I am currently a highschool sophomore, and I’m planning on taking IB next year, but there is one thing I don’t really get.
I have checked a lot of places, and I’ve been told I can only take 4 IB HL classes and the rest has to be SL for the IBDP, but I recently saw some posts on various forums saying that you are allowed to take 5 IB HL classes as long as you take 4 HL exams in HL and the rest in SL. Is this an actual thing that someone can do? Or is it just a myth?
My plan for next year, as of now looks like this:
IB Math HL (I am doing double period math in order to do HL next year)
IB Literature HL (only offered in HL at my school, required)
IB History HL (only offered in HL at my school, required)
IB French SL (only offered in SL at my school, required)
IB Design Tech HL (only offered in HL at my school)
IB Biology (offered at both HL and SL)
I’m trying to figure out if there is a workaround for me to do Biology at HL, for example, can I take 5 HLs and just take the SL exam for Design Tech(I am still not sure about that being a myth or not)? I really want to actually take Biology HL for the credit, if possible.
What the school allows versus what IB allows may be different. You cannot take more than 4 HL exams. Period. End of story. And I doubt that the school would allow you to take Design Tech HL but only take the SL exam.
Whether a HS would be foolish enough to let you take a fifth HL class while only take the SL exam is a different story and one you need to ask your GC. But I fully suspect that you are asking the question without really understanding the immense workload that is involved with 4 HLs. Keep in mind that the vast majority of those students following the IBDP take 3 HLs and there are no brownie points given by anyone for taking more HLs. If college credit is your goal, you’re better off taking SL and filling in the gaps for the AP exam via self study. But I would not really recommend that either.
Looks like your high school is humanities focused, since it has two required HLs in literature and history, leaving you just one or two elective HLs.
Take Biology SL and take the AP exam. (Same thing with French SL-> take AP French test). This way you’ll get the credits.
Be aware that it’s going to be a crushing load even with 4 HLs and 2 SLs, and remember the total number of points matters more than 4v.3 HLs. 3 SLs+3HLs is already considered the most rigorous workload out there.
My DS is taking five HLs (global politics, Latin, Physics, English, and music) one SL (Math, only offered SL), but four HLs exams (taking SL exam for global politics). His IB advisor recommended the schedule and it works well for his interests and EC. Your course load looks more rigorous considering you have to take TOK and you may not have any study hall left with two period of math. Good luck.
My daughter plans to just take the AP exam for the SL classes as almost none of the colleges she’s looking at give credit for SL exams. Does your school offer AP Calculus BC? The credit for most schools is actually much better for the BC exam than the IB Math HL so a lot of kids go from Math SL junior year (taking the SL exam) and then Calc BC their senior year. My daughter has already taking Calc BC, so there’s no potential for any credit for the IB Math HL exam at all. Her GC is requiring she take Math HL class instead of SL next year as it would have been just too much repetition for the SL, but she did think about taking the SL exam so that she could take Economics HL. After talking to the economics teacher, she plans to just take the AP exams after the SL class - other have done so successfully with her school’s course. So she’ll ultimately have HLs for English, Chemistry, Biology and Math and SL for French and Economics.
My daughter easily got two 5’s on the AP econ tests after taking SL econ
Hi, thanks for the information! Yes, my school does offer AP Calc BC, which at my school has the exact same lesson plans as IB HL Math 1(My school is one of those that makes you take 5/6 of your IB classes for both years, split into 2 parts), I am currently taking Pre-Calculus Honors and AP Calc AB Seminar next semester, which is required at my school to get into HL, and according to my math teacher, who actually teaches HL, at the end of our Junior year, we’re actually required to take the AP Calc BC exam.
My school does have limited amount of IB classes, as we don’t have enough IB teachers for subjects like Chemistry and Economics, (Chemistry is only offered at Honors, and Econ is offered at AP), so it’s a huge factor that limits my choices, but I might think about taking the AP exam for the SL classes!
I don’t know if my highschool is humanity based, but as far as I am concerned, my state requires us to have a US History credit, an Econ+Government credit (which I have to take in AP, since my school only offers AP and Honors for the 2 subjects), and Literature HL is required because that’s the only thing they offer for group 1 subjects.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been getting a lot of mixed messages about IB’s workload, my only legitimate reason for forcing myself to do the number of HLs is based purely on the lack of SL choices my school offers, along with state requirements that throws off IB students (IB students at my school are required to take IB History HL for the US History credit, Literature HL is the only thing they offer for group 1, along with Design tech only offered in HL.) My state is quite strict with HS graduation requirements, making all the IB students required to take AP Macro-econ along with AP Government. I will probably end up taking Biology in SL and take the AP exam, as this is what some seniors said they were doing. I am still going to end up taking Math HL because I am taking the double period Math class currently this year (Precalc this semester, and AP Calculus AB Seminar next semester), which is required for IB Math HL at my school, because my school emphasizes a whole year’s worth of difference between HL and SL curriculums, and I’m obligated to do it to take leadership of the school’s Math team.