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The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

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Reply 340

ragnar_jonsson

diatrochoi

My point is that my last HL is just to score and it has nothing to do with my later career

Oh, then pick something you can get a v. good grade in (and like, ofc) :wink:

Reply 341

scumie

Woah, why torture yourself??

Reply 342

scumie

Hi, please check out my new thread. Have been wanting answers :smile:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1158891

Reply 343

The Man of the Hour

I highly recommend Physics HL. It's great, really interesting topics and it's not as hard as people say.

Reply 344

ragnar_jonsson

scumie

Woah, why torture yourself??

It isn't that bad if you are, (a) good at all the sciences, (b) extremely hardworking & (c) love all the sciences.

I know someone who is handling all his work.

Reply 345

jewel2012

Well there isn't anything else I would rather do (by a long way) and i can always drop one to SL if it is to much work...

Reply 346

yunnnie

i want to be an accountant. which subject is more appropriate?
your advices are very much appreciated. thank you in advanced.

first language: english hl/sl
second language: chinese hl/sl
group3:economics hl
group4: biology/environmental systems and society sl
group5: math hl
group6: business management/psychology hl/sl

my mother tongue is mandarin but i want to study in the US or UK in the future so i have to take english as my first language.

-should i take english as high or standard?
-if i take english sl and chinese hl. will it looks like i am neither too good in english or chinese?
-if i take only biology alone.what can i take up as a major or minor in the university? because most of the career requires chemistry more than biology. but i am more interested in biology than chemistry and physics.
-what is environmental systems and society?
-what is the difference between environmental systems and society and biology?
-should i take up business management or pyschology? i am sure will want to be involved in the business world later. but i heard that business management is a soft subject. i like business management more but i like pyschology too.

basically i have only chosen 2 subjects. that is math hl and economics hl.

what is the ib score required to enter london school of business and the wharton school of upenn?

Reply 347

schnargle

yunnnie

i want to be an accountant. which subject is more appropriate?
your advices are very much appreciated. thank you in advanced.

I can't answer all of your questions but I'll try:

-should i take english as high or standard?

It depends. Do you like English Literature? Are you good at it? Then take HL. If you've never taken a literature course before then English HL will be difficult, and if you're not totally fluent in English or confident about your writing then take SL. There isn't a big difference between HL and SL, but the questions in HL can be tricky and very confusing.

my mother tongue is mandarin but i want to study in the US or UK in the future so i have to take english as my first language.

Some universities have English requirements for foreign students (e.g. you have to study English A1 HL, you have to get at least a 5, etc.). Often you can get away with doing IELTS or a similar English proficiency exam instead of doing English A1 HL - some places will even let you do English B HL (and then you'd have to take Chinese A1 HL/SL). Do some research into the universities you like and see what they want in terms of English proficiency.

-if i take english sl and chinese hl. will it looks like i am neither too good in english or chinese?

Not at all. Many people every year do this and it doesn't reflect badly on you at all. English A1 is a literature course, and (I assume) Chinese A2/B isn't, so you can't compare them to someone's ability in the language. They're very different - it's like taking Bio HL and Chem SL, it doesn't mean you're a bad scientist because you didn't take Chem HL.

-if i take only biology alone.what can i take up as a major or minor in the university? because most of the career requires chemistry more than biology. but i am more interested in biology than chemistry and physics.

I thought you wanted to be an accountant? I don't know about US universities, but generally in the UK if you want to be an accountant, you study Accounting. You can do subsidiary courses, but they don't count for a big percentage of your grade.

If you're not interested in a science career but want to do biology of some sort, then take pure biology as a minor/subsid.

-what is the difference between environmental systems and society and biology?

I don't know very much about Environmental Systems but I think it's more of a 'life science', and Biology is more "pure science".

Reply 348

Jamesop

There really is no point in doing 4 HLs.
Srs, just leave bio at SL and if you are interested in the sylabbus teach yourself the extra bits of topic from the HL you want to learn. SL require absolutely no work (Except lab reports, but with the other two sciences you'll be a pro at those in no time)
I've got a med offer for cam with 3 HLs (no need for 4!), but I taught myself most of the HL bio sylabbus that was relevant to medicine before the interviews (and it didnt even come up haha)
By doing it this way you still have more than enough to go out on the weekend and relax throughout all of IB1, and its only after the christmas holidays (now) that I've started getting serious about studying.

