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Help with choice of subjects for pre-med, pre-law or economy on uni


Kim Jong-Luftballong

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Hi,

I'm currently in the Pre-IB, and I'm pretty sure I will choose both biology and chemistry on higher level next year.
The thing is, I am very good at remembering things and have always had quite an easy time doing schoolwork
- but how hard are these subjects on HL?
I've heard that the HL biology is very much about memorizing stuff, while I really haven't heard anything about HL
chemistry except for it being the hardest HL together with HL mathematics.

The following are the subject combinations I'm going to decide between

Irregular:                

English A1 SL       
Swedish A2 HL     
Mathematics SL    
Biology HL             
Chemistry HL  
      
Physics SL            

 

Regular:

 

English A1 SL
Swedish A2 SL/HL
Mathematics SL
Biology HL
Chemistry HL

Psychology SL/HL

I'm a native Swedish speaker so therefore the Swedish A, and I want to be able to study pre-med, pre-law and
economy after the IB. Sadly, we don't have the opportunity to get a teacher in economics so we have to use
Pamoja instead. So I thought psychology (?) might be a good idea to better my understanding of people and thus
improve my understanding for medicine and law.


I really want to get into a top university, and am willing to study very hard for it.

What do you guys think would be the best choice of subject combination for my aspirations?

 

Thanks in advance,

Isak  :)

 

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the A2 language choice was eliminated? I think you can still choose two A(1) languages, though. In addition, you need to have a Group 3 subject, which you don't in the first combination. HL Biology does have a lot of memorising, but it's doable if you study hard. Chemistry, on the other hand, really is a struggle for most people, especially in the second year, so if you don't need it, think long and hard before you choose it. The new Science curriculum saves us from the endless lab reports, so the Biology+Chemistry combo should be easier to do than it used to be. Yay!

 

Psychology is all memorisation, too, but there SL is supposed to be only marginally easier than HL. Our teacher makes everyone have 5 lessons a week for the first year, SL as well. So there's a thought.

 

Thing with IB is that no matter what subjects you pick, it's not easy, so pick easier subjects where you can ("take your 7s where you can", goes my favourite saying), because it's better to have a high score on your eventual diploma instead of having a list difficult subjects with average grades.

 

Good luck!

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Psychology is mostly memorising and IMO doesn't really teach you much about people! If you want to learn about people, study Literature :P Chemistry and Biology are quite hard work so I'd recommend choosing an easy third HL. Your A language might be a good choice, or Philosophy is an easy one as well. And I guess might teach you a bit more about ethics and argument which may be more useful than memorising that the study of blah (1998) proved the theory of blah through blah and blah, which is more or less what Psych turns into. Although that sort of memorising is also kind of what a Law degree involves XD

 

As above, there is no A2. There's only A Literature, A Language & Literature or B. Or AB but you definitely shouldn't be opting for that in english or swedish! 

 

I assume you want to apply to the US (or Canada I suppose) as you're talking about pre-this, pre-that and pre-the other. In the US they don't actually care too much about what subjects you did for the IB. 

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Take whatever subjects you want as American universities don't really care. In the US, there is no such thing as pre-law or pre-med (there are a certain number of classes you need to take in order to apply to medical school but no school offers a pre-med major). However, to make things easier for your self, I recommend you take higher level chemistry/biology so you don't struggle with the science classes you're required to take to apply to medical schools. Regarding pre-law, law schools don't care about what you major in college so your IB subjects in essence have no affect on your chances of getting into law school. So if you end up going down the pre-law path, take any subjects you wish but you could perhaps tailor your subject combination to suit whatever you decide you want to major in. 

 

If you want to major in economics (in the UK) then you MUST take higher level maths, if you don't your chances of getting accepted into the highest ranked universities is virtually none. However, if you're only interested in American/Canadian universities then higher level maths isn't required. I think you should take economics instead of psychology - how are you going to demonstrate your interest in the subject if you don't take it as an IB subject? Plus, if you haven't already taken economics in school and have decided on a whim that you want to major in it then that's isn't a good idea as you haven't got a feel for the subject - for all you know you might hate it! 

