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History SL or Chemistry SL?


Jasmine Wei

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Hello girls/guys:

This is courses I chose now.

English LL  HL

Chinese LL HL

Mathematic  HL

Physics      SL

History       SL

ECON        SL

There is a question take me into a dilemma that whether I should change my HISTORY SL to CHEMISTRY SL? Because I would like to major Actuarial Science in the future, so I just realize I do not need to do so much research papers. Is that a better idea to change history to something more science? If I chose chemistry SL, how hard it is compared to History? AND basically how much did you get in a summative task?

Looking forward to getting some reply.

Thank you so much.

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I don't know exactly where you want to study, but in the UK at LSE (great uni), the only requirement they have is Mathematics at HL. Also, universities in the US (and the UK too) tend to look more at your HL's than your SL's, so it probably won't be detrimental for you to do history if that's what your interested in. I also can't speak too much about Actuarial Science, but it may be beneficial to do a science. You're already doing physics though, and universities tend to like well-rounded students. 

Bottom line is that it probably doesn't matter what you do, so I'd go with the subject you're more interested in and you think will get you the better grade (a 6 in History looks better than a 4 in Chemistry). 

Also, I don't know about your school, but some time has elapsed, and I recently changed Swedish A SL to Swedish B HL, but the only reason I was able to do so was because of special circumstances. Chemistry probably has an extensive workload (a lot of Chem students tell me that it does at my school), and would you really be willing to work hard to catch up for a SL subject that probably won't matter all too much for university applications, seeing as you're already doing Math HL and Physics SL?

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Thank you for giving me some infos.:D

Is that basically mean whether i chose CHEM OR HISTORY does not really matter? And history is more easier for me to get a good grade?

Another information I would like to add is I want to study in University of Waterloo, Canada. Will that help you to give me more info?

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As far as I know, Universities in USA and Canada don't care that much about your SL subjects. I take Chem SL and History HL and for me, History HL is way easier and much more interesting. But that's my personal subjective opinion about these subjects. At the end of the day, it depends on you. 

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4 hours ago, Jasmine Wei said:

Thank you for giving me some infos.:D

Is that basically mean whether i chose CHEM OR HISTORY does not really matter? And history is more easier for me to get a good grade?

Another information I would like to add is I want to study in University of Waterloo, Canada. Will that help you to give me more info?

What are you looking into studying at U of Waterloo? If you're looking into going into engineering, Waterloo requires Physics (recommended at HL) and Chemistry (at either level). Generally, if you're aiming for a Bachelor of Sciences in Canada, you will need 2 of either Biology, Chemistry and Physics. So, if you're considering either of those two options, you're going to have to switch to Chemistry.

Here is their webpage which details what courses you will need for admission and at what level.

Edit: Ok, so for Actuarial Science, you can't directly apply to the program. You have to first be admitted into the Faculty of Mathematics and then, after first year of university, if you meet the requirements, you'll be able to move on to Actuarial Science. For admissions into the Faculty of Mathematics, you just need English A HL and and Mathematics HL or SL. In terms of which subject is easier, they both involve quite a bit of work, though the exams for History can be confusing at times, in my opinion.

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