I’m taking Algebra 2 Honors Gifted as a freshman but have a weak foundation in math, so I’m averaging at a low B. I want to double major in Biology and Comparative Government/or International Affairs with a hopes of becoming an interventional cardiologist and going to Columbia. The rest of my courses are rigorous, something I can handle, but math is where I flounder. Could I take IB Math Studies sophomore year and then take Pre-Calculus during the summer of junior year?
I hope on finishing at LEAST AP Calc AB by the time I graduate.
Thank you! 
You take IB during the junior and senior year of high school. You cant take classes in your sophomore years. I would suggest talking to your counselor or whoever runs the program at your school to talk about preparation for math.
I’m a year ahead in Math, so I’d have to choose between IB Pre-Calc and IB Math Studies, although I’d be a sophomore.
You do not.get IB credit for IB classes takem in your sophomore year.
IB math studies, SL or HL must be taken during the IB Program years.
Everyone at my school who took Algebra II in freshman year has to choose between IB Math Studies or SL. How would they not count? Thank you by the way!
You must take 6 IB classes and tests, one from each group during the IB program which is only 2 years long.
What classes do you intend to take in 11 and 12th grade to satisfy the IB requirements? You need 3 HL and 3 SL.
Are you an IB diploma student or are you just taking an IB class here and there.
Is the oath you suggest (math studies->precalculus ->Calculus ab) truly possible at your school, have you checked with your GC?
IB Diploma Student
I’m hopefully transferring to a similar IB school next year, I found out Thursday, so I’ve only discussed how my classes might transfer with my GC. I know someone who is taking Math Studies in their sophomore year now and is hoping to do Pre-Calc this summer and go into AP Calc AB or whatever its IB counterpart is. They aren’t hoping to pursue a STEM major though. Would it look bad taking Math Studies, even if it’s for a year? Could I even do that, technically?
Thank you!
At our school, IB courses are NOT offered to sophomore/freshman classes. Period. But I guess it is different in your school. IB math studies is for students who are not into math and is considerably easier. If you want to take AP cal AB, you may want to have very solid foundation in pre-cal next year.
I would suggest you to build up your math over the summer by either taking your school’s summer courses (if offered) or use Khan academy. Then you could take pre-cal honors sophomore year then AP cal AB/BC the following two years.
Good luck.
You must take an IB math class during your 2 IB years to get a diploma. Period.
If you’re an IB diploma candidate then you must take precalculus next year and either math SL (most likely) or math HL (harder then the AB-BC) for two years. Some schools have either Math for one year and only HL classes senior year, others have either SL and HL over 2 years. Math studies is explicitly designed for students who will not be using math in college (basically arts and humanities students).
You can self study the elements of Calc AB along with Math SL and take the exam if you wish to have the credit.
So there isn’t a way I could go from Math Studies, then Pre-Calc over the summer, to Math SL?
Just take Pre-Calc next year and then you can take Math SL and then Calculus in senior year if you think you need it. There is no reason to take IB Math Studies and IB Math SL (you only need one for the diploma)- most colleges won’t give you college credit for either.
Our super strong math kids took Pre-Calc sophomore, then Calc AB/BC in junior and then IB Math HL Senior.
That is the highest math sequence at our school
pre-calc in 10th
Cal BC/ HL year 1 in 11th
HL year 2 in 12rh
My first kid did pre calc in 10th and SL in 11th