<p>Hey so I have an option of going into either for my senior year. I want to take Studies because my friends are going to be in it since there is only one period. But I also am considering going to SL Math cuz I have heard that it is more rigorous and looks better on college application. I have just completed pre-calculus and got higher than 95% both semesters. So will I be able to tackle SL Math after just completing precal? or should I stick with studies? Will colleges prefer SL over studies? Do I need to know anything in Calculus to enter IB SL Math?</p>
<p>I want to do premed at UC Davis.</p>
<p>ANY help will be appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I don’t know about SL Math per say, but the couse topics seem to be a combination of Pre-Cal and AB Calculus (I don’t think it goes into BC but not 100% sure) If you feel you could learn Calculus then go for SL Math.</p>
<p>SL Math Studies is possibly the easiest math course ever. We have the course at our school, and people passed the exam w/o even studying or trying. There is some minor stats in it, very basic Calculus, and hardest of all: how to tell time. It is a walk in the park, so if math isn’t your favorite subject, or you find it challenging, take this class. Also if the rest of your schedule is rigorous take this course, as it will lighten your load, and possibly be a ‘work’ period for you.</p>
<p>In regards to how colleges view it, I’m not 100% sure, but as long as you can check the box on your application that says “Most Rigorous Course Selection” you’ll be fine. Check with your Guidance Counselor about that.</p>
<p>Alright Thank You.</p>
<p>If you have the option, then you really should take IB Math SL. We didn’t offer HL at our school, but it was well understood that if you needed to take Math Studies, then you probably should reconsider even doing the IB Program. Ours consists of sitting in with a BC Calc class for the first semester, then spending the second semester with an IB Math SL-only teacher to finish up anything that we’ll need for the exam.</p>
<p>If you have the option of taking SL, and you choose Studies, your guidance counselor cannot check the box that says “Most Rigorous Course Selection”. This comes not only from my experience with my counselor, but from talking to Admissions officers at Cornell and MIT on visits. So, if you want to get that box checked (and you really should get it checked if you’re interested in UC Davis), then you need to take SL.</p>
<p>It’s really not the hardest class ever, and that’s coming from someone who’s going into her second year. Really, the first was all PreCal for us, since we had just gotten out of Algebra II the year before.</p>
<p>At our school we offered Math HL as well as SL math studies, but that is it. Due to that you could get the ‘most rigorous course schedule’ box checked, because students who took AB Calc weren’t prepared for Math HL, but still had three HLs. From what I heard As long as you take 3 HLs and 3 SLs you can get the box checked. Since in your case it is between a harder and an easier SL course check with your GC.
Keep this in mind though, math studies will NOT prepare you for college level math, at all. Some of my friends joke that they forgot how to do math over the last year, because there is almost no difficulty in SL Math Studies.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! </p>
<p>so for my schedule next year, I will have </p>
<p>IB English HL 2
IB SL Physics
IB Spanish HL 2
Arab/Israel Conflict IB (don’t know details about this one) but it is this topic
IB HL Bio
IB SL math or math studies?</p>
<p>So with this course load, and being full diploma, if I don’t do sl math and choose studies instead, then I don’t have the most rigorous course? </p>
<p>Also I am nervous cuz I moved in junior year and at my old school our math for the year was titled Honors Trig/ Precalc. But when I switched schools, they did not have this class and put me in a class titled Accelerated Precalc. But this class at my new school was way ahead of me so I took normal precal here. Since I did not change classes because they are both part normal precal and I left accelerated precal, does this mean that I did not take the most rigorous course</p>
<p>Thanks for any responses. I am asking my counselors but I just hoped for different opinions. </p>
<p>btw -I had 5 AP/IB classes junior year and a normal precal.</p>
<p>So I will have 4 HL and 2 SL. Is this not the most rigorous course?</p>
<p>Quickly, is Arab/Isreal Conflict a new course? I googled it and it showed up as a part of another course, IB History. </p>
<p>4 HL’s = horrible idea. Unless you are VERY good. English HL is easy, Bio is hard, Spanish is hard, and based of HOA I’m making an inference that IB History would have a large amount of coursework, which is hard. All 4 classes require significant preparation (well in English you’ll have a lot of homework), and taking 4 HL’s is often disastrous do to course rigor. Personally unless you are some sort of prodigy you shouldn’t take 4 HL’s (see what I did there?).</p>
<p>Your counselors will know about checking the box, as they will be the ones doing it. Whatever they say is the best answer. (btw, you can get the box checked with 3 HL and 3 SL)</p>
<p>haha thanks. yeh it is part of history although im not sure about that class at all. I was gonna do another class but the school canceled the class. Ill talk to my counselor. thanks guys. this def helped. good luck with ib!</p>
<p>I might be mistaken, but I think Math SL is essentially a calculus class while Math Studies is mostly stats and pre-cal</p>