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Hardest and easiest IB subjects?


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I can safely say Math HL is a hard piece, but if you understand and like math you'll be fine.

 

Physics HL is also rigorous. English A is hard for me and getting a 7 requires a lot of work, but many of my classmates do achieve a 7.

In my Environmental Systems & Societies class, no one can get a 7. Ever.

 

Easiest would probably be math SL. I'd not really recommend Studies though if you like math.

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What subjects, from your personal experience, are the hardest to get a 7 in? What's your hardest subject you're taking?

I think chem is the hardest for me to pull off a 7 :(

 

Really? What's your current predicted grade?

 

I don't get predicted grades until April (I'm using report card percentages for uni admissions), but Ik that the IA for chem can be so hard to score high on and also, I usually get 5's or 6's on written response (if I really screw up, it's a 4 on a written). I have that odd 7 every now and then though.. 

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Math HL(highest in my school is 6) is hard and English A Lit is also hard (no one in my school has scored above a 5)
ESS maybe in SL but according to me it gets harder day by day 
also many of my classmates feel that Physics HL is the hardest IB subject
Economics is challenging but if you're inclined towards it it will be easy for ya.
Film can be time consuming (but again you gotta be inclined towards it)
 
Easiest according to me will be Business Management and French Ab initio 
Spanish Ab initio can get challenging (there was this one incident where one of our seniors switched to Hindi B after the 1st year cuz she found Spanish hard)
 
tbh at the end of the day its YOUR OWN STRENGTHS and what you are inclined towards  :D

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I'd say I find business hardest.

Altough I did mess up my math midterm exam and I oddly have lowest grade on math from all subjects, BUT I didnt have exam on Business and I'm sure that would be the lowest. Besides, I cant really tell yet, since I only have one midterm exams behind me, and my math is 6 too ATM. Cant say.

What feels hardest is business to me.

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  • 2 months later...

I'd say history HL and math SL are the hardest for me. Easier subjects are Bio HL and French HL. Art is also pretty difficult, because it requires a lot of time. The two subjects I know that the least IB students get 7's in are history HL and art, so even if the subject material isn't difficult, it is challenging to get a high mark. 

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French B SL. We haven't started HL yet, but I've gone over it, and it's just more of the same for my subjects. French, on the other hand, is hell. I'm horrible with languages and it's the only thing dragging my grade down which is particularly horrible because it's eternally frustrating.

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English was the easiest for me, as I spoke the language fluently before even starting the IB, and hardly learned anything during the programme (at least at school). 

Hardest was probably Maths SL, I didn't have a very good teacher and the exam was madly difficult. 

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The easiest for me is Math Studies, obviously. But, the hardest for me would most probably be Computer Science HL, only because we don't have an excellent teacher. I've also been told that Business Management is a very tough subject to score a 7 in, but I honestly don't find it that challenging. 

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  • 1 year later...

As my high levels I take math, physics and chemistry. To be honest non of them are easy, but with no doubt I can say that hl math and physics are the hardest Ib subjects you can get. Literature classes do not really change in difficulty if they are Sl or Hl, but science subjects and maths do. Still it really depends on what you are good at and what you like to study.

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Math and Physics HL are by far the most difficult 7s you can get especially getting consistent 7s in Math HL, you need to be spending well over 3 hours of your day doing math and even triple that in the weekends. Its very tough to maintain a consistent 6 and especially 7 in Math HL. The tests are just always so demanding and math HL is really a great test of how good your math skills are especially if you considered yourself good at Maths before the IB. Physics HL is hard in a different way; its either you get the concept or dont get it and in physics HL, if you didnt solidify your concepts in a topic, you will have a problem but I stll feel like Physics HL has not made me work as hard as Math HL has yet.

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  • 5 months later...
1 hour ago, DC7 said:

By far, History HL is the most difficult course - in my renowned school, whose average last year was 38 points, I am unaware of any student who had been predicted above a 5 for History HL.

My school's average was about 34 points 2 years ago, and only 32 points a year ago, but both years had consistent 6s in History HL. However I would agree that amongst all Group 3 subjects, it is very likely the hardest to most people.

However it's still pretty hard to say. On the second page of the link (wouldn't be 100% certain of its validity), http://www.cem.org/attachments/CEM Connect International Issue 02.pdf

it suggests that HL Maths is the hardest IB subject, which I would agree with, but lists History HL far down in the "Easy" difficulty - not what I would agree with. Like so many others have said, it would really boil down to the individual, though the data itself is interesting.

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  • 4 years later...

"Hardest" is very subjective for IB. Do you define "hardest" as most work put in? If so, I'd put certain arts subjects in there, like music. Otherwise, if you define "hard" as the difficulty of the content, the tests, and the concepts, more science subjects like Maths HL, Physics HL, and Chem HL would go in there. 

I'd probably put Maths HL on the hardest list, but I'm not sure how it would compare with the other STEM HL subjects. Definitely one of the harder ones though. If you don't know any maths other than basic algebra before you start the course, you're going to have a really hard time trying to keep up at the break-neck speed the course goes at. Also, you need to be fairly comfortable with problem solving, and mathematical concepts to be able to confidently and easily complete IB maths HL questions.

In other words, if you're not good with mathematical concepts and problem solving, you're going to get ****ed over in the course. If you did maths competitions when you were younger and did well in them, or if you aced the easy school maths tests before DP1 (grade 11), then you're likely a good candidate for HL maths. Otherwise, you're wasting your time with the subject.

I'd recommend if you're really talented at maths, learn calculus in your spare time before going into the diploma. It'll save you lots of time during the diploma.

The second one that definitely makes it on the list is Physics HL.

The reason for this is the amount of content covered, and the conceptual fluency you must have with physics in order to solve the questions. Further more, you have to be quite mathematically competent to get a 6/7 in the course. This is because of the fast mental calculation and algebraic manipulation you have to do, especially in the Paper 1. 

A lot of Physics HL questions in Paper 1 especially are "tricky" and require a very good conceptual understanding. Some of these questions will have an answer that's opposite to what is expected. For Physics HL, lots of practice, especially in large volumes, is required. Someone who hasn't done any physics before the diploma will have a very difficult time with the subject.

The third is Chemistry HL. Chemistry HL is notoriously very difficult due to the size of the content that is to be learned (HL is 1.5 times the content that SL learns). Both SL and HL face a really huge amount of content to be learned. 

All three subjects require regular engagement, confidence, and understanding of the material. In my opinion, in terms of the final exams of these 3 subjects, these 3 are possibly the hardest. 

 

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