29 replies to this topic

[Work hard party harder]

devina1608, on Aug 19, 2010 - 03:27, said:

Work hard party harder, on Aug 15, 2010 - 17:40, said:

There is something called a 'non-regular dipolma' which is awarded to students who have taken all the 3 sciences and skipped a subject from the Business and Mangagement group (I'm not too sure which one it is). Yes, so I am doing a non-regular dipolima, with all 3 sciences at HL...I wish I'd taken Physics at SL though, but that's only because I've hated the subject ever since I was introduced to it! This is obviously because I want to get into a medical college. Anyway, so my subjects are:

Physics HL
Chemistry HL
Biology HL

Maths SL
English SL
German ab intio

I hope this was helpful!

hey sorry for late reply.. i still havent decided my subjects and i have till friday to decide. i just wanted to kno whether its compulsory to take all 3 sciences to get into universities in india?..

Not all of them, but most, I think...what's more, is that you have to give an entrance test called the CET (Common Entrance Test)and if you are applying for medicine, you have to write papers on all the three science, so doing it in the IB will give you a rough preparation for that!

[Desy Glau]

hey, there was this friend of mine who wanted to do all the three sciences too. but after talking to the IB coordinator at school, she decided to take 2 only because she realised that physics is not that necessary for a medicine course and I think that taking 3 sciences will do kill because you'll have to do lab reports for every single one of them. im taking phy,chem,math HL and cannot cope with the assignments. chem&phy lab reports are really demanding and I cant cope with it. just saying, but your 2 IB years might be tough (unless you do love those three subjects)

[rikku]

Sandwich, on Aug 15, 2010 - 11:21, said:

HL Bio, Chem and Physics would be stupid if you wanted to get into Medical School, unless you can find one that requires all three. Doing 3 difficult subjects is somewhat suicidal either grades or quality-of-life wise!

It depends where you want to go, but I know for sure that in the UK you only actually need HL Chem to get into Medical School. Technically you can do it with Maths Studies and just HL Chem. You're advised to do HL Biology because it'll really help you if you get in, and SL Maths because it makes your application look a little better (also will help you) but I know people who're at Medical School who've done Studies, or who didn't do Biology. Your safest bet is to do SL Maths, HL Bio and HL Chem.

That HL Maths helps you get into Medical School is a myth, in my experience -- I don't know anybody who took HL Maths who then went on to get in to study Medicine! It doesn't help you, just makes your overall score likely to be lower because it's such a hard subject

Really? because I'm taking math HL

Although I wanting to go to med school? Is there any medical universities that requires Physics SL?
Just wondering though...

[Tilia]

rikku, on Sep 13, 2010 - 03:59, said:

Really? because I'm taking math HL

Although I wanting to go to med school? Is there any medical universities that requires Physics SL?
Just wondering though...

It's not a disadvantage to take Maths HL when you want to go into medicine. But don't just choose it because it'll make your diploma look cool. If you're not dedicated enough, you'll just get a bad grade and that won't look impressive.
   There might be some universities requiring Physics SL (for instance, all in my country ), but the most important thing when you want to become a doctor is that you have chemistry and biology, preferably HL.

[Connor]

You won't get an IB Diploma, but rather a IB Science Diploma. I say go for it. A girl did it last year and now studies Biology at Cambridge

[Red XII]

Do not take three IB sciences, and especially not HL.  It is massively difficult, especially since HL nearly doubles what you need to know for each science.  This will put undue stress on you.  There's no reason to take them all if you plan on going to medical school, as medical schools expect that you take the prerequisite courses (or courses in the same subjects at a higher level) at a university, rather than fulfilling the requirements with credit from high school examinations.  There's no need to try to get a boatload of science credits.

I can assure you one thing: if you take 3 sciences HL, you will not sleep much at all over the next two years.  You'll be at a much higher risk than most of failing your diploma, too, and might not get college credit if you pass, because you need to pass well to get college credit.

[The Economist]

In my school there are twp students (1 IB2 and 1 IB1) with the three sciences at HL. The IB does not normally allow it. Only in exceptional cases. Also I think that if you apply to Sweden they will let you take the three sciences at HL Anyway, these two students are kids with 45s and they want to get into med school. The guy in the IB2 was really successful as I believe he was accepted at Harvard, MIT and Imperial College London, but you should know that it is not only the grades that count. Especially when you are applying for medicine. If you are not aiming the universities mentioned above, I would suggest what it has already been said before. You don't need the 3 sciences at HL. We have kids in our school that were accepted in universities such as Glasgow University of Manchester only with chemistry and biology at HL.

Good luck with whatever you decide If you are starting the IB now, I would suggest you have a talk with your schools university counseling office because you will find people there who have gone through the application process A LOT. Also, if you really want Physics, Chemistry and Biology at HL you could try out with all of them at HL and possibly during the IB, if you see that you are struggling with all of them at HL, drop one to SL. As said before, good luck

[Soiboist]

Red XII, on May 08, 2011 - 07:32, said:

Do not take three IB sciences, and especially not HL.  It is massively difficult, especially since HL nearly doubles what you need to know for each science.  This will put undue stress on you.  There's no reason to take them all if you plan on going to medical school, as medical schools expect that you take the prerequisite courses (or courses in the same subjects at a higher level) at a university, rather than fulfilling the requirements with credit from high school examinations.  There's no need to try to get a boatload of science credits.

I can assure you one thing: if you take 3 sciences HL, you will not sleep much at all over the next two years.  You'll be at a much higher risk than most of failing your diploma, too, and might not get college credit if you pass, because you need to pass well to get college credit.

Is it really that bad? I'd say that lab reports and so on will most likely be very difficult as one will need to distinguish between three different ways of writing them. However considering the learning of the material most people at my school actually say that they have spent way more time on Group 3 subjects compared to Group 4 subjects.  There will be 2 or 3 students next year taking all sciences at HL including Maths HL, and the coordinator seems to approve it without any problems. As Jirashimosu said though, a prerequisite for Medicine in Sweden is all 3 sciences SL/HL, so that could also be why it's approved so easily.

I would still not do it if I weren't going to Sweden though as it will definitely be a lot of work (without any real advantage in the end if applying to UK for instance), but I still think it's doable apart from what people here seem to say. My school is rather experienced and I don't think they would approve several students doing it just like that otherwise.

[Positron]

I know this is an old topic. But I want to point out, that if you do take all three sciences and do the "Irregular Diploma", it might actually prevent you from getting accepted into some universities. Some universities require the normal diploma for IB students, so be sure to check this. Probably this isn't the case with most universities, but I know this one guy who got rejected from a German med school, because he had taken all three sciences..

Edited by Positron, Feb 12, 2012 - 12:12.

[ananya.agrawal95]

In the USA, they apparently want the balance of a group 3 subject, so that you're well rounded. Maybe you could do one of the sciences on your own as an AP test.