<p>I hate these forums, so much. I just wrote an incredibly long post, which is now lost in the session hell that is phpBB (looks more like vbulliten, hmm…i think, lol). Ugh. I shall attempt to write that up again. This is probably going to be a lot shorter 
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<p>Sorry for not replying in so long being the OP, I assumed this thread was dead when there were only 2 replies in 2 weeks, haha.</p>
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We were told that the school’s highest attained grade from an IB student for HL Math was a 6! Pssh, lies!</p>
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I guess I’m better at the math that involves Algebra, Statistics, Probability, Trigonometry and Mensuration, the rest of Math, I assume I am somewhere around average. I’m not horrendously horrible, nor am I <em>wow</em> good! Math is actually one of my worst subjects at the moment, though I do plan to change that with sustained practice over the next 3 years! </p>
<p>For CS, well, depending on what you mean, for Computer Science, the theoretical part of it, I am interested in things like artificial intelligence, network architecture and efficient memory consumption of applications, I have experienced issues related to that, time and time again, which is why it looks interesting! 
From what I’ve already learnt on my own, things related to recursion, algorithms/functions and databasing in all sorts of means, I do find relatively useful in software development.</p>
<p>If you are talking about software development, or programming, then I would have to say, I’m more interested in the web side of things, that being: PHP, MySQL, CSS, HTML, JavaScript. I do know all those languages, as well as C++, Java, and Visual Basic. I am learning Python and HTML5 right now, but I see the web as a more interesting platform.</p>
<p>I hear people explaining the difference between the two alot, but I really don’t see much of a gap. CS are the principles of software development, and I tend to find the go-out-and-do side of things more interesting than the principles, which is what I find usually ends up slowing me down in life… :(</p>
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The issue being, how! haha.</p>
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Though there is a restriction: 3 HLs are allowed, only – unless you complain to the ESF that it’s mandatory to do otherwise. Math is something I already don’t see myself very competent at (compared to my other subjects), which is why it seems less interesting. I took the subjects I did, because I found them interesting! If I do get an A* and end up loving mathematics at the end of Year 11, I’ll request a switch to mathematics HL, but I’m not sure that’s going to be my mathematical fate In all, I don’t think it’s right to judge someone down because they’ve taken the subjects they enjoy as opposed to the subjects which are common among those who attend MIT. I like business, CS, and Physics a lot, which is why I took them as HLs. The subject I’d consider switching to SL for Math HL, is Business, but I really do like it more than I do math, which raises the question as to why I’m interested in MIT at all if I’m not very interested in Math. The thing is, I plan to get better with loads of practice, but failing my Math IB isn’t something I’d like to chance with. :(</p>
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That is solely the reason why I believe I have a chance! Haha. Yeah, I have heard about that, which is why I’ve planned to take my little web ‘thing’ from being a little web thing, to an actual limited company which I plan to get incorporated (with parental guidance, of course :P) in late June, where I could actually commercialize software, and if the stuff is useful enough, I might be able to pitch it to Gizmodo or another tech-news company like that, haha.</p>
<p>Mm, In terms of competitions, I’ve been missing out lately I actually joined the Hong Kong startup weekend, which was quite an interesting night, where I was the only <20 year old there, which made it a bit strange, but I ended up missing the second day of it, and couldn’t do it. But the team I committed to ended up winning, which kinda sucks that I wasn’t able to make it, but they won Startup Weekend Asia, without me <em>sobs</em> Also, there was an ICT competition for schools in Hong Kong, which I wasn’t aware of till after it happened… Oh well, maybe next year!</p>
<p>Next summer I might do something like Google’s Summer of Code, or slightly earlier Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, and I definitely will do Facebook’s Hackathon whenever it comes up again. And I am probably going to do an internship with the PolyU mLab (video game programming) in August, so that’s something to look forward to.</p>
<p>In terms of writing, I have <em>very recently</em> been asked to write a submission for the ESF Scientific Journal, which hopefully works out well, so authoring something could be a first, and I plan to do a programming project in April that involves Artificial intelligence in PHP, which might turn out to be a good research topic! </p>
<p>One more thing I plan to do, is to join the STC Student Council (you might remember, if you were an ex student, lol) as ICT and Communications. I really do believe I can actually make a change with that, the diary could be moved to the web with the new 1:1 latop program they’re introducing, which is what I plan to pitch.</p>
<p>@ironclaw, out of inevitable curiosity, what subjects did you take for IB whilst you were here? Or being less ignorant: IB or BTEC? Though I am fairly confident you’re an IB student! :P</p>
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I did start early, and I do have a logical/pragmatic mindset, where I basically can interpret any situation in code, but it doesn’t work for me with mathematics, I don’t know why, it’s like I can’t do both well The problem with dropping to SL, is that we’re only allowed to start off choosing 3 HL subjects, unless there’s a higher education clash, i.e: harvard doctors might need multiple HL sciences among others. Thanks for your answer! It was quite useful!</p>
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My programming analytical skills are quite strong, but for some reason, mathematically, they aren’t anywhere as good. Right now, I’m going to do Math SL, because I’m really not prepared for HL, either way at the moment, if that does change by the time I get to the first month of IB, I will definitely request a change! Thanks for your answer! :)</p>
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I honestly do the exact opposite quite often. I really don’t think I’m of MIT standard. Not yet, at least. Till Year 10 I used to not put in any effort to anything, at all. In Year 10, I picked up the pace, and really did start to try harder, now in Year 11 I’ve gone from literally Bs and Cs to no Bs at all! But, I do hope these stats get better by IB! I really don’t expect to get in, but I really, really, REALLY want to! </p>
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In terms of passion, I’ve got lots. I really have LOTS of evidence to support my passion. From the link you posted later on ([The</a> Match Between You And MIT | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match]The”>What we look for | MIT Admissions)) <– I actually have ALL of those characteristics, I’ve read that article before, which is why I became so interested in MIT in the first place, the only one I don’t satisfy, is risk taking, which is why I’m asking about SL/HL in the first place! haha. </p>
<p>@franstar
I wish I could take as many IBs, haha, I really dislike the limitations! As I mentioned earlier in response to another quote, unless I pick up in performance, I don’t think I’m capable of HL Mathematics, though if I do, I definitely will switch! Yesh! Astrophysics looks INCREDIBLY interesting! Really looking forward to it! 
MIT Will want HL, yes, but I’m not sure :s, math is really one of my worst subjects, and I don’t think I could do HL as of now. Though I will make sure I give math a LOT of work, and I might be allowed to switch in the first month of IB if I get a good GCSE grade for Math Thanks for your answer :)</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus,
Thanks for your links! Though, assuming you are talking about GIRs, I don’t think I’d be passing up any freshman introductory classes (assuming I get accepted to MIT in future) aside from possibly physics. Mathematics at HL, there’s no way! D: Thanks for your advice, I will consider the possibility of switching to HL if I get better in the first month of IB.</p>
<p>@deathblade127
Thanks for those links I’ve read them before, but I don’t recall the content, shall bookmark now! </p>
<p>Thanks for all your answers, and hopefully the post finally posts Sorry it’s so long! :S Have a great new year! Thanks!</p>
<p>I hope I get better at mathematics, I might just switch after reading all these responses. I guess, even getting a bad grade in HL says more than getting a good grade in SL!</p>