IB Options for Economics at US

[Aditya Chandra]

Hey guys! 

 

I was currently choosing my options for IB, and it was the due date. I want to study either Economics or Finance&Accounting in the USA and I live in Hong Kong. So I am an international student. Are these options feasible to study either of the two in the United States? What are your opinions? Is it a really weird combination?  

 

HL Economics

HL Physics

HL History (moved from HL Maths - too hard) 

SL Maths 

SL LangLit

SL Ab initio Spanish 

 

Also, do I have to take higher maths to go to a really good university? 

[ibsurvivors]

Hey Aditya,

 

I'm currently studying at UC Berkeley and I was also an International Student; here's what you need to know:

 

- You can study Economics in the US and not have to do it in the IB; in fact, unless it's engineering, you can take pretty much any subjects in the IB and get admitted to a top class university in the US. If you want to go into finance and accounting, however, I recommend taking HL Math as it will build the quantitative framework that you might need later on in life.

 

- Focus on your standardized testing; so, SAT or ACT. My GPA wasn't the best but I killed my SATs, which helped a lot. So make sure you prepare intensively for them, and that you ace them. They matter a lot.

 

- College essays, of course, are ultimately extremely important as well. As an International Student from Hong Kong, you're going to have to find a way to stand out, and no better way of doing that than through your essays and your extracurricular activities.

 

Message me if you need any help. Also, I run a website called www.ibsurvivors.com which offers tons of resources for the IB, so check that out.

 

All the best,

 

Shikhar