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recommendation for ib course selection, ess or compsci

I' currently a grade 10 ib students, I don't have any dream school/ major/ country.... I'm just trying to choose "easy" subjects.
My current selection is HL: chem, eng B, geo
SL: Math AA, Chinese A, either compsci or ess
I'm really struggle to choose either compsci or ess, which one would be easier? I heard compsci does not have many tests and its IA took a lot of time, and I'm not familiar with coding at all. But I think ess takes a lot of time (not sure)
memorizing stuff is fine for me (I don't have "critical thinking" lol)
plsplsplspls help (also for my other selections too)
Hi, I'm currently a Grade 10 student as well.
As far as I know ESS is for the people who don't really need Sciences in their life. So from all the sciences it is the easiest one I think. If you are notfamiliar with coding at all, then I think ESS will be the better choice for you hence you are doing Chemestry probably means that you are not bad at sciences. Speaking of other subjects you chose, I can say that Chemistry, English and Math AA are all somewhat time consuming subjects. For example, Chemistry is recognised as one of the "hardest" subjects in group 4 but your subject choiuces really depends on ur preferences and the job you want to get in the future.
As a conclusion, i can't really say that one subject is "easy" and one is "hard" but Chemistry is for sure more "Challenging" than ESS as far as I know. I hope this will help you
Reply 2
Original post by Tina1000
I' currently a grade 10 ib students, I don't have any dream school/ major/ country.... I'm just trying to choose "easy" subjects.
My current selection is HL: chem, eng B, geo
SL: Math AA, Chinese A, either compsci or ess
I'm really struggle to choose either compsci or ess, which one would be easier? I heard compsci does not have many tests and its IA took a lot of time, and I'm not familiar with coding at all. But I think ess takes a lot of time (not sure)
memorizing stuff is fine for me (I don't have "critical thinking" lol)
plsplsplspls help (also for my other selections too)

HL Chemistry is anything but easy. What other subjects are offered that you can choose, and will do well? I will not advise you to choose HL Chem because the students who take HL Chem are those who need it for Medicine, Dentistry, Vet Med, Chemical Engrg etc. It's a piece of cake for most of them, and so the grade boundary for a 7 in HL Chem is expectedly high. In my school, our internal grade boundary for a 7 is 92%. I have attached here an article for you to see >> https://www.easysevens.com/ib-grade-boundaries-may-2023/ This was my year - the first year where all COVID assessment adaptations were completely removed.

Does your school offer Global Politics? Economics? Film?
Reply 3
Original post by BubblesBB
HL Chemistry is anything but easy. What other subjects are offered that you can choose, and will do well? I will not advise you to choose HL Chem because the students who take HL Chem are those who need it for Medicine, Dentistry, Vet Med, Chemical Engrg etc. It's a piece of cake for most of them, and so the grade boundary for a 7 in HL Chem is expectedly high. In my school, our internal grade boundary for a 7 is 92%. I have attached here an article for you to see >> https://www.easysevens.com/ib-grade-boundaries-may-2023/ This was my year - the first year where all COVID assessment adaptations were completely removed.

Does your school offer Global Politics? Economics? Film?

We offer economics and film. My HL courses are kind of fixed because I don't think there's any better choice, and for SL, I just want to choose easy subjects (since they don't really matter to my future). Regarding ESS, I feel like it will take me a lot of time, but I'm not good at coding, so I'm worried about whether Computer Science SL is too hard for me (our teacher said it's really easy). I also have an additional question: Is it possible to take a STEM major with only chemistry? (because my STEM is way better than my I&S, my igcse score for chemistry is pretty high).
Reply 4
Original post by Tina1000
We offer economics and film. My HL courses are kind of fixed because I don't think there's any better choice, and for SL, I just want to choose easy subjects (since they don't really matter to my future). Regarding ESS, I feel like it will take me a lot of time, but I'm not good at coding, so I'm worried about whether Computer Science SL is too hard for me (our teacher said it's really easy). I also have an additional question: Is it possible to take a STEM major with only chemistry? (because my STEM is way better than my I&S, my igcse score for chemistry is pretty high).

I am not able to recommend between CS and ESS. I did neither of them. Have a look at the subject briefs to have your decision.

ESS https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/university-admission/pdfs/environmental-systems-and-societies-subject-brief-en.pdf - There is a change of syllabus (note 1st assessment in 2026)

CS https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/university-admission/pdfs/dp_comps_subject-brief_may_2022_e.pdf - Also a change in syllabus (note 1st assessment in 2025)

As to your question where one Science is enough for STEM, it depends. I think Australian and Canadian universities are more flexible in their entry requirements. The higher-ranked UK universities will typically want to see Math AA HL. What you can do, is to browse the entry requirements page of some UK universities to suss out which ones don't need a second science or Math AA HL. Alternatively, when you apply to the UK universities, apply to the integrated foundation year (one extra year) when you can study Math to meet their math requirement.

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