<p>No calculator on the first part of Math SL...</p>
<p>There are no-calculator sections on the AP Calculus tests, too.</p>
<p>It's funny. I am in 11th grade, doing the full ib diploma. Yet, my hardest class is the only class i take that isn't ib, which is spanish.</p>
<p>ib language is terrible It's definately my hardest class, except math. Why I took higher level math is a question i may never know.</p>
<p>is HL Math significantly more difficult than SL? I know that it includes some topics that are not in SL, but am wondering if the common topics are covered at the same level.
My daughter has taken SL Math on strong recommendation from her school principal that getting a higher score on SL is viewed more favorably than a lower score on HL with respect to college admissions. Is this true? Does anyone have any insights?</p>
<p>thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>At my school, most students are strongly advised to take Math SL or Math Studies SL, as several students find that they really struggle with HL, and there is quite a significant difference between SL and HL.</p>
<p>However, if your daughter is good at math and is willing to spend a lot of energy on it, then I'm sure that she will do fine. Math HL definitely is one of the harder HL subjects, and will probably be looked upon very highly by universities IF she does well. However, if she is unlikely to achieve a high grade in HL math, Math SL is still supposedly a pretty challenging course, and a 6 or 7 in this class would still be considered quite impressive.</p>
<p>Which other classes is your daughter taking?</p>
<p>I'm considering Math HL. Math HL is still calculus right? Is it single-variable calculus or multivariable calculus?</p>
<p>
[quote]
IB MATHEMATICS HIGHER LEVEL (HL) two year program
Prerequisite: Full IB Diploma candidate</p>
<p>Successful completion of MYP 10 Extended Mathematics</p>
<p>This course is designed for the most successful mathematics students who either have a genuine interest in mathematics and enjoy meeting its challenges and problems, or need such mathematics for further studies or related subjects such as physics, engineering, and technology at university level. Students will study a wide range of complex topics in depth including vectors, matrices, coordinate geometry, trigonometry, probability, statistics, differential and integral calculus, abstract algebra, and review for the IB exam.
[/quote]
sounds like pre-cal+calculus 1+ possibly cal 2...
So probably single variable. So probably equivalent to AP Calculus AB... Possibly BC</p>
<p>umm IB Math SL is Precal and Calc AB. IB math studies SL i think is only precal and a little bit of calc AB. So i m guessing HL is probably Calc AB and a little bit of BC.</p>
<p>What the minute, from what I've heard, IB Math SL is similar to AP Calculus AB/BC. IB Math HL is much harder than AP Calc BC and Further Studies is for crazy people.</p>
<p>According to what I see from course descriptions, AP Cal BC= Calc 1+2, and IB HL= Calc 1+2, and therefore AP Cal BC=IB HL.
Because Cal 1= Differential Calc
Calc 2= Integral
Calc 3= Multivariable </p>
<p>And that's what the course descriptions I see for AP Calculus BC and IB HL cover, 1 and 2.</p>
<p>My daughter is also taking HL: English, History, Econ
SL: Bio, French, Math</p>
<p>So far she finds SL Math challenging but not too tough, and is doing as well as anyone else taking that class; however it is difficult to say how well she is doing relative to other IB students since the standard of grading seems to vary so much. For example in another IB school the grading seems to be much stricter.
I wonder how this reflects in college admissions. How do college admissions folks know how to differentiate between grades?</p>
<p>So, it varies from school to school, but at my school, IB is way harder. After all, ALL the classes you take are preparing you for the HL exam. Besides, most of the IBers at my school take AP classes (except for English and History, the classes are mixed). So when I graduate I'll have taken 10 AP tests and I'll have my diploma. Basically just covering all my bases because I feel that if a college is familiar with IB (and al the good ones are) they prefer it. If they aren't, hey, I'm also AP so whatever.</p>
<p>Hi everyone, as an 11th grade IB student I just thought I would clarify and summarize the IB Math syllabi a little bit. (As a Finn I have absolutely no idea how these compare to APs.)</p>
<p>First of all, there are 4 different levels of IB Mathematics:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Mathematical Studies SL
Easiest: Mostly consists of basic statistics, geometry & trigonometry, algebra, some calculus etc. </p></li>
<li><p>Mathematical Methods SL:
Mid-level: Has for example vectors, matrices, probability, statistics, calculus etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Mathematics HL:
Hard: A LOT of topics covered. Covers all of the Math Methods-course topics in much greater depth, with topics unique to the HL syllabus, such as complex numbers, proof by induction and so on. In mathematics HL you are also required to choose one of four options:
1) Statistics and probability
2) Sets, relations and groups
3) Series and differential equations
4) Discrete mathematics
And don't get me wrong, all these options are studied to some extent in the HL course, but the separate option you choose takes you in much, much greater depth.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And last but not least:</p>
<ul>
<li>Further Mathematics SL
Ridiculously hard: Basically everyone who takes this course also takes Math HL, which is a prerequisite for the FM course. Further Math contains all the topics in the Math HL syllabus with all of the four options and a separate section of advanced Euclidean geometry. The IBO only offers this course at SL, but don't be fooled, it is far from the usual meaning of SL. Further Mathematics is the only one of the IB math courses that does not have an internal assessment component, 100% of the grade comes from the final exam.</li>
</ul>
<p>And here's some statistics to chew on: In the May 2007 examinations there were over 42 000 students taking an IB mathematics exam (whether doing only the full diploma or not). Of these 42 000:
- About 15000 took Mathematical Studies SL, 4% of which got a 7. Mean grade: 4.49
- 19000 took Math Methods SL, 10% of which got a 7. Mean grade: 4.60
- 7600 took Math HL, 8% of which got a 7. Mean grade: 4.43.
