IB course choices

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm in the process of selecting what classes to take next year, when I start the IB diploma. I have to choose three higher (HL) and three standard (SL) classes. I've decided on two HL classes already, but I'm not sure what to choose for the third one. The remaining three would be SL courses.</p>

<p>Definite choices:
English HL
Chemistry HL</p>

<p>Possible other choices:
Math Methods/Math HL
French A2 SL/HL
History SL/HL
Art SL/HL</p>

<p>Always the devil's advocate, I can produce a reasoning behind any of these choices. </p>

<p>-Art would be my first choice if adcoms' opinions didn't factor into the decision. Art HL is extremely challenging and definitely not a "slacker" class, but I don't know if colleges would recognize that. "Do what you love" is great advice, but I don't want to be rejected for taking too light a course load.
-I could easily pull off a 7 in French HL, which would do wonders for my GPA. I had the teacher freshman year, and she is the biggest sweetheart.
-History HL is, from what I've heard, discussion-based and very interesting. I think I'd enjoy taking the class.
-I never thought I'd consider math HL, but I'm drawn to the challenge. I've had the teacher for the past two years, and he's great/hilarious. I love the class because it's fun, but it has the potential to be a GPA-killer if I find I can't keep up the work.</p>

<p>Grades, for the most part, is not an issue. I have one 5 (B) in math on my transcript (a result of poor concentration due to sickness, death in the family, and other reasons), but I expect at least a 6 (A-) this term.</p>

<p>As of right now, I'm preliminarily signed up for History HL, with the option of changing it within the next few days. I'm seriously considering Math HL, but I don't know if that would be a foolish decision. It's rumored to be the most difficult IB course offered at my school, and I'm already taking Chem HL, the most work-intensive. I don't know what would be worse: to take both and be overwhelmed by the amount of work, or to take only chemistry and realize I could have pulled it off.</p>

<p>I'm not making this decision to prepare for a career. I want to major in English, get a PhD, and work in publishing -- but I have interests all over the place, and I want to make the most of my opportunities in high school.</p>

<p>The inevitable question: Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Sorry about the long post!</p>

2

<p>Kill yourself w/ work. But take art HL if you love it. I would do:
Chem
English
Art
Math
HL.
Ultimately, let your passions guide you. Just for comparison's sake, I take:
Bio
History
Spanish
English HL
and
anthro
math SL.
I also take calculus at a community college. ...</p>

3

<p>Do you like math? Do you really like math?
I<code>m currently taking HL math, and yes, it is a GPA killer at my school for me too. I pulled off a B last semester, fortunately.. About 5 or 6 kids dropped HL math from our school in the first semester.
It</code> s very hard and requires a lot of work. The final exam is probably the hardest of all the HL subjects. Last year, a very bright student who got accepted to Stanford got a 5 on the final exam, I believe. If you are willing to work hard(even if it means lowering your GPA) then I say go for it.
But from my experience, the IB diploma is highly regarded by colleges, so it doesn<code>t REALLY matter what you take HL and what you take SL. So I would say, take the course you feel you could get a good score/grades in. Because they matter most.
Sorry this isn</code> t very good advice....!! It` s kinda hard to tell, since you dont have any particular preference towards science/math or english/linguistics, etc.</p>

4

<p>Out our school, History HL, and English HL are manditory. Then in addition to that, I'm also doing Music and Math HL. I'm going to take Spanish and Physics SL, and then take the ap version of them in senior year...</p>

<p>Chem HL is suicide I hear.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your help, everyone. I talked to my math teacher, and he said that I wouldn't have a problem in the class if I kept up my work. I finally settled for the following:</p>

<p>English HL
Math HL
Chem HL
French A2 SL
History SL
Art SL
Journalism
Theory of Knowledge.</p>

<p>It'll be hard work, but I'd rather be challenged than bored, and I think I'll be happy with the choices. Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>Good luck!! I<code>m sure you</code> ll be fine, just work hard and keep a good relationship with that math teacher.
And you register for your IB subjects in your final year, so a lot of people switch in and out of HL and SL. I don<code>t know if that</code> ll be allowed at your school. But if it is allowed, then you can always change your HL subjects.</p>

7

<p>I would bump that history to an HL. Seriously. It's not hard AT ALL. Really really really not hard. Not many kids at my school get lower than an A- in that class, and we have the highest test scores in North America. I would really reconsider even if history isn't your best subject. It looks really nice to take 4 HL's and I would really recommend it. Seriously a lot of ppl tote the IB programme as amazing, and it is, but you don't have to take it so terribly seriously. Yeah, its hard work, yeah its demanding, but its never unmanageable. Anyways, there also isn't a terribly large difference between HL/SL foreign languages, either if you wanted to go that route. SL is more short passage analysis and HL is more literary analysis. Plus, you already go into the IB exams with 20% on all of your IA's if your a smart cookie. Ppl don't realize that either. You get to do 20% of your grade at home, with all your books, with all the resources you ever need...</p>

8

<p>i'm starting the IB diploma program next year, too.. my course selections are:</p>

<p>IB History of the Americas HL
IB English I HL
IB Math I HL
IB French I SL
IB Physics I SL
IB Social Anthropology SL (woot)
Theory of Knowledge</p>

<p>=]</p>

<p>oh yeah, and i'm planning to take a course at GMU.. either "intro to philosophy" or "society and the individual." it'll be challenging, but the course material will be interesting, so at least i'll have fun.</p>

9

<p>navyblue -- Ooh, another CC sophomore from the DC area! I wish my school offered anthropology. The GMU courses sound really interesting; I'll have to look that up. Is it difficult to get in as a high school student?</p>

10

<p>thisyearsgirl - your schedule is almost exactly the same as mine! I'm in IB1 and taking...
English A1 HL
French A2 SL
European History HL (in French)
Chem HL
Math Methods SL (in French)
Biology SL</p>

<p>If I were you I would take History HL. It's definetly interesting and getting a 7 in History is way more likely than getting a 7 in Math HL. But then again, I am most likely going into Poli Sci in uni, so Math HL = extra torture. They offer Math HL at my school, but only in English, so I would lose my French Immersion HS Diploma, which I want (some credit for being in Immersion for 12 years maybe?). If you think you can do it, I'd take 4HLs (including Math + History), it would be more challenging and you can get even more uni credit because they love it. If not... it's really up to you and I won't try to sway you with my History-loving, math-loathing ways more than I already have tried to (lol). </p>

<p>Good luck in the IB! :)</p>

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<p>there are a lot of undergrad courses offered during the school year; i e-mailed the admissions office, and an officer replied saying that special arrangements need to be made and that i need to contact a certain person. however, i'm sure it'll be fine, as long as you have a competitive schedule and a decent GPA/recs. what school do you attend in the DC area?</p>

12

<p>Thanks! I'll PM you with the school name because I like to preserve some semblance of privacy.</p>