Should I take 4 HLs?

[theiblife]

I plan on taking:

HL English

HL Psychology

HL Chemistry

HL Biology

SL Math

SL French B

 

English and psychology are only available at higher level at my school. I want to pursue a career in medicine preferably at McGill or UBC. I am much better in the sciences than any other subject so I thought of taking four HLs but everybody says they are extremely hard to do. I want to be able to skip the U0 year of university for the Bachelor of Science degree, so are these subjects a good choice?

 

Also, if anybody knows—what are the requirements for being able to skip the freshman (or U0) year of university? 

[kw0573]

Many first year BS degrees likely require 2 semesters of physics. Also most require 1-2 semesters of math. Most universities accept only HL credits but some accept SL as well. IB official website has a "recent" list of courses for hundreds of schools accepting IB, for a rough estimate. Here it is: http://www.ibo.org/university-admission/recognition-of-the-ib-diploma-by-countries-and-universities/. UBC I heard accept some SL credits.

To graduate you have to fulfill certain requirements, largely the same across North America. So to skip the first year you would to be on track to fulfill all requirements one year less. However, there is a risk of having potentially a lower GPA if you take all transfer credits, or a less-than-thorough grasp on concepts, and as your school may require additional first-year courses other than math, english and sciences, so you would fit more classes in your remaining 3-4 years of university. This differs by the school, which often provides some course plan to the public. 
 

[Sandy]

Hi! Its not that hard to manage 4 HLs. I have 4 HLs as well, but for me, one of my HL is economics, which I find pretty easy and so I can manage it. I don't know how tough psychology is, but if you find it difficult, maybe you should take another subject since you have to take english. Whether it is hard or not depends on the subjects. From what I've heard, english HL isn't easy to do. But if you think you can do it, you should take 4 HLs. People exaggerate a lot.

 

The subject choices are good, but you'll need certain grades to be able to skip the U0 year. You should check the IB transfer credits for UBC and McGill. If you have those (5 in HLs in UBC if I'm not wrong and I think 6 in McGill) then you can skip a few courses. You might not be able to skip all courses because university would have other courses as well, beside the ones you took in IB and that you need to study.

 

Did you get any offers of admission?