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Choosing between HL Maths and HL Physics


anathema

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I'm really struggling to decide whether I want to do HL Maths (Statistics) or HL Physics for my final exams. I'm pushing the deadline on when I can decide my HLs. 

The advice I've received so far is do whichever subject I enjoy more but, the problem is, I love both subjects! I am set on doing HL Chemistry and Economics, and think doing 4 HLs would be a waste of energy. I've been doing extremely well in both subjects (I received the single Year 11 distinction in both). My grades have consistently been better in Physics, but my grades have really started picking up in Maths over the last semester. (I was going to choose based on my Year 11 exam results, but then I luckily did better than I expected in both!) So basically, I'm not sure that I can personally use marks as a decision making tool either. 

If people have done both HL Maths and HL Physics, do you have any advice about which you enjoyed more, the demand for both, etc to help me make my decision?

Thanks!

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Congrats on your scores!

But I think with this situation you need to take 2 things into consideration: what your career choice is and the content of the subjects.

The career choice itself depends on your interests combined with the other subjects you take, and the university requirements. Maybe loosely decide on a career(s) first to find out which subject you'd most likely need at HL.

While I don't personally take Physics or even Maths at HL, many of my classmates are struggling with Physics (even the really good ones). They seem to say one thing: Physics is actually like doing Maths - not completely 'Sciency' stuff. So I suggest you take a look through the HL content of both subjects and really spend time thinking about which topics you are most comfortable with and fits your choice of future career!

Good luck!

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I'm doing both HL Physics and Maths, and it seems that the gap between SL and HL for both is quite significant.  Physics SL mostly revolves around simple substitution problems and concepts in physics, while HL teaches significantly more complex concepts and ideas, and involves more memorisation overall.  However, the most math you'll need to do is algebraic manipulation, with a few log questions thrown in here and there, so do not worry about math in Physics (it's effectively based off Math Studies, maybe slightly lower).  I actually don't know much about Maths SL, but if you want to do well in HL, it'd probably be significantly easier if you understood the entire SL syllabus beforehand (understanding some of the HL too would not hurt).  Apparently the gap between SL and HL is more significant for Maths from what I've heard.  

I suggest you take a look at the syllabus for both topics, as well as the formula booklets, to compare what you already know to what you'll need to learn (all this can be found via Google).  Don't fret if you don't understand most of the topics - this is what you'll be learning, not what you need to know.  

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Thank you Befuddled and SC2Player for your replies!

At my school, we had to choose HL Maths at the start of IB1, and you have to choose the option to drop down throughout the course, whereas for Physics you step up to HL content in IB2. We've currently covered over 2/3 of the HL Maths content, so I'm not really worried about the syllabus. I really enjoy the maths! So basically, my decision is do I drop down from HL, instead of stepping up to it, if that makes sense. Also, I tend to make less stupid mistakes in Physics than I do in Maths, and that's mainly how I'm losing all my marks in both subjects.  

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really spend time thinking about which topics you are most comfortable with and fits your choice of future career!

This is what I really should do, except they are both probably going to be useful for my future career. I think I currently want to major in Mathematical Physics at Uni! However, in terms of strict numbers I don't NEED either of them. For Australian Unis, doing SL meets any prerequisites. 

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  Physics SL mostly revolves around simple substitution problems and concepts in physics, while HL teaches significantly more complex concepts and ideas, and involves more memorisation overall. 

Good point about the memorisation! I find memorisation quite tedious and boring. I haven't found physics to be too memorisation based so far, more concept-based. But maybe it requires more memorisation in the HL content? I'm pretty good at concept-based learning, which is fortunate :D 

I'll flick through the HL Physics textbook in some more detail to see if the extra content looks interesting. I know we do Astrophysics as the option for both SL and HL.

I'm still interested in hearing anyone's opinion on the subjects who has finished both courses!

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I loves those two subjects too! But my school only offers none of the subjects... and I'm learning online... 

Back to the question, in my opinion, you can try doing four HLs first and see if you endure that workload. Because sometimes you would find out that you wanna switch one subject to SL. After you had done one or two months of HL math and physics, then you can decide which one to switch to SL. There's one thing it is supper important, maybe more important than which subject you like better, is that your teacher! What I found is, a better teacher would help you learn better. When I say a better teacher is doesn't mean a teacher who is just nice, but also has good teaching techniques and always be encouraging. So you can have a look of who is likely to teach you math and physics next year and then decide which subject to choose. 

Last, my suggestion is to choose physics HL, because it's solving problems involves mathematical calculations, not only math. 

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