Which one should I choose?

[nhsly98]

Hello everyone.

Next year I will start my IB programs, however, I am still unsure which subject I should take for group 4. The 3 choices my school offers are: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Since we have to choose our subjects prior to the start of the next school year, I had settled with Chemistry but am not 100% sure yet. I heard we can make some small changes to the subject at the start of the next year. Please help me decide based on the information below:

Biology: I heard the Biology teacher is very capable of delivering the material to the student, however the teacher had been known to be hard on many students. I took general biology in grade 9 and find it okay, not too hard but also not too easy. I was one of the better students for biology but I hate the fact that the only way we can help ourselves through the subject is rote memorization.

Chemistry: I took general chemistry this past school year and did really well in it, and I find it interesting. However, this might be because the teacher is very easy (since the grade was split into 2 groups under 2 teachers and I heard the other one was harder). Next year, the school is hiring another teacher for chemistry so I am unsure of how good the teacher is. Although I really would like to take chemistry, I am afraid that I might not be able of handling the IB standards of chemistry.

Physics: This is the choice I am most concerned about. I find many of the IB physics materials to be interesting, however the problem lies in the fact that I haven't taken physics for 3 years already (since middle school). I also heard past IB students said that the teacher is good in terms of theory, but not the math part (which takes up a lot of physics, right?). So I am concerned that I might not be able to handle Physics.

Please help me figure out which subject to take, I would really appreciate it. Right now I am leaning towards Chemistry since I hate to memorize and just decent at math.

As for HL and SL, I haven't really decided on that since we won't choose the level until the end of semester 1 in year 1.

Thank you for your inputs!

UPDATE: Many of my upper IB friends recommended me Chemistry (all of the ones I've asked actually), however, many of my friends are certain that they will be doing Physics and Biology and are telling me to do the same thing. I know it's not logical to go with your friends and do the subjects you're not familiar with, but it'll be pretty difficult to be in a small IB class since you can't really ask for help or anything from your peers.

Edited June 6, 2014 by nhsly98

[khimberleigh]

From what I heard biology is a lot of memorisation. So if you really don't like memorisation then I would recommend not doing biology. The Physics and Chemistry courses are designed so that theoretically somebody taking maths studies could do them (both HL and SL) so the maths isn't very difficult. Also, don't worry if you haven't done the subjects much before. They are designed so that you don't require much (if any) background knowledge. I'd done a quarter of a year of physics before doing HL and was totally fine.

Do whichever subject you are interested in and also which one has the best teacher. From all my experience, aside from the work you put in, I think the teacher is probably the next biggest factor in how well you will do. Having friends in your class can be quite good as long as they're not the type of friends who are going to distract you the whole time. It can be really useful going through problems with friends especially when they might understand something that you didn't. Also you can discuss things like IAs with your friends. But also remember that a lot the time you will be studying on your own so don't pick something you don't like just because your friends are doing it. My order of what I think are the most important factors when deciding on a subject is 1. your own interest and skills, 2. teacher and 3. friends.

Based on what you've said I would recommend chemistry then if you decide to do two sciences probably physics next.

[Chio1012]

Same, I'd recommend Chemistry as well. As said above, biology requires a lot of memorization and physics does contain quite a bit of maths. Even though you may be in a really small class next year, that allows the teacher to help you more and see your strengths and weaknesses, so they can help you accordingly. Your interest in the subject will help you get through whatever uncertainties you have for the subject now; IB-level chemistry is doable of course, it's like an extension of IGCSE (if you took it). Just trust your gut with your subject choices! You're most likely to do well in a subject if you genuinely enjoy it.

[Sofia.]

Hello everyone.

Next year I will start my IB programs, however, I am still unsure which subject I should take for group 4. The 3 choices my school offers are: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Since we have to choose our subjects prior to the start of the next school year, I had settled with Chemistry but am not 100% sure yet. I heard we can make some small changes to the subject at the start of the next year. Please help me decide based on the information below:

Biology: I heard the Biology teacher is very capable of delivering the material to the student, however the teacher had been known to be hard on many students. I took general biology in grade 9 and find it okay, not too hard but also not too easy. I was one of the better students for biology but I hate the fact that the only way we can help ourselves through the subject is rote memorization.

Chemistry: I took general chemistry this past school year and did really well in it, and I find it interesting. However, this might be because the teacher is very easy (since the grade was split into 2 groups under 2 teachers and I heard the other one was harder). Next year, the school is hiring another teacher for chemistry so I am unsure of how good the teacher is. Although I really would like to take chemistry, I am afraid that I might not be able of handling the IB standards of chemistry.

