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The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

so i asked my school recently apparently i can pick Chinese B, but it have to be HL...I'm wondering should I choose it. On one hand universities might not like it but they might also look at my score, which would definitely be dragged lowered if I take Chinese A, but I'm a native speaker, so I'm wondering should I

a.) take B and risk not getting accepted at all
b.) Lang+Lit but with lower score

does my total score really matter that much? FYI, ideally I want to study eng-lit in the UK

if I take Chi B HL then that means I would take Geo at SL instead of HL (my other HLs are History and Eng Lit, other SLs are Math Studies, Bio)

:frown:

the easy solution would be to take Chinese B at SL but my school doesn't offer it

P.S.: is there by chance anyone else from Hong Kong here? I saw on a forum that you only need, like, two years of knowing a language to do it in B, which makes it sound very easy. I was wondering what the difficulty of Lang+Lit would be like, because my Chinese teacher keep emphasizing how hard Lang+Lit is and that we shouldn't pick it just because it seems like an easy option (reads the least amount of books)

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1341

Jumponright

Hello,

I want to study engineering in the states and I want to ask if taking Maths, Chemistry and Physics at HL is wise or suicide.

Reply 1342

pbunny

12

Original post by Jumponright

Hello,

I want to study engineering in the states and I want to ask if taking Maths, Chemistry and Physics at HL is wise or suicide.

Depends on which disciple of engineering you are interested in tbh. I'd definitely take maths and physics higher level and depending on the discipline you'd like to study, I'd take SL chemistry or something else. If you are interested in either biomedical or chemical engineering then taking chemistry higher level would be useful but not necessary as American universities don't exactly look at the exact subjects you take as they only care about overall rigor. If your looking at any other discipline of engineering you don't need to take chemistry higher level let alone chemistry so if you are interested in taking another subject, go ahead and take it!

And yes the combination you've mentioned above is extremely challenging but if the sciences/maths are your niche then you won't find it too bad.

Hope I Helped!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1343

iodised

I'm an I/GCSE student and I'm considering taking these subjects:
Maths
English Language and Literature
French B
History
Economics
Biology

I didn't do an IGCSE in History - the last time I took it was 2012. I'm not a science person, but did GCSE Biology. Which subjects should I take at HL and SL?

Reply 1344

AquisM

11

Original post by iodised

I'm an I/GCSE student and I'm considering taking these subjects:
Maths
English Language and Literature
French B
History
Economics
Biology

I didn't do an IGCSE in History - the last time I took it was 2012. I'm not a science person, but did GCSE Biology. Which subjects should I take at HL and SL?

Do you have an idea of what you'd like to study in uni? And where? You might want to check if there are any specific subjects you have to study at HL for your course.

Other than that, I'd say that's a very solid combination that can lead to many different paths. If your leaning towards science you can think about taking HL Bio and Econ; for arts, HL English and French. From what I hear though, History is notoriously hard at IB so talk to your teachers before choosing it at HL if that's what you have in mind. Good luck! :biggrin:

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Reply 1345

abigail706

For the IB I was thinking of choosing the following subjects:

HL
Maths
Chemistry
Physics/Biology

SL
English
French
Economics

In the future, I want to pursue a career in the financial markets and was thinking of pursuing a degree in either Economics or Chemical Engineering. If this plan fails, then I'll try and pursue medicine.

Are my subject choices satisfactory for what I want to do in future? And should I choose physics or biology?

thanks x

Reply 1346

AquisM

11

Original post by abigail706

For the IB I was thinking of choosing the following subjects:

HL
Maths
Chemistry
Physics/Biology

SL
English
French
Economics

In the future, I want to pursue a career in the financial markets and was thinking of pursuing a degree in either Economics or Chemical Engineering. If this plan fails, then I'll try and pursue medicine.

