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[Matthof]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to know what you think about my subject choices. My degree would be either Mechanical engineering or Electronic engineering (with computer science) at Trinity College Dublin (if I get in).

My IB subjects are:

HL Physics

HL Maths

HL Chemistry

SL Economics

SL Eng lang&lit

Spanish ab initio

[IB`NOT`ez]

5 hours ago, Matthof said:

Hi everyone,

I'd like to know what you think about my subject choices. My degree would be either Mechanical engineering or Electronic engineering (with computer science) at Trinity College Dublin (if I get in).

My IB subjects are:

HL Physics

HL Maths

HL Chemistry

SL Economics

SL Eng lang&lit

Spanish ab initio

It's perfectly fine. In the UK, HL Maths and a HL Science, preferably Physics/Chemistry/Computer Science, fit the academic requirements of almost any engineering program. 

[IggyTS]

Hi there,

Sorry if my English grammar isn’t very good, I’m from Ecuador 

 

I’ve been really worried for my IB subjects. I want to study electronic engineering in South America, in Colombia, and I’ve chosen the following subjects:

 

hl Spanish 

hl level English 

hl economics

Math analysis SL

Physics SL 

Chemistry SL

 

I know I should take math and physics at hL, but nobody in my school has made it through with this 2 subjects at hl, and there’s a small amount of people that have made it through math hL. HL math or physics in my school is only suggested if you want to study math or physics. I will be very greatful if you could suggest me what to do. Thank you :)

[DiviDivi]

1 hour ago, IggyTS said:

Hi there,

Sorry if my English grammar isn’t very good, I’m from Ecuador 

 

I’ve been really worried for my IB subjects. I want to study electronic engineering in South America, in Colombia, and I’ve chosen the following subjects:

 

hl Spanish 

hl level English 

hl economics

Math analysis SL

Physics SL 

Chemistry SL

 

I know I should take math and physics at hL, but nobody in my school has made it through with this 2 subjects at hl, and there’s a small amount of people that have made it through math hL. HL math or physics in my school is only suggested if you want to study math or physics. I will be very greatful if you could suggest me what to do. Thank you

That selection is very good!  Many universities recommend HL math and physics, but really that's just because you would be little bit more prepared for their engineering programs.  You will still learn everything you need to know at SL.  Keep in mind that SL is similar to the "non-IB" curriculum, and most people don't even do IB and they are can be just as successful in university.  You made the right choice, besides you would likely get higher marks at SL than at HL which would help with your university application 😉

p.s. Your English grammar is awesome good job 👍. Will you be doing a bilingual diploma? You didn't mention whether your language subjects are A, B, or ab initio.

[kw0573]

1 hour ago, DiviDivi said:

That selection is very good!  Many universities recommend HL math and physics, but really that's just because you would be little bit more prepared for their engineering programs.  You will still learn everything you need to know at SL.  Keep in mind that SL is similar to the "non-IB" curriculum, and most people don't even do IB and they are can be just as successful in university.  You made the right choice, besides you would likely get higher marks at SL than at HL which would help with your university application 😉

Electrical engineering is one of the most math-demanding majors out there. SL is usually enough to get you in the door. HL ensures that you can graduate university and won't switch majors. I am not sure which province you are in, but SL is significantly below the Ontario Vector/Calculus standard, similarly for physics. In physics SL, my class average grade increased 10-15% when provincial-only content were removed from tests. In my public state university, people have estimated that about 50% of students took some sort of enrichment program, such as AP or IB. Almost everyone I know came in with half a year to a full year worth of credits.

Didn't mean to target you; just wanted to state my perspective.

@IggyTS This is a challenging combination. I would say the rewards are great if you can pull through. If you can't survive Analysis/Approaches HL (eg 4 or lower), it's best not to be optimistic about electrical engineering and find a less math demanding major.

[IggyTS]

1 hour ago, kw0573 said:

Electrical engineering is one of the most math-demanding majors out there. SL is usually enough to get you in the door. HL ensures that you can graduate university and won't switch majors. I am not sure which province you are in, but SL is significantly below the Ontario Vector/Calculus standard, similarly for physics. In physics SL, my class average grade increased 10-15% when provincial-only content were removed from tests. In my public state university, people have estimated that about 50% of students took some sort of enrichment program, such as AP or IB. Almost everyone I know came in with half a year to a full year worth of credits.

Didn't mean to target you; just wanted to state my perspective.

@IggyTS This is a challenging combination. I would say the rewards are great if you can pull through. If you can't survive Analysis/Approaches HL (eg 4 or lower), it's best not to be optimistic about electrical engineering and find a less math demanding major.

I understand what you are saying. I took a test class of analysis and approaches HL, and I didn’t find it so difficult. The problem is the teacher we have. I don’t know if you get me but a teacher makes great part of how great can the class be. I will try taking this class in hL, but I definitely would not be taking physics at hL too. You think it will be enough? 

[kw0573]

3 minutes ago, IggyTS said:

I understand what you are saying. I took a test class of analysis and approaches HL, and I didn’t find it so difficult. The problem is the teacher we have. I don’t know if you get me but a teacher makes great part of how great can the class be. I will try taking this class in hL, but I definitely would not be taking physics at hL too. You think it will be enough? 

