<p>I am in Calculus BC as a junior which would technically be Further Math HL 2 right? So does that mean I take the HL test this school year? But this is my school's first year doing IBDP so my calc teacher is focusing more on the AP students for the AP tests rather than the 6 IB students who are in Calc BC while the other 80 students are in Calc AB. So I'm worried that I won't be prepared for the HL test this year? Should I take Calc BC this year and Stats next year and then take the HL test that year or is that risking forgetting a lot of things? Or should i take Calc BC and AP stats this year together? But then I would not have a math next year, which will look bad on college apps won't it?</p>
<p>Sorry for the late reply; I hope my input is still helpful.
I think you are a bit confused. There are currently 2 HL math courses: Regular math HL and Further math HL. Regular math HL covers AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Stats, and a few other topics. Further math has very little calculus. One of the topics is Statistics which is basically the exact same as AP Stats.</p>
<p>Generally HL math is taught as a 2 year course. First year the calculus is about the same as AB. Second year is about the same as BC. Further math is a 1 year course and much, much more rigorous than AP or regular HL. Its widely considered the hardest IB course, not even HL Physics is as hard.</p>
<p>If you take BC and AP Stats, you stand a chance on the regular HL exam. If you take BC and stats you WILL fail the Further exam. You’ll be missing geometry, discrete math, linear algebra, set theory, and a lot of the calculus topic.</p>
<p>I took AB, BC, Stats, and Further. Knowing exactly where you are, you won’t pass the Further exam without taking the course, simple as that (I’m 3rd year into an engineering degree and Further math is just starting to be eclipsed in terms of difficulty of math courses). I know one person who has ever taken the exam without the course and that was after years of taking college math as a middle school and high school student. He got a 7 and a full ride to Yale. </p>
<p>If you really think you can self teach 4 topics of the hardest IB course, go ahead, get a 7, and get a full ride to the Ivy League.</p>
<p>Now, as for regular HL, I still don’t recommend it but it’s doable. You’ll be missing quite a bit but it can be done. Mostly your proofs will be massively lacking.</p>
<p>In summary, don’t take the Further exam without either an IQ well north of Euler’s or first taking the course. Go ahead and take the regular HL exam but be prepared.</p>