Are my course choices fine?

[Jeez]

Hello!

I am going into Year 1 in the IB Program in the fall of next year. Course Selection has opened up for next year and I would love some feedback on my choices. Here they are:

HL Biology

HL English

HL Business Management

SL French

SL Maths

SL Chemistry 

Would love to here some feedback and some tips on how to do well with these choices!  

 

[Nomenclature]

It looks good (there's really no bad schedule, to be fair).

For advice on English, check the Language A sub-forum. There are lots of great pinned threads, but in all honesty, not looking is fine as well as there's no need to stress yourself out. Your teachers will explain the curriculum. Reading through the pinned threads is useful when you want to supplement their advice or when you don't know why you're getting certain marks when you feel you deserve better.

I went into Bio thinking I would hate it, bur I really enjoyed it.

Language B, just try to complement what you do in class with fun activities such as watching movies with subtitles, consuming media in French, and speaking in French to any Francophone friends you might have. That being said, I find that the Language B SL level isn't particularly difficult in IB, especially if you've had good prior instruction, but there are always going to be a few kids who think it's tough.

And do the homework in math. Do problems, get answers, then check. In that order. That's a recipe for success.

[Jeez]

On 12/30/2017 at 11:24 PM, Nomenclature said:

It looks good (there's really no bad schedule, to be fair).

For advice on English, check the Language A sub-forum. There are lots of great pinned threads, but in all honesty, not looking is fine as well as there's no need to stress yourself out. Your teachers will explain the curriculum. Reading through the pinned threads is useful when you want to supplement their advice or when you don't know why you're getting certain marks when you feel you deserve better.

I went into Bio thinking I would hate it, bur I really enjoyed it.

Language B, just try to complement what you do in class with fun activities such as watching movies with subtitles, consuming media in French, and speaking in French to any Francophone friends you might have. That being said, I find that the Language B SL level isn't particularly difficult in IB, especially if you've had good prior instruction, but there are always going to be a few kids who think it's tough.

And do the homework in math. Do problems, get answers, then check. In that order. That's a recipe for success.

 

 

Thank You!

Edited January 3, 2018 by Jeez

[TUTOCF]

Hello!

In my opinion, I would rather take HL Math or Chem instead of HL Business Management.

But it really depends on what you want to do afterwards. What is your career plan?

[Jeez]

4 hours ago, TUTOCF said:

Hello!

In my opinion, I would rather take HL Math or Chem instead of HL Business Management.

But it really depends on what you want to do afterwards. What is your career plan?

I want to go in medicine. My DP Coordinator said the schedule is fine for it. I wanted to take Business to help reduce  some of the workload as my only other option for that group is HL History. Any more tips?

[TUTOCF]

13 hours ago, Jeez said:

I want to go in medicine. My DP Coordinator said the schedule is fine for it. I wanted to take Business to help reduce  some of the workload as my only other option for that group is HL History. Any more tips?

Oh, medecine! I recommend to take HL Chemistry, Bio and Math. Business Management isn't important for this kind.

[Nomenclature]

On 2018-01-04 at 2:12 PM, Jeez said:

I want to go in medicine. My DP Coordinator said the schedule is fine for it. I wanted to take Business to help reduce  some of the workload as my only other option for that group is HL History. Any more tips?

For what's it worth, You can take Business/History at the SL level, and bump up Chemistry to HL, but there may be complications regarding scheduling or your coordinators preferences that I'm unaware of. Or perhaps you just feel like bio and chem together are too much work.

If you're equally uninspired by the two classes, then it's probably the smart decision to take the less intensive one.

P.s.: I've heard from friends that Chem HL is one of the harder classes in IB. That isn't to say Bio HL is easy, bit I did Bio SL and thought it pretty straightforward and not at all a bad workload. Kids generally avoid the Chem HL/Math HL combo because of the workload, but I haven't really heard of kids avoiding the Bio HL/Chem HL combo. Take that as you will.

[TUTOCF]

7 hours ago, Nomenclature said:

P.s.: I've heard from friends that Chem HL is one of the harder classes in IB. That isn't to say Bio HL is easy, bit I did Bio SL and thought it pretty straightforward and not at all a bad workload. Kids generally avoid the Chem HL/Math HL combo because of the workload, but I haven't really heard of kids avoiding the Bio HL/Chem HL combo. Take that as you will.

The International Baccalaureate is a pre-university program. You'll have to be prepared for the university workload. I don't think that this is a good decision to avoid some classes because of their homework and difficulty. If you want to reach something, do anything for. All that work will be worth. Bio/Chem/Maths HL are really important for medecine as for me. 

Good luck

[Jeez]

16 hours ago, Nomenclature said:

For what's it worth, You can take Business/History at the SL level, and bump up Chemistry to HL, but there may be complications regarding scheduling or your coordinators preferences that I'm unaware of. Or perhaps you just feel like bio and chem together are too much work.

If you're equally uninspired by the two classes, then it's probably the smart decision to take the less intensive one.

P.s.: I've heard from friends that Chem HL is one of the harder classes in IB. That isn't to say Bio HL is easy, bit I did Bio SL and thought it pretty straightforward and not at all a bad workload. Kids generally avoid the Chem HL/Math HL combo because of the workload, but I haven't really heard of kids avoiding the Bio HL/Chem HL combo. Take that as you will.

Thanks for the Help!

[Jeez]

9 hours ago, TUTOCF said:

The International Baccalaureate is a pre-university program. You'll have to be prepared for the university workload. I don't think that this is a good decision to avoid some classes because of their homework and difficulty. If you want to reach something, do anything for. All that work will be worth. Bio/Chem/Maths HL are really important for medecine as for me. 

Good luck

Yeah... I talked to some older students and heard Chem HL is challenging and the teacher is not so good. So, I think I am sticking with HL Bio, English, and Business as we have to take english in HL in canada, otherwise I would've taken HL Chem for sure. I also wanted to take Business as a sort of backup as well. Anyways, Thank You so much for your advice i'll consider it. I appreciate the help.

[Lixter]

I am not too sure about the syllabus for SL French or HL Business Management since our school doesn't provide these courses. 

However, I have heard that the HL English (HL Literature?) course is a rather challenging one, especially if your analysis skills are weak. However, even if your analysis skills are poor, you can always work on them in the next 2 years of your IB. I've seen many of my seniors improve in literature over the span of those 2 years. So, don't worry too much. 

For Math, it really boils down to the amount of practice you are willing to put in. The more you practice, the higher your math grades.