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What is the difference between HL, SL, Studies? Which to take?


Guest El_Nano

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Hello everyone!

I am from Hong Kong, and I am planning to study business and management / economics in university.

Should I take Math Studies or Math SL?

My math is just ok, not really good.

thx for the advice, but i've ask my teacher, he said if i want to do business and management, i should take math studies. if i want to do economics in university, i should take math SL.

so if i want to do business and management, should i take studies or math SL

Your teacher is quite right! So if I was you I'd do Maths SL coz then you've got more options open. If you took studies you'd narrow down your options already now and you wouldn't be able to change it. With Maths SL you could still change to studies after one year if you found it too hard or definitely decided to do business and management.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think the university requirements differ by college, and in some cases, course. So you'll have to do your own research on the universities you're interested in (it's usually listed on their websites).

If you're certain you won't be needing Math SL, and you know your grade will be much better in Studies, then go for it! Grades are definitely more important than the subjects, and having a seven in Studies will look better on your report than having a five in SL.

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Talk to your coordinater!

My friend was in a similar situation, in her 12th year she asked a university and they are letting her take first year university it is a special program, you could either do that or try for grade 11 HL. Seems like you are smart enough, go for it! Or you could just take an elective in grade 12?

Edited by sweetnsimple786
Please use the "Edit" button to add something rather than having consecutive posts.
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Hey!!

That is a similar problem I am faced with too. I have taken Math SL at the moment but however, Im finding it difficult to cope up with it. Even my mid-term Math marks have been average.

I plan to either major in Business or do Journalism after my IB. So I don't think I need a Math SL. You think I should shift to Math Studies??

Maybe I have no clue what I'm talking about, but I think that you'd need a pretty good foundation in math for business right? Although, math studies might actually give you a better foundation if, like I hear, it focuses more on statistics and that kind of thing.

A guy that graduated IB at my school last year wanted to go to some fancier school for economics, maybe it was business school of london or something like that, anyways, he wasn't accepted since he only did math studies, so yeah, I think SL is good for business.

I just switched from SL to Studies, and I just gotta say that it is so nice! I was so stressed out over not keeping up in SL, and for learning properly I would've needed to study math everyday, but in Studies you really have time to learn stuff and let it sink in during class, which means a lot less studying at home. I love it!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

HL is for people who are intending to go into physics/pure math, or for people who really love math.

Studies is for people intending to go into social sciences/nothing relating to math or science; also people who aren't as strong in math.

SL is for everyone else who doesn't fit into the above, but a lot of my friends who are in Studies find it a humongous waste of time, because a lot of the time you're not learning anything new. Even though they may have been weak in previous years of math, Studies is a waste of a course.

As long as you do your work, review and ask questions in class, SL math should not be extremely difficult.

Good luck to all!

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  • 4 weeks later...

In simple terms, math studies is a course meant for people who will choose to study a non-scientific subject in University. Math SL is made for people who will require more math than average, and Math HL is for those who will study subjects with the greatest amount of mathematics involved. From the Guide:

Math Studies: This course is available at standard level (SL) only. It caters for students with varied backgrounds and abilities. More specifically, it is designed to build confidence and encourage an appreciation of

mathematics in students who do not anticipate a need for mathematics in their future studies. Students

taking this course need to be already equipped with fundamental skills and a rudimentary knowledge

of basic processes.

Math SL: This course caters for students who already possess knowledge of basic mathematical concepts, and

who are equipped with the skills needed to apply simple mathematical techniques correctly. The

majority of these students will expect to need a sound mathematical background as they prepare for

future studies in subjects such as chemistry, economics, psychology and business administration.

Math HL: This course caters for students with a good background in mathematics who are competent in a range of analytical and technical skills. The majority of these students will be expecting to include

mathematics as a major component of their university studies, either as a subject in its own right or

within courses such as physics, engineering and technology. Others may take this subject because they

have a strong interest in mathematics and enjoy meeting its challenges and engaging with its problems.

Edited by treyiiv
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I think there's also Further Maths to take into account, which is taken in conjunction with Mathematics HL and assumes all core knowledge, and basically it means taking all four options plus an extra geometry unit.