Physics: This is the choice I am most concerned about. I find many of the IB physics materials to be interesting, however the problem lies in the fact that I haven't taken physics for 3 years already (since middle school). I also heard past IB students said that the teacher is good in terms of theory, but not the math part (which takes up a lot of physics, right?). So I am concerned that I might not be able to handle Physics.

Please help me figure out which subject to take, I would really appreciate it. Right now I am leaning towards Chemistry since I hate to memorize and just decent at math.

As for HL and SL, I haven't really decided on that since we won't choose the level until the end of semester 1 in year 1.

Thank you for your inputs!

UPDATE: Many of my upper IB friends recommended me Chemistry (all of the ones I've asked actually), however, many of my friends are certain that they will be doing Physics and Biology and are telling me to do the same thing. I know it's not logical to go with your friends and do the subjects you're not familiar with, but it'll be pretty difficult to be in a small IB class since you can't really ask for help or anything from your peers.

Biology: As khimberleigh said, if you don't like memorization, this probably isn't your subject. However, it might actually be a good thing that the teacher is a bit hard on you - especially since she/he's not the one grading you.

Chemistry: From what I've read, it seems like this is the subject you want to do. Don't worry about the difficulty of the course - it's not that bad, I'm sure you can make it!

Physics: To be honest, there isn't much math in the IB physics course (sadly ), so I don't think you'll have any trouble with that particular aspect. As for not having studied physics in a while, I don't think it's such a big problem. The course starts with the basics (mechanics etc.), so you can make it no doubt, even though it might take some getting used to.

And as for the update, it's always a comfort to have peers that are doing the same thing, but not necessary. I'm taking maths HL by myself (as I'm the only one crazy to do it), and even though it's a bit lonely sometimes, it's definitely possible. And you won't be the only person taking Chemistry, will you? You always get to know people really well in all your courses, even if you don't know anybody from the start. I kind of like it that way, because you get lots of close friends, not just a few you always hang out with.

Hope this helped!

[nhsly98]

I want to know if we actually get to choose our options for group 4. I heard from 1 IB graduate this year that the teacher chooses her chemistry options for her, while another (she's in physics) said that she can choose her own. So in the end... do we get to choose ours?

[Sofia.]

I want to know if we actually get to choose our options for group 4. I heard from 1 IB graduate this year that the teacher chooses her chemistry options for her, while another (she's in physics) said that she can choose her own. So in the end... do we get to choose ours?

I think it depends entirely on the teacher. For me, the class chooses the two options that we'll study in chemistry, although it is also possible to self-study an option without teaching time if you want to. In physics, the teacher has chosen for us, but I'm trying to convince him to change one of the options to relativity... Let's see how that goes.

So we can't tell you, in reality; you need to check with your teacher.

[nhsly98]

Oh keep in mind that I am aiming to take these subjects in HL, which I heard is a great leap from SL in terms of contents. I wonder if this would make any differences to my choices.

[Sofia.]

The content is harder, especially for physics and chemistry. The SL kids in my physics class did some of the harder stuff in our core as an option, but in chemistry we're all doing the same options at different levels.

[Sofia.]

Oh sorry, I read the question to fast. For HL Chemistry and Physics it is harder, whereas for Bio it's only more to learn... Don't know which you prefer

[cricketcrazynerd]

Dude I would recommend chemistry HL... it's the best science by far.

[IBfreakingout!]

Hey!

So from what I understand, don’t pick biology. Many of my friends hate the amount they have to memorise and you don’t seem too keen on that part either.

I do both physics and chem and can tell you that the maths required in either (at HL or SL) is not an issue. I do HL physics, and find that the HL stuff isn’t harder but just a more to learn. Plus most the time it is highly logical and the variety of formulas just come to you if you know the few core one (and they are given to you anyway in the Data booklet).

For Chem, I only do SL but past IB students have commented that along with maths HL, Chem HL is the hardest.

However, I can say that difficulty and how well you do is dependent on your interest and that only. The more you enjoy a subject the better you will do because you will want to spend time studying that subject over others. Hence maybe it will be better to do chem if you don’t know your interest in physics. It might also help if you worked backwards – start from what you want to do as a career and see which science will be most beneficial to study for it or is a pre-requisite (if you know what you want to do, if not then chem is usually a good one – covers most apart from most engineering courses that require physics).

Also ask your teacher about options as some teachers let you chose or lets you do self study options while others don’t.

Good Luck!

[Thrashmaster]

My school doesn't offer physics, so I won't pretend I know anything about it (I heard it is the hardest though). Between chem and bio, I'd vote chem. Bio is just memorization, and chem is more applicable to college sciences.

[nhsly98]

Thanks guys for answering From your inputs, I think I'll settle with Chemistry. Thank you for your time.