katalinb Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) Ok just to give you a little bit of background, I'm from Germany but have been going to an International school all my life but this year (10th grade or year 11) I did an exchange year to the UK where I switched from studying the iGCSE's to the GCSE's. I have always been good at maths and it's also been one of my favourite subjects for a while. I was predicted an A* this year and I've also been getting them throughout this year. However during my exams, something happened, Paper 1 was easy but for some reason I messed up Paper 2 not as though I did horribly bad but still I think I won't get my A* because of it, and instead I'll "only" be able to achieve an A.I'm starting to doubt myself a little at the moment whether I have made a mistake in choosing Maths HL for next year (when I will be starting the IB). My mum is a maths professor so I will always have help and support if I need it so in that sense I think I can manage. Generally I am also a very ambitious person and when it comes to school I can really focus so in terms of effort I feel like I should be fine, but I'm still worried I won't be good enough... any advice or tips?Anything is appreciated, thank you! Edit:My other subject will include (Higher level: Maths, English A, and History) and (Standard level: Geography, Physics, and German A). Edited July 7, 2015 by katasbayer Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
intranet3 Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Maths HL is done by humans. I'm sure you'll get through it, don't stress so much! By the way, wait until you see your GCSE's results, you might have performed better than expected!! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbTrojan Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Ok just to give you a little bit of background, I'm from Germany but have been going to an International school all my life but this year (10th grade or year 11) I did an exchange year to the UK where I switched from studying the iGCSE's to the GCSE's. I have always been good at maths and it's also been one of my favourite subjects for a while. I was predicted an A* this year and I've also been getting them throughout this year. However during my exams, something happened, Paper 1 was easy but for some reason I messed up Paper 2 not as though I did horribly bad but still I think I won't get my A* because of it, and instead I'll "only" be able to achieve an A.I'm starting to doubt myself a little at the moment whether I have made a mistake in choosing Maths HL for next year (when I will be starting the IB). My mum is a maths professor so I will always have help and support if I need it so in that sense I think I can manage. Generally I am also a very ambitious person and when it comes to school I can really focus so in terms of effort I feel like I should be fine, but I'm still worried I won't be good enough... any advice or tips?Anything is appreciated, thank you! Edit:My other subject will include (Higher level: Maths, English A, and History) and (Standard level: Geography, Physics, and German A). If you really like math, are doing well so far, and your mum can help you when needed, it seems like you have a strong base to do well in HL Maths. As long as you're willing to give in the practice everyday, I think you should be fine. Thousands of IB students take HL Math and successfully complete it so it's not impossible at all! It also goes nicely with your other courses. Do you know what you want to do after high school? 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevG Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 i got an a* in math igcsetook math hlregretted every moment of it (my grades kept fluctuating a lot -lowest test score was 2, highest was a 7)ill probably drop math next year and take geo hl or somethin cause honestly right now i cant focus on math with other stuff like ia, ee's. tok...so you really have a lot to think about, but take it and see, you can always drop to take geo hl midway also remembercomplex numbers will take your soul away... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rahul Daswani Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) Everyone said that Maths HL was the hardest higher, and I never really took it in properly until I did the course and starting doing the tests. The thing with HL maths is that, you may get the theory, but the way the questions are presented really leave you stumped. But I've stuck with it the first year of the IB and it's definitely gotten a lot better since the start of the year. I was similar to kfernando1 in that my grades kept fluctuating, but it has gotten better over the past few years. Honestly, I would just go for it now, do the first two or more tests and just see how you feel about the course as a whole. If you need to, you can always drop down since you still have loads of time left (my friend just dropped out of HL maths at the end of this school year). Just note though that the step from GCSE Maths to IB maths is a big one, and the step from SL to HL is insane Edited July 9, 2015 by Rahul Daswani Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
terribletouw Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I'd say at least start in Maths HL tot try it and then drop if its too much. When you first start I found that it wasn't the work that was too hard (yet) but my teacher would go through things crazily fast or assume we knew things we hadn't learned and I'd have to spend a lot of time outside school trying to figure out what she meant. I dropped to SL because I had other subjects I could do HL and figured it'd be better for my marks overall. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I would say I have been strong at math all the way through elementary school. I have participated and sometimes placed well in city or regional math tournaments. Both my parents are solid in math (high school math to say the least) but i never really asked them for help because they are always so busy. I just got my results and i scored a low 7 (4 marks above the 6/7 boundary). I wouldn't say I worked hours a day on math every day for two years, but I certainly took the time to struggle with all the most difficult questions threw at me in the homework. Tip1: always practice repetitive (straight-forward?) questions first, then do IB questions. Tip2: Never be discouraged by hard homework questions because they do make doing tests easier.tips 3&4: It is a great idea to gradually(maybe taking more than a year) get used to the ideas of spending max a minute/mark on average, and writing in pen. I was one of first people in the grade to start writing in pen on tests and quizzes (starting around my second year) and it made every assessment just more exam-like. My school allowed us to do 2 SL exams after first year so even with "just" 3 HLs and 1 SL in Year 2 a lot of time was consumed by math. