<p>Im having trouble deciding which one to take. I enjoy math over memorization.
I have taken both Biology and Chemistry Honors and i ended up having a better grade in chem. My bio teacher is known to be very rigorous so i think she over-prepared/taught us at the honors level. she has a 99% pass rate (not joking). My chem teacher is easier but its very difficult to understand him and he has a much lower pass rate. </p>
<p>I prefer math or memorization. So what do you think should i take safe road: biology or try out chem since it has math which i enjoy. Please anyone that has taken either of this classes tell me anything about them: workload, difficulty to understand, numbers of hours studying compared to other subjects?</p>
<p>Take the class you will enjoy more unless one will me significantly more useful for preparing you in what you want to study in college or will be significantly less stressful grade-wise. I consider IB chemistry to be more challenging therefore I would recommend it–I struggled more in chemistry and wanted to build a stronger foundation for it while the stakes were low; my IB biology class was easy for me and I didn’t get as much out of it. </p>
<p>I take HL physics and HL Chemistry in my IB diploma program (both predicted 7s). I heard that bio has a copious amount of memorizing - Im not sure if this is entirely correct, but the exam only asks you about 10% of what you spent hours and hours memorizing. But in HL chemistry, it’s more of an application subject where you learn concepts and apply it into different contexts because everything is linked together. Well you still need to spend loads of time studying… But personally, I would find HL chemistry more interesting because you can relate everything with literally everything.</p>
<p>I would probably go for the better teacher, unless you know your major is a Science, in which case I’d go with your prospective major.
As a student that had an AWFUL IB Biology HL teacher, I can tell you that it makes all the difference. I knew the material and had always mastered Biology, but when I got my results back… 4. Mainly because we just didn’t do whole units like Human Physiology. So I’d hesitate before taking Chemistry, if you feel like that teacher may not prepare you well for the IB exam.</p>
<p>I do both so I can help.
IB Biology does have a lot of memorization, but once you get the concept, it is fairly easy and pretty boring.
IB Chemistry is mostly math and some things to memorize…but it is more focused on being practical. And judging from my experience with chemistry, if you have a horrible teacher it can be very difficult to understand. </p>
<p>Workload wise, I think they are about the same. But I’ve realized I have to spend more time on chemistry ias as opposed to biology. I cannot predict how well you grasp concepts but I can say you’d spend about the same amount of time studying either of the two.</p>
<p>I’d advise you to do the subject you think you’d find most enjoyable.</p>
<p>I want to major in either Engineering or Business. I have to take a science in HL at my school. So i just need a science that wont be stressful for me. I heard biology is easier just lots of stuff to know. When i took chemistry honors, the topic were more complex but i took less time studying for test. @Encord Since you take both i can use your help. Why do you need to spend more time on chem? I thought bio would take much more time due to the amount of material to learn.</p>
<p>It honestly depends on how your brain works. My brain is like a sponge for information so I read the chapters from the biology book, took notes, and was done. In chemistry I had to reread for comprehension and invest more time trying to understand stuff. Other people would have had to have spent more time memorizing stuff in biology.</p>
<p>@Marisa790 Thanks for the quick reply! I agree with you about how it depends on how your brain works. When i took chemistry at an honors level it was mostly math with topics like stoichiometry,bonding,etc and i found all that quite easy. I know Chem HL is a whole lot harder than just honors level but what type of things did you invest time in. Understanding how to do the math problems? labs? I,m leaning towards chemistry and just wanna know what i,m getting into. </p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. I’m currently signed up for IB Bio HL because some of my friends who took the SL version of these and said that Bio is easy, Chem SL is hard, and Chem HL is very hard and is one of the hardest IB courses at my school, along with IB Math HL and IB Physics SL.
I took IB Prep Bio as a freshman and my end-of-tri grades were B/A-/A-. And I know I definitely kicked butt when I took the Biology MCA exam. This year as a sophomore, I took regular Chem. My end-of-tri grades were A-/A/A-. Here’s the thing: I technically enjoyed the Bio info more, but Chem came a little more easily to me, and it felt kind of rewarding knowing I passed the year with these grades. Before I started the class, I thought it would be hard. I definitely agree with the person who said that Chem relates to everything.
Yeah, so I’m kind of torn between the 2. And I’m also worried because I’m going to also take Physics SL senior year at the same time. Chem and Physics relate to each other more than Bio and Physics, so I don’t know.</p>
<p>Well I spend more time on Chemistry ias because it’s slightly more technical than biology ias.</p>
<p>If you want to major in engineering…then I think it’s better to have chemistry. The thing with the math in chemistry is that it’s not too hard but you just have to be able to apply concepts. Application is key for success in Chem Hl and since you seem more passionate about Chemistry you might actually enjoy it.</p>
<p>Finally, when making your decision bear in mind that what others say is hard may not be hard for you. That’s what I realized when I started doing IB. I panicked a lot especially because I chose Math HL and Chem Hl. But one year down the line, it’s not so bad.</p>
<p>I’ll back up @Encord’s point about chemistry and engineering. Even though chemistry isn’t really that relevant to most fields of engineering (with the exception of biomedical and chemical), chemistry will look more engineeresque than biology simply because it deals with the structure of stuff and more mathematical concepts. </p>
<p>For example, I’m majoring in engineering and they require one semester of chemistry. Biology credit fits in nowhere (not even as an elective because engineering has no electives other than core curriculum which requires a taste of everything and the math and science requirements are already filled by calculus and mechanics). But this is just my college.</p>