Should I change IB subjects?

I'm currently in IB1 and I'm doing Maths AA, Physics and English LangLit HL and Chemistry, History and Spanish B SL. I'm hoping to get into Mechanical Engineering or Physics/Astrophysics at a top university either in the US or UK. I'm taking English at HL to hopefully keep some options open in case I change my mind.

However I'm starting to doubt my choices. History SL is already a lot of work, teachers make us note take and research in our time for things that will presumably be on the exam. I'm thinking about switching History to Econ SL, or even putting English to SL to do Econ HL. This would strengthen my science-based subjects but still keep some doors open for degrees, and also be way less work. However if Econ HL were to be more work, study and more difficult than English HL then I wouldn't do it. The same goes for History, if History SL is easier and less work than Econ SL then I would just stick with History.

What should I do?

Reply 1

dani070707

6

hey !

I am in IB1 and my sister passed out of IBDP. My mother is also a career counsellor

Let me give you a brutally honest advice .
firstly ,
NEVER do a group 3 as SL . group 3 = indivisuals and societies because you are expected to do the same amount of work as an HL student in a shorter time span .
SL is suggested 150 hours and HL is suggested 240 hours. However when you take a group 3 SL you need to do the same work as an HL student but in 150 hours .
Secondly,
In most universities , English at HL is not a requirment , however if you do choose to do a course in humanties like journilism then you might need a good grade at SL . You will anyway have the upper hand here since you have challanging courses at HL . However i still would reccomend you to check ther requirments out.

If you have Economics as a subject at SL or HL , this will widen your subject choices more than history .
if you choose to do economics , You have doors open to the commerce , and humanities backgrounds however if you choose to stick with hisotry it gives you a base for the humanities only.

I Hope this helped and do feel free to reach out if in case you need help :smile:

Reply 2

moonlight14

OP

2

Original post by dani070707

hey !

I am in IB1 and my sister passed out of IBDP. My mother is also a career counsellor

Let me give you a brutally honest advice .
firstly ,
NEVER do a group 3 as SL . group 3 = indivisuals and societies because you are expected to do the same amount of work as an HL student in a shorter time span .
SL is suggested 150 hours and HL is suggested 240 hours. However when you take a group 3 SL you need to do the same work as an HL student but in 150 hours .
Secondly,
In most universities , English at HL is not a requirment , however if you do choose to do a course in humanties like journilism then you might need a good grade at SL . You will anyway have the upper hand here since you have challanging courses at HL . However i still would reccomend you to check ther requirments out.

If you have Economics as a subject at SL or HL , this will widen your subject choices more than history .
if you choose to do economics , You have doors open to the commerce , and humanities backgrounds however if you choose to stick with hisotry it gives you a base for the humanities only.

I Hope this helped and do feel free to reach out if in case you need help :smile:

Thanks for your advice, especially about group 3 SL vs HL workload. Would you say that Econ HL would strengthen my HL subject choices (Maths AA and Physics) for the sciences? Also would you say Econ HL is more useful at keeping more options open than English HL?

Should I change IB subjects?

Related discussions

Articles for you