Reply 349

Iapetus

No point in doing 4HLs, as above.

Reply 350

Patrycja

Hi, I've chose Bio, Chemistry at HL and Physics at SL and I'm non-regular student. I've just written to Cardiff for permission and I hope they'll agree :smile:

Bio is quite easy, but physics...investigations are even ok, but uncertainties-what they are for? I have no idea..maybe to make our life more complicated :smile:

But if U really like physics and your teacher is good at it, go on :smile:

Reply 351

jewel2012

Jamesop

I am pretty sure that i will end up doing only 3 SL, it's just that I don't know if i would do Physics or Biology HL. I thought i would give them both a go and then which ever one i prefer, i will keep at HL. My school is used to people starting with 4 highers and then dropping one to standard level after a while so i am sure it will be fine :biggrin:

Congrats on the offer!

Reply 352

metjush

I wouldn't go with both the Economics and Business... If you wanna go to study business or economic at uni, go with economics, you'll have a good basis for both business and economics... moreover, some unis aren't really keen on you taking two subjects that have got quite simillar syllabi in some topics...

So if you don't really care about your science, go with SL Physics and HL CS... I think that HL CS is easier than HL Physics (just my own opinion :smile:

) and if you've done any programming before, you should be able to put up with CS quite well

Reply 353

ragnar_jonsson

jewel2012

Congrats on the offer!

Hey, I would definitely pick your HLs (if you feel equally competent in all of them) based on your teachers; the better they teach, and grade your IAs the better. If they are all equally strong teachers, then pick based on interest. :wink:

Reply 354

diatrochoi

If I have tried some programming before, just some simple things like if, while, array... at a very basic level, will I survive for computer science IB?

and about all the terminology in the CS book, are they hard to cope with?

Reply 355

metjush

Well, the computer science course at IB starts with pretty basic stuff (at least at my school), since there are always people who are completely new to programming... So if you've already done some of it, you'll surely be able to cope with it... And when it gets to the harder stuff, everybody will be new to it, so don't worry...

Reply 356

xIsabelle

hi guys! need some advice from you here :smile:

i'm starting IB only september 2010, but already have some worries about my subject choice. i am interested in studying PPE (not sure about which universities am going to apply though, depends on the grades). so, usually subject choice for this course would be similar to this:

HL English, History, Economics
SL Math, Lithuanian, Biology

right? but the point is that everyone from my school who's in IB now keeps saying that HL Economics is very very difficult and only geniuses can get 7 there. :s-smilie:

i am also not so sure about Math SL... this year i am not very well at it because of lots of geometry. is there a lot of it in the IB Math SL also?
and finally, even though i am about 80% sure that i'm going to study outside of my coutry, there's still slight possibility that i could change my mind and consider staying, but universities here require Lithuanian exam, which requires HL Lithuanian...
so, what could you advise me in this situation? :rolleyes:

Reply 357

qte141519

i want to take psychology in uni
its between sl bio and sl physics
i have friends taking both, the ones taking bio say it is a LOT of memorising and hard work, the ones taking physics find it really hard too. personally, i love both, but am leaning more towards physics rather than bio. however i basically suck at math that im taking rite now - sl math. like i am horrible, math is my worst subject! however, i still kinda like equations n stuff, which i heard is used tons in physics.
so which one do you guys reccommend?

Reply 358

qte141519

xIsabelle

hi guys! need some advice from you here :smile:

im taking HL economics right now, and i can tell you. its a lot of concepts, but as long as you pay attention in class and do your hw, it is not difficult at all.
im also taking SL math, and theres a whole unit on trig, but it isn`t that bad. HL math is probably more difficult.
im not sure about the whole uni thing tho, bt i hope i helped! :biggrin:

Reply 359

diatrochoi

So that means I don't have to be quite good at programming to take it right? So a newbie, if studying hard, could possibly get a 7 right?