Math Studies Abuse and Respect

[KiwiFruit]

I must say that I took IB math studies because of the easy 7.

This sounds sad but our careers advisor reccomended that universities would prefer someone with a 37 and math studies then a 34 with SL math. Also it helps improve your other subjects because really you only have 5 if you take math studies.

[ezex]

deissi if I didn't know what you said about english being important I wouldn't be in IB

@drewrow:

No. No for many reasons:

1) colleges never see your final IB score since you get that at the end of june and colleges accept you between january and april.

2) if the college is mostly engineering or non-liberal arts, even if they did see your points they would take the kid with the lower points, simply because he worked harder.

3) it's true about helping on your other subjects but you do that with your IB elective, not something as important as math (though that's just my personal opinion )

[KiwiFruit]

The teachers and the students who take Standard Level and Higher Level maths call it Vege Maths, even the teachers make fun of this.

Thanks Ezex;

Im gonna try and ace my ACT math so that they know that I can handle American math requirements. But what makes me sad is in our calculus test only 3 people passed with the highest mark of 89% [Me] but most people got 27%, I mean this subject isnt hard, its the easiest you can take but yet lots of these kids are struggling to understand basic concepts like differentiation [i.e a few in my class can differentiate 5x^-3], but hey most of them beat me in geography.

Vege Math Student - DrewRow

[deissi]

Funny, in my school we call SL Math Retard Math.

[ezex]

IB Math terms are all wrong. HL Math is SL Math, SL Math is LL Math, and Math Studies is...well RL Math. Lol, I wonder how many people are thinking to themselves what the hell this kid is talking about

HL = Higher Level but really there is no Math class in IB that is worthy of being called that.

SL = Standard level and HL Math is almost standard so it's cool.

LL = A term they should start using but is probably offensive which is why they don't; Lower Level. SL Math is not math, it's lower than a regular math class.

RL = It's a little to offensive but I think Deissi gave out the answer to this one

[Abu]

Studies is what the retards in my school who use a calculator to add 2+2 do.

[Vvi]

Heeeeeey I'm not a retard. But I dropped to Studies in October of IB2 because a) none of my universities had requirements for SL Math b) I'm not prepared to get a 5 in SL Math and lose 2 IB points over it when I'm applying for places like St Andrews.

Granted, almost all of the other people that are in my class ARE retards. None of them are on IBS, so I'm safe saying that. We go through scenarios every class that involve stupid questions such as "What's a gradient?" and "How do I solve a quadratic equation?" Then at some point, someone always exclaims "God, Math is so hard!"

The teacher is honestly sick of it because he loves math and is stuck with people that don't know any. I think the average mark on tests is about 60%.

[ezex]

Did you just say to stop making fun of Math Studies students AND criticize yourself about how everyone is in fact stupid in that class? That is the brabest thing a Math Studies IB Student has ever done...I'm proud.

[greenteamilk]

I always thought Math Studies were enough to get into a great College. I'm in IB1, should I switch to Math SL even though I got a 4 in Math Studies?

How can I improve my Math? I've always sucked at Math.

[KiwiFruit]

If you can find gradient of a the tangent at (0,0) on the graph x^2 you can do math studies.

[CocoPop]

Just to clarify:

Many UK unis aren't too fussed if you're taking maths studies and are looking to do biology related courses. My sister received offers from Imperial and UCL last year for a course in Biomedical Sciences whilst taking maths studies. She got an A* in GCSE maths, which might have helped, and also a 7 in her IB so it was fine. She was, however, taking Biology and Chemistry HL, which was all they needed. For UK universities, you can check on ucas.com to see if they actually need you to take anything higher than maths studies. Very often they just require studies, especially if you've done well at GCSE (for which they often say you should have at least an A/B in maths).

However, once she got to university, she did have to do a bit of self studying to catch up with some stuff that she missed out on in maths. The university also offered an extra maths course (tutoring or something) specifically for people who wanted to do this.

Edited January 17, 2009 by CocoPop

[Capa]

This totally depends on the school, in economics for instance, there is not really much maths so in some cases anyway it should be fine. I have math studies myself and I am also a bit worried

[biochem]

I don't see what the big deal is with kids taking Math SL. It was obviously geared towards students who struggle in mathematics and those not looking into a math influenced career. Some of the negative words used here are really unnecessary Let them take any math they wish. Like Drew said, some of those kids are superior in other subjects. I think classes like Environmental Studies, AB Initio Language, Economics, Geography are a joke at times. But I wouldn't go as far as to say idiots take them.

All math studies means is that you will have to take an extra math class in college, in comparison to the students who take SL Math. Thats ALL it means in the U.S. And parts of Europe, colleges simply just look for higher marks in other places if math studies accompanies your registration form.

Edited January 29, 2009 by biochem

[deissi]

This totally depends on the school, in economics for instance, there is not really much maths so in some cases anyway it should be fine. I have math studies myself and I am also a bit worried

Are you serious??? Economics is the most mathematical social science, and it is usually vital to have HL Math to study it.

[Mr. Shiver]

If you want to stop gettin laughed at petition for IB to add a language class for those who don't want to follow a career in poem-reading...

