03carlotas Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 Hello, I am currently studying in an IB school, (MYP system) and I am just finishing M5 (10th grade). I have got 7/7 in all my subjects this year and so did last year. My goal is to get into an IB University playing golf. This is why my subject choice is very important as I will need free time for golf training. I don't know how many points I would need exactly to get into an Ivy League but my aim is 40 points. I am Spanish but I have always been to an English school so I consider English as my first language as well. I am very good at memorising things that is why I thought History and Biology were good choices. I'm planning to study a combined degree of International Relations and Economics/Business/Psychology in University This is the idea I have for my subjects: English A SL (Language and Literature) or HL (Literature) - What is the main difference between them? Is it possible to get a 7 in HL? Spanish A SL History HL - How hard is it? I've heard so many different opinions. If I have a good memory would it be a good choice? How hard is it to get a 7? Biology HL - I love Biology. I would say it's my favourite subjects and I'm not finding it challenging at all this year. What is your experience in it? Maths SL - I was planning to do Maths HL but I think SL will be enough for what I want to study Economics HL/Business HL/Theatre HL - I think I will probably end up choosing Economics HL but honestly, I want to choose the easiest subject I can for this group as I think I have already some hard subjects. What do you think of Economics? Would Theatre show the University I am a versatile student? What is the best option? Thank you so much for your help! Carlota Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB_taking_over Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 History HL is not that bad. It's a lot of memorizing and being able to recall why things matter. It is worth noting that history changes starting May 2017. So, it's hard to accurately say how doable it is. Currently a 7 pretty is doable. Honestly the general international opinion on the arts is that they are softer subjects. That being said, I took theatre SL. Ivies are a crap shoot even with perfect academic scores as they look at so much more than grades. that's my two cents, IB_taking_over Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, IB_taking_over said: History HL is not that bad. It's a lot of memorizing and being able to recall why things matter. It is worth noting that history changes starting May 2017. So, it's hard to accurately say how doable it is. Currently a 7 pretty is doable. Honestly the general international opinion on the arts is that they are softer subjects. That being said, I took theatre SL. Ivies are a crap shoot even with perfect academic scores as they look at so much more than grades. that's my two cents, IB_taking_over Thank you so much for your help! What other subjects did you take? And how did you find them? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB_taking_over Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 3 hours ago, 03carlotas said: Thank you so much for your help! What other subjects did you take? And how did you find them? I am still finishing IB, exams in May HL English: at my school you must take English HL if you want to do the diploma HL Spanish: my Spanish teacher convinced my I should do HL vs SL. I chose Spanish because I've taken it for the last 7 years HL Euro History: again, HL is required if you want to do the diploma at my school. HL Chemistry: I was crazy enough to think HL would be fun or doable... "-5!" SL Math: I wanted to get math out of the way junior year instead of doing HL and testing as a senior. One of the best stress reducing decisions of my life SL Theatre: it was that, music, business management or psychology. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 11 hours ago, inriya said: Biology HL - Biology is certainly fun, but still a LOT of memorization required if you do not understand it as much. I personally do not need to remember a lot for Biology because I spent time understanding it, but still it is a tough subject to score a 7 in. I enjoyed it :3 Maths SL - Good choice on this one. Math SL is not hard at all if you are good at using numbers. It is basic knowledge of Math and I find this subject VERY easy. Economics HL- I will not say Economics HL is the easiest subject between Business and/or Theater, it is still a flexible subject. I think Economics is very related to our daily life, and the chapters we learnt in it are quite easy and logical. You can always try for one subject at the beginning of DP, if you find it not suitable, you can request to change your subject to your school. So I will suggest you exploring or before DP starts, do some prior reading. Theater can show you are versatile, but depends on what you want to apply for University. English A Language and Literature SL - What is the difference between literature and language and literature? The name spoke for itself. Literature requires more reading on books, poems, so there will be heavy emphasis on analyzing books. Language and Literature has the book elements inside (Paper 2), but our Paper 1 is different because we analysis language in a passage itself. The literary devices, structure, why do they use those languages / vocabularies, why does the writer use certain mood to describe/write this passage etc..... Then to the question of HL and SL, what is the difference between them? In HL, longer exam time and analyzing and comparing two passages, whereas SL has only one passage. HL has more books to read, whereas SL has less. (That's the case for my school). Personally I take English LL SL, I find it manageable no matter how much I struggle in English. (( I nearly forgot one thing: The main difference between Lit and Lang Lit is the internal exam, FOA (Further Oral Commentary) and IOP (Individual Oral Presentation, if I am not wrong) . I do not know what is IOP though, but FOA gives you 15-20 minutes to analysis a prepared text through different methods, debate, speech, presentation to your class.)) On universities, I have applied to two Ivy League schools, Columbia and Brown. Both of them accepted me unconditionally when my PG is around 41 points. If you want to study International Relations / Economics / Business / Psychology, and Ivy League? And free time for golfing? It depends on which Ivy League school you are aiming for, but on that, I cannot give any suggestions because I am still in IB right now. If you want more advice, I will suggest asking people who got into Ivy Leagues, perhaps your friends, perhaps someone here. For subjects, it is best to consult your teachers. I wish you good luck and ask me any questions if you want to I hope my advice can help you. Thank you so much for all the information, it really helped me. Which subjects did you choose in your IB then? And did you take the SAT Subject tests of any of your HL subjects in IB? How did you find them. Thank you so much ❤️ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inriya Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 3 minutes ago, 03carlotas said: Thank you so much for all the information, it really helped me. Which subjects did you choose in your IB then? And did you take the SAT Subject tests of any of your HL subjects in IB? How did you find them. Thank you so much ️ My subjects are : Chinese A Language Literature SL, English A Language and Literature SL, Math SL, Bio HL, Chem HL and Econ HL I did take the SAT subject tests, my school provided them from October to January. I took Chemistry and Biology. