Sure about Career?

[greaterthaninfinity]

I didn't know and I still don't know. My school allows only the students to choose either chemistry or economics as their higher level courses. Other than that, everything's already been set in stone.

I'm just sure that I want to study life science in university. I dislike chemistry though, so I don't know how that will work out.

[sweetnsimple786]

I guess I'm glad I have the freedom to study whatever in uni. To experiment. While I think I might go into engineering, I don't know if it's my 'calling' haha. And I didn't pick my courses to reflect this. I didn't know which science I was interested. So I took three. Now I know =) I'm taking a couple extra humanities courses to see if I like that.

Some of our worst mistakes turn into spring boards for our future. Even if you think you took the wrong things, just keep stumbling on.

[biochem]

I picked HL bio + chem + english with the notion that a Fall semester term in college would be *exactly* like these subjects. and more so than I expected. I have 2 extremely, overqualified teachers in the field. An engineer and a grad school graduate with major in bio. It has been really rewarding ot meet their college standards. I am looking, despite my shortcoming in chemistry with a B for one semester, a 4.0 in college with a mentality that is so strong and has over the years been built on hunger for academics. the best thing to take from IB is experience, and for pre-law/dentistry/med/vet the ability to skip the weed out courses in college. I have the privilege of choosing an elective in college, like embryology/histology/immunology. a HUGE scheduling advantage over others.

[Rentle]

yes, as long as i can remember i wanted to be a doctor

So i took:

HL Biology

HL A2 Arabic

HL Economics

SL A1 English

SL Math

SL Chemistry

Our school didnt really give us a choice except between SL Chemistry or SL Art....and to study medicine i had to take SL Chemistry!!

Economics HL for medicine? Chemistry in SL? Damn, man, your subjet choices are messed up! ('cause (at least) UK requires chemistry and bio in HL)

[ibmonkey]

well since i was 6 i have wanted to be a landscape architect. i have chosen all my subjects portaining to the specific subject.

however during my summer holiday, i have decided that i am heading in more of a direction of event management.so a bachelor of business is required.

everyone i have spoken to says this might be better for me as i am quite business savvy

YOU HAVE TO REALLY FOLLOW WHAT YOUR HEART TELLS YOU.. EVEN IF U HAVE TO PISS OFF YOUR DPC IN THE PROCESS... GOODLUCK

[meh]

I'm starting my first year of IB in September. I still don't know what career I want to pursue yet, but my school doesn't offer that many IB classes so regardless of my career choice I'd still have the same schedule. It would definitely be nice to have more options to choose from but in a way it's nice in that it takes away the second-guessing of "Did I pick the right courses?"

[biochem]

A lot of times also, keep in mind, those choices really are not important.

Like, I understand if you want to do business major, and your school doesnt offer it.

But if you are doing something like philosophy, and your school didnt offer something like History of China, it's okay. You can take that during college for sure, and get a historical perspective on your philosophical major classes.

But in general you should just follow the general rules:

1. how much math will I need? (if HL should be taken)

2. Is the career I want heavy in science?

These two questions will help you carve out a schedule that is usually available in all schools. For example, if you answered chemical engineer you should take chemistry + physics + math. If you answered doctor: then maybe biology + chemistry + physics should be taken (if not physics, then english)

[Sandwich]

Personally, I didn't have the first clue what I might want to do, so I figured I didn't want to do languages or business and then picked subjects to leave as much else open to me as possible. I did actually think of doing Law for a very long time (and so took two 'hard' subjects plus a essay subject in English A1 and Philosophy (which is also an analytical subject, so good for Law purposes!)) but also figured I might end up doing English, Philosophy or just something scientific. As sciences won't accept you with non-science qualifications, but everybody else will be all over you for doing something "difficult" alongside some sort of demonstration of aptitude, I reasoned it through to taking sciences and then distributing the rest of my subjects around things I have an interest in.

^^ Long ramble! Anyway I did a load of work experience at a law firm, in a hospital, in advertising etc. and at the end of the day, what appealed to me the most was everything I'd done in the hospital. Cheesey as it sounds, I couldn't stand not "making a difference". I mean, english and philosophy are all well and good, but at the end of the day, post-degree, what have you achieved in terms of the world? Nothing, really. Just my opinion, but I couldn't stand it! That and finding biochemistry fascinating kinda helped So I picked to do medicine as last-minute as you like.

