HL Econ or HL Psych?

[DuffsterCole]

Hi!

A little while ago, I did a test (anyone heard of the morrisby test?) that gave me advice on future careers and ib subjects. before i took it, i was adamant that i would take HL Geo and HL Econ for my Group 3 subjects. However, the test recommended psychology to me VERY heavily, and ever since, i really havent been sure. i do actually find psychology very interesting, but i really like econ. and not doing geo is out of the question, as both my parents and i want me to do HL Geo.

I'm planning to go to Uni in the UK, but lots of really good uni's in the UK require HL math for their econ courses, so i wouldnt really be abe to get into some uni's. however, with psych, i havent seen any uni's that require HL maths

i was wondering if anyone could offer me any advice?

my current subject choices are:
HL - Econ, Geo, Bio (might change to chem)

SL - English A Lang & Lit, Mandarin B, Maths

and im planning on doing Law, PPE/Econ+Politics, Psychology, Geography or that Arts & Sciences course at UCL

thanks!

[Sceptyczka]

I've done a little research and I can see that Economics HL is more useful for an Economics degree than Psychology HL for Psychology. I would recommend you not to change Biology to Chemistry, though. That is because Biology might be more helpful for Psychology than Chemistry and would be also good while applying for Geography. However, considering all degrees you are interested in I would suggest you to take:

Higher level:

Math (essential for Economics; useful for Psychology, Law and PPE in top universities)

Biology (also useful for Psychology, combines with Geography)

Geography (essential for Geography)

Standard level:

English Language and Literature (although I think that English Literature would be better for Law)

Mandarin B

Economics or Psychology at Standard Level (rather Economics because there aren't any requirements for taking Psychology,

however I read that choosing Economics at some level might be useful for an Economics degree)

Chosing HL subjects from different groups as I suggested would be also beneficial while applying for Arts & Sciences course at UCL. Law isn't such a problem because there aren't really any compulsory subjects for it (exept for good math and writing skills). However, for some universities it might be better to choose English Literature at HL for Law because it shows your essay writing skills. That being said, it would be best if you could choose four HL subjects which would be (but only if you think you are good enough to score well, if not it's better to choose 3 HLs & 3 SLs and get a higher overall result because it's more important for top universities!):

Higher Level

English Literature (useful for Law and eventually PPE)

Math (essential for Economics; useful for Psychology, Law and PPE in top universities)

Biology (also useful for Psychology, combines with Geography)

Geography (essential for Geography)

Standard Level

Economics (useful for Economics)

Mandarin B

Overall subject combination - useful for Arts & Sciences at UCL

This would pretty much leave all your options open. The latter subject combination would make you a stronger applicant for Law but isn't really necessary and you could risk dropping a few points due to its difficulty.

Hope that helped

Tl;dr: HL Econ, not HL Psych

Edited December 27, 2013 by Sceptyczka

[DuffsterCole]

the only problem is that i can't do HL maths. im getting B's and C's in iGCSE maths right now. Thats why i wasnt too sure, as applying to a better uni for an Econ course would require HL maths, which i can't do. however, some uni's, for example, UCL, require HL psych and an HL group 4, but not higher maths, which i can apply for.

so HL Maths is out of the question.

[Guest ryuk1]

I've done a little research and I can see that Economics HL is more useful for an Economics degree than Psychology HL for Psychology. I would recommend you not to change Biology to Chemistry, though. That is because Biology might be more helpful for Psychology than Chemistry and would be also good while applying for Geography. However, considering all degrees you are interested in I would suggest you to take:

Higher level:

Math (essential for Economics; useful for Psychology, Law and PPE in top universities)

Biology (also useful for Psychology, combines with Geography)

Geography (essential for Geography)

Standard level:

English Language and Literature (although I think that English Literature would be better for Law)

Mandarin B

Economics or Psychology at Standard Level (rather Economics because there aren't any requirements for taking Psychology,

however I read that choosing Economics at some level might be useful for an Economics degree)

Chosing HL subjects from different groups as I suggested would be also beneficial while applying for Arts & Sciences course at UCL. Law isn't such a problem because there aren't really any compulsory subjects for it (exept for good math and writing skills). However, for some universities it might be better to choose English Literature at HL for Law because it shows your essay writing skills. That being said, it would be best if you could choose four HL subjects which would be (but only if you think you are good enough to score well, if not it's better to choose 3 HLs & 3 SLs and get a higher overall result because it's more important for top universities!):