Edited by Pink97
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the A2 language choice was eliminated? I think you can still choose two A(1) languages, though. 

 

Thanks, prior I thought it was simply another name for the same thing.

 

 

 In addition, you need to have a Group 3 subject, which you don't in the first combination.

 

 

In Sweden we don't. This is because we need all three sciences to study medicine at university.

 

Also, thanks for the rest you wrote. Takes too long to quote it all, I realized. :P

Edited by Kim Jong-Luftballong
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Psychology is mostly memorising and IMO doesn't really teach you much about people! If you want to learn about people, study Literature  :P Chemistry and Biology are quite hard work so I'd recommend choosing an easy third HL. Your A language might be a good choice, or Philosophy is an easy one as well. And I guess might teach you a bit more about ethics and argument which may be more useful than memorising that the study of blah (1998) proved the theory of blah through blah and blah, which is more or less what Psych turns into. Although that sort of memorising is also kind of what a Law degree involves  XD 

 

 

Thaaaaanks!

 

As above, there is no A2. There's only A Literature, A Language & Literature or B. Or AB but you definitely shouldn't be opting for that in english or swedish! 

 

 

 

Okay, got ya :)

Edited by Kim Jong-Luftballong
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In the US, there is no such thing as pre-law or pre-med (there are a certain number of classes you need to take in order to apply to medical school but no school offers a pre-med major). However, to make things easier for your self, I recommend you take higher level chemistry/biology so you don't struggle with the science classes you're required to take to apply to medical schools. 

 

Thanks,

 

 

If you want to major in economics (in the UK) then you MUST take higher level maths, if you don't your chances of getting accepted into the highest ranked universities is virtually none. However, if you're only interested in American/Canadian universities then higher level maths isn't required. I think you should take economics instead of psychology - how are you going to demonstrate your interest in the subject if you don't take it as an IB subject? Plus, if you haven't already taken economics in school and have decided on a whim that you want to major in it then that's isn't a good idea as you haven't got a feel for the subject - for all you know you might hate it! 

 

I really appreciate that you wrote this, because I've been thinking in a similar way. Do you know if Pamoja is any good?

Edited by Kim Jong-Luftballong
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In the US, there is no such thing as pre-law or pre-med (there are a certain number of classes you need to take in order to apply to medical school but no school offers a pre-med major). However, to make things easier for your self, I recommend you take higher level chemistry/biology so you don't struggle with the science classes you're required to take to apply to medical schools.

 

Thanks,

 

 

If you want to major in economics (in the UK) then you MUST take higher level maths, if you don't your chances of getting accepted into the highest ranked universities is virtually none. However, if you're only interested in American/Canadian universities then higher level maths isn't required. I think you should take economics instead of psychology - how are you going to demonstrate your interest in the subject if you don't take it as an IB subject? Plus, if you haven't already taken economics in school and have decided on a whim that you want to major in it then that's isn't a good idea as you haven't got a feel for the subject - for all you know you might hate it! 

 

I really appreciate that you wrote this, because I've been thinking in a similar way. Do you know if Pamoja is any good?

 

One of my friends is doing a language B course that is offered by Pamoja. She thinks the course is pretty good and everything is well organized so she has nothing to complain about. She's got a great teacher too which makes it all the more better, however, if you end up with a bad teacher it might be a nightmare of an experience. TBH, though, economics is quite an easy subject (IMO) and you shouldn't struggle too much if you read over your textbook and understand the concepts, regularly read articles that pertain to economics theories (to get real life examples) and are a decent essay writer. Get a good textbook and you're set - recommend the oxford course companion and pearson baccalaureate. I think you should give it a go - be a risk taker (IB learner profile reference) - I'm it'll work out, if not drop out of the online course and take psychology at your school. 

 

Good Luck! 

