL History. If you school doesn't offer History, you could try taking Political Science or something along those lines?

Your SLs don't matter as much, so I wouldn't worry too much about those. I don't take Visual Arts, but I honestly would not recommend taking it, if you have no prior experience or interest. Art is one of the most difficult subjects to score a 7 in just because of how subjective it is. Moreover, it is a LOT of work, especially around exhibition time. A lot of my friends who took Art struggled to focus on their other subjects (and if you're taking subjects like Biology and Psychology which require a ton of memorization, it could be difficult to allocate your time efficiently). For people who don't like/have experience in the subject, it could be very difficult to find motivation or inspiration for your artwork.

Maybe you could take up HL History and move Biology to SL?

Hope this helps!
I agree that Visual Arts will be rather challenging for someone without prior experience or a love for the arts. It is not a 'filler' subject. The subject is extremely time-consuming near final exam time. You don't want to be still doing coursework when everyone is hunkering down to study for final exams.

Of your 3 HLs, a HL English is certainly a "must" for Law in the UK, so you are good. Doing HL History is typical of applying to Law too but it is not 100% essential. Never take a subject that you have no confidence scoring well. History is one of the hardest subjects to score a 6 or 7. With law, you need a minimum of 666 (you will not likely get an offer) from all your HLs. I have friends who didn't take HL History but HL Econs and HL Global Politics, and they had offers from Durham, QMUL, Warwick and KCL.

In the UK, LNAT score is heavily weighted in the universities' assessment, unless it is a university that does not require the LNAT (maybe you want to apply to some LNAT universities and some non-LNAT universities as your safeties). You can google for the various minimum LNAT score that each of your university choices require, and hope to do well in LNAT and obtain above the threshold. A friend was rejected by UCL because her LNAT score was not as competitive.

I don't think law schools have any minimum math subject requirement but SL Math AI is seen as a weak subject. If possible, take SL Math AA.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by gordoncheers
Hi all, I will be starting my first term of ib in a weeks time and as wondering if the subjects I have chosen would be suitable for me to pursue a law degree in the UK.

HL :
English Lang Lit
Psychology
Biology

SL:
Math AI
Visual Arts
Mandarin Ab Intio

Also how difficult is visual arts for a person who has no prior experience in any art subject as visual arts was not my preferred subject choice.


1. If you don’t need HL biology don’t take it. I’d recommend geography or glopol if you’re looking for an easier subject to fill the third HL. History HL would be probably the best but if you don’t want to take it that’s fair. I want to do law and took econ and geo instead of history.
2. Visual arts is not an easy subject and I would also advise against taking it if you don’t want to pursue an arts degree. I’d swap it out with SL biology. Alternatively you could do ESS if your school offers it.
Reply 4
Original post by allieney
1. If you don’t need HL biology don’t take it. I’d recommend geography or glopol if you’re looking for an easier subject to fill the third HL. History HL would be probably the best but if you don’t want to take it that’s fair. I want to do law and took econ and geo instead of history.
2. Visual arts is not an easy subject and I would also advise against taking it if you don’t want to pursue an arts degree. I’d swap it out with SL biology. Alternatively you could do ESS if your school offers it.

I am thinking of doing law and have History, Geography, and English as my HLs. Would you recommend switching Geography out for Economics? In addition what Maths course (AA or AI) would you recommend for law at SL.
Reply 5
There are NO specific subjects required for Law - you could be taking all HL sciences and it would be fine.
Some people find taking an essay based subject is useful for skills/LNAT but this is not essential.
And no-one is going to care with SL Maths you have taken.

Pick three HL subjects that you will enjoy studying and where you feel confident of high grades.
And go to some Uni Open Days in Year 12 to find out what a Law degree is all about.
Reply 6
Original post by BubblesBB
I agree that Visual Arts will be rather challenging for someone without prior experience or a love for the arts. It is not a 'filler' subject. The subject is extremely time-consuming near final exam time. You don't want to be still doing coursework when everyone is hunkering down to study for final exams.
Of your 3 HLs, a HL English is certainly a "must" for Law in the UK, so you are good. Doing HL History is typical of applying to Law too but it is not 100% essential. Never take a subject that you have no confidence scoring well. History is one of the hardest subjects to score a 6 or 7. With law, you need a minimum of 666 (you will not likely get an offer) from all your HLs. I have friends who didn't take HL History but HL Econs and HL Global Politics, and they had offers from Durham, QMUL, Warwick and KCL.
In the UK, LNAT score is heavily weighted in the universities' assessment, unless it is a university that does not require the LNAT (maybe you want to apply to some LNAT universities and some non-LNAT universities as your safeties). You can google for the various minimum LNAT score that each of your university choices require, and hope to do well in LNAT and obtain above the threshold. A friend was rejected by UCL because her LNAT score was not as competitive.
I don't think law schools have any minimum math subject requirement but SL Math AI is seen as a weak subject. If possible, take SL Math AA.

