<p>Hi,
I'm going into my junior year in an IB school in Switzerland so I'm now entering into the program. I'm new at this school and I've come from the U.S. so I don't really know much about the IB or the smartest choices to make with the program. So, my question is if my course choices are strong enough to get me into a competitive medical school (e.g. Brown PLME, Imperial College).</p>
<p>I'm taking:</p>
<p>HL Chemistry, HL French A2, HL English A1</p>
<p>SL Physics, SL Maths, SL Geography</p>
<p>I'm interested in going to school either in Switzerland (maybe but really unsure), the U.S., or the UK. I don't mean to be obnoxious at all but for the purpose of getting helpful information I'll say that I am quite able in school and I've been successful in hard classes.
Please help me out and let me know if I should re-think things.</p>
<p>Going to a good school in Switzerland at this point is practically guaranteed if you graduate. You are on the set track to do so. There isn’t much of an app process there. If you’re on the University track, you go to University. If you aren’t, you don’t.</p>
<p>For US schools: Is it possible for you to take Biology? I would recommend that. </p>
<p>US schools do, however, recognise that the IB schedule is very rigid and that you have much less choice in your schedule than students not doing IB. They will not fault you for not taking classes which you do not have the opportunity to take.</p>
<p>Brown would expect HL math/science.</p>
<p>To answer the biology question, this past year I took AP Biology at a serious prep school in the States and I did well and I got a 5 on the AP. When I was preparing to move and take IB, my teachers told me that since I was interested in medicine I should know that IB is very strong in social sciences but AP often tends to be stronger in the more physical sciences. So, I assumed that AP Bio would be more intensive than IB HL Biology so I decided to leave it out so as not to waste time. This allows me to take Physics because I’ve never taken it before and Chemistry is of course necessary. Will admissions offices that require HL Biology of IB candidates recognize my AP class and score? Also, the thing about HL Math is that although I do fine, from other students I’ve heard that HL Math is absolutely suicidal unless you are a math genius and I am not one. Thank you so much for the advice so far and please continue to help!</p>