tp1999 Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Hi guys, I'm in Grade 11 and I just dropped to partial IB because I was failing IB chemistry. I was just wondering if my horrible chemistry mark will affect my chances of getting into a good university like UBC, McGill, UofT. I will be taking normal Chemistry 11 and 12 but will my IB Chemistry 11 mark affect my acceptance. I am still in full IB as I have to finish this school year and next year I will be switching to partial. I hope to go into sciences in post-secondary and I was wondering on what IB HL courses I should take as our school only gives us the option of taking HL courses. I am getting 82% in IB English 11, 89% in IB Biology, 90% in IB Geography, 50% in IB Chemistry, and 87% in IB Math SL. Hope you guys can give me good advice. Thank you so much. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeronicaG Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Hey Good news! IB courses can be converted to their normal equivalents. So, that IB Chem mark might be recorded as a Grade 11 mark and will NOT affect your admission. The universities will see the Grade 11 mark but their decision is based on the normal 12 Chem that you take. You are also doing pretty good in your other courses so partial IB is a good idea. If you struggled with Chem then you will definitely need to study A LOT even in a normal course. You need a pretty high average (85% and up) and Chem might be included in that. Science is a cool program to take in university but job prospects aren't so hot right now. If you don't want to go to med school then you will struggle to find a job. I'd look at maybe research or a field that is experiencing a boom right now (Google is your best friend). Since you have a high Bio and Geo mark, maybe geoscience or geomatics is your thing? Both include the environment and geomatics is an environment/math program. Again, look at what you like and the condition of the industry. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tp1999 Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) Ok! Thank you! I'll definitely think into geoscience. Also, I heard you need to have a lot of extracurriculars for university applications so I was just wondering if that is true. If so, what type of extracurriculars should I do? And how did you get into Engineering without IB Physics? Edited June 10, 2016 by tp1999 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeronicaG Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 It's always good to have extracurriculars but not every university asks for them. Some, like Waterloo, want a list of what you did and how long you did it for. Others want you to write a couple of mini-essays to get in and you could write your essays about your extracurriculars. And then there are some that just look at marks. I personally got the bulk of my hours by playing in school band, being a member of the archery team and by volunteering at a summer camp. I did several smaller activities here and there and I ended with 200 CAS hours. I also have a part-time job that I've held for 3 years now. I consider this an 'average' amount of extracurriculars. A lot of my friends did more and many did less and we all got into university. And the Physics thing.... I couldn't take it in IB because my school didn't offer it, So I took normal Grade 11 Physics during my first year of IB (WHICH WAS TERRIBLE I CRIED) and the Grade 12 course in summer school. Now that I'm out of school I managed to find an IB HL Physics textbook and I'm reading through some of the more advanced material. I guess this was enough to get into engineering, even though I was competing against people with HL Math and HL Physics. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tp1999 Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) How did you do in Physics 11, like your mark? I was hoping to take Physics 12 online over the summer since I've already taken Physics 11. Would universities care if you take it online or at school? Sorry if I'm bothering you with the questions! Edited June 10, 2016 by tp1999 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beyondtheimagine Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) Sorry to bud in Universities won't care if you took physics online or at school, as long as you meet the requirement you will be fine But I don't recommend doing physics online..but then again it really depends on how you learn, but I know... well within my area, that many teachers recommended not to do it online. Like for me I like having a teacher to directly explain and teach it to me, than self-teaching myself. I'm doing physics 30 (physics 12), during the summer too!! But I'm taking it in class As for your first question even though it's directed for Veronica. I finished physics 20 (physics 11) with a 95 Edited June 10, 2016 by beyondtheimagine Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeronicaG Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) Well only Waterloo cares if a course is taken in summer school and they give a 5% average penalty UNLESS you can prove that you could only take the course in summer school. HOWEVER the penaltt only applies if the summer school is a prerequisite for the program. I don't know if physics is needed for geoscience but you should look into it. Take the normal physics course if you can and take the online one if you can't fit it into your schedule or if physics is not a required course. I got a 93 in summer school (congrats to the other person who got that 95) Edited June 11, 2016 by VeronicaG Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beyondtheimagine Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 13 hours ago, VeronicaG said: Well only Waterloo cares if a course is taken in summer school and they give a 5% average penalty UNLESS you can prove that you could only take the course in summer school. HOWEVER the penaltt only applies if the summer school is a prerequisite for the program. I don't know if physics is needed for geoscience but you should look into it. Take the normal physics course if you can and take the online one if you can't fit it into your schedule or if physics is not a required course. I got a 93 in summer school (congrats to the other person who got that 95) Thanks And wow, I can't believe that Waterloo would do that, that's quite unfair (well in my opinion). Then again, I'm quite positive that most Western Canadian Universities won't do that.. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kroinky Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Universities won't care. But I find it odd. You do so well in IB Bio, you should be doing somewhat better in IB Chem naturally, since both subjects are linked in some ways, like BioChemistry Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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