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Are my subject choices considered well-rounded?


carpediem

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I was thinking about it the other day, and I'm not quite sure if my subjects are well-rounded enough. I am taking:

  • English Lang&Lit HL
  • Spanish B HL
  • Chemistry HL
  • Psychology SL
  • Biology SL
  • Maths SL

The problem is that Psychology might be considered a science (depending on how you look at it), which means half of my subjects are science-based, and my curriculum doesn't have much creativeness in it. (But, I'm planning to do photography and some other sort of art out of school for CAS.)

I'm not sure how helpful my school would be in advising about this, since I go to a British school and the British curriculum focuses on specialisation, and I am planning to go to a US university for liberal arts.

So what do you think?

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Psychology is not considered a science, at least not at High School level, so you have nothing to worry about. If Psychology was really a Science, do you honestly think the IB would have put it in the Social Science (Group 3) section?

Your subject are varied enough, you haven't anything to worry about. The only way you could be more varied and more well rounded is if you dropped one of your Sciences for an Arts class, something like Visual Arts or Theatre or some such.

Which US Liberal Arts schools are you looking at?

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Psychology is not considered a science, at least not at High School level, so you have nothing to worry about. If Psychology was really a Science, do you honestly think the IB would have put it in the Social Science (Group 3) section?

Your subject are varied enough, you haven't anything to worry about. The only way you could be more varied and more well rounded is if you dropped one of your Sciences for an Arts class, something like Visual Arts or Theatre or some such.

Which US Liberal Arts schools are you looking at?

No, I'm planning to keep doing double sciences. (There is a slight possibility I may apply to the UK, and to be a doctor Chemistry is required and Biology is really helpful. The problem is, I'm not sure if I want to be a doctor... But I like those subjects anyway.) If I did large amounts of Creativity for CAS instead, would that be more balanced?

And I'm thinking of applying to the East Coast (to be near my family), and I especially liked Duke when I visited there. But we'll see. :)

From what I see, you're generally okay. IB is hard. So, whatever you take, it will generally be challenging.

Admissions officers may raise brows if the subjects you take are far from the one you're applying to, but more importantly, the grade is what they're after. So if you can do good, go forth! :D

Thanks!

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No, I'm planning to keep doing double sciences. (There is a slight possibility I may apply to the UK, and to be a doctor Chemistry is required and Biology is really helpful. The problem is, I'm not sure if I want to be a doctor... But I like those subjects anyway.) If I did large amounts of Creativity for CAS instead, would that be more balanced?

And I'm thinking of applying to the East Coast (to be near my family), and I especially liked Duke when I visited there. But we'll see. :)

Oh, I wasn't advising you to drop a Science, I was unjust saying that if you were really after being well rounded to the nth degree, then that would be the last step for you. But your subject choices as they stand are very varied.

Duke is an amazing school. You might also want to consider NYU, Boston, and Bryn Mawr.

Best of luck!

Arrowhead.

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Oh, I wasn't advising you to drop a Science, I was unjust saying that if you were really after being well rounded to the nth degree, then that would be the last step for you. But your subject choices as they stand are very varied.

Duke is an amazing school. You might also want to consider NYU, Boston, and Bryn Mawr.

Best of luck!

Arrowhead.

Yup, I'm considering BU and NYU at the moment (as I don't know much about Bryn Mawr), but it's a bit early for me to decide.

And thanks, you too!

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The only thing you're lacking (in my opinion) is a big essay subject. However I'm not entirely familiar with the new Language A1 courses -- if English Language & Literature is rigorous and does demand some essay writing/analytical/self-expressive skills, then perhaps you are fine, but it seems to me that it's a step easier than doing English Literature which is of a sufficiently high level, so I can only assume that Language & Literature is going to be a bit simpler. As I say, I haven't investigated this so please do ignore me if you've had a look and decided that it's going to be fine! :P

Otherwise your courses seem pretty broad to me!

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With the IB it can be difficult to get a "well-rounded" diploma, but you shouldn't need to worry about it being focused because you're in a British school. IB is the same everywhere, no matter the country, it's what makes it so unique. I have alot of friends who wish to study in the US (they all study the IB in the UK and the Netherlands) and they haven't expressed any difficulties with US universities because of where they've studied.

As others have already said your subjects allow you for a broad base, if you get the grades you shouldn't need to worry about location and since you have a wide variety of subjects I think you should do fine.

Hope this helps :)

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