Conflicted

[emellia]

Hi,

I am currently a sophomore who is preparing to begin IB. Prior to High School, I had been in the Highly Capably/Challenge Program in Middle School (8th grade). I am just beginning to choose my classes that will determine what I will take for the next two years. Due to the fact that my Mandarin Teacher is incapable of teaching my class, I have decided to drop Mandarin 2 in class and instead finish Mandarin 3 and 4 online with the Pamoja (IB certified) course online. This allows me to have a free period during both my junior and senior year. Before knowing about my free period, I had decided that my 3 SL classes would be IB Art History, IB Psychology SL, and IB Math SL ( I would be taking Math HL the next year but I just wanted to take the test in the SL class). For my HL classes, I would be taking IB English Language & Literature HL, IB History of the Americas HL, as well as IB Chemistry HL. Before, I decided that I would want my free period so I could finish my Mandarin work during this time, but upon further contemplation, I decided that I really wanted to do IB Physics SL. Physics is a two-year course and I have heard from many people that if you liked math then you would like physics. I am not necessarily the greatest math student, but I generally liked math and I assumed that physics would be a lot of fun. This may not seem like a very good reason to take another IB class, but after thinking about it, it made me want to take to even more. If I had a choice between Chemistry over Physics I would choose Physics, but I need 3 HL classes (Chemistry would be my third) and my IB coordinator told everyone that the HL (advanced physics class) would be brutal and nearly impossible. I really want to take Physics but I'm not sure if I would be able to handle it. For reference, my careers paths include either becoming a lawyer or working for the government (FBI/CIA). Although these classes won't necessarily benefit what I want to pursue I still want to take classes that would allow to the best chances of going the best colleges possible. I set very high standards for myself and would like to know how to benefit my future. I am also usually an A student, with my GPA averaging 3.95 per year. I struggled with Biology my freshman year and this year I am a bit shaky on history. I also generally enjoy math and usually maintain an A in the class. In Freshman year, I had a great work ethic and finished all my homework the night I got it (my school has a block schedule so I have two days to finish my homework), but lately, my work ethic has been declining. I hoped that by taking these classes I would be able to become more self-motivated. I also do swimming in the Fall, as well as track in the spring and I do work part-time as a swim instructor.

 

Here are some questions I have:

1. Would taking them 7 classes be impossible? (I mean taking account of CAS, EE, TOK, and the overall classes in general)

2. Is the Online Pamoja Mandarin course/ the courses in general sufficient in educating me enough to be able to perform well on my IB exams? What is your experience with Pamoja?

3. For someone who would a career in either law or government work, what science would seem like the best choice for me?

4. How hard would the workload be for taking these 4 SL classes?

5. For anyone taking 7 IB classes, is the workload manageable (If you're taking 4 SL classes)?

6. How would colleges perceive my schedule if I were to take these 7 classes, and how would they feel if I were to only take the 6 and have a free period?

7. Is this plan way out of reach for me or am I just overreacting?

[Nomenclature]

First off, welcome to IB Survival. 

The alarm bells that sounded for me when reading your post (also, thank you for not summarizing all this in a sentence. Your taking the time to write it out allows for us to give much better advice) were your assumption that the online class will be a free period and that you aren't treating Math SL + Calc. BC as though it were Math HL (I think it's a good idea to test in it in the first year, but overall it won't be that much of an advantage in terms of workload as it is in marking). It might be true as you can take an extra class, but I would remind you that you will be doing more work. I know that everyone likes to think of themselves as having a good work ethic, etc., but free time is important the extra time and energy spent should be considered.

As somebody who has gone through IB over-scheduled, I have come to regret it now. It's important to not be swamped and have time for things that you want to do. Thus, seven classes is not really an issue of being impossible or not; very likely it is possible, but that does not mean that it is good or the right decision. It takes some maturity to have a work-ethic, but what really takes maturity is being able to decide when something is overly-taxing and thus say no to it.

I'm not familiar with the particular online course, sorry.

If you end up wanting to work in law or government when you go to university, than your choice of science won't matter. Thus, you can do whatever you like. I was a kid who did Bio to fulfill my Group 4 requirement, thought I was going to hate it, but actually loved the class. Your choice won't affect a potential career in law or government. I've heard the rumors about physics being brutal. My school does not offer it, so I can't say much. What I can say though is that seniors complain about Chemistry HL being very difficult and time-consuming, yet juniors don't. What gives? The juniors have a different teacher, which just shows how hard it is to be able to tell you how difficult physics will be. If you really want to do it, give it a try, and if it's too much then be prepared to drop one of Art History or Psychology.

I actually took four SL courses (my school is like yours in that we have one-year SL's), and thus didn't test in one. I did not particularly like one SL that I did though, and it was an unnecessary hassle. It was manageable for me, but there's a few things to consider: I took my extra SL senior year, which was less intense than junior year for me. Also, it was a subject that is much less intensive than a Language B.

If you tell colleges that you were taking a Mandarin course online with that free period, I doubt that even the most selective institutions would mind. In my opinion though, you should be taking the extra class because you really want to though, not because you want to impress colleges.

It's not out of reach, but again, it comes down to you knowing your limits, No doubt that other opportunities will arise when you're in IB, whether it be a job, internship, recreational sport, or just personal time, you might want that and not want to have to do an extra class. I'd recommend considering it, and then being willing to dropping Art History or Psych if it becomes too much.