Are my subject choices satisfactory for what I want to do in future? And should I choose physics or biology?

thanks x

I took almost the exact same combination (physics; Spanish instead of French) and will be off to UCL for Chem Eng in September. Definitely choose Physics if you're planning to go into Chem Eng, some unis even require it. Some people might say Bio is easier than Physics but honestly it depends on the student; plus Physics fits better with the other two (probably totally biased cuz I never liked Bio :tongue:

). For Med Bio is of course more useful but many unis will accept having just Chem HL + other sciences, provided that you get good grades overall

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Reply 1347

anndya

I just finished the MYP programme last june and going to start IBDP next week. For the time being I plan on majoring in Psychology and Business Management (joint major). I'm not sure if it's a good combination of subjects but i've chosen the following subjects :

HL
Biology
Economics
Business Studies / Theatre

SL
Math / Math Studies
English A Lang & Lit
French

I've searched the entry requirements of several universities such as Glasgow, Bath, UCL, University of British Columbia, etc but most of them doesn't specify what subjects I should take. However, they do listed the minimum overall score and grades for HL subjects.

Please help me decide what subjects to pick. Thank you for your help! :smile:

Reply 1348

pbunny

12

Original post by anndya

I just finished the MYP programme last june and going to start IBDP next week. For the time being I plan on majoring in Psychology and Business Management (joint major). I'm not sure if it's a good combination of subjects but i've chosen the following subjects :

HL
Biology
Economics
Business Studies / Theatre

SL
Math / Math Studies
English A Lang & Lit
French

I've searched the entry requirements of several universities such as Glasgow, Bath, UCL, University of British Columbia, etc but most of them doesn't specify what subjects I should take. However, they do listed the minimum overall score and grades for HL subjects.

Please help me decide what subjects to pick. Thank you for your help! :smile:

Biology higher level is required for psychology, so stick with it - Keep in mind some universities require chemistry higher level too. Economics is also a good subject to take if you intend on majoring in Business Management. I'd advice you to avoid business and management higher level since it's a soft subject. If you're adamant about taking it make sure you take it as a standard level subject since British universities focus less on SL subjects. I'd then pull up English Lang&Lit or French to higher level to comprise for business and management. Taking standard level theatre in lieu of business and management might be a good idea since taking both economics and business and management is overkill (and is disliked by universities - my school has banned this combo).

Definitely take standard level maths (non studies) as you're expected to have a solid base in maths if you plan on majoring in business.

Check to see that the universities you're interested in don't require higher level chemistry for psychology. If they do you'd obviously need to drop business/theatre entirely. Either of this combos would be ideal:

(If you need to take HL Chemistry)

HL
Biology
Chemistry
Economics

SL
Maths
English A Lang&Lit
French

Or

HL
Biology
English A/French
Economics

SL
Maths
English A/French
B&M/Theatre

Hope I helped!

Reply 1349

hmm98

Hello,

I am undecided as to whether I should take HL Biology or HL English Lit as my third higher. My other higher levels would be Geography and German. At the moment I am leaning towards English but which one would you recommend?

Thanks.

Reply 1350

pbunny

12

Original post by hmm98

Hello,

I am undecided as to whether I should take HL Biology or HL English Lit as my third higher. My other higher levels would be Geography and German. At the moment I am leaning towards English but which one would you recommend?

Thanks.

It depends on what you'd like to study at university?

Reply 1351

hmm98

Original post by pbunny

It depends on what you'd like to study at university?

I'm not really too sure at the moment. Probably not anything science related. Possibly Geography or Law.

Reply 1352

pbunny

12

Original post by hmm98

I'm not really too sure at the moment. Probably not anything science related. Possibly Geography or Law.

I'd take HL English in your case as it seems more relevant/useful. Taking higher level biology in essence seems like a waste as it is very time consuming (not that english isnt but atleast its more useful). Since there is a HUGE difference between hl/sl biology and little difference between sl/hl English, you'd be doing yourself a favour by taking bio at sl and English at hl as it would lessen your workload.

