History, Geography, or English HL?

[ElizabethMoore]

Sorry for being so petty guys, but this choice thingy is really stressing me out lol rip. I'll try to stop annoying everyone here so frequently, and honestly thank you for all those amazing responses.As I said before, I'd be taking chem bio HL, and I need another HL subject that will be relatively less demanding and easier, but at the same time well respected by universities. In terms of my passion towards these subjects, it would be 1. History 2. Geography 3. English, but from what I hear the difficulty of them is quite varied. So which of the above would strike a balance between workload and being respected ( slightly more emphasis on being less demanding and difficulty of getting 7), and which one would you recommend overall? I cannot stress how much everyone has helped me, and I sincerely apologize if I've wasted your time   

Edited November 21, 2016 by ElizabethMoore

[beth-]

I don't take Geography so I can't comment on it, but I would argue that History has a heavier workload than English HL. In fact, I wouldn't advise you to take History at all unless you're genuinely passionate about it. You can get away with more in English (if that makes sense). Then again, I take English Lang&Lit, which is significantly easier than English Literature. I see that you're from the UK - British medical schools don't really care about much else than you having Chemistry and Biology at HL, so neither would hurt your chances. I'd take the one you're the most interested in. Having that said, 13% managed to get a 7 in Geography during the May 2015 examinations. 2% managed to get a 7 in History, whilst 3% managed to get a 7 in English Literature. 

I wouldn't take either History or English lit on a hunch. I'd go for Geography, since it appears to be easier to get a good grade in it, and you don't really need either for university.

[IB`NOT`ez]

Take what you like best. If you tend to work hard, go for History regardless.

Also with regards to what beth said, don't let statistics or numbers get in the way of doing what you like – those numbers are skewed to some extent considering a massive amount of IB schools in the US that may not take the IB very seriously (as they'll be focusing more on AP courses; the diploma is just an add on) and almost all those students will be taking History and English Lit since they're the most common subjects. Now it's pretty hard to do well in the IB if your focus is on your 4 other AP courses, so most people just try to pass for the diploma instead of working towards 40+ points. If you look at the November 2015 stats, 6% of people get a 7 in History HL, and 8% of people get a 7 in English LIt.

History is the hardest, but it gets you the most respect from universities – most U.S. Universities try to take into account your context: if you go for the hardest subjects your school offers you, the better off you'll be. UK Universities also enjoy seeing History HL as they consider it a classic, rigorous academic subject (source from several UK University representatives). It's not hard to get a 7 if you enjoy it and you're WILLING to put effort into it – the same goes for any subject. 

English Lit can be hard – I cannot say because I have no idea how your English skills are. Some people find it they're easiest subject. Arguably it's workload is the least, but it's more respected than Geography.

Edited November 22, 2016 by IB`ez

[mac117]

I personally take 1 out of the 3 subjects you mentioned - and even then it's SL not HL.

Whilst geography can be regarded as a better option than some of the "newer" group 3 subjects (like B&M), it is definitely lower in the ranking compared to history and English lit. 

History is, and in my opinion will for quite some time be, a very academic and rigours subject. Not to say that other group 3s aren't, but history is very particular in the way the essays and studies have to be structured in order to do well. My friend who loves history does it SL and she finds the workload higher than for chem HL - on average she writes 1-2 essays a week. 

Geography, on the other hand, is well... different. It is definitely not seen as a soft subject, but it doesn't have the "wow-effect" history may have. I personally take it SL and find it all logical and straightforward; some vocabulary to memorise here and there, but overall it is a very interesting course. Since 8/10 people who take geography in my school do it HL, I have a good idea of the HL content. It essentially is an additional paper for globalisation, which does not seem that much more challenging - I read some parts of the HL content out of pure interest. 

Tl;dr - History and English Lit are definitely regarded as harder and more rigorous than geography. Then again, if you plan on going into medicine this shouldn't make that much of a difference. For many Bio, Chem & LangB is a very popular option, just to balance the workload. Choose what you like best and what you feel will have the least possible negative effect on your final score.

[IB`NOT`ez]

Honestly at this point, just take History HL if your exams are still in 2 years. It's the hardest choice but if you can get used to it, you know you've made the right choice. If not, you can drop it to SL and bump English Lit to HL anytime, which is still more highly regarded than Geography in UK Universities and perhaps let you get into Law. 

 

Edited November 22, 2016 by IB`ez

[ElizabethMoore]

1 hour ago, IB`ez said:

Honestly at this point, just take History HL if your exams are still in 2 years. It's the hardest choice but if you can get used to it, you know you've made the right choice. If not, you can drop it to SL and bump English Lit to HL anytime, which is still more highly regarded than Geography in UK Universities and perhaps let you get into Law. 

 

Thanks everyone for the valuable advice! One thing though, if I do decide to bump Eng lit up to HL, would taking history sl or geography sl make a big difference (for law or medicine for instance)? Seeing how universities usually only look at how rigorous hl subjects are(?) The combination I have in mind right now would be Chem bio hist / eng hl, but just in case would history hl and eng lit hl together with say chemistry hl be too hard? 

Edited November 22, 2016 by ElizabethMoore

[IB`NOT`ez]

10 minutes ago, ElizabethMoore said:

Thanks everyone for the valuable advice! One thing though, if I do decide to bump Eng lit up to HL, would taking history sl or geography sl make a big difference (for law or medicine for instance)? Seeing how universities usually only look at how rigorous hl subjects are(?) The combination I have in mind right now would be Chem bio hist / eng hl, but just in case would history hl and eng lit hl together with say chemistry hl be too hard? 

Taking either History or English Lit HL would be good for Law – and so long as you have both, you're in good stead. Bio, Chem, and History HL will make you stand out the most, but Bio, Chem and Eng Lit HLs won't hurt your application as well. 

Chemistry, History, and English Lit together is a solid combo and definitely not too hard – getting you into Law easily, but it'll make it more difficult for you to enter medicine as most prestigious UK universities require 2 sciences or 1 science + maths at HL.

Taking History at SL is better than Geography if you're concerned about how universities might view you, but I'd say it's still better to take Geography at SL than at HL. Like it probably won't hurt your application whatsoever, but you need to be aware that you'll be competing with tons of other students who are working extremely hard as well to get into medicine, most likely taking the hardest possible courses within their academic contexts etc.

And also, have you actually tried any one of those subjects and seen how they fit for you? There's little point in trying to choose between them if you have not even taken those classes yet.