Will american colleges care whether I take math studies?

[Nibbly]

I'm currently deciding on my course options for IB, and I really want to take math studies. Math has always been my weak point - I pretty much have perfect grades in everything else. I took IGCSE extended math this year (I didn't take core because I did NOT want a C as my highest grade) and I've found it pretty challenging. I'm really interested in the humanities, and for like half my life, I've known that I want to be a psychologist / neuropsychologist. I know I need stats for that, and looking at the math studies curriculum, it's pretty stats intensive (more so, even, than math SL). Would american universities care whether I took math studies? If it helps, I'm interested in schools like Pamona / Pitzer / Bowdoin

I'm also considering relatively easy courses in general, but that's because I'm genuinely interested in everything I'd be taking. My courses would be:

Geography HL

Psychology HL

English A lit HL

French B SL

Math studies / Math SL (ew)

Biology SL

Would taking math studies hurt me?

[zzzo]

I have exactly the same problem. What is better; a good grade in math studies or a worse one but in math sl?

[Sandra Simone Lundin]

I think you can get in to almost any school with math studies. At least if you get a good grade. It is that way in Norway, and our IB coordinator told us that most schools accept Studies, of course there are some exceptions.. Maybe there's something on their website?

[Sandwich]

I'm not an expert on the US system, but to my understanding they run their own courses in the University anyway, so I would just take Maths Studies and try to get higher grades in that. Unless you want to take something where Maths is really relevant, Studies should be fine.

[Emmi]

Unless you're going for engineering, finance, science, business, or something along those lines, they could care less to be perfectly honest. Studies should be ok.

[haydenj96]

I'm going into business. My Algebra 2 teacher said that because he gets the question so much, he looked into what math to take for business majors. He said that really either one works. I decided to give myself a break and take studies. I'm a junior in studies now. I think I'll be fine.

[carpediem]

Hm, on the contrary I've had a different impression. I've felt that US universities prefer if you took challenging courses and didn't score as well, as opposed as easier courses and a higher grade. BUT the definition of 'challenging' changes person-to-person, and if you already feel that Studies will be challenging to you, then take it.

P.S. In my opinion, SL can be quite difficult; I'm not too bad at maths, but today's SL mock could've have been a lot better... Also, if IGCSE questions are similar to GCSE stylistically (emphasis on stylistically, I already know that IGCSE is harder on GCSE), then IB's maths question style may prove to be difficult. Why don't you ask your maths teacher of their opinion? And it'd be a good idea to take a look at Studies/SL past papers to get an idea of the differences between the two.

P.P.S. I think by already picking IB, you've chosen a more 'challenging' course.

Best of luck!

[unicornication]

If you're not applying to any top tier schools that want students to "challenge themselves by taking the most rigorous courseload possible" you should be half okay.

The other half involves your field, as long as you're not going for engineering, mathematics, sciences or economics, you should be fine too!

Oh and of course, do well on the math section of your SAT!

Good luck!

Edited January 25, 2013 by unicornication

[Nabz]

For engineering it is better to take math SL at least for US i believe. It's not a matter of whether universities require it just to make entry harder but also the course you apply to, requires the stuff that you only cover in math HL.

Up to you. If you want to take engineering later as a specialist degree then get used to math HL

Although i believe canadian universities (York, waterloo) require Math SL for most engineering courses.

Edited January 25, 2013 by shad0wboss

[xnevermore]

It doesn't matter for the USA (i used to wonder the same thing until I looked it up) . For Canadian schools, certain programs do not accept math studies. Check with the school you are interested in!

[freezy19]

I have a good friend who works in an admission office at a rather renowned US university (don't think I can say which one....) and from what he tells me, if you are international student, generally any math course works (since you'll likely be taking more prior to going into your major ... yay american university systems /s) unless of course, you are interested in an extremely math focused field, but even then, math SL is already on par with most US high school math courses (except for multi variable calc, which I don't even know if all high schools offer). So, if you think you can manage it, and want to stand out a bit, I would recommend Math SL, but as someone above said, unless you're looking at competitive Ivy League schools, it won't matter as much for you.

