Problems with my HLs

[fatendestinny]

Hi,

so my HLs are History, Economics and Maths currently and my SLs are English, Biology and Spanish.

At the moment im a junior or in 11th grade/ 1st year of IB. its been planned for me to take my Biology and spanish SL exams this year and finish them off. I have no problem with that. But the problem is that in my math analysis class or honours maths class im doing absolutely terribly meaning im getting 3s in all my tests. Thats completely unacceptable for me. So my question is, if I drop down from HL math to SL math, what will third HL be?

I really need help with this as soon as possible. My exams are on May 17-18th so i really need to decide this very early.

Thanks.

Pallavi

[Peanut Butter Jelly]

Can you get English HL?

[Tony Stark]

Well, you'd most likely have to do English at HL. Alternatively, however, if you do your Biology and Spanish exams this year, you can still redo them at HL next year, particularly if you're unhappy with your score initially.

[fatendestinny]

Can you get English HL?

this is what i initially thought but then when i look back at the state of my english essays then i'd probably get a 4/5 on the HL exam, i'd prefer not to when i can get a 6/7 in SL

Well, you'd most likely have to do English at HL. Alternatively, however, if you do your Biology and Spanish exams this year, you can still redo them at HL next year, particularly if you're unhappy with your score initially.

That's what i was thinking, but then i'd have 3 years of Biology in a row... because 10th grade i did honours biology, this year im doing SL, initially i planned to take HL biology by taking SL this year but not actually taking the SL exam but then i changed my mind and decided to do the exam..

Also its the end of the junior year and less than a month away on my exams.. so im talking to my parents and brother who graduated from IB last year... and they said just stick with it because its too late.. i have no clue what to do

[Tony Stark]

Well looks like you're saying you'd get a similar score in both HL English and HL Maths... however, HL English requires a fair amount less AHL material than Maths. So, while the difference in potential score between the two is negligible, the difference in work required is significant. It seems general consensus that HL Maths takes up so much of your time that it can detract from other subjects, so I'd bear that in mind.

Also, with Biology, if you're good at Biology there's a fair chance you won't actually have to go to a lot of Bio classes the next year - probably just the AHL classes, dependant on your teacher and IBC. I'd say if you don't get a 7 in SL Bio this year definitely redo it at HL, otherwise it becomes a toss-up between HL English or HL Bio, imo.

[fatendestinny]

Also, with Biology, if you're good at Biology there's a fair chance you won't actually have to go to a lot of Bio classes the next year - probably just the AHL classes, dependant on your teacher and IBC. I'd say if you don't get a 7 in SL Bio this year definitely redo it at HL, otherwise it becomes a toss-up between HL English or HL Bio, imo.

Hmm this seems to be a good idea! actually a great idea!! thanks so much!!

[yomanyomo]

I would say go for English HL. This is because I think HL: English, History and Economics is a good combination and its very common.

It's a perfect combination for law as well.

If you can write a good essay in History and Economics then I wouldn't think your English essay would be that bad.

Otherwise, take Biology. Although, its going to look very weird on your diploma if you took "HL: Biology, History and Economics"...

in the end of the day, its about getting the diploma right? haha, so do what you CAN do not what you SHOULD do.

If you think you'd get 4 or 5 in English and you're not satisfy with it, then take Biology HL instead.

Because in Biology (as you would know), you just need to spend a lot of time with it in order to memorize everything. Its not that hard to do well if you don't slack off.

But again, if you don't mind learning Spanish then go for Spanish B HL. That'd look fine. HOWEVER, if you want to get into Economics in Uni, then you'd have to stick with HL Maths unfortunately.

)) good luck

[NJ0330]

Take English HL! if you do, I could relate, because we would have the same HLs, and I'm quite horrible with Math too. So i took up Math SL!

But this also depends on your college requirements. if they require you to take HL in Math - for example if you are getting into a completely commerce based career and are planning on getting into Top colleges like the Ivy league, It would be necessary to take up Math HL. But if you were taking up Law, or a Humanities based career (like me, as i am doing International and trade law ; Humanities + Economics), it would be more helpful to take up english HL, or another, and Math HL is illogical.

So, it depends on where you are doing your Undergrad, which career you are planning on taking up, and basically, your capability.

Also, if you are taking up a commerce/finance based career, and if you dont have to concentrate on two subjects from next year, you can put more work into your math, dont you think?

[yansari]

I recently dropped from Math HL too. I think the easiest would be spanish