<p>i'm not sure about what math class i should take next year as a high schooler. right now, Im in MYP Algebra II/Trigonometry and I average about a 96% in the class. My teacher is the HL Math teacher, and he tells me that I should do IB Math HL (which is like AP Calculus BC). I personally feel like I can do way better in SL (which is like AP Calculus AB) and manage it better because I want to focus on my IB sciences more. but idk what I should do...do I REALLY need a math class as high as AP Calculus BC? because idk what kind of classes you have to take as a premed, but i dont think i need to be in that high of a math class...although AB is still challenging.</p>
<p>I’d say Math HL. If you plan on doing science in college, the more calculus under your belt, the better, imo.</p>
<p>I took BC my junior year, then SL my senior year. Getting more credit is nice, but you don’t need to go past Calc II in college.</p>
<p>Is AP Calculus BC Calc II? I don’t see the point of doing it in high school because I’m probably not going to get college credit.</p>
<p>HL math is HARD. I mean, it depends on your school and teacher, but SL and HL are vastly different in difficulty. If you’re interested in a math or science field and can handle not just the math skills, but the critical thinking and problem solving skills, then it might be for you. I took it because I’m full IB and needed a third HL. I’ve done well in the class, but the tests last week kicked my butt.
See what kind of credit you could get for each course. Some schools will only take HL credit, but you’ll have a better chance at getting a high score in SL. Gauge the difficulty at your school by talking to several students in both classes - In HL, the ones who signed up because they need higher math and the ones who took it because they have that innate math ability - you could get vastly different responses.</p>
<p>SL and HL are vastly different in difficulty. When you get to the options, choose the differential equations option, it will teach you what the BC kids do when it comes to series and a little bit more (but only a little bit, and that’s mostly with series). I hate probability, because it is useless and boring and I hate studying for it. Everything else in the HL courseload is doable, and dare I say, a little bit interesting? You should know that if you go the Math HL way, you’ll come out knowing quite a bit about vectors, lines, and planes in space. It’s a doable section, just make sure you get it get it. You don’t really get into the really hard calculus until you get to the series and differential equations option, btw. Even then, most students have trouble with the series, than with differential equations and mcclaurin and all of that. I loved everything in Math HL except for probability distributions and statistics, because they’re really boring (I just took my p.1 and p.2; they were good, but there were more probability distribution questions on the p.2 than I would have liked). Good luck with whatever you do.</p>
<p>I loved paper 1, I really did. I could do all of the questions in there, except for the probability function one, which was 'tarded. I HATE paper 2, there wasn’t as much calculus as I would have liked, and one of the huge section b. questions was on my nemesis, probability and distributions and the like.</p>
<p>I actually really like the probability stuff that was in the papers. What I didn’t like was that I had decided not to review matrices and vectors because surely that was easy enough it wouldn’t be on the test - and then P2 was full of vectors and matrices. I was really proud of getting the proof by induction though. All of it was doable, and I have enjoyed learning some of the topics. I’m one of those people who learns and understands well making me good at most of my subjects, but doesn’t have the innate math ability, which kills me on the end of the year tests.
We’re doing the differential equations option, and I’m kind of worried about that because our teacher is expecting to self-study most of that. I mean, basics are covered, but there’s definitely stuff lacking.</p>
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<p>o.O Ha, k. Well I decided I’m just doing SL. The teacher is REALLY GOOD for HL. I think he was part of the reason I chose the class in the first place, but due to the fact that I don’t like math that much (I think I can handle SL better), and that I want HL credit for English (because I already have 2 other HLs and would have not been able to do HL English because of math), I think SL is just better for me…</p>
<p>Good decision. English is not bad, and SL math should be much more comfortable.</p>
<p>Don’t be so sure that taking math HL means that you’ll have less math classes in college. The test for math HL is really hard. Most schools require that you get a 6 or 7 on IB exams in order to get credit. Getting a 6 on Math HL is very very difficult; no one in last year’s class got a 6 and they are now at places like Stanford, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern. So the only way they got credit was by taking Calc BC (which everyone agrees is much easier). </p>
<p>So my advice for you would be to take math HL if you can also take calc BC, because then u will have a sure chance for getting credit.</p>
<p>good choice on Math SL.</p>
<p>I’m taking the full IB so I had to decide between English HL or Math HL. Ended up, I enjoyed analyzing the subtleties of Kafka rather then doing integration so I chose English HL and Math SL, though people still think I’m crazy. Plus, it lets me focus more on Chem HL and Bio HL…and Mandarin B HL. My other SL is Psych which is actually a pretty cool course.</p>
<p>cit is totally right.
All of my class is just hoping to PASS that test and still have some chance at getting the diploma.
I’m going to Northwestern next year, and the only class I expect to get credit in is English HL maybe.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that so many have a choice of English SL or HL. At my school, it’s an automatic HL.</p>
<p>to cit: Yeah thats a good idea but I can also do the same thing for SL math. At my school they require the IB Math kids (except for studies) to also take the AP tests. So the HL kids take BC and SL kids take AB so I’ll still get credit from that as well.</p>
<p>Which is harder IB hl math or AP calc bc? No biased answers thanks in advanced</p>
<p>That’s going to be a hard thing to answer, considering that no (maybe a tiny few) high school student ever takes both. Find out from your local grapevine who the better teacher is and take them.</p>
<p>Funny thing is, I happen to be taking both AP Calc BC and IB Math HL at the same time, from the same teacher. I’ve also already taken AP Calc AB, also from the same teacher. I actually just made an account here to answer this little question because I’m probably one of the few who could.</p>
<p>The thing is, a ton of material overlaps, just going into more or different depths in the different courses. IB Math HL covers more than just calculus, but utilizes it just the same. I’d say, generally speaking, that IB Math HL is the tougher class, since it encompasses more than calculus, and presents more intellectually challenging problems. With Math HL the problems tend to take longer and have no clear path for an answer, usually having to do some critical thinking and intensive problem analysis before determining a course of action to solving the problems. Unlike the AP problems, there’s not always a clear way to approach each problem, which is more challenging in my opinion.</p>
<p>You need 2 semesters of college level math. One could be calc and another stats. Stats are best to take in college as it is very easy way to boost your college GPA if you will need to do so. In HS, it is best to focus on credits for English and History to avoid taking them in college. As an example, D. had credit for AP calc., took Stats in her UG (very easy A), took 1 semester of English (because she had 4 on AP exam, if she had 5, she would not need any English at college, and college English was just a waste of time for her) and had full credit for History. It worked well for her. However, as a warning, as Med. Schools might have different requirements, you will have to check with each one on your list to make sure that they accept credits for math and English vs takig them in UG.</p>