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Maths Studies AND PROUD


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Anyone else here sick of other people making fun of those of us who were/are in Maths Studies? Vent here.

I personally am tired of people calling me thick because I took Maths Studies instead of Maths SL. (To be honest I was originally in Maths SL but it wouldn't fit in my schedule so Maths Studies it was!) I'm not lazy or thick or generally not as good as those in SL or HL- I'm just simply trying to get my diploma. Heck I'm PROUD to have been in Maths Studies! I got an A which is a lot better compared to those who were struggling to get a C in HL and SL and my teacher was a lot better. So there.

Anyone else feel the same? Differently?

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Like The Economist said, they're just jokes. I mean, I don't find them particularly funny, but I don't see any of this as being serious at all.

What gets me though is that math is the only course that has a "studies" level, which is fine because not everybody is interested in math. But there's no History Studies, or Chemistry Studies, etc.

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It's just that EVERYONE makes the jokes and I'm tired of it. After a while it's just not funny anymore. I have the best marks in my class but I'm in Studies and yet people still call me stupid for it.

Well there are generally three kinds of people in Studies: Stupid ones, Lazy ones, and the ones who are genuinely just not good at Maths. Whichever category you pick, it's unflattering, hence the ensuing jokes.

Edited by Arrowhead
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Do you want to hear a joke?

Maths studies! ;)

Made me laugh :D

I don't despise Math studies students. Most students who take studies might be much better at other subjects, which compensates a lot! Honestly, I would rather be an expert in language (English, Swedish, and German) than being a mathlete.

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At my school, even math studies students make fun of it. Of course, it's more fun mocking the SL people for not being able to subtract 64 from 100, but that does not change the fact that they're jokes.

I do disagree slightly with Arrowhead when it comes to his 'three-kinds-of-people' assessment, though. What about those who are not interested in maths at all, and want to focus on something else entirely?

Edited by alefal
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I do disagree slightly with Arrowhead when it comes to his 'three-kinds-of-people' assessment, though. What about those who are not interested in maths at all, and want to focus on something else entirely?

It's funny you should mention that because that was something we discussed in school once during a Maths SL class. About half the students in my Maths SL class had no interest in Maths at all and were much in the same position as me, planning on pursuing something not Maths related at all at University and in life. We still did Maths SL over Studies. For the simple reason that Maths Studies is a black mark in university applications. Not as much in the UK or Europe, especially for non-Maths/Science related degrees, but for US apps, Maths Studies can often be a deal-breaker.

So people who genuinely could not care less about Maths, still took it at SL to be challenged. The only ones in the same position as us, who took Studies, were lazy and didn't want to bother with SL when they could coast by with Studies. So yes, they were lazy, and freely admitted to being so. Now you can sugarcoat that and call them 'efficient' or 'smart,' but the fact still remains. The other people in Studies in my school were smart people who were genuinely hopeless at Maths but needed to take it for the IB Diploma or simply genuinely hopeless and struggling with the easiest course load as it was.

Fortunately, we didn't have scheduling issues like the OP has unfortunately faced.

Hence, the assessment of the generalised three categories. Not saying they're accurate or right, merely stating what the general impression and feel was in my school during the IB, and it persists so as such there.

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There is so much taboo concerning math studies in my school - To the extent where (last year) people actually chose to stay in Methods, only to fail miserably on their second semester of IB, all the while reassuring themselves that failing Methods will always be preferable to the humiliation that is ''Math Studies'' only to transfer to Math Studies in the beginning of IB2 .... People seriously need to learn how to realistically evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, no matter how humiliating the logical solution would be (in this case opting for Math Studies). In my school (in IB2) there are 2 people in math HL, 6 in methods and 12 in studies. There were only 4-5 students in studies in the beginning of IB...

I think people in studies should seriously just ignore the ''jokes'' coming from methods and HL.. at the end of the day you have so much more time to focus on your other subjects and you can always take a math course after IB if you really need it for your future. Some (amazing) people seem to coast through IB with all the free time in the world - However I feel like this is an exception and couldn't be further from the ''norm''. I've seen SO many people break down and go absolutely nuts because of this programme - Even when they are only halfway through. Lets be realistic.

Edited by Babydolleyes
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I do disagree slightly with Arrowhead when it comes to his 'three-kinds-of-people' assessment, though. What about those who are not interested in maths at all, and want to focus on something else entirely?

It's funny you should mention that because that was something we discussed in school once during a Maths SL class. About half the students in my Maths SL class had no interest in Maths at all and were much in the same position as me, planning on pursuing something not Maths related at all at University and in life. We still did Maths SL over Studies. For the simple reason that Maths Studies is a black mark in university applications. Not as much in the UK or Europe, especially for non-Maths/Science related degrees, but for US apps, Maths Studies can often be a deal-breaker.

So people who genuinely could not care less about Maths, still took it at SL to be challenged. The only ones in the same position as us, who took Studies, were lazy and didn't want to bother with SL when they could coast by with Studies. So yes, they were lazy, and freely admitted to being so. Now you can sugarcoat that and call them 'efficient' or 'smart,' but the fact still remains. The other people in Studies in my school were smart people who were genuinely hopeless at Maths but needed to take it for the IB Diploma or simply genuinely hopeless and struggling with the easiest course load as it was.

Fortunately, we didn't have scheduling issues like the OP has unfortunately faced.

Hence, the assessment of the generalised three categories. Not saying they're accurate or right, merely stating what the general impression and feel was in my school during the IB, and it persists so as such there.

I'm not going to call them either 'efficient' or 'smart,' but you seem to fail to recognise that the curriculum is quite different. Whereas Math Studies focuses more on statistics, logic and financial mathematics, Math SL is, as I perceive it, focuses more on the 'abstract' mathematics, that is mathematics that is not as applicable in normal everyday life (please correct me if I am wrong). Therefore, they are challenging in different ways, and one does not have to be stupid for finding Studies challenging.

For someone like me, who is not going to study anything maths-related, will have more use for maths studies later on in life. Whether my choice was smart or not is nothing I can evaluate. Luckily, I have no intention of studying in the US, so I won't suffer too much in that regard.

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As I see it, the jokes are more targeted towards those who are in studies because they simply couldn't handle SL or HL beacuse they are not good enough at maths. Since you were an SL student to begin with I don't think you should be so affended by the jokes, since you know they don't apply to you. I myself would love to be in studies, it would be an easy seven for me, but since the university I want to go to demands HL, that's where I'll be ;)

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Here another Studies! And proud of it!

But anyway, people started to treat me with respect when they knew that I was music HL! But this does not mean that we are silly or something, that means that we have more difficulties than others with maths, but we can be better that the HL Maths in other subject. Languages, for example or humanities! I'm taking SelfTaught Spanish and Maths Studies and I'm proud of being both!

So, Math Studies cheer up!

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