- 93 took Further math. Thats right, 93. Of those 93, about 17%, or one sixth, managed to get a 7. The mean grade was 4.47.</p>
<p>To nycmom369: Due to the IBO's 3 HL and 3 SL requirement, students in my school who want to take Math HL are required to take a fourth HL subject, because so many people switch from Math HL to Methods SL because of the difficulty. I think this is method is brilliant, as you don't have to decide between the two courses before you know the actual difficulty level. It is very easy to drop from Math HL to Methods SL, as you study the same things except you just get to skip the hard parts of Math HL. However, in my school we do all the exams in the final year, so I don't know if it is possible to make the switch in case the students of your daughter's school take the SL exam already at the end of their junior year. </p>
<p>And a bit about the grades; After seeing a few students in my school drop from HL to Methods SL, I'd say that usually a student who gets 5s in HL classes is likely to get 7s on Methods SL ones.</p>
<p>You also asked about the recognition of HL mathematics. In top universities in the UK, mathematics HL is usually a requirement for economics courses. Some, like London School of Economics, even require a 7 on HL math for the student to be considered for admission I don't think Math HL is that vital for the US colleges though, unless your daughter is planning to major in engineering or some other math-related subject. For economics and psychology in the US, I am under the impression that Math HL is looked upon as impressive, but is by no means a requirement. And as cruel as it is, I think getting a 7 on the Methods SL exam is looked upon as a lot more impressive by the adcoms than a 5 on HL, although the 5 is, for most people, much more difficult to achieve.</p>
<p>Hope this helped.</p>
<hr>
<p>IB 2009
HL: Mathematics, Physics, Economics, English B
SL: Further mathematics, A1 Finnish, B French</p>
<p>Hi Fin-IB,
Thank you for your excellent and comprehensive reply. You have answered all my questions.</p>
<p>I was not aware of the Further Math level, and am impressed. The topics covered sound like an intro to pure Math studies at grad level (proofs, adv Euclidean geometry).</p>
<p>Interesting also is that the mean score at all 4 levels is not significantly different, so it seems that students are able to find their level easily.</p>
<p>My daughter is taking Math Methods SL and is finding it reasonably manageable with not too much time spent on it. She feels that she could have taken HL but it would have taken away too much time from other subjects like History and English - which by the way she finds more challenging than Math, since the abstract thinking required is completely different from the way these subjects were taught in 9th-10th grade.</p>
<p>thanks again for your reply and Good Luck</p>
<p>You're welcome nycmom369.</p>
<p>Oh and in case someone's interested, I found some statistics on the IB in North America (May 2006 exams), which can be accessed from the following link: <a href="http://www.ibo.org/ibna/media/documents/2509_IBO_datasummary_6.Final.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.ibo.org/ibna/media/documents/2509_IBO_datasummary_6.Final.pdf</a></p>
<p>The more recent world statistics with even more specific statistics can be found from the IBO's website at Diploma</a> programme statistical bulletin
I find these statistical bulletins supplied by the IBO really useful, probably due to the fact that they give you a pretty straight-forward answer on how hard it is to get some particular score on a specific exam, or how hard is it to get a specific amount of points, say >40/45, on the diploma overall.</p>
<hr>
<p>IB 2009
HL: Mathematics, Physics, Economics, English B
SL: Further mathematics, A1 Finnish, B French</p>
<p>IB teaches you how to BS infinitely better than AP.</p>
<p>Can you clarify what you mean by that?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Woahhh nothing<em>at</em>all...I totally disagree. I think IB more a lot more well rounded than AP. Rather than teaching you facts and how to study to past the test like AP does, IB teaches you teaches you a lot more link internal assessments (IA's) and how to relate things to the real world...</p>
<p>how to relate things to the real world? I'm not sure about that. I'm kind of torn with IB... I guess it does make you more well-rounded, but I definitely do not plan to continue studying every subject I'm taking right now in college. Sometimes (or this could just be senioritis speaking) it all feels very pointless. And with the amount of work the IAs and EAs take up, I know that most of the people in my classes and I don't think it's humanly possible to put 100% effort into every single essay and project. My HL English teacher always tells us we're practically in our 1st year of college as IB seniors, but I'm pretty sure most people in college aren't taking 8 classes that meet everyday. I think IB spreads you very thin and makes it very hard to be passionate about just one subject.</p>