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalinb Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Firstly thanks to everyone for commenting, and giving advice it's helped loads. @intranet3 Oh God, I have been so impatient and I can't wait to finally get them, and yes I'm hoping I got that A* anyways - hope dies last, haha. @IbTrojan Thanks, this has really motivated me, and yes I'd like to become a pilot after school (I'm still considering going to university first, getting a degree in maybe English (not sure yet) and then going to pilot school. Going to uni has always been a dream of mine, but I'm not sure just yet). @kfernando1 Yes that is what I'm worrying about but I feel like I should give it a try and see how it goes, from the other comments I think I'm going to try and see how it goes and if I struggle too much I'll just move down to it down to SL. @Rahul Daswani It's because that gap is so big that I'm slightly worried, ahhh why is this such a hard decision?! @terribletouw That's what I'm going to do I think, just go for it and if it becomes too much I could always take the safe bet. I do want to challenge myself, so let's see how it goes. Again, thanks to all advice so far, it's helped massively! 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalinb Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I would say I have been strong at math all the way through elementary school. I have participated and sometimes placed well in city or regional math tournaments. Both my parents are solid in math (high school math to say the least) but i never really asked them for help because they are always so busy. I just got my results and i scored a low 7 (4 marks above the 6/7 boundary). I wouldn't say I worked hours a day on math every day for two years, but I certainly took the time to struggle with all the most difficult questions threw at me in the homework. Tip1: always practice repetitive (straight-forward?) questions first, then do IB questions. Tip2: Never be discouraged by hard homework questions because they do make doing tests easier.tips 3&4: It is a great idea to gradually(maybe taking more than a year) get used to the ideas of spending max a minute/mark on average, and writing in pen. I was one of first people in the grade to start writing in pen on tests and quizzes (starting around my second year) and it made every assessment just more exam-like. My school allowed us to do 2 SL exams after first year so even with "just" 3 HLs and 1 SL in Year 2 a lot of time was consumed by math. I got similar tips from my sister who did Maths HL, she also said I had to loads of past papers as practice. So I think I'll be taking your comment to heart and try to make the most of it, and hopefully I will be able to do as well as I hope to do! Thank you x 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neaz Rahman Shaqib Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) GSCE Higher Math already covers like 80% of IB HL Math syllabus. Take it from me and you'll do just fine. It's not that hard. And if you ask me, English A HL or Geography seems harder than HL Math You could try going for HL Economics....it's an esay 7 plus it's a fun/great subject to study Edited July 12, 2015 by neazy17 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 GSCE Higher Math already covers like 80% of IB HL Math syllabus. Take it from me and you'll do just fine. It's not that hard. And if you ask me, English A HL or Geography seems harder than HL Math You could try going for HL Economics....it's an esay 7 plus it's a fun/great subject to study I would say between HL English: literature and HL Math, scoring a 5 is equally difficult; scoring 6 is more difficult in math; scoring a 7 is more difficult in English. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalinb Posted July 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 GSCE Higher Math already covers like 80% of IB HL Math syllabus. Take it from me and you'll do just fine. It's not that hard. And if you ask me, English A HL or Geography seems harder than HL Math You could try going for HL Economics....it's an esay 7 plus it's a fun/great subject to study That's a relief haha and might be but I love English and Geography (only as SL though) and can't wait to take it. Sadly my school is really small and doesn't offer Economics but I must say it sounds really interesting! Thanks for your helps. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgy Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 I'm not trying to discredit what anyone else is saying here at all, but I think that making an informed decision is always the best way to go. Check out the syllabus for Math HL( I found this after some quick googling: http://education.cambridge.org/media/215662/higher%20level%20syllabus.pdf and http://www.ibo.org/en/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/mathematics/mathematics/) and see how many topics in there you would be comfortable with/already have a good handle over. If this looks like something you can manage or something that you can easily learn go for it. I personally wasn't able to cope with Maths HL, but looks like you are quite comfortable with it and you have someone right there to help you out if you need it. Finally think about what kind of career you want in the future, and how useful math or any of the other subjects you have picked will fit into that, this article simplifies it a bit: http://callidolearning.com/blog/2015/05/27/blogib-diploma-maths-should-i-take-maths-hl/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neaz Rahman Shaqib Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 If you ask me, Economics is like a legit classy subject!I love it to bits! Cause it's my only subject along with Math thatis based on common sense and practice where I don't have to learn anything like in Biology or History...I dunno why, but I get this feeling that you will do great it! So go for it! And you'll always have people to help you out whenever you need wow....nice! you must be a really good writer then, huh? When does your school start?? I love my school! We have our own 12th century castle You can have a look if your interested: www.atlanticcollege.orgEinen schönen Tag! Did I say that right? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle turtle Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 In my opinion, maths is a subject where a lot depends on the 'intuition' you have in the subject if that makes sense. I'm doing HL this year but will be doing SL next year; my grades are fine, but I know that in the exam, you can have obscure analysis problem solving questions that are hard to do if you're not a naturally mathsy person. However, judging by the fact your mum is a professor, you did well in GSCE maths, it seems like you would do well Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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