I should add that there is going to be a course like this introduced in a few years. It's called "Language and Literature"

[biochem]

Are you serious??? Economics is the most mathematical social science, and it is usually vital to have HL Math to study it.

Sorry but I found economics to be easy, even further down the line. Its not that difficult. I finished AP micro and Macro for fun and got a 5 on both. Didn't study much. It was more of a free time stress release. But no need to get offended. I was just making a point about how relative these things are, and how ridiculous some people here sound attempting to put others down :/

It really is sad. dont u think?

I sit on the bus sometimes and watch these HL math kids make "Math studies jokes". But the funniest part is, exposing their grade in the class

I take SL math, not studies btw.

[Vvi]

Did you just say to stop making fun of Math Studies students AND criticize yourself about how everyone is in fact stupid in that class? That is the brabest thing a Math Studies IB Student has ever done...I'm proud.

I was saying not all Math Studies students are stupid. I don't consider myself stupid, I actually think I was smart to drop SL when I had no need for it. There are obviously cases in other school where all the Math Studies students get a 6 or above. The ones in my class happen to be stupid though, and there's not a lot that anyone can do about it.

In short: Make fun of the people that fail their Math Studies classes if you want, but people need to realize that not all of the people taking that class have a low IQ. As biochem said, most HL students have a low grade anyways, and I would take a 6 or 7 in Studies over a 4 in HL. I don't need the ego boost of taking Math HL. The ones that take it in my school, or Physics HL, are full of themselves and always boast about how hard it is, and how they will "definitely get into Cambridge or MIT". Funnily enough, they end up at little known universities. Karma.

[moneyfaery]

Sorry but I found economics to be easy, even further down the line. Its not that difficult. I finished AP micro and Macro for fun and got a 5 on both. Didn't study much. It was more of a free time stress release. But no need to get offended. I was just making a point about how relative these things are, and how ridiculous some people here sound attempting to put others down :/

It really is sad. dont u think?

I sit on the bus sometimes and watch these HL math kids make "Math studies jokes". But the funniest part is, exposing their grade in the class

I take SL math, not studies btw.

IB Economics is "intro" economics so it obviously isn't mathematical. Trying taking econ in uni and you'll see just how mathematical it is. UK unis prefer HL Math though. e.g. a friend who is studying "econ" is actually studying 75-80% math for his degree.

As biochem said, most HL students have a low grade anyways, and I would take a 6 or 7 in Studies over a 4 in HL. I don't need the ego boost of taking Math HL. The ones that take it in my school, or Physics HL, are full of themselves and always boast about how hard it is, and how they will "definitely get into Cambridge or MIT". Funnily enough, they end up at little known universities. Karma.

I don't think that translation exactly works per se. If you can't get a 7 in Studies, there's really no hope for you in HL as it's not just about studying hard; you also need that extra bit of gift or intellect. From Methods to HL, however, that seems about right (once again, depends on the person! There are some incredibly smart students in Methods who prefer other HL courses over Math).

Edited February 1, 2009 by Irene

[Abu]

In short: Make fun of the people that fail their Math Studies classes if you want, but people need to realize that not all of the people taking that class have a low IQ. As biochem said, most HL students have a low grade anyways, and I would take a 6 or 7 in Studies over a 4 in HL. I don't need the ego boost of taking Math HL. The ones that take it in my school, or Physics HL, are full of themselves and always boast about how hard it is, and how they will "definitely get into Cambridge or MIT". Funnily enough, they end up at little known universities. Karma.

Most HL students do not really have a low grade. However I would say that some people who take HL, apart from myself, are indeed full of themselves and take the opportunity to shine whenever possible. That said, the students in your school indeed come across as self centric idiots, if they think that taking Maths HL provides a clear route to Cambridge or MIT.

[biochem]

I think the real topic, a new and better one, should be MIRAGE behind HL Math.

there is much to explore, as we all have indicated an Egocentric view of the world.

It never seizes to amaze me how the IB community internationally interacts, in comparison to the local school level. I would just like to say that most of the HL kids I know, are not doing so well and their highest prediction and class goal is a mere 5. Which is quiet sad I would say :/ I was surprised to find that most teachers still aim for a mere 4. I guess then when expectations dont get met by both the overly ego-filled students and poor quality teachers, the fall doesnt look so bad. And most of the time when they fail the quiz or test, they jsut simply say "Oh, but its HL Math - its hhhhaaaaaarrdd".

what I am trying to say is that most of these HL students talk about the class as If they have a guaranteed 7, and while it is true that mostly intelligent students take the course (at least ones that appear to excel in mathematics), I think the course should be compared to others. HL math is NOT the hardest course people. IB has stressed continuously that they feel the group 4 subjects at HL are extremely hard. And I tend to agree.

As far as economics. You just made a comparison with a university course. Of course its going to be mathematical based :/

I was urged on to take economics, seeing as how the school saw a 7 in the bag if you will, but I refused to follow any advice from truly unconcerned authority.

Same thing with HL Math. Like stated above, plenty of students do it for a 7 or cause they have a preference over other courses.

My friend in Peru, takes HL: chem, bio, physics + MAth Studies. Because of her preference over the three HL sciences, they couldn't provide her with a class period for SL math, so she was stuck in math studies. I am not sure where she is at, she should have posted already on this board a paragon for the topic