12 replies to this topic

[micky333]

Hello I´m a student who´s currently in IB 1 in Turkey.
My subjects are:
Turkish A1 SL (current grade is 4/5)
English B HL (current grade is 7)
Chemistry HL (current grade is 7)
Biology HL (current grade is 7)
Maths HL ( Current grade is 6 - but a very weak one)
Economics HL (6 - But starting to greatly lose interest)
Physics SL (6/7 - more like 7)

My dream is to become a doctor, and I wan´t to apply to the top universities in the UK. Now my question is whether I could drop Maths and Economics to SL (and secure a 7 in both subjects), and still have a competitive diploma where I have a good chance of getting an offer from the top 10 universities in the UK.
The reason to why I´m asking this is because I know that English B HL doesn´t "really count" as a HL subject, but on the other hand I have 7 subjects.

Or do you think I should drop economics as a whole, to have more time to spend on the Mathematics HL. Either way I want to drop Economics to SL or the subject as a whole.

What do you recommend me to do?

Thanks in advance

Edited by micky333, Jan 20, 2012 - 21:19.

[Award Winning Boss]

yes of course. You take 5 HL's when the requirement is 3.

I think dropping english and maths to SL would be the best thing to do.

[Emy Glau-ski]

I don't know why you would want to do seven subjects with five of those at HL (with very tough subjects as HLs nonetheless!)

With your current subjects you cannot drop economics completely, unless you get permission from the IBO. You can drop it to SL if you feel like you would benefit from it. I think you would, as you say you are starting to lose interest in it and doing SL would reduce the workload for you.

You also generally do not need HL maths for medicine unless the university requires it. If you want to keep HL math and you enjoy math, that's fine. But you don't really need it for UK universities and taking SL instead would give you much more time to focus on your other HLs which are very time-consuming.

You can still keep a seventh subject (physics) if you really want it.

Either take HL Biology, Chemistry, and English B with SL everything else or HL Biology, Chemistry, and Math with SL everything else. That's what I recommend.

Good luck

[micky333]

But what is better to get a 7 in Economics HL or 6 in Maths HL (which is more highly valued?), in terms of applying to medicine in the UK (a top university)

emyski, on Jan 09, 2012 - 20:57, said:

Either take HL Biology, Chemistry, and English B with SL everything else

Good luck

Don´t you think having english B as one of the three HL´s will pose a disadvantage, when I apply?

[Award Winning Boss]

micky333, on Jan 09, 2012 - 21:19, said:

But what is better to get a 7 in Economics HL or 6 in Maths HL (which is more highly valued?), in terms of applying to medicine in the UK (a top university)
Don´t you think having english B as one of the three HL´s will pose a disadvantage, when I apply?

You don't need maths HL to study medicine in the  UK so just get the higher mark.

Most likely no having english B won't ruin your application

[Emy Glau-ski]

micky333, on Jan 09, 2012 - 21:19, said:

But what is better to get a 7 in Economics HL or 6 in Maths HL (which is more highly valued?), in terms of applying to medicine in the UK (a top university)

emyski, on Jan 09, 2012 - 20:57, said:

Either take HL Biology, Chemistry, and English B with SL everything else

Good luck

Don´t you think having english B as one of the three HL´s will pose a disadvantage, when I apply?

Not necessarily. There are plenty of people that take English B and get into medical school. I am no admissions officer, but a 6 or 7 in English B > a 4 or 5 in HL math

Quote Sandwich (an admin who is in medical school):

The answer is that unless it's HL Chemistry (required) or HL Biology (pretty recommended!) it probably doesn't matter. Avoid 'soft' easy subjects but more or less pick whatever you want. The world is your oyster! I know of no subject combination which will put a shiny star next to your name because the IB by nature forces you to cover a lot of bases (an essay subject, a language etc.) so you'll never be lacking.

If you need HL math: No. Does it help? Maybe, but evidence suggests probably not. If you're good at Maths then go for it - also it's a hard subject so it's a respectable HL. Nobody knows the exact answer to this question, but the safe option is to do SL Maths unless you've got a particular motive to do HL. People can get in with Maths Studies, but as I only know one person who has done this (who had many better reasons to be allowed in) then I wouldn't recommend it as (assuming the admissions department knows the difference) it is a very easy 'soft' subject.

