<p>I'm in my first year of the IB diploma and I'm taking Math HL. I'm finding it very hard and although I don't get too bad grades (5 on the first report card), I'm spending a disproportionally large amount of time on it compared to other subjects. I'm afraid this is not sustainable over the next two years and I don't see myself getting more than 5. My grades in all other subjects are very good 7s and 6s but I don't think a 5 in a HL looks very good on your college application.
Do colleges in the US require math HL for a major in economics and would it hurt my chances at some of the most competitive ones if I switched to SL (Where I am pretty sure I can get at least a 6) and took biology HL instead (Where I am pretty sure I could get 7)? </p>
<p>I’m not the most qualified person to answer your question, but I’ll try!</p>
<p>The way I’ve been hearing, the only reason people take HL Math over SL Math is because of college credit – schools typically only give college credit to the classes you took HL and got a 6 or a 7 on. So, if you’re not looking for something like that, I personally think SL Math is fine if you want to go to Economics. As for biology HL, I don’t know if it really matters what science you take if you want to go to econ, but that’s just my uninformed opinion :)</p>
<p>Are you taking HL economics? Most US colleges that I know of don’t require a HL mathematics for economic studies, especially as most US colleges don’t require you to list your major until a year into the program, anyway. Are you in your first year of IB now? If you feel more comfortable with biology, I think it would be best for you to go for the change now before more time passes and the decision becomes harder and harder. Good luck!</p>
<p>Definitely drop maths to standard level. It’s not worth the stress if you intend on majoring in economics. Colleges in the US don’t particularly care about the fact that you’ve taken higher level biology over maths. There are ton of ways to prove your mathematical ability (SAT II Maths Level 2, SAT I Maths Section, IB SL Maths). But I do recommend you take higher level economics. Since you will maintain your schedules rigor by taking higher level biology it’s all the more reason to drop maths to standard level. </p>
<p>I can’t speak for really elite colleges, but I think that 5 is a respectable score. Ultimately I think that a decent score on a Math HL exam will look better than a good sore on a Math SL exam, especially for a mathematically inclined field such as economics. As a Math HL student myself, I had to laugh at the practice exams that my SL counterparts were taking because they were easy to me. Biology HL does nothing for economics. It shows well-roundedness and all but will mainly serve as an elective credit.</p>
<p>But, truth-be-told, I don’t think appearance matters much. I’m curious to know how how your IB HL scores are going to have anything to do with your college applications because I applied for colleges before my senior year and just got my IB scores for the exams that I took at the end of my senior year two days ago–and I’m starting college this fall. Colleges will see which IB subjects that you take from your high school transcript, but I don’t think that most colleges take a microscope to which subjects you took at which level as long as you’re aiming for the full diploma. I admit that I could easily be wrong on this.</p>
<p>I think it would come down to which class you would genuinely get more out of. If you struggle in math, you might want to challenge yourself with it more in high school and build a stronger foundation while the stakes are lowerer than they’ll be in college. If biology genuinely interests you, then you might want to relieve yourself of some of that unnecessary stress and take the biology class that you love. Pick your passion.</p>