[01061055]

Colleges will look at them both as an IB math course, so they will both look good. My coordinator advised me to take math SL because it's looked at by colleges as the same as calculus, so I wouldn't have to take it in college and pay for the course. If you've met the requirements to take SL, I would take it instead of studies. (by that I mean, at my school you are not required to take precalc as a prerequisite for studies...) It also looks like your tests are in a while, so you could take math HL too, which is a pretty cool course.

[Da Wong]

I'm currently deciding on my course options for IB, and I really want to take math studies. Math has always been my weak point - I pretty much have perfect grades in everything else. I took IGCSE extended math this year (I didn't take core because I did NOT want a C as my highest grade) and I've found it pretty challenging. I'm really interested in the humanities, and for like half my life, I've known that I want to be a psychologist / neuropsychologist. I know I need stats for that, and looking at the math studies curriculum, it's pretty stats intensive (more so, even, than math SL). Would american universities care whether I took math studies? If it helps, I'm interested in schools like Pamona / Pitzer / Bowdoin

I'm also considering relatively easy courses in general, but that's because I'm genuinely interested in everything I'd be taking. My courses would be:

Geography HL

Psychology HL

English A lit HL

French B SL

Math studies / Math SL (ew)

Biology SL

Would taking math studies hurt me?

If you're planning into taking Arts (excluding anything that relates to math), then Studies is fine.

If you're 100% sure you want to go into psychology.

But... my personal opinion would be to take at least Math SL, because I have seen SOOO many posts where people are freaking out during uni applications because they took Math Studies and their universities don't accept it. I mean, you're 15 (i'm assuming) and it would be pretty sad if you decide to change what career you want to pursue and end up not being able to apply to that program because it doesn't accept Studies.

I understand this feeling cause I took Math SL and I looked at a potential program in a university and it required Math HL...

But, then again, if you're sure you won't regret it, then it will surely raise your PG, and thus make you look better overall. I think it's better to call those schools directly to ask of details. It's way better than regretting it later.

[Matsu]

Math Studies is fine! Only thing is you probably won't get course credit if the uni you're applying to recognizes IB. Typically, you need at least Math SL for that. I'd take Math Studies though, given the chance to switch.. Kind of regret passing it up. I think the higher diploma score (and GPA) is worth it.

[iSurviveIB2013]

Actually you do get college credit for Math Studies, depending on your exam score of course.

Receiving a 4 in Math Studies counts as three credit hours, a score of 5+ counts as six credit hours (two courses).

That may vary depending on the College/University

Edited May 6, 2013 by iSurviveIB2013

[JoeG]

Most US universities shouldn't have a problem with Math Studies. Yet, they do recognize that Math Studies is an easier course. If the school offers college credit for IB classes (ALOT of schools do, but some don't, including some Ivies) you'll see that the credit for good scores in Studies pale in comparison to what you'll get for a good scores in Math SL.

What kind of college credit you're expecting shouldn't really matter to you though, as many students come in without ANY college credit.

May of my friends, who even majored in the sciences, decided to take Math Studies. I'm not sure how it would look for an international student, but I don't think it would be viewed too differently.

So in short, take Studies if you feel like it.

Edit:

---

From my experience, admissions people like to see when people excel in the courses that they are in. So if you think that you'll bomb Math SL, and excel in Math Studies, go with Studies. I heard countless times from my High School teachers that colleges don't care if you get a bad grade in a course because it's hard. A bad grade is a bad grade. If you score well in a hard course it'll reflect upon you positively, but will not if you score poorly.

Math SL should give you a pretty good introduction to Calculus and the mathematics you'll need for science and some business majors, but Studies should be fine for Art/humanities stuff. If you start without any college credit, as many do, you'll learn everything you need to in your college courses, so don't worry too much lol.

Edited May 26, 2013 by JoeGuff