The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

1. Is it advisable to drop Maths HL despite wanting to pursue the sciences at university? Will this make me a little bit more disadvantaged than other applicants applying for the same courses? I know Maths HL is not required as I've got both Biology and Chem at HL but.. is it preferred?

I COULD try my best for Maths HL - that is, work my butt off for it but I'd just like to hear everybody's opinion on whether it's worth it, and whether I even need it!

1. No it will not make you disadvantaged. You can always try for 1 month of math HL to see if you can handle the course.

2. its up to you.

i would suggest that you pick 4 HLs at the start and then decide after 1-2 months which subject you will drop to SL.

I'm both not in the UK and not done with my diploma yet but speaking as someone taking English A1 HL, I'd say it would be the better choice compared to History. History's a lot of content to remember. However, my school actually doesn't offer History SL so I'm not totally aware of the differences! I'm a language person myself and imo English HL is a really easy HL to take.

Then again I'm horrible at math and taking it at SL, sooo...

You'll have 2 years to figure out your HLs and SLs. If I were you, I would take Math and another subject at HL (so 4 HLs in total), and then in your second year, drop one of them to SL.

HL Math is sort of the equivalent of Further Maths. No one else can really judge your capabilities other than you, so I say you should try it out.

Between English and History HL, I suggest you take English. I personally think History is dreadful and wish I hadn't taken it now (despite liking it to begin with...)

A bit of information:
- In History, HL you have to take paper 3, SL you only take papers 1 and 2. The content is actually the same. Paper 3 is one question from the material you already need to know for papers 1 and 2. So taking SL wouldn't be SIGNIFICANTLY easier (aside from the fact that your exam is a few hours shorter). Also, keep in mind that your internal assessment is worth more in SL than it is in HL (25% vs 20% I believe)

I don't actually know all that much about English SL/HL, sorry. My teachers all say English is the easiest HL out of the ones we offer, though.

I'm applying for Medicine this year with my final results. I started IB with HL Bio, Chem, English and Maths, and dropped Maths to SL after a year because I was struggling to get 4's at HL (and I got an A* in IGCSE Maths, A in Add Maths). It was really, really hard for me, and dropping to SL afterwards was sort of like sitting the IGCSE exam for the second time with a few extra topics.

Having said that, though, exam results (and sometimes even your teachers' recommendations) really aren't everything. If you don't think your IGCSE Maths grades reflect your expectations/potential, you're very good at Maths, and you really enjoy it, I'd try out Maths as a fourth HL along with Bio, Chem and English/History, and see how you cope. All but one person in my HL Maths class did that, and three of us dropped to SL at the end of the year with three other HLs to fall back on. The others dropped one of their other HLs instead because they could cope with the workload.

As to whether you need it, though, I don't think I've ever seen HL Maths specified for Medicine (I can't speak for the other two courses, but I imagine it would be the same). If they don't mention that they'd prefer HL Maths in the prospectus/website, you could probably assume that your third HL won't matter.

If you're applying to Oxbridge, though, some colleges do prefer three science/maths A-levels, which could equate to three science/maths HLs. Email and ask them to be sure. The other colleges should be fine though - I recently emailed the admissions office at Sidney Sussex in Cambridge to ask the same question and got this reply:

"The Pre Clinical Medical Requirements state that you need to have done three out of the three sciences + maths, but not all need to be to A-level (or Higher Level, although I know these are not synonymous). On the whole, most applicants would offer a third science/maths at Higher, but as it is not compulsory, we cannot disadvantage anyone for not having it!"

So basically, Bio and Chem HL are fine, but take Maths HL if you really like it and feel you can cope.



I didn't take (and didn't like) History so I can't really answer your question fairly, but I can tell you that English HL is brilliant if you love English Lit. It's much less straightforward than IGCSE because you do about 16 works, you write your own coursework questions, and the exam questions are bizarre but pretty fun to try to make sense of, so it's very self-directed. But I'm totally biased

And woooww that was a long post.

I got a B in my Maths IGCSE, I went on to do Maths HL anyway and I will be starting the 3rd year of my Maths degree this September.

I can't say that the B hindered me in anyway. Don't be discouraged Since you want to apply to do the sciency subjects I reckon a Maths HL will look much better on an application form, but I can't imagine you being hugely disadvantaged without it when it is not formally a requirement. I think it is totally worth it, (I am a bit biased of course ) especially if you have a change of heart and decide to apply for something else, then the Maths will open up many more possibilities.

I will also echo what has been said here: you have plenty of time to make a decision once you've started the course so it's not a major problem if you decide to switch later on. If you do take up another HL, I suggest English as well, simply because it probably requires the least effort to catch up with should you make the decision a tad late.

Best of luck

Ah, yeap, I'm playing with the idea of taking 4 HLs now - it's just that I read all over this forum that taking 4 HLs is a mistake! Oh and yeah, that's the thing - I myself am not entirely sure of my Maths capabilities! I mean, I suppose I CAN do Maths but I'll probably have to struggle with it for the first few weeks


You dislike History HL now? The thing is, like you mentioned, History SL isn't significantly easier, (neither is English but there is a wider gap for English between the two levels, so I've heard) so IF I were to take English HL instead of History, I'm scared that I'd simply be making my life REALLY difficult - as in, because History SL isn't exactly a MUCH lighter workload, then I'd have Higher English and a hard SL to boot.. and oh dear, I don't know if that came out right, I hope it makes sense to you ..

But honestly, how come you started to find History HL dreadful? Was it because you hate the amount of work or..?

YEEE oh mygosh thanks for this!! It was REALLY useful BTW, when you say that dropping Maths to SL was like taking the IGCSE exam but with extra topics - did you mean IGCSE Maths or IGCSE Additional Maths?

Ah that's the thing. I mean, everyone says that results don't actually reflect my maths capabilities; and I am the only one that should know.. But I don't! I really don't know if I'll be capable of doing Maths but I think, yeah, I'm gonna follow all the advice here - all your suggestions are brilliant and I'm definitely gonna follow your classmates!

I'll take Maths HL plus English/History HL - and drop Maths to SL if I need to. Or if I cope well enough with Maths HL, then drop English/History back to SL yay! haha

Oh and I hope that your application for Medicine turns out successful! Not only because getting into Medicine is a really huge thing, but it would also be REALLY comforting to know that someone who didn't do Maths HL got into Medicine

& I'm not too sure if I want to apply to oxbridge, but thanks for posting Sidney Sussex's reply! (that saves me emailing most colleges at oxbridge as I'm sure most of the other college's sentiments echo that of Sidney Sussex's) - I think, even though Maths HL isn't a prerequisite, I'd better try it out for at least a few weeks. Who knows, I might begin to like it.. Optimism rules

And yeah, English HL at IB sounds brilliant! I'm just.. oh so undecided! Because there are pros and cons to both subjects I suppose But yeah, thanks sooo much for all your help!!

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?