Edited by Pink97
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In the US, there is no such thing as pre-law or pre-med (there are a certain number of classes you need to take in order to apply to medical school but no school offers a pre-med major). However, to make things easier for your self, I recommend you take higher level chemistry/biology so you don't struggle with the science classes you're required to take to apply to medical schools.

 

Thanks,

 

 

If you want to major in economics (in the UK) then you MUST take higher level maths, if you don't your chances of getting accepted into the highest ranked universities is virtually none. However, if you're only interested in American/Canadian universities then higher level maths isn't required. I think you should take economics instead of psychology - how are you going to demonstrate your interest in the subject if you don't take it as an IB subject? Plus, if you haven't already taken economics in school and have decided on a whim that you want to major in it then that's isn't a good idea as you haven't got a feel for the subject - for all you know you might hate it! 

 

I really appreciate that you wrote this, because I've been thinking in a similar way. Do you know if Pamoja is any good?

 

One of my friends is doing a language B course that is offered by Pamoja. She thinks the course is pretty good and everything is well organized so she has nothing to complain about. She's got a great teacher too which makes it all the more better, however, if you end up with a bad teacher it might be a nightmare of an experience. TBH, though, economics is quite an easy subject (IMO) and you shouldn't struggle too much if you read over your textbook and understand the concepts, regularly read articles that pertain to economics theories (to get real life examples) and are a decent essay writer. Get a good textbook and you're set - recommend the oxford course companion and pearson baccalaureate. I think you should give it a go - be a risk taker (IB learner profile reference) - I'm it'll work out, if not drop out of the online course and take psychology at your school. 

 

Good Luck! 

 

 

The thing is - we can't change our mind about economics on my school because of how much it costs it for each pupil. Otherwise I'd probably start off with economics just to see. :/

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In the US, there is no such thing as pre-law or pre-med (there are a certain number of classes you need to take in order to apply to medical school but no school offers a pre-med major). However, to make things easier for your self, I recommend you take higher level chemistry/biology so you don't struggle with the science classes you're required to take to apply to medical schools.

 

Thanks,

 

 

If you want to major in economics (in the UK) then you MUST take higher level maths, if you don't your chances of getting accepted into the highest ranked universities is virtually none. However, if you're only interested in American/Canadian universities then higher level maths isn't required. I think you should take economics instead of psychology - how are you going to demonstrate your interest in the subject if you don't take it as an IB subject? Plus, if you haven't already taken economics in school and have decided on a whim that you want to major in it then that's isn't a good idea as you haven't got a feel for the subject - for all you know you might hate it! 

 

I really appreciate that you wrote this, because I've been thinking in a similar way. Do you know if Pamoja is any good?

 

One of my friends is doing a language B course that is offered by Pamoja. She thinks the course is pretty good and everything is well organized so she has nothing to complain about. She's got a great teacher too which makes it all the more better, however, if you end up with a bad teacher it might be a nightmare of an experience. TBH, though, economics is quite an easy subject (IMO) and you shouldn't struggle too much if you read over your textbook and understand the concepts, regularly read articles that pertain to economics theories (to get real life examples) and are a decent essay writer. Get a good textbook and you're set - recommend the oxford course companion and pearson baccalaureate. I think you should give it a go - be a risk taker (IB learner profile reference) - I'm it'll work out, if not drop out of the online course and take psychology at your school. 

 

Good Luck! 

 

 

The thing is - we can't change our mind about economics on my school because of how much it costs it for each pupil. Otherwise I'd probably start off with economics just to see. :/

 

 

Oh, that makes it a lot harder to come to a decision. In this case, you've got to weigh up the pros/cons of taking economics on Pamoja, how interested are you in economics? If your interest is so-so then you're probably better off taking psychology as you don't want to have regrets throughout IB regarding your subject choices. Plus, psychology is equally as interesting so it shouldn't be so bad. Taking economics as an IB subject isn't required (but is recommended) to get into economic courses at university so you shouldn't worry about that aspect of things as economics is taught from scratch at university (well in the UK, USA, & Canada they are, not sure about other countries). 

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