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 8 minutes ago, inriya said: My subjects are : Chinese A Language Literature SL, English A Language and Literature SL, Math SL, Bio HL, Chem HL and Econ HL I did take the SAT subject tests, my school provided them from October to January. I took Chemistry and Biology. You did 2 language As, I am bilingual in spanish and english. Would you recommend me taking both as a language A SL level? Do universities value it more? Thanks again Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inriya Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 (edited) 12 hours ago, 03carlotas said: You did 2 language As, I am bilingual in spanish and english. Would you recommend me taking both as a language A SL level? Do universities value it more? Thanks again It really depends on where you want to apply. US and UK they do not really care. I needed the bilingual diploma for universities back in Hong Kong. Edited April 23, 2016 by inriya 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 So for the US do they mostly care about the points you get and not the subjects you choose? Is the UK the same? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inriya Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 7 minutes ago, 03carlotas said: So for the US do they mostly care about the points you get and not the subjects you choose? Is the UK the same? UK is more academic US is more all-rounded, they look at everything, what you do in activities, what you do in services, and academics. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Thank you so much for helping me! I have one last question. I would like to do 2 language As (Spanish ans English) at a SL level. Would you say aiming for over 40 points with HL History, Biology and Economics and SL English A, Spanish A and Maths will be too challenging? Thanks again and good luck in your exams in May, I'm sure you'll do great. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inriya Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 (edited) 5 minutes ago, 03carlotas said: Thank you so much for helping me! I have one last question. I would like to do 2 language As (Spanish ans English) at a SL level. Would you say aiming for over 40 points with HL History, Biology and Economics and SL English A, Spanish A and Maths will be too challenging? Thanks again and good luck in your exams in May, I'm sure you'll do great. Biology HL has a higher grade boundary in Group 4 Subjects (I mean Physics, Chemistry and Bio) Economics HL definitely yes if you are interested and good at writing, memorizing some theories. History HL will be challenging but it is very possible to get a 7. SL English A, Spanish A, yes! You can score 7 easily in these languages if you are confident in writing. Math SL - easiest subject to get 7 amongst all your subject choices I tried to calculate, and if you are aiming 40 out of 45, it will not be challenging as long you maintain 6 in all the subjects. Certainly, it will be challenging over the 2 years because IBDP is quite different from MYP, but I find it reasonable to get 40. Good luck Edited April 22, 2016 by inriya 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
03carlotas Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 15 hours ago, IB_taking_over said: History HL is not that bad. It's a lot of memorizing and being able to recall why things matter. It is worth noting that history changes starting May 2017. So, it's hard to accurately say how doable it is. Currently a 7 pretty is doable. Honestly the general international opinion on the arts is that they are softer subjects. That being said, I took theatre SL. Ivies are a crap shoot even with perfect academic scores as they look at so much more than grades. that's my two cents, IB_taking_over How did you find Theater SL? What subjects did you choose and which did you find the easiest/hardest? Thank you so much for all your help Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB_taking_over Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 14 hours ago, 03carlotas said: Which subjects did you find the easiest/hardest? How did you find English HL and History HL? Thank you so much for all your help. ☺️ Carlota Easiest: probably SL math I've always been sorta good at math so it was kinda straight forward. Hardest: probably chemistry or English. HL Chem is a lot of material that's new this year. English has never been a favorite of mine, so I have a harder time forcing myself to do the work english: it's really not that hard, just time consuming. Books take time to read, lol, so there's not a lot of leeway in time allocation. History: when I started it was overwhelming. (there are times it still seems that way) At my school at least, there's homework almost every night. Usually reading and questions about the reading. After a while you start to get used to the work load. Personally, I have found I enjoy history in general. The IA is new for May 2017. Completely different from the old way. 14 hours ago, 03carlotas said: How did you find Theater SL? What subjects did you choose and which did you find the easiest/hardest? Thank you so much for all your help Basically my school offered it. No one at my school ever takes it, so I'm the only one that tested in it. It's really not that bad to "self-teach" it as there plenty of stuff online. It was pretty simple. I got a 5 without knowing how to do any of it Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inriya Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 (edited) I agree that Chem HL is difficult like you just learnt something and in the exam it became 100% harder. Then you just want to flip the table because you have questions from new syllabus that is not in any past paper (NMR?!?!?!?) . 8 hours ago, IB_taking_over said: Hardest: probably chemistry or English. HL Chem is a lot of material that's new this year. English has never been a favorite of mine, so I have a harder time forcing myself to do the work Edited April 23, 2016 by inriya Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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