Hi, S is a junior in the IB program at school. Currently taking
Spanish HL
History HL
English HL
Biology HL
Math studies
Psychology SL
IB Core
S is Hispanic, fluent speaker and good reader so literature is good but very very bad at grammar. So is struggling. School is recommending moving to Spanish SL for senior year. How do you think this will adversely affect him for selective coeges especially since he’s Hispanic (and does volunteer work within the Latino community in the city)
And, is SL much easier than HL (not the test, the course) not worried about the test at this point.
Help! :((
SL is easier. It won’t adversely affect him. Very few students at our school do HL language, not even native speakers.
Thanks for replying. But the issue is that he would be going from HL in junior year to SL in senior year. I believe it’s the same class, different test
So it’s the lowering of a level for a native speaker
The standard for an IB diploma is 3 HL and 3 SL. It’s rare that a student takes 4 HL. It will not affect him to change an HL to an SL.
Thank you. I was worried that colleges would see it as a negative because of the lower level, especially since he is hispanic and because he already did a year of HL. I am trying to find out if the class is the same. If it is, and only the exam changes it doesn’t make sense to lower the level. If not, I need to find out if SL is more or less grammar. It is counterintuitive, but he does better with lit than with simple grammar
US colleges will not know what level test was taken at admission time.
Perhaps you and he should ask the Spanish teachers about which course will best help him with improving his grammar from his current skill level with it, since it looks like that is his weak area of Spanish. Whatever will help his grammar skills in Spanish the best will be the most helpful in his overall Spanish skills, if he is already fluent in speaking and listening and good at reading (i.e. probably more advanced in those areas than would be taught in advanced high school courses).
Is it correct that he intends to choose a major that does not require math in college, as indicated by taking math studies SL?
yes. He wants to go into a healthcare or social sciences related field. But will probably apply as an English major. Very good writer. And very passionate about his hispanic ethnicity. Wish the school would offer a heritage speaker class. I know the teacher wants him to move down to SL. But they are more concerned about the exam than I am. I am more concerned about how it will look to colleges to go down a level. IF both HL and SL classes are taught together, then they would be learning the same, except that the HL kids have to read a couple of novels in Spanish, which wouldn’t be a problem. It is trying to figure out if a higher level would actually be better because it would be less grammar. I think the school is more concerned about the test and optics.I am not opposed to him going to SL as long as it doesn’t have a college admission impact. But how can it not?
Plus it’s crazy. When grammar tests are given orally (much harder for most), he gets perfect scores. Written, disaster. Totally counterintuitive. And frustrating that it equals a possibly a lower level in standard, when he’s actually more advanced. But when in Rome…
Not sure if the focus on the tests or optics for college admissions should be the main focus.
What course will help him improve the weakest part of his Spanish knowledge (grammar and writing )?
Also, premed often needs calculus, and health and social studies need statistics (sometimes calculus based statistics is recommended ). Will math studies prepare him for calculus in college?
To answer your question, how can it not have an admissions impact. IB tests are taken in May and scores don’t come out until July, most admissions decisions are made in March. Just being in IB usually gets you credit for taking a rigorous course load. It might make a difference for getting college credit once you are already in.
At our school they mixed native speakers (non-IB) with IB SL students and AP students. Native speakers tended to do better orally while IB students were better with grammar, reading comprehension, and writing due to having a strictly text book understanding of the language.
Students taking math studies SL will do fine in college calculus, but it certainly won’t be as easy for them as it would have been had they taken regular SL (calculus). Math studies includes exposure to some other math content, so it’s fine for students who will need math in college but is not ideal prep for engineering for example.
Four HLs is very unusual. Three is more than sufficient. I would think giving up one would be very understandable.
Math studies is a smattering of different kinds of math. So not really sure. It’s a hard course to pin down. But that’s what was recommended. Not a strong math kid so I think some things will become clearer as he starts college. Loves biology
Nw2this, it’s interesting that your school puts native speakers, AP and SL together. I’m not sure what ours will do next year but I suspect it’s either HL part 2 with AP or separate. I’m curious to see if they have separate classes for HL versus SL. If they don’t, I don’t see the purpose of lowering the level. True, he needs more grammar help, but if here learnin the same things in the same classroom and just taking a different test at the end of the year it wouldn’t make sense to lower him. We pushed for Spanish because of the emphasis on reading and writing for true fluency, even at the expense of GPA. Most people assume that if a kid is a native speaker, he will do well in the class, when many times it’s the opposite. They have to unlearn to learn.
Our school does Spanish this way:
Spanish 1 native and non-native sections are separate
Spanish 2 native and non-native sections are separate
Spanish 3
Spanish 4 - Take AP Lang and Culture and/or IB SL tests
Spanish 5- Take AP Lit and/or IB HL tests
Very few non-native speakers in Spanish 5