Reply 1353

hmm98

Original post by pbunny

I'd take HL English in your case as it seems more relevant/useful. Taking higher level biology in essence seems like a waste as it is very time consuming (not that english isnt but atleast its more useful). Since there is a HUGE difference between hl/sl biology and little difference between sl/hl English, you'd be doing yourself a favour by taking bio at sl and English at hl as it would lessen your workload.

Ah okay thanks for the advice, very useful :smile:

Reply 1354

aasir42

Hey guys, I am starting in a couple days and I have chosen: HL Maths, Economics and Biology then SL Spanish, English Lit and Physics. I intend on heading to UCL or Warwick to study Economics with high scores in IB.

Any thoughts on my subject choices? Or any tips on studying for these and achieving 7's?

Thanks

Reply 1355

Tobi7623

7

Original post by aasir42

Hey guys, I am starting in a couple days and I have chosen: HL Maths, Economics and Biology then SL Spanish, English Lit and Physics. I intend on heading to UCL or Warwick to study Economics with high scores in IB.

Any thoughts on my subject choices? Or any tips on studying for these and achieving 7's?

Thanks

hey your combination seems absolutely fine since you meet the requirements being HL maths and Economics. If you enjoy Biology stick with that too. I finished my first year now (with HL math&econ as well) and my tips for economics are read a lot of stuff outside your studies since you need examples in your essays to achieve good marks. With maths revise every topic once in a while and see if you are still able to do the very hard problems you should be fine then.
Good luck!

Reply 1356

airria79

3

Hey guys,
I plan on taking law in IB but I haven't taken history for my iGCSEs. A lot of people have told me that I can still take History HL, but some are advising me to take it at SL, and take another subject at HL. So far, this is my subject combination:

English Lit Lang HL
Maths HL
Economics HL

History SL
French SL
Physics SL

Any advice?

Reply 1357

pbunny

12

Original post by airria79

Hey guys,
I plan on taking law in IB but I haven't taken history for my iGCSEs. A lot of people have told me that I can still take History HL, but some are advising me to take it at SL, and take another subject at HL. So far, this is my subject combination:

English Lit Lang HL
Maths HL
Economics HL

History SL
French SL
Physics SL

Any advice?

Don't listen to whoever has told you that you can't do History HL if you haven't taken history IGCSE. There is no correlation between the two and group 3 IB subjects are made to require no previous knowledge/experience. Any historical knowledge you lack will be made up for throughout the two years of IB history. However, if you personally don't feel comfortable taking it at higher level then by all means don't - it's not a requirement for law, in fact, there are no subject requirements for law (but essay-based subjects are preferred). I personally think you should take history HL in lieu of maths HL as maths higher level is overkill in your case as you don't need it for university and incase you weren't aware - it's crazy hard (not that history isn't). Plus, there is little difference between SL/HL history where as there is a HUGE difference between SL/HL maths.

Either way, choosing between maths/history HL is completely up to you. Regardless, your current subject combination is perfectly fine for law.

Reply 1358

gkkiller

1

Hey guys, I'm an IGCSE student who is doing English, Maths, Hindi, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, and ICT. I'm hoping to go into video game design but I'm ok with keeping my options open within the entertainment industry. These are the subjects I'm planning to take for IB.

- English: I love English, especially writing, so I'm taking HL.
- Maths HL/SL: not sure which.
- French ab initio: I'm really bad at Hindi, and I like the idea of learning a new language, so I'm doing French.

Other options I'm considering (in order of how much I'd like to take them):

Group 3
- Economics / Business Studies: I like Economics, but I despise the maths part and the graphs and stuff. I've also heard that this part is the bulk of IB Eco, whereas Business Studies is less maths-based. So I might opt for BS instead.

