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IB subject choices for law


pretzel99

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Hello everyone!!!!

 

I will be finishing my iGCSEs in the next month and need to finalise my IB subject choices. I am planning to study Law at university. As of now, this is what I've got:

HL Chemistry
HL History
HL Psychology/ Economics
SL English Literature 
SL French B
SL Maths

I am still deciding whether to do Psychology or Economics. I have very limited knowledge on both subjects (I did iGCSE business studies). I'm not sure which option will be more advantageous for reading Law, and also, which option is easier to get a 7?

Also, I am aware that HL Chemistry is definitely not needed for Law, but I'm just interested in the subject; I have heard that it is extremely difficult to get a 7 in Chem, so would it be better to bring it down to standard and bring French B up to higher? 

I am not too confident in getting a high mark for English Literature so I think I'd be safer doing it at SL, would this affect my application as for Law?

 

I would also like to ask: in the IB statistical bulletin, in most subjects, a higher percentage of people get 7s in HL rather than SL; do HL and SL subjects get marked differently?

 

I'm not too concerned about how enjoyable each subject is to be honest, yes I mean if it won't be too boring I guess I'll be more motivated to work, but currently I am more concerned about marks and I am not afraid of working my butt off for it  :P 

Thank you so much!!! 
(Sorry for so many questions!)

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Also, I am aware that HL Chemistry is definitely not needed for Law, but I'm just interested in the subject; I have heard that it is extremely difficult to get a 7 in Chem, so would it be better to bring it down to standard and bring French B up to higher? 

Chem HL is definitely one of the hardest courses in IB. I would personally go with SL, but if you really enjoy the subject and you think you can do well in it, then go for it!

 

I am not too confident in getting a high mark for English Literature so I think I'd be safer doing it at SL, would this affect my application as for Law?

English Lit is actually a great subject for law, since the skills that it teaches you compliments the skills that you will learn in Law. Take a look at websites of universities and see if their law program prefers HL or SL. Either way, HL will be a lot more beneficial to you in university.

 

I would also like to ask: in the IB statistical bulletin, in most subjects, a higher percentage of people get 7s in HL rather than SL; do HL and SL subjects get marked differently?

 Think of it this way, people say that those who apply early to a certain university has a higher likelihood of acceptance than those who apply late. That is because those who apply early are determined to get in that specific school, and they show genuine interest in getting in. Whereas the people who apply late are usually the people who are thinking "might as well give this university a shot". Similarly, most people who take HL courses are interested, and do well in that subject. On the other hand, many people who choose SL for a course do so because they are not as interested/good at that subject.

 

Hope this helps :)

Edited by Schrödinger's CAS
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Regarding your statistical bulletin query, it's just my thought, but I think it's because people tend to take their HLs more seriously and slack off their SLs quite a little bit more frankly (which is the wrong thing for one to do, but unfortunately it's the case for many). So yeah, HL and SL do get marked differently, but as in HL having more rigorous criteria to achieve. (i.e. for English Lit, what's a 10/10 (very good) in SL, is an 8/10 in HL, because to get a 10/10 in English HL, the work has to be of an 'excellent' standard instead of 'very good', and so on... the trend goes on for the lower scores, the HL is always one step higher. 

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Hello everyone!!!!

 

I will be finishing my iGCSEs in the next month and need to finalise my IB subject choices. I am planning to study Law at university. As of now, this is what I've got:

HL Chemistry

HL History

HL Psychology/ Economics

SL English Literature 

SL French B

SL Maths

I am still deciding whether to do Psychology or Economics. I have very limited knowledge on both subjects (I did iGCSE business studies). I'm not sure which option will be more advantageous for reading Law, and also, which option is easier to get a 7?

Also, I am aware that HL Chemistry is definitely not needed for Law, but I'm just interested in the subject; I have heard that it is extremely difficult to get a 7 in Chem, so would it be better to bring it down to standard and bring French B up to higher? 

I am not too confident in getting a high mark for English Literature so I think I'd be safer doing it at SL, would this affect my application as for Law?

 

I would also like to ask: in the IB statistical bulletin, in most subjects, a higher percentage of people get 7s in HL rather than SL; do HL and SL subjects get marked differently?

 

I'm not too concerned about how enjoyable each subject is to be honest, yes I mean if it won't be too boring I guess I'll be more motivated to work, but currently I am more concerned about marks and I am not afraid of working my butt off for it  :P 

Thank you so much!!! 

(Sorry for so many questions!)

Having taken Chemistry HL myself, I advice that you take it in SL, because you get to learn very interesting things. HL is mainly all of the calculations, but they're really difficult. I mean I have two books, one HL and one SL and the HL chemistry book is the same size as the SL book so you have to do twice more than SL people do. It requires a lot of studying and making sure you understand the topics, and you have to understand things very well before moving on to the next chapter. Also, I would take it SL because you will get better grades for uni.

Edited by CriCri
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If you want to read law, then I'd recommend you dropping chemistry to standard level as whilst I don't take it I understand it's a lot of work. I would then bring english lit to higher level. For law you need at leat one essay based subject (history or english) at higher level.

Also if you are undecided between phycology and economics it's really just what you are most interested in. However from what I can tell, at least in my year most people doing phycology wished they were doing econ. They say it's not very interesting and have to memorise ALOT of material and case studies.

Best of luck

xx

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I have a law exam in under 9 hours time, and I am currently procrastinating. :) As a general note, I think that most universities really do not care what you study in IB - as long as they are 'rigorous' subjects, though of course if you have essay-based subjects it is a tad easier to prove an interest in law. Having said that, many people I know were nearly all sciences-based and then coming into law at university. Some universities will say that they require an essay-based subject at HL - or recommend it - but I'm fairly sure that there are quite a few universities without that requirement (e.g. most Cambridge colleges). I think that you would be fine with either psychology or economics to fulfil that. 

 

In terms of English HL or SL, it really should not matter - if you are not that confident, SL should still be sufficient. I would suggest that you take French B at HL to begin with, just in case you change your mind about other HLs - such as Chemistry. Not having done Chemistry HL, I can't really comment on how hard it is, but I gather that it is hard work - but of course, you can do very well if you are willing to put in the required work. I wouldn't let other people's comments about Chemistry HL dissuade you, you might happen to find it not too bad. And, I think that generally universities are quite impressed by students who can manage sciences and maths at HL, even when applying for law. As to economics or psychology, I wouldn't read too much into the statistics (which you've no doubt already looked through) - try and have a look at the content, and figure out which one you might prefer. Economics is slightly less reading/memorisation based with a greater maths component, but aside from that I think it is good to choose which one to do based on interest.

 

As to whether HL or SL is 'easier' it really does depend - as already noted above! Statistics might suggest more people get 7s in HL than SL - but that's largely because better students pick HL rather than SL (statistics can be such lies sometimes). I think that in terms of marking most SL/HL subjects are quite similar, but it does entirely depend on what the subject is. Often the questions - in terms of format/difficulty - are so different that it's not that relevant to be considering the 'marking' as different, rather just the difficulty. 

 

(PS: thought this was in my signature, but just thought I'd point out that I am a current law student in the UK, rather than Australia)

Edited by flinquinnster
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