AA HL can be deceptively difficult. AA and Physics HL are probably overkill. Physics HL is unnecessary as it is algebra-based so it doesn't help with applications. Try to find online study groups and those in person in your school or in your city. The beneficial part is that there is not much conceptual stuff in the previous HL, and by extension in the AA HL likely, so it's just a matter of self discipline and amount of practices. 

[IggyTS]

2 hours ago, DiviDivi said:

That selection is very good!  Many universities recommend HL math and physics, but really that's just because you would be little bit more prepared for their engineering programs.  You will still learn everything you need to know at SL.  Keep in mind that SL is similar to the "non-IB" curriculum, and most people don't even do IB and they are can be just as successful in university.  You made the right choice, besides you would likely get higher marks at SL than at HL which would help with your university application 😉

p.s. Your English grammar is awesome good job 👍. Will you be doing a bilingual diploma? You didn't mention whether your language subjects are A, B, or ab initio.

Thank you very much!!!! Your comment motivate me a lot, I was really stressing out. I’m still considering the option of moving on to math hL. The class doesn’t worries me, what worries me are the exams of math. I will take a meeting with my ib conselour to take a final desition. Thanks again

[IggyTS]

14 minutes ago, kw0573 said:

AA HL can be deceptively difficult. AA and Physics HL are probably overkill. Physics HL is unnecessary as it is algebra-based so it doesn't help with applications. Try to find online study groups and those in person in your school or in your city. The beneficial part is that there is not much conceptual stuff in the previous HL, and by extension in the AA HL likely, so it's just a matter of self discipline and amount of practices. 

I have no problem with classes, I have a lot of self discipline. The problem are the exams. Exams really stress me out, and normally I fail just because I stress out, not because I don’t know. I don’t want to lose my diploma because of that, and that’s  why I’m not sure. By taking AA at sl I can learn to control this and have no problems in university. But, I was thinking, what if I take outside classes and learn the topics of hL outside of school?. Do you think that could work?

[kw0573]

2 minutes ago, IggyTS said:

I have no problem with classes, I have a lot of self discipline. The problem are the exams. Exams really stress me out, and normally I fail just because I stress out, not because I don’t know. I don’t want to lose my diploma because of that, and that’s  why I’m not sure. By taking AA at sl I can learn to control this and have no problems in university. But, I was thinking, what if I take outside classes and learn the topics of hL outside of school?. Do you think that could work?

AA HL is still a lot better on paper (and in practice). It's not about knowing the content, but knowing the HL content well. I said what I have to say; please make the best decision given your personal circumstances. 

[DiviDivi]

1 hour ago, kw0573 said:

SL is usually enough to get you in the door... SL is significantly below the Ontario Vector/Calculus standard, similarly for physics.

Didn't mean to target you; just wanted to state my perspective.

I'm from Ontario, and I have heard that most SL subjects are easier than provincial curriculum. Taking SL math, I've noticed that the content is unnaturally easy; however I'm currently taking MHF 4UW and haven't started calculus yet, I've heard mixed reviews on the difficulty of MCV 4UW.

I come from a small school where there is only one option for each of the six subject groups. I've been looking at universities and all of the programs I've scoped out accept SL math as a prerequisite, even though they recommend HL. For those with no choice of IB subjects, SL math has to be acceptable by those universities. That's where I was coming from when I said that SL math was a good choice for future engineering students.

That said, I completely understand your perspective on this. HL is what differentiates IB from the provincial curriculum. I definitely would have taken HL math (and IB physics) if I had the option to.

 

15 minutes ago, IggyTS said:

Thank you very much!!!! Your comment motivate me a lot, I was really stressing out. I’m still considering the option of moving on to math hL. The class doesn’t worries me, what worries me are the exams of math. I will take a meeting with my ib conselour to take a final desition. Thanks again

As kw0573 said, find what works for you. You've heard from two perspectives, from myself as well as one of the best advisers on IBSurvival.

Good luck with your decision, I'm sure your IB counselor will provide you with further guidance. You've got this! 

[lilyserbest]

can i study chemical engineering without physics hl because I take math and chemistry hl 

[Andreia_Costa_]

I’m going to study the IB next year and I’m thinking of taking Biomedical Engineering in uni. I love Biology, so I was thinking of choosing it as my Science Subject. However, I’ve been told that I have to choose Maths HL and Physics HL in order to be accepted in an university to study Engineering. Is it true? Can’t I take Maths HL and Biology HL instead of Physics HL?

 

PS I’m going to study the IB in an international school (because I applied to UWC, don’t know if you have ever heard about) but I’m kinda in the middle of high school right now, so I have already had 2 years of Physics (and Chemistry and Biology). Therefore, I already have a considerable amount of knowledge in these subjects, but I really love Biology and it is the one I feel most comfortable about. 
 

Please can someone help in this matter? I can’t find any straight answer anyway. 🙏🏻

[Abeiku]

Hello I’m currently taking the IB and studying to be an aerospace engineer. I really wanna substitute Chemistry for Computer science HL so I wanna know if that would affect my application in any way