Hi-
My daughter is going to a full IB program next year for high school. When in 9th grade, the students are placed into math tracks, where the lower track will be placed into Math Studies SL or Math SL while the higher track will be placed into Math HL. We are currently leaning towards the lower track, especially for 9th and 10th, because her math grades haven’t been that great this year, but are informed that it is very hard to skip math tracks during high school because of their integrated math program. She does well in math competitions, but her test grades tend to be on the lower end (B’s etc). I was just wondering how colleges view HL vs SL, will SL be a detriment when focussing on fields such as STEM and Pre-Med at selective colleges? Obviously a little early for these sorts of things, but would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
D2 was more of a humanities student, even though she was an A student in math and physics, we opted for SL for math and science courses for her. This was after consulting her private college counselor. We were also concerned how top tier adcoms would view that. We were told it was better for her to get As in those SL classes than B or even possible Cs in HL. Of course she took HL for other IB courses. When reading D2’s application, it was obvious D2 was a humanities student because of her ECs and awards. Your D maybe different if she is going to be a STEM student.
Math Methods SL is a happy medium between Math Studies SL and Math HL. It’s comparable to AP Calc AB or AP Calc BC, depending on how your school does it. Math Studies is more like AP Stats with some Calc. What other HL classes could she take that are offered? Maybe taking an HL in a Group 4 subject instead may be of more interest.
I personally took SL math (1 and 2) which tends to be a bit more difficult (because of the calculus involved) than SL math studies, but much easier than HL math. Based on my school, every student (about ten of them) currently in HL math received a “5” on their AP calculus exam last year as juniors, just to give you a little perspective. SL in no way will be a detriment, as you are still in the full IB program, which is plenty difficult itself. I would stick with SL, but that’s just me.
Thanks for all the helpful responses. Obviously right now we aren’t leaning toward STEM or humanities in particular, would just like to keep our options open. Right now she is taking algebra 1 and geometry at the same time, however has a lower grade (87) in geometry than algebra (94). Right now since she is just entering high school we aren’t really thinking that much about future scheduling, mostly just the math track since that will be hard to change in the future.
For stem, SL and supplement with AP calc (ABC and stats) on offer is fine too. Only the real math lovers do HL here as the test results on the finals are too low for most IBD kids to risk ( the kids who do HL might/could have done BC by end of soph on their advanced math pathway for example). If your kid is doing geo and Alg 2, in 8th, that is going to set her up to be fairly advanced but that was the option my SR’s peers did and a whole 5 kids took HL math. I am not sure my kid’s school even offers studies. As stated, often kids who turn down HL math are getting 5s on BC calc and stats too. Don’t get trapped into a studies pathway but if I have it right, your kid couldn’t be anyway.
@Alfonsia thanks for your response. Unfortunately the school only offers IB courses. Would taking SL at school and taking the BC test without the class be of any benefit? Thanks!
SL Math Methods covers most of the topics in AB Calc + some topics in BC Calc. It wouldn’t be too hard to self-study what doesn’t overlap alongside the actual course. It’d be of benefit if one is seeking college credit, as few colleges offer credit for SL classes (although they typically cover comparable material to AP classes…).
SL covers less calculus than AB, although some IB schools top up the SL course to prepare students for the AB test as well, since SL scores tend not to be granted advanced placement in math by colleges. HL is usually seen as equivalent to BC in terms of calculus.
HL goes further than BC, at least in some iterations (there are some options for what is studied).
That said, it is important to take the AP exams if you want credit, because IB exams are curved worldwide, and AP exams are not. This is why AP hands out 5s like candy and there are hardly any 7’s given out.
If your child is going to be a STEM major, then HL.
If they are pre-med Biology, I would not do it since you say that they struggle with math a bit. Take HL Bio and maybe Chemistry.
Chem and Math are probably the hardest HLs there are. Also, not every school offers every class in HL and SL so it’d be good to know what SL and HL options you have.
I really think every school is different. At our school you have to pass either AC or BC AP Calc before you can take HL Calc. For SL, they take IB Precalc then SL Calc. IB Math Studies students don’t test in math, they test in other subjects.
Both SL and HL are solid tracks for future STEM students at our school, but Math Studies is probably not.
@nw2this @irlandaise @bopper @ucbalumnus The school offers Math Studies, Math SL and Math HL for 11th and 12th grades. Thanks for all of the helpful responses.
Also, everyone placed in the lower math track with a math test average of over 85% will go to math SL while those under will go to Studies. In the higher math track, those with the test average over 90% will go to HL while those under will go to SL. Right now in algebra she has a 92 and geometry 86 for test averages.
I would highly recommend not taking Math HL. I took SL math junior year and now I’m in HL math and I sincerely regret signing up for this. It’s such a daily struggle. Especially if she’s getting B’s now, Math HL will tank her grade. I took HL because I thought my senior year wouldn’t look challenging enough to colleges, but that was a big mistake. It wouldn’t have made any difference at all if I had done another HL.
So tell her to pick whatever she’s ready for!
And I disagree with the whole “she’s going into STEM, she has to do HL” thing. In terms of college admissions she won’t be applying directly to a major. If it’s just for more background once she’s in hard college math classes, that makes sense, but I think the HL curriculum is way different from what’s asked of you in college. And she doesn’t even know what major she’ll have, what math courses will be required, etc.
That seems like a needless duplication, since IB math HL includes roughly the same calculus as AP calculus BC.
Basically, math HL is for the most advanced math students, while math SL is for less advanced students who will take more math in college. Math studies SL is for students who will not need to take more math in college.
Do you know what other HL options you have outside of math? Also -there’s Math HL and then Math (Methods) and Math (Studies), both of which are SL, in case there was confusion.
@Irlandaise I think that there are HL options for all subjects, but right now we are primarily just concerned about 9th and 10th grade math. The school offers both Math Methods and Studies SL, we are debating the Math HL track or the Math Methods SL track.
Right, but if you’re trying to figure out if Math HL is really worth it, then it’d be good to know if you have, say, Physics, Biology, and Chem HL offered too, or if Math is the only HL STEM course offered. See what I mean? You need that context to see if it’s really worth doing.