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Chemistry vs Computer Science for Uni


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Greetings! I am currently in Pre-IB about to select my subject for the real IB program and I plan to study computer science or finance and economics in the United States, UK, or Canada. 

Here are my possible subject choices:

Math HL

Physics HL

Economics HL

French ab initio SL

English LangLit SL

Chemistry SL or CompSci SL/HL

My question is whether I should take chemistry or compsci I plan to take the courses above and if I should replace my economics HL with this group 6 subject? All help is greatly appreciated!

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Computer science will be very beneficial for going into a computer science program and since technology is an integral part of business, it will be helpful taking computer science either way. Take it at HL if you can, and you could drop the physics to SL. On the other hand, chemistry is only good if you're interested but it's completely unrelated to what you'll be doing in the future.

Keep your economics HL because you'll need it if you go into finance and you need a group 3 subject either way. Even if you change your mind and go into computer science (like me), it's still a useful course because you learn about something that you see pretty much everyday.

My recommendation:

Math HL (Keep this, it helps in computer science and I've heard it's a requirement in some European universities)

Economics HL (Useful for both pathways)

Computer Science HL

Physics SL (The only reason you would need this at HL is for computer engineering, which is something totally different)

           Note: You could switch this with chemistry SL depending on your personal preference. I took chemistry because we didn't have physics SL

English LangLit SL

French ab initio SL

Edited by Elite X-Naut
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30 minutes ago, Elite X-Naut said:

My recommendation:

Math HL (Keep this, it helps in computer science and I've heard it's a requirement in some European universities)

Economics HL (Useful for both pathways)

Computer Science HL

Physics SL (The only reason you would need this at HL is for computer engineering, which is something totally different)

           Note: You could switch this with chemistry SL depending on your personal preference. I took chemistry because we didn't have physics SL

English LangLit SL

French ab initio SL

I forgot to mention that I also have some interests in  computer/software engineering which would then mean I have to take Physics at HL. Also, the reason I asked about taking chemistry at SL is that some universities such as McGill require Math, Physics, and Chemistry at any level and that not many universities have computer science as a prerequisite for their courses. Could you clarify this a bit more?

Thanks!

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I see, then in that case you do need math, physics, and chemistry, although it's recommended to get some background knowledge on programming before you start university. Computer/software engineering does fall under engineering so you should have this:

Math HL (Very useful, do not drop to SL)

Physics HL 

Economics HL

Chemistry SL

English SL and French SL

I'd keep the chemistry at SL since it isn't used as much as math and physics, and doing it at HL among math and physics is well known to be very difficult. Having the economics at HL really balances out your course selection because it's all common sense and allows you to direct your time onto math and physics. Hope this helped!

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