Groups 4 and 6
- Computer Science: I haven't taken this in years, and I have absolutely zero programming experience, but I know that it's critical to get into the gaming industry, so I'll most likely take this.
- ITGS: It sounds similar to ICT, except with a subjective focus and looking at ethics and things like that. I enjoyed ICT, but I'm not sure if I'll take this.
- Chemistry / Psychology: I don't really know much about Psychology. My feelings on Chemistry are ambivalent, but I'd rather not take it.
- Visual Arts: Again I don't know anything about the subject, and if it's about things like painting, I will probably not take it.

What do you guys think?

Reply 1359

pbunny

12

Original post by gkkiller

Hey guys, I'm an IGCSE student who is doing English, Maths, Hindi, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, and ICT. I'm hoping to go into video game design but I'm ok with keeping my options open within the entertainment industry. These are the subjects I'm planning to take for IB.

- English: I love English, especially writing, so I'm taking HL.
- Maths HL/SL: not sure which.
- French ab initio: I'm really bad at Hindi, and I like the idea of learning a new language, so I'm doing French.

Other options I'm considering (in order of how much I'd like to take them):

Group 3
- Economics / Business Studies: I like Economics, but I despise the maths part and the graphs and stuff. I've also heard that this part is the bulk of IB Eco, whereas Business Studies is less maths-based. So I might opt for BS instead.

Groups 4 and 6
- Computer Science: I haven't taken this in years, and I have absolutely zero programming experience, but I know that it's critical to get into the gaming industry, so I'll most likely take this.
- ITGS: It sounds similar to ICT, except with a subjective focus and looking at ethics and things like that. I enjoyed ICT, but I'm not sure if I'll take this.
- Chemistry / Psychology: I don't really know much about Psychology. My feelings on Chemistry are ambivalent, but I'd rather not take it.
- Visual Arts: Again I don't know anything about the subject, and if it's about things like painting, I will probably not take it.

What do you guys think?

From what i've seen from several universities entry requirements (and posts on this forum) the subjects that would be of most relevant would be maths, computer science, physics, graphic design and ICT.

English HL: quite unnecessary to be honest but since you love writing and whatnot it might be a good choice.
Maths HL/SL: depends on whether you're 100% certain about going into game design. If not, and you're open to things like computer science then higher level maths would be necessary. However, I doubt you are so I'd stick with standard level maths - way way easier than HL. You don't want to be doing HL maths if not necessary as it's the hardest subject offered by the IBO.
French ab initio: good choice. I was in a similar position last year. I didn't enjoy french but was good at it but i opted for spanish ab initio because there is no point in continuing on with a language I dislike for another two years. Plus, if you're struggling with IGCSE hindi then the chances of doing well in IB hindi are slim since there is a steep increase in the level of difficulty.
Group 3: I advise you to avoid taking business because it's a soft subject and won't look good on your application. Actually, ITGS is a soft subject too but since it's relates to what you want to study, it might not be as bad a choice. However, economics is a respected subject that is fairly easy to get a 7 in, so I recommend you take it. I did IGCSE Economics too and honestly there is a lot of overlap with IB HL Economics so it'll be so much easier. If you're not into the mathematical part of economics, just do it as a SL subject so you won't need to do Paper 3 (mathematical paper)
Group 4/6: Definitely take computer science. I'm not too sure but I think you don't have to paint in visual arts, however, if that sort of stuff doesn't interest you steer clear of art as it's a very time consuming subject.

Not doing a group 6 subject, leaves you with the option of taking taking 2 humanities (economics/ITGS) or 2 sciences (computer science/physics). That is completely up to you but I think doing 2 sciences would be better BUT the choice is yours.

Either of these subject combos would be fine:

English HL
Computer Science HL
Maths HL
Economics SL
French ab initio SL
Physics SL

English HL
Computer Science HL
Economics/ITGS HL
Maths SL
French ab intio SL
Physics/economics SL

If those don't appeal to you just change it up but make sure you're taking at least SL maths, computer science, physics/ITGS.

Hope I helped :smile:

The "Which IB subjects should I choose" Thread

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