The information to be distilled from this is:

Math Studies (SL) - you don't like math, but you have to take it as part of IB

Mathematics SL - you are an average math student, who will work quite hard on this and usually do okay

Mathematics HL - you are a bright mathematics student, you grasp things easier than most people, maybe you even like math..

Further Maths - you are crazy

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Hello.

I was thinking of doing Veterinary Science in the University of Sydney/Melbourne/Australia (the continent, therefore including New Zealand). I might also consider going to the US/UK

My math isn't too good, to be honest, and my teacher said that I would need to spend quite a bit of time if I did SL. Now, should I take SL, and risk a lower overall mark, or take studies, get a higher mark, and then risk uni not accepting? I have found that some unis offer bridging courses, or even one generalized year. Do you think if I do studies, that I should do a bridging course and try to get into the Vet. Science course?

Or should I risk a lower overall mark, but do SL?

Thanks

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  • 1 month later...

I'm considering dropping down to Maths Studies from Maths SL. I want to take Medicine at university in the UK and was wondering if it would reduce my chances of getting in. The uni's I'm considering are Manchester, Bristol, St Georges (London), Sheffield, Nottingham or Hull-York. I know Manchester don't care but does anybody know about the others?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Math HL is not required by most universities if i was to major in finance? how about economics? i know that a BS in econs would require HL but a BA does not right?

I'd also like to ask about admissions, im an international student thus im not very familiar with US university admissions. I will be taking the SATs in the third semester and i wonder which do i use for university admission? my IB results of my SATs? will i start from freshmen year? I don't understand why should i take IB if i could just apply with my SATs.

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  • 1 month later...

My school offers 2 math courses which both take 2 years to complete (same number of hours in the classroom). One is Math Studies SL and the other we call Math Methods (though Math Methods no longer exists) and you can choose to take an SL or HL exam for it. I don't knnow if my school is weird for only having two course options... but they tell us that American universities don't care if you take Studies as long as you aren't planning on going into a math related field/major.

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My school only offers Math Studies and Math HL. I would like to do Chemistry at university and most of the top uni's require Maths HL or at very least SL (which isn't available).

I'm pretty good at maths, and can grasp things quite quick, but I'm not a genius. I do work hard, but would it be enough or do you need to be amazing at maths to do well at HL?

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I am going to be taking IB this year (gr 11) and I've got all my courses figured out except for SL/HL math. Now I am not terrible at math, 99 in gr 9, 97 in gr 10 and 92 in gr11 (pre-requisite to SL/HL math, but I am TERRIBLE at TIPS questions (these are what our school calls the "math contest" like questions that involve multi step processes, multiple concepts etc etc.) To give a clear idea of my "math skills" in my gr11 math course my grade was made up of 4 sub sections, Knowledge (straight forward, plug into fromula stuff) Communication (theory, explainations etc) Application (simple word problems) and TIPS (math contest questions)

I achieved

100 in Knowledge

99 in Communication

99 in Application

70 in TIPS

A lot of my friends already taking HL math tell me that it consists a lot of math contest like questions aka TIPS. Do you guys think I should do HL math or stick to SL (which I heard was mostly straight forward plug into formula stuff)...

I plan on doing something involving science in the future... and I was thinking about engineering as well, but I am more likely going to go into sciences.

ALSO if I take SL math, I will have to take HL history (I have no problems with history) BUT I will have to take SL geography if I take HL math (I really dislike geo).

Any advice ;)

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Yup cabso is right...you are truly good at this.!!......I also had a question for you...Becuase I moved a few American schools... and i was never good at maths..actually is the subject i hate coz im really bad at it...but i was wondering if you could still get your IB diploma if you take the lowest Math class.which is Math SL I bet...even tough it was even more confusing with the amercan formula that had a bigger varitey of levels including calculus...and all of that....

you can still get ur diploma if u pass ur SL Math exams

SL Math includes stats and trig mostly

whereas Methods has a little stats and trig and more on other topics like complex numbers and calculus

HL Math has everything that methods does but u have to have more depth on the certain areas. (HL Math encompasses AP Cal)

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