English is NOT in anyway essential for a Law degree.
It is not 'a must' at all.
No University requires it - and none will 'prefer' it.
Yeah, Law is amongst the most open in terms of subject requirements. Just do whatever you think you'll do best in/enjoy and check whether any prospective unis need at least 1 essay/humanities subject. Most don't.
Reply 8
Original post by djmpia
I am thinking of doing law and have History, Geography, and English as my HLs. Would you recommend switching Geography out for Economics? In addition what Maths course (AA or AI) would you recommend for law at SL.

Unless you want to do AA, don't do it. Maths SL is so unimportant to unis, so prioritise getting a better grade. A 5/6 in Maths AA looks much worse than a 7 in Maths AI. Also for your SLs, do the easier subject as you need as much time possible for you HLs.
Reply 9
Original post by lawdepartment
Hi there!
For your HL subjects, I would recommend taking History, just because it's an essay writing subject and those tend to be favoured; almost all law students that I know applying to the UK take HL History. If you school doesn't offer History, you could try taking Political Science or something along those lines?
Your SLs don't matter as much, so I wouldn't worry too much about those. I don't take Visual Arts, but I honestly would not recommend taking it, if you have no prior experience or interest. Art is one of the most difficult subjects to score a 7 in just because of how subjective it is. Moreover, it is a LOT of work, especially around exhibition time. A lot of my friends who took Art struggled to focus on their other subjects (and if you're taking subjects like Biology and Psychology which require a ton of memorization, it could be difficult to allocate your time efficiently). For people who don't like/have experience in the subject, it could be very difficult to find motivation or inspiration for your artwork.
Maybe you could take up HL History and move Biology to SL?
Hope this helps!

I agree with this 100% as someone who did HL Visual art - I would spend almost all my time in the art studio (which was fine as I loved it), but in year 13, SL students would be in there as much as me. If art is not your first choice, don't do it. And following on from that, there are people in this thread who are recommending Maths AA as it is 'viewed' better than universities, but I would recommend doing the easiest subjects you can for your SLs, as universities look at them less/don't care, and only your grades matter (so go ahead and get that easy Maths AI grade). If you don't care about art, DO NOT do it SL, you will struggle, and you are far from guaranteed a good grade.

Also, side note: are you set on Mandarin Ab? I know people who did it, and the only ones who did well are very dedicated, studious people.
Original post by sarah_____
I agree with this 100% as someone who did HL Visual art - I would spend almost all my time in the art studio (which was fine as I loved it), but in year 13, SL students would be in there as much as me. If art is not your first choice, don't do it. And following on from that, there are people in this thread who are recommending Maths AA as it is 'viewed' better than universities, but I would recommend doing the easiest subjects you can for your SLs, as universities look at them less/don't care, and only your grades matter (so go ahead and get that easy Maths AI grade). If you don't care about art, DO NOT do it SL, you will struggle, and you are far from guaranteed a good grade.
Also, side note: are you set on Mandarin Ab? I know people who did it, and the only ones who did well are very dedicated, studious people.

This could be said for any Ab Initio subject, to be honest.
Original post by BubblesBB
This could be said for any Ab Initio subject, to be honest.

Actually, I have heard great things from my friends who did Italian Ab Initio
Original post by sarah_____
Actually, I have heard great things from my friends who did Italian Ab Initio

That's good but what great things exactly? That Italian Ab is easy to learn? I wouldn't be surprised and I think Spanish Ab is also similar in terms of lesser difficulty. My point was that there isn't any Ab lang that one can learn by osmosis and applying minimal effort. Italian Ab grade boundary for a 7 is is 80 - 100. If expectations are a 5 or a 6, then clearly the amount of effort will also correlate.

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