Regular Academic Math vs Accelerated Math

[Person101]

Hello, I am an 8th grade student who has recently been accepted into the Pre-IBDP program. I will go to Colonel By Secondary School in Ottawa next year. So we don't have a lot of course choices next year. For math, however, I can choose either MPM1DE (which is the accelerated pre-ib math course that leads to either HL or SL Math in grade 11) or MPM1D (which is the regular academic course in math which leads to SL Applications & Interpretation Math in grade 11). I want to be able to take HL Math in grade 11, but I hear it is an advanced course that consists of two years while SL Applications & Interpretation Math take only one year. Can you give me an explanation of HL Further Math and SL Applications and Interpretation Math to help make my decisions easier? Also, as a future IB student, can you IB graduates or students give me tips on how can I have a smooth start of IB and how can I prepare? Thank you!

[kw0573]

There is no longer any HL Further Math, or even HL Math. The new courses are HL/SL Applications and Interpretations and HL/SL Analysis and Approaches. A/I is stats focused and A/A is functions/calculus focused. There is significant modelling in both, and both courses share about 25% of the same content. If you are thinking of going into engineering, sciences, economics, computer science, then you probably need A/A; otherwise you can take either one. 

Unless after high school you plan to do something that does not require advanced math at all, eg literature, it's best to take the 1DE so you have options to take either math courses. 1DE keeps more options available. If you apply within Ontario for university, they need at least one of the 4U courses (advanced functions, prob/stats, vector/calculus). While 1D certainly still progresses towards these classes, taking an accelerated 1DE will make a smoother transition to the harder math classes in future years. It has typically been the case that SL is easier than 3U/4U courses and HL is much harder.