Higher Level

English Literature (useful for Law and eventually PPE)

Math (essential for Economics; useful for Psychology, Law and PPE in top universities)

Biology (also useful for Psychology, combines with Geography)

Geography (essential for Geography)

Standard Level

Economics (useful for Economics)

Mandarin B

Overall subject combination - useful for Arts & Sciences at UCL

This would pretty much leave all your options open. The latter subject combination would make you a stronger applicant for Law but isn't really necessary and you could risk dropping a few points due to its difficulty.

Hope that helped

Tl;dr: HL Econ, not HL Psych

I agree with all the things that you said but the only part I didn't understand is how does Geography and Biology relate to each other?

[Sceptyczka]

I read on some unis' websites that two sciences on HL are required for Geography so Biology would be useful. It's also more similar to Geography than Chemistry so it could make OP a stronger applicant for a Geography degree. I think it was something like this for UCL and Edinburgh but I don't remember. However, right now I'm not sure whether you could not choose Math HL instead of one of sciences for HL. I must check. One topuniversity required also three subjects on HL from a list for Geography what could be only made by choosing Math, Biology and Geography on HL, though (or maybe there was also Economy on that list, I don't remember, but still...)

To DuffsterCole: I understand the problem. However, I don't think you could get a good Economics degree from a university which does not even require Math HL. Or more precisely that top Economics degrees would rather require Math HL. Even if it somehow it wasn't essential for an Economics degree at one of top universities (and I strongly doubt that - I think it's required for Econ at all top UK unis) it would make you a weaker applicant (especially considering that there might be some applicants who knew from the beginning that they want to study Econ and chose Economics and Math on HL, or, say, Math, Further Math and Econ on A level - they would end up being much stronger applicants than you).

Are you sure that you can't choose Math HL? What doyou think would be easier for you: to get a 5 at Math HL or 7 at SL? Or maybe is there one of degrees which you find more interesting than others? You may have a hard time trying to keep all your options open and to score well in all subjects practically because a specific score in each one may be important for one of the degrees you are interested in (exept for Mandarin B - although even a good score in a foreign language might be somehow beneficial while applying for Law...). Oh, and one more thing. Some top unis require even 7 at Math HL for Econ - this means you can't get a better result in Math SL if you are not confident with your math skils because there isn't anything better than a 7...

Of course, some worse unis may not require Math HL for Econ or maybe only require 5 in Math HL or 7 in SL. However, I think it would be a pity to choose a mediocre university after all the IB work instead of trying to get to the top ones.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Sceptyczka

[Ayumi]

If you are looking to study Geography in university, I'm pretty sure you don't need to do two HL sciences in IB. Also, if you're hoping to study Law, it would be best if you take English at HL rather SL.

btw, I would totally recommend changing HL Biology to HL Chemistry! Even my friend who's going to be studying Geography in university wished he took Chemistry instead of Biology haha (and he's not even struggling with Biology since he's getting 7s lool).

[katienikita]

Before you decide which HL topics you want to take for IB, I think it's really important that you decide what you want study in University as "Law, PPE, Psychology, Geography or Arts & Sciences" is rather broad and it will be much more difficult for you to decide exactly what subjects to choose for IB.

If you do want to study PPE/economics in university, most good universities do require you to take HL maths so you might want to reconsider. However, universities such as Kings College and Oxford DO NOT require for you to take HL maths. If you really enjoy economics but find HL math too hard, you could also consider taking a business management course in university as they are rather similar.

Although I would personally choose economics over psychology, if you really do prefer psychology then you should choose it. A lot of universities don't even require for you to take economics in IB and only require math.

Also, if you want to study law, you should take HL English Language & Literature as most universities would prefer that as writing skills are very important for Law.

It really depends on what you plan on doing in the future so you should try and decide soon!

[paul34]

Taking Eco & Psych will be an amazing combination if one is allowed to take it. most schools plot those two against each other but it is very interesting as Economics does have components of Psych. At the end of the day, do what you want as that will lead to your optimal effort but personally, i love Eco and it is probably my favorite HL (tied with Chem)