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"Soft" subjects to avoid, according to universities


Vvi

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mmm yer some subjects i would consider soft but just because they're slightly easier in comparison to other subjects doesn't mean that its a bludge.

ok, well at my school ITGS is a joke. there is a grand total of 5 people in the class, the rest of us chose economics or history.

but thanks, i'll pass the information to the ib kids who just joined this year.

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Are you taking a course to be a momma's sycophant or are you taking it because you're interested in it.

Are you taking a course so you can be sure you're going to give your money away to the university you want or to a community college.

Don't disregard courses just because you think they're soft.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...

I am a little bit worried after reading this forum and a few others in regards to soft subjects. On other forums I have also seen psychology as a 'soft subject.' I will be taking business and management at higher as well as psychology as a higher. Is this a bad choice? I don't want to do economics because I prefer a more practical side learning and I feel that I will enjoy business. With psychology I think it would be very interesting. I have pretty much no set idea about what to do at university, I was thinking perhaps a commerce degree. Would these subjects be suitable even though they are considered two 'soft' subjects?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello,

I have to disagree that BM and DT are easy or soft subjects.. I have all three of those soft subjects( BM, ITGS, and DT) so I should probably know. Maybe ITGS is easy because those are things which someone who is interested in IT should know even before, but there is the other side of it. That "global societies", is so weird. I really dont like talking how the tech influence on people, and all of those ethical and social issues, which are number 1 to know in ITGS. I thought that I will be doing some programming or something else when I took ITGS, but now, I see it is the whole different story..

Design Technology, is in my opinion, one of the "hardest" subjects in IB. Cmon guys, there is no official book , from where you can learn DT. The IA's are horribly hard, and in general it is very but very hard to get 6 and 7 in it.

BM, there is a lot of theory, and every question on papers asks from us to write in deep, and maybe the papers look easy and i don't know what, but there is still 800 pages to learn... It is not that easy. And BTW, many Universities(as I know), give credits for BM and ITGS.

If there are some English mistakes please forgive me :D

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm now newly (re)concerned that my subjects are somewhat "soft". I'm surprised Geography wasn't on that original list as far as I could tell, but maybe it isn't popular enough. I have to admit that Economics (the other social science I was considering) sounds better than Geography, but I like the broader focus of Geography. And the syllabus (seems) fairly good as well. And I have to admit it sounds easier/more interesting than the more technical Economics. Oh, don't we all have to make choices? Our school swears up and down that there is no bias for subjects taken when universities select students (apart from pre-requisites). Of course, it is Australia...

Maths HL and Physics HL ain't "soft". But if/when I drop these to SL, suddenly my subjects are sounding a lot less "impressive".

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I'm taking ITGS in SL and right now I'm sort of dying because I was 3 months late for this course and I'm so lost in class T_T

This website can help you http://itgsopedia.wikispaces.com/ :D Don't stress out, 3 months are nothing compared to the 2 years of the IB program.

If you have any further questions about ITGS, go to this thread http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/17725-itgs-general-project-questions-here/ and read through it :P

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I haven't seen much said about Theatre Art in here. I take TA HL and it may be seen that all we do is stand around, acting trees but we don't. TA does not just teah you about acting it teaches you about producing, set designing, costume design, director, lights, sound ect ect. TA is mentally and physically draining, the things we have to do really do take a toll. Just because it is an 'art' it shouldnt be seen as a soft subject. If you want to go do theatre,flim,tv (NOT MEDIA BIG DIFFERENCE) at uni, TA is the one to take.

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You shouldn't worry, Oxbridge doesn't want to see ''more than 1'' of these subjects being taken (eventhough I get your point, the idea is stupid, I think all great unis have some kind of strange v. subjective manner in them) .

So basically if you have 0 or 1 of the ''forbidden subjects'' you are perfectly fine, but if you have 2 or more of the forbidden ones, then you are at a disadvantage.

I don't take visual arts because I don't love art, and my older sister took visual arts and I saw how much time and effort she put into it and still only scaped a 4 in HL art. So I definitely knew that visual arts was not a walk in the park. All people at my school complain of how demanding visual arts is compared to their other subjects. I definitely agree, visual arts is tough

I'll have to jump in on that. Waaait waaaaaait! I want to to Oxbridge. And I have two of those 'soft' subjects. I have VA and B&M, and I want to study architecture... My second choice are political sciences or management... So they'll be looking be differently because I have those subjects? :/

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Choosing soft subjects does not have to be a disadvantage - it all depends on how you use it. For instance - think of such aspects of your course that are unique and you wouldn't be able to learn it from much more popular history, biology etc.

Moreover if you apply via UCAS there is a great opprotunity to mention it in your Personal Statement. If you are interested in humanities, understanding culture by literature and visual arts is much deeper. I have linked both of them in my personal statement and got very good offers.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello,

I have to disagree that BM and DT are easy or soft subjects.. I have all three of those soft subjects( BM, ITGS, and DT) so I should probably know. Maybe ITGS is easy because those are things which someone who is interested in IT should know even before, but there is the other side of it. That "global societies", is so weird. I really dont like talking how the tech influence on people, and all of those ethical and social issues, which are number 1 to know in ITGS. I thought that I will be doing some programming or something else when I took ITGS, but now, I see it is the whole different story..

Design Technology, is in my opinion, one of the "hardest" subjects in IB. Cmon guys, there is no official book , from where you can learn DT. The IA's are horribly hard, and in general it is very but very hard to get 6 and 7 in it.

BM, there is a lot of theory, and every question on papers asks from us to write in deep, and maybe the papers look easy and i don't know what, but there is still 800 pages to learn... It is not that easy. And BTW, many Universities(as I know), give credits for BM and ITGS.

If there are some English mistakes please forgive me :D

I think you and many other people in this thread are missing the point.

No-one disagrees that some of the "soft" subjects listed in this thread are actually quite time consuming - we all realise that most of the "soft" subjects still require large inputs of time and effort. However, the reason why these subjects are considered "soft" is basically because they are not as academic as mathematics, physics, chem, bio, eco... etc.

So, if you are applying to an competitive university (Oxbridge, LSE) for an academic course (almost every subject at Oxbridge is 'academic'), with many non-academic subjects then it makes sense that you will be penalised.

Also, it would be unfair to consider someone who taks VA HL, B&M HL and ITGS HL and some who takes Math HL, Physics HL and Eco HL equal for entry to an academic course such as Economics, or a science. As a VA HL may be time consuming, but Math HL is probably even more time consuming and drastically more difficult - furthermore it is more relevant to the nature of the University course.

So yes, some of the "soft" subjects may be time consuming (ever subject in IB is time consuming) but their are generally not relevant to the courses at these selective universities and they are not as hard as well. Basically its a fairness thing.

I should add that if you wish to study Fine Arts at uni, or management (If that's offered?) then yes, it would be perfectly fine to take VA or B&M in the IB. Just don't claim that VA's high workload is relevant to an Economics course.

Edited by jmw
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