There're always going to be people who're dedicated and know exactly what they want to do from very early on. If you're not one of them, there's absolutely no harm in leaving your options open, provided you cover all the bases in the process - including all the extras! So if there's any work experience etc. which would be required, make sure you do work experience for everything you might possibly apply to. Your application has to be competitive, and provided you can do that, everything else can be whatever you want!

In fact, they'll even take you for things you didn't do, provided you show you're now determined. Possibly not for sciences, but I know plenty of people who've gone for arts subjects at the last moment and got in despite never even having taken art. Surreal but true. Lining yourself up with a career from the word GO is not always necessary.

[purple]

I doubt that your HL/SL subjects will ultimately affect your career. =) When you finally decide on what you want to do for a living, it'll be years after you get this diploma. Most of the higher-tier colleges don't accept IB/AP test scores for credit anyways - only for placement =| Harvard etc. are so cheap.

[sweetnsimple786]

But that's not true everywhere, or even most places. It seems that taking the right courses can at the least show a uni that you're dedicated and at most, make you one of the more qualified applicants to take the course [major] you want to take at that uni.

[Taigan]

I'm really not sure. I mean, I enjoy the sciences so I picked those for IB. I selected HL: Chemistry, Biology and Business and Management. For SL: English, French as well as Math. The problem is I'm not sure if I really do want to be a doctor. I plan to do some work experience this year to make sure though because I don't want to waste seven years of my life studying something I don't want to do!

I'm not really sure what opportunities Business and Management at IB will open, though...

Anyone have any idea of what subjects I can pick that won't really restrict myself? Also, I've always been interested in journalism. Would I have to take English HL to pursue that?

[Feist]

I definitely know how you are feeling. I don't know if it's just me, but the magnitude of choosing a career is so large which is sort of intimidating. This is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life, my label, my contribution to the world, if you will, so it's pretty hard to make that kind of decision.

So, like you, I am trying to keep my doors open by taking every course available except Gym and Drama/Music/Art, so choosing IB means narrowing down my options. The best advice I can give you is to look into Universities that you are not only interested in, but are able to get into and see what they require for their program. Sciences typically require two of the Sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics), Commerce may be English and two Grade 12 Maths, Journalism usually is English for prerequisite, and all of these include a certain number of your other best courses but those are more electives.

Be sure to also look into the Universities' IB policies. From the research I've done, Universities aren't too concerned with what courses you take for IB and whether they are HL or SL, but some will give you University credits most likely for your HL courses. So if you go into the Sciences and they give you a credit for getting a super mark in HL Chemistry, you probably shouldn't omit first year University Chemistry anyway.

Hope that helps!

Edited August 23, 2009 by Feist

[Chelleee]

i had no idea!

the only progress that i've made is that i know i want to pursue a career in sci which worked out well for me as i made that decision in IB1 so i swapped from HL english to bio

in terms of how i chose my subjects, it was by the process of elimination of what i was interested in and what i thought i could do well in

the only subject that i DIDN'T like was chinese (ab initio) but my parents forced me into it [and the result? i got fed up after 3 semesters of learning chink and i swapped to jap this semester >:]

the good thing about ib is that because you are practically forced to have a wide range of subjects (as in language, sci, math, another language etc) so you'll still have a decent pick of career choices in the end

[Asheee]

I didn't know what I wanted to do so I tried to pick general subjects that interested me. it turned out well though coz the course I want to get into has my subjects as prerequisites.

[Shannon]

I want to teach high school English. So why am I in IB? No idea.

But yes, I chose English HL because of that, and French HL because I knew I would do well in it, and History HL because I didn't really have a choice (wanted to do Psychology HL but couldn't due to some kind of scheduling conflict )

Edited September 30, 2009 by Shannon

[Berns099]

I want to go into screenwriting (and read English in University) so I chose HL English, Film and History. As for my SL subjects, I chose Maths because my coordinator wouldn't let me take studies, Chemistry because I hate Physics and Biology and Environmental Systems seemed boring and A2 Spanish because I had no choice

So, yes. I did choose my HL subjects accordingly.

[bLub]

Nope, didn't have a clue back then (and still not now). But that's WHY I chose the IB - because it's very broad and gives you many options for afterwards!!