Taking Internation Baccalaureate (IB) and unsure what to choose

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I study in a British School in Sao Paulo. The IB program is obligatory here, and im unsure what options to choose. I intend to go to pre-med college, then continue onto medical school.
For those of you unfamiliar with the IB, the 6 options are:</p>

<p>Subject 1 - A1 Language: English, Portuguese, French
Subject 2 - A2 Language: English, portuguese, French
Subject 3 - Mathematics
Subject 4 - Science : Physics, Chemistry, Biology
Subject 5 - Social Sutdy: History, Geography, Economics, Business
Subject 6 - A free choice</p>

<p>You can choose 3 of the subjects to take at a 'higher level''</p>

<p>Basically, im not sure what to choose. Should I do 2 sciences, 2 social studies, Higher level of Maths?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Just choose the subjects you like.</p>

<p>Personally, I’d do Subjects 3, 4 and 5.</p>

3

<p>Going for the Diploma?</p>

<p>Or just taking IB courses you’re interested in?</p>

<p>If you’re doing diploma, you have to take a course in subjects 1-5,</p>

4

<p>Subjects 3, 4, and 5 are the most useful in my opinion.</p>

5

<p>You have to take one of each 1-6.</p>

6

<p>Well, you’re not doing your school specifically really. I did IB and got my diploma. I did HL English A1, Math, History, and Chemistry. TBH, your IB courses mean nothing for med school (especially since your future plans may change). DEFINITELY take English A1 HL if you’re looking at American schools. I would also encourage HL Math and either Biology of Chemistry if that’s the path you’re heading down. Math HL is a roller coaster. It’s not really difficult, but they make the exam impossible. </p>

<p>The reason why you shouldn’t do Group 5 HL is because you’re not showing an interest for it. History becomes less important as you start narrowing down your paths. Will history be relevant in medicine? – yes, however not to the extent that IB History teaches you. The non-IB people don’t understand I don’t think, but your A1 language nearly ALWAYS needs to be HL. It’s extremely standard at most high schools and if you are applying for American Universities, it will show proficiency. </p>

<p>What Group 6 were you thinking about?</p>

7

<p>6 is technically the arts. But for diploma you can take 1-5 and have a 6th class in a 1-5 subject.</p>

8

<p>If you want to do med, you should take at least HL Bio and SL Chem, if not HL Chem as well. At least, that’s what all the people who want to do med at my school do. HL Math would probably do you good as well, although it’s not really crucial. Definitely do SL second language and humanities.</p>

9

<p>For the 6th option, just think, what field are you most interested in? Even if you are unsure of what you want to do in the long term, what area do you want to pursue further in? So if you are interested in the sciences, then take two of them and if you are interested in international affairs, take two of the social studies.
Discuss this with other people (off the net) as well.</p>

10

<p>^ Yeah, that’s why I suggested Bio and Chem, since the OP wants to do medicine. Any extra science would work, actually.</p>

11

<p>For the 6th I was thinking either Chem if I chose Bio for sciences, or B language French (im a sucker for languages).</p>

<p>So basically, it would be HL A1 ENG, SL A2 PORT, HL MATH, HL BIO, SL HIST, then either B1 FRENCH, OR SL CHEM</p>

<p>Also, is HL Eng necessary? My teacher said that no-one in our school ever got a 7 on that.</p>

12

<p>^ Are you good at English? It’s true that very, very few people in the world get a 7 at English HL, but if it’s one of your strong points (and you did say you’re a sucker for languages), then go for it.</p>

13

<p>Well, we just did mocks for English for the iGCSE, and I got A* in both, and in class my teacher says im very capable, so i guess im at least decent.</p>

14

<p>Okay, I got A* in GCSE Eng Lit and A in IGCSE Eng Lang and I’m predicted a 7 for IB Eng HL, so I’d say you might as well go for it, especially if you like English.</p>

15

<p>Fair enough, thanks!</p>

<p>And do you think two sciences are necessar? If so, both at HL?</p>

16

<p>I don’t know, it’s just that you said you wanted to do medicine, so I sort of thought about what subjects the people at my school take if they want to do medicine. Then again, if you’re sure you’re going to go to college in the US, it doesn’t make much of a difference. If you were going to uni in the UK, where you have to pick your course straight away, it would make a much bigger difference.</p>

17

<p>2 HL sciences is killer, but doable.</p>

<p>Biology is an important subject for medicine but I would take chem personally.</p>

<p>Honestly, take an HL science, HL A1 Language, and an HL Math or HL chem.</p>

<p>HL English is a definite. HL A1 Language is a must have.</p>

<p>My school didn’t allow me to take 2 HL Sciences.</p>

18

<p>Umm, yeah. About the HL sciences - even the most amazing people at my school are getting 4s in HL Chem. A 5 is something to bug your eyes out at. I think you might be better off with HL Bio, English and Math. SL Chem is easy to do well in - it’s not much harder than IGCSE (it was my worst IGCSE Science but I’m still predicted a 7).</p>

19

<p>Average score at my school is like a 3.
The most amazing people at my school got 5’s and 6’s.</p>

20

<p>^ Is this Chem? Yeah, it’s pretty awful. A girl transferred in just to do IB, had no idea what she was doing, and decided to take Chem HL on a whim. She’s not doing too great…</p>