[Soiboist]

Just to want to make a brief point about UK universities. You said you're applying to top 10 universities, so you might want to know that Cambridge favours Maths HL for their science courses. This is especially relevant for Medicine where competition is fierce.

[flinquinnster]

Personally, I think you should definitely be dropping 2 HL's, or at least 1 for the time being. Seeing as you don't like economics, drop that to SL (though I've heard that economics is fairly easy, so you might want to keep it). But I don't think that you can drop economics entirely, because that would mean you have no Group 3 subject, and thus no diploma (or at least I think that's true). If you're applying to a UK university, keeping English B at HL would be a good idea, to show your skill at English. Bio and Chem HL would be an advantage in a medicine course. So, if you want to have only 3 HL's, drop Maths to SL! It would probably make your life much easier! I would recommend dropping to Economics SL, and then if it's still too stressful or too much, drop down to Maths SL.

[micky333]

I would first like to thank you for all your responses, I really appreciate that you took the time to answer my questions.
First of all I will not drop physics SL, since I need it for med school here in Turkey (If I stay here), so if there is a subject to drop it´s definitely economics (not to SL though since the only major difference between SL and HL is that SL don´t do the "Theory of the firm" + that HL have a paper 3 with calculations - the easiest paper).
But do you think that I will have the best chance to get a good grade with this subject combination:
HL: Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English B
SL: Turkish, physics

or

HL: Biology, Chemistry, English B, Economics (although I don´t particularly like economics)
SL: Maths, Turkish, Physics


Thanks in advance

Edited by micky333, Jan 10, 2012 - 23:35.

[Emy Glau-ski]

You'd probably have the best chance of getting a higher score with your second combination. Math HL is difficult, even if you are a math person. However, just because you take certain subjects does not guarantee you will automatically get a higher score in them. You'll still have to work hard to score well.

[Sandwich]

Soiboist, on Jan 09, 2012 - 21:42, said:

Just to want to make a brief point about UK universities. You said you're applying to top 10 universities, so you might want to know that Cambridge favours Maths HL for their science courses. This is especially relevant for Medicine where competition is fierce.

It's hard to know what's just rumour (or just a single college) and what is fact with these sorts of statements. About the only thing you can go on is genuine evidence, and I know 2 people at Cambridge doing Medicine after having done the IB and both of them did SL Maths (Methods, not Studies). So I'm sure there's a grain of truth in this somewhere, but it's something to take with a pinch of salt, perhaps.

[micky333]

Hello guys, now I´ve just received my term grades and they are:

Turkish A1 SL - 5 (border line --- 2 % more than a 4)
English B HL - 7
Chemistry HL - 7
Biology HL - 7
Maths HL - 6
Economics HL - 7
Physics SL - 7

Now everything looks good except for that 5 in Turkish SL (Literature). The thing is that I´ve always been poor at turkish. I´ve basically struggled since the first grade (was forced to watch shows read more books than the rest of the class, etc.) and I was wondering if you guys could give me any tips on how I can improve my skills in this language. Should I drop to lang & lit? Should I get a private tutor?
It would be a shame to get a 4/5 in the end of IB, since I´m actually good in everything else (It would look bad and might decrease my chances of getting into med school)

Thanks in advance

P.S - I also have an IOP in 5 weeks and haven´t decided on topic. Although there isn´t anything which is "easy" to present, I was wondering in general what topic which requires the least amount of analytical skills and "understanding", but which you at the same time will get a high score in - like a 6?

I should also mention that it´s Paper 1 which I do really poorly in - 4, whereas I do quite well on Paper 2 ( I usually get 6´s but occasionally I get strong 5´s as well).

Edited by micky333, Jan 20, 2012 - 21:42.

[ananya.agrawal95]

Hey,

I've heard lang is easier than lit, might want to consider that.

And I'm also planning on medicine either in the UK or USA. I found that physics isn't a prerequisite unless you want to do medicine in India, in which case Chem, Bio, Math and Physics have to be at HL :\

Since your grades are pretty decent(except group 1), I don't see much point in dropping subjects unless you want to remove physics later.


My college counsellor told me to take Math HL just because most foreign universities have a quota for international students and your application has to stand out as much as possible. Also, I'm one of the mathematically gifted students, which sorta helps in that regard.