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Are these IB subjects good for engineering?


Deadpool

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Hey guys, I really want to apply to some top universities and I plan on studying MechE or ECE in the future. I am currently taking:

  1. Math HL
  2. Physics HL
  3. Economics HL
  4. Chemistry SL
  5. English LangLit SL
  6. Spanish ab initio

Are these subjects fine for applying to good universities?

Thanks for your support!

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Where in the world do you plan to study? Entrance requirements vary from school to school. We could help you out better if you could tell where you would like to study, if you don't know what university you would like to attend.

Generally, you have Maths HL, Chemistry and Physics which is usually plenty for most universities here.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/31/2016 at 0:47 PM, Deadpool said:

I plan on studying in the US. I really hope to try and apply to some of the top universities over there... Thanks for your reply! 

If you go for the U.S it doesn't technically matter, but I would switch Chemistry SL and Economics HL for Chemistry HL and Economics SL. This is because you may want to do two SAT subject tests for top schools, and there are no subject tests in Econ. Therefore you would take Chemistry and Math II. You could still just opt for the ACT in which case I wouldn't really think it matters as much. Either way you should be fine

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Actually for most engineering programs, I think the norm is to take SAT Physics and SAT Math II, which your current HLs already help you with. I have several friends taking the exact same subject combination as you do, only differing with Language B subjects, and they definitely meet the academic requirements of all strong US Engineering universities, school academic-wise. 

Also, I think there was someone somewhere (can't remember, maybe Reddit? Not a 100% reliable source though) that got into CalTech (currently the #1 university in the world by Times Higher Education, as well as being on par, or even arguably better than MIT for engineering) with only Physics HL and Maths SL. That said, he did superbly well in his SATs and SAT subject tests, not to mention going all out on extracurriculars such as Robotics competitions, designing-building projects, internships, and might have even added the Abstract of his Physics EE as a supplementary material to his application.

As it is now, your subject combination is without a doubt strong enough for top US universities. Even in the UK, top universities like Exeter, Warwick, UCL, ICL and maybe Oxbridge only require either Physics & Maths HL or Physics & Chemistry HL, but not necessarily all 3. 

Edited by IB`ez
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16 hours ago, IB`ez said:

Actually for most engineering programs, I think the norm is to take SAT Physics and SAT Math II, which your current HLs already help you with. I have several friends taking the exact same subject combination as you do, only differing with Language B subjects, and they definitely meet the academic requirements of all strong US Engineering universities, school academic-wise. 

Also, I think there was someone somewhere (can't remember, maybe Reddit? Not a 100% reliable source though) that got into CalTech (currently the #1 university in the world by Times Higher Education, as well as being on par, or even arguably better than MIT for engineering) with only Physics HL and Maths SL. That said, he did superbly well in his SATs and SAT subject tests, not to mention going all out on extracurriculars such as Robotics competitions, designing-building projects, internships, and might have even added the Abstract of his Physics EE as a supplementary material to his application.

As it is now, your subject combination is without a doubt strong enough for top US universities. Even in the UK, top universities like Exeter, Warwick, UCL, ICL and maybe Oxbridge only require either Physics & Maths HL or Physics & Chemistry HL, but not necessarily all 3. 

That's right, I completely forgot about physics for some reason. 

Still, he/she could consider doing 3 subject tests, just as long as it does not affect the score of the other two. 

Either way I would still say OP has a good engineering-based curriculum, so it should be fine either way, like I said.

About CalTech, Screen Shot 2016-11-12 at 18.27.13.png

just look at that math 2 range...

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30 minutes ago, gitgitgit said:

I plan to take the same subjects as the OP, and I have the same goals. However, I live in Canada. What difference will this make (applying in Canada vs US with these specific subjects)?

I can't say for sure, I have a friend who is applying to the U.S. and he told me that, in Canada, they mostly only look at your grades and that's it. This means you *likely* won't have to do subject tests. If you have not yet started the IB program, I would suggest you take 4 HLs. Logic would lead me to believe this will give you a greater chance of getting in as opposed to 3 HLs, because you will show you have a stronger commitment to universities. Since you don't have to do SATs, you will have more time for schoolwork. This is, of course, assuming they only look at GPA and transcripts, which I am not certain is true. I would research the requirements for universities that you wish to apply to; don't take my word for it, I am only suggesting.

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If you plan on applying to US based schools for Engineering, my best advice would be to look specifically at the schools you want to go to. The acceptance of IB fluctuates between Universities here in the United States. I don't know much about the out of country application process, so don't quote me on anything.

However, I do know that Texas A&M offers a fast track program for Engineering. Where you can get both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees within a span of 5 years. They also accept IB.

Good luck from an equally confused future Engineer.

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12 hours ago, ActingCatty said:

If you plan on applying to US based schools for Engineering, my best advice would be to look specifically at the schools you want to go to. The acceptance of IB fluctuates between Universities here in the United States. I don't know much about the out of country application process, so don't quote me on anything.

However, I do know that Texas A&M offers a fast track program for Engineering. Where you can get both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees within a span of 5 years. They also accept IB.

Good luck from an equally confused future Engineer.

Most schools accepts the IB for college credit, the main difference is which ones accept predicted grades or not. Usually, you have to have an HL subject to get credit. As far as I'm concerned they do not actually read your Extended Essay/TOK/CAS

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/13/2016 at 5:10 PM, gitgitgit said:

I plan to take the same subjects as the OP, and I have the same goals. However, I live in Canada. What difference will this make (applying in Canada vs US with these specific subjects)?

Late to the party but maybe someone will see this?

 

For good Canadian engineering schools (University of Toronto, Waterloo, University of British Columbia and McGill in no particular order) those subjects satisfy the requirements perfectly. Some of them (Waterloo for sure) only care about the prereqs (English, Math, Physics, Chem) while others (UBC) care about your overall score. To get in, you'll need mainly 6s and 7s, as well as strong extra-curriculars (which CAS should help with)

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  • 2 years later...
On 1/2/2017 at 2:01 AM, VeronicaG said:

Late to the party but maybe someone will see this?

 

For good Canadian engineering schools (University of Toronto, Waterloo, University of British Columbia and McGill in no particular order) those subjects satisfy the requirements perfectly. Some of them (Waterloo for sure) only care about the prereqs (English, Math, Physics, Chem) while others (UBC) care about your overall score. To get in, you'll need mainly 6s and 7s, as well as strong extra-curriculars (which CAS should help with)

I am also late to the party but thanks so much. I also have the same questions since I am Canadian myself but study in China. I am taking-

-SL Language and Literature

-SL Mandarin ab initio

-SL Chem

-HL Physics

-HL Business Management 

-HL Math AI 

Would these subjects satisfy the engineering programs for engineering Canadain universities? 

Thanks in advance 

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