HL IB Subjects Help

[Felix Lauren]

Hi There!

I was just wondering how much would I need to memorise for HL History, Bio and Psych. I know its a lot so I was wondering if switching Eng Lang Lit to higher and Bio to Standard would be better.

Thank you!

[chrisss]

I don't take bio but I've heard bio HL is a lot of "work" (like memorizing stuff rather than understanding).

Humanities HL is pretty much the same as SL. If you're aiming for "easier" schedule, take Lang/lit HL.

[sodonewithib]

Like @chrisss, I don't take Bio but I have seen several peers struggle with memorising subject material in Biology HL. I take English A Language and Literature HL and it's perfect. Not too much work, still interesting and still challenging at times but it's perfectly fine. Higher History and Biology are going to be difficult memorising and working on both... so if you feel like you'd do better with a higher Lang Lit and a standard Bio, then I recommend the switch

Good luck!

[Guest]

As someone who took HL Biology and History, I can tell you there is a lot to memorise, and you have the fun of getting HL Psych too which is a special form of torture in itself, apparently. I think, in part, you should look at your subjects in terms of a) How much you enjoy them, b) If there are particular requirements for universities, and c) How difficult you find the subjects. When you enjoy a subject, it makes memorisation a little less painful.

Case in point, whilst this anecdotal, I enjoyed all my HL subjects, and hence, whilst I was frustrated just before exams with the amount of content, I wasn't like some other people who were taking the HL and clearly quite depressed with the memorisation. On the other hand, my SL subjects were almost equally annoying for me, particularly French, when technically your HL subjects should be worse, but for me, French was the bane of my existence.

Honestly, I'd say that Bio HL and History HL is better than History HL and Psych HL - I don't think anyone in our History class took Psych HL as well. To be fair though, I was the only one taking Biology HL in our History HL class but to each their own. As @sodonewithib said, it depends on what you think you'll feel better about. Good luck!

[mac117]

I personally take Bio HL and whilst the content isn't super-duper hard, there is quite a lot of it that you need to know. Sure, the exam might not be as thorough in some cases (i.e. knowing all the different steps of the Krebs cycle is not necessary), though it is still quite particular about certain words you need to memorise to get the marks.

As long as you enjoy your subjects you should be more than fine. I personally would switch one of them for English just to ease up my workload, but that's just me. Do what you love the most - I take 2 sciences and maths HL and because the interest I have for these subject is so huge I do not struggle as much as those who take subjects they're less interested in!

[beetle]

I take History HL and there is a LOT of memorising. You don't have to memorise many dates or key people, surprisingly. Rather you need to memorise what happened and why it happened. In HL history you analyse a lot more in depth than SL (in SL you focus more on abstract concepts) so things can get confusing, but if you love history then I'd totally recommend it because I personally really enjoy the course

However keep in mind how the courses you pick now will effect your choices for uni because certain programs require certain subjects at HL :V 

[duff]

this may be a little late.. but i also take HL psyc and HL bio, together with HL geo. I would not say that it is a super hard combo with HL psyc and bio, but as mentioned by other members there are a lot of content to memorise. Psychology is very essay based and all 3 papers are basically essays essays essays.. i believe history is the same so it is really down to your own enjoyment and strengths  *to me psychology is the most interesting subject of all!! 

Edited January 5, 2017 by duff