Karina Shishkina Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) Do my IB subjects look easy/stupid? Geography HL Economics HL English B HL Maths SL Russian A SL ESS SL (I might change to Biology SL) Edited February 16, 2017 by Karina Shishkina Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
francescaa_24 Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 No, not at all! Everybody chooses the subjects that are best suited for them! If you feel like this is right don't compare yourself to other people who take "harder" subjects... Also if you are not a super science centered person I don't recommend Bio even if it's SL, I take ESS and it's super interesting although also harder than you think. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina Shishkina Posted February 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Thanks, but I know what ESS is. It is not that hard though. The thing is that I was always fine with Science but have decided to take ESS because it is easier. However, right now I feel stupid taking it because everyone in my school sees ESS as a joke and "soft" subject... I am afraid that universities will think the same... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacquattack Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Honestly, your subjects look great! English HL isn't bad at all and I'm taking HL Bio and that's not bad either (I'm studying business at uni next year and I'm doing just fine in HL Bio). Colleges won't look down upon doing ESS because the beauty of the IB programme is that you can pick which subjects YOU want Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
In terminal ass as mint Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Everything in the IB (bar math studies and further maths) are relatively equal in "difficulty", both in HL and SL. Hence, subjects that may look easy at first may actually be more difficult depending on the person. If you are someone who is better at writing than science or math then your subjects should be fine. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaurav19 Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Imo, it depends on what you're going into. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina Shishkina Posted February 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 13 hours ago, Gaurav19 said: Imo, it depends on what you're going into. Law, so what do you think? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC2Player Posted February 18, 2017 Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 1 hour ago, Karina Shishkina said: Law, so what do you think? As far as I know, law only really looks at what score you get out of 45, so just take what subjects you're best at and do well in them. Difficulty is always subjective - most people would say that my course selection is difficult, but I personally find it quite easy. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaurav19 Posted February 18, 2017 Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 Looks good, instead of Geography, perhaps you could have business. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina Shishkina Posted February 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 2 hours ago, Gaurav19 said: Looks good, instead of Geography, perhaps you could have business. I have heard that Business is considered to be a soft subject, while geography is academic Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Objectively your combination is likely not the most challenging combination, but don't let that deter you from doing your best and scoring a very good score. Admission-wise, if all prerequisites have been met, post-secondary admission offices want higher scores rather than difficult course combinations. For example if you get 40+ in this combination, they would not say that you have an easy course load but rather that you are a very good student. On another note, always strive for better, and not look down upon yourself if you were to get the occasionally bad test result. I cannot say much regarding difficulty between ESS and Biology, but ESS has fewer very experienced teachers and as a result have very low percentages of 7s every year in comparison to biology. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina Shishkina Posted February 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, kw0573 said: Objectively your combination is likely not the most challenging combination, but don't let that deter you from doing your best and scoring a very good score. Admission-wise, if all prerequisites have been met, post-secondary admission offices want higher scores rather than difficult course combinations. For example if you get 40+ in this combination, they would not say that you have an easy course load but rather that you are a very good student. On another note, always strive for better, and not look down upon yourself if you were to get the occasionally bad test result. I cannot say much regarding difficulty between ESS and Biology, but ESS has fewer very experienced teachers and as a result have very low percentages of 7s every year in comparison to biology. The thing is that in our school teachers are experienced with ESS. We get 6-7. And now even I get 6-7, I am thinking of switching to biology, because ESS is a soft subject... and I already have geography HL (which is not a very difficult subject) + ESS... idk. I am afraid that I am not going to be accepted to USA universities even if I would get a good SAT score because of my subject combination. What do you think? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, Karina Shishkina said: The thing is that in our school teachers are experienced with ESS. We get 6-7. And now even I get 6-7, I am thinking of switching to biology, because ESS is a soft subject... and I already have geography HL (which is not a very difficult subject) + ESS... idk. I am afraid that I am not going to be accepted to USA universities even if I would get a good SAT score because of my subject combination. What do you think? I agree with @jacquattack. If ESS satisfies the entry requirements, I certainly think it is viable. If you can average 6-7 in every subject (around 40+), I do not think most American universities can reject you on basis of grades. I think 36-37/45 in any combination can get at least some offers as an international student in US and 40+ can be a very very solid grade. I do of course encourage you to take biology if you are interested in it or going to a bio-related field, but otherwise ESS is fine. Scores are not the only criteria in admission and you should also worry about showcasing your passions and leadership skills. Then again as international students, if you only apply to Ivy Leagues or Stanford then it's a completely different story. Academic accomplishments alone are not nearly enough for these schools. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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