Switch to SL from SSL

[Guest KAPOWW!!]

Hey guys, I have to give an exam called 'CET' in India before I can apply for undergraduate anywhere in the country, so the Mumbai University(like the head of all of them) issues subjects we must have(SLs and HLs) to qualify for a course, mine's BvSc (bachelor in Vet.Science) so I'm worried here coz they only have been mentioning SL and HL and I'm currently maths SSL, so:

1) How tough Is the the switch from SSL to SL?

2) If you know any Indian who's giving CET too can you ask him, I really need to know.

Thanks a ton!

[dessskris]

if you're may 2012 I'm afraid it's TOO LATE to switch try asking Arrowhead he has a lot of Indian friends.

[Guest]

Yeah...its too late. Yes I know people giving the CET exam and they were told by school BEFORE that if they plan to stay in India for undergrad studies they should take math SL or HL. Sorry dude, but your going to have to look elsewhere for undergraduate studies. Or if your grades are good enough Delhi University is ALSO possible. Again that depends on their requirements.

[ShootingStars]

- Well (if you're May 2012) and haven't registered for the IB exams yet, then switching is still possible. Talk to the IB coordinator in your school. I know many people who have switched in their second year of IB. And with some hard work and I'm guessing you'll already have the motivation, you can definitely make the switch from SSL to SL. Consider getting a tutor too or seeing the SL teacher after lessons, maybe?

- Delhi University is an amazing school, definitely look into it if the above doesn't work out.

Good luck!

Edited September 3, 2011 by ShootingStars

[foggy_mornings]

1- It is definatelly possible switching from studies to SL, I know this guy that swiched like a month before the registration. he just had to work math like everyday. if you are motivated and have teachers and/or friends that can help you then it shouldnt be a problem. (unless you though studies was hard ofcource). good luck

[CkyBlue]

Well since the first question has already been addressed, I will discuss the second question.

SL math is not the hardest course out there. The concepts are relatively straightforward. Of course you need to know all the stuff you learned in 11 functions. Calculus and vectors is definitely something new, but I expect that you would have learned that in SSL. Differentiation is a really main topic, so know that well. It's just a bunch of rules to get use to (I think the formula package that you are given has them even) A lot of it is really just common sense.

Then there's matrices, which is a walk in the park. I found it as simple as cross multiplication, really, all they teach you is which numbers to add, and which numbers to multiply to get determinants and inverses.

I didn't like probability and statistics that much. Some of the questions for probability gave me some trouble, but again the formulas are all given to you. Of course most of them are word problems so you need to have the knowledge and good sense to apply the numbers to the formulas. As for statistics, it took me until exam session to figure some things out, which weren't really as hard as I dreaded. The basic statistics should be easy, just get familiar to the binomial distribution (recognized by the win or fail probability, basically, a question with 2 outcomes) and normal distribution, which is a graph of a probabilities of a scenario is which you will be learning to shift. Shifting graphs? Easy stuff man.

Vectors was a bit shaky, but I got around it. There were questions that had wrong answers in the book, but hopefully you won't come across that in India... Get familiar with recognizing points and the direction of lines in diagrams, and that is all you really need. If you are taking physics it is not that bad since you will be learning about it there are well.

[Arrowhead]

Pickles has explained things really well insofar as elucidating the relative difficulty of Maths SL, so I need not speak further there.

As for your Medical entrances, you do have some to worry about. First of all, speak to your school and get them to switch you to SL. If they disagree, argue, this is your future we're talking about and it is because of their inconsistency in informing you about the importance of your subject choices that you're in this predicament to begin with. Tell them you will work hard and you will hire a tutor for extra help to catch up, Maths SL is not that challenging so you haven't much to worry about (unless you really, really suck at Maths or something...like I did).

Your second challenge will be amazing CET scores, you need some rock solid, outstanding ones because at the end of the day, you can always beg your Maths SL teacher to up your prediction a little, but if your CET scores aren't up to the mark, then you will face true hell. One of my friends went through that problem in that she did all the right subjects and concentrated on the IB but not on the CETs, she didn't get in anywhere. I cannot stress how important this exam is for your future in studying Medicine.

See if you can get in somewhere with a lower requirement with a quota? Although I'm afraid there is no quota system in place for Medicine as far as I know, but if worst comes to worst, you can always pay (as proved by almost all the Medical students at Symbiosis and Pune University). Even if you get your Maths switched, the reality of the system in India is that you have a much better chance of studying Medicine the not-so-correct way.

But yeah, so long as your subjects have not been sent and listed with the IB yet (which shouldn't be a problem because most schools tend to leave that to the last moment), you can always switch around your classes. If your school tells you they have already registered your courses, tell them to send in an apology letter stating that they messed up yours and that you were indeed in Maths SL not Maths SSL (I know that Jamnabai IB did that for a student in 2009 who wanted to go in for Dentistry but realised when it was too late that he needed a higher level of Chemistry than what he had and the school willingly made the exception for him. The following year, they had an orientation about the importance of subject choices for certain fields in Indian Universities).

All hope is not lost, especially when it comes to India. If you really need the push, ask your Mum or Dad to go to your school and create a ruckus and demand that they do something, allow you to change, or some such. While involving your parents is a last resort, this is your future after all and you need to expend every resource you can get your hands on.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

PS: One of my friends is studying Medicine at Navi Mumbai and I'm very much in touch with her, if you want I can ask her any questions for you. Fair warning, she did CBSE 12th not the IB, so any medicine or CET related queries. If there is anyone who knows how to rock the CETs she does (she only prepped for them for three months after studying Law for a year and then deciding to give it up, so she knows all that stuff and the system pretty well).

Edited September 3, 2011 by Arrowhead