Advice on Course Selections?

[Addy]

Before reading on... let me first say, I'm an extremely confused student at this point.

First off, I've always been really interested in writing, and have always considered it as a dream career. Problem is... the chances of becoming a successful writer and basing your life off of it are extremely slim. That said, I need another field to go into as a source of stable income in the future. (especially since IB is not particularly geared towards the arts, and literature)
So a few weeks ago when we had course selections, I decided that business would be a good field. Not because I'm really that interested in it, but because I'm pretty decent at Math, and at the time, I didn't want to go into a stereotypical field like medicine or engineering.
Then I started thinking more about this, and while I've always enjoyed psychology and the whole idea of becoming a psychologist, that too, like writing, was more of a "dream".

Recently I've started wondering if it's possible for me to leave some doors open in the medical field, because psychiatry does seem feasible. The only thing is.. is it a practical career? Any advice?

So far, the courses I've selected are:
HL English (mandatory at my school)
HL French
HL History (related to literature and business.. somewhat?)
HL Math (business/economics)

SL Economics
SL Chemistry

I'm now considering taking a science in HL, and dropping either History or Math to SL. I'm keeping French as a 4th HL because I'm good at it and it seems like a pretty easy mark. ..and I'm hoping it'll look good on uni applications. I'm hoping to get into a university in the States, and it's insanely competitive so.. yep.

I've rambled long enough.. some advice from fellow IBMYP/Pre-IBers and veterans please?

Any help would be really, really appreciated.

[biochem]

I would have to note that you seem extremely unsure of things. Which is normal and always the right state of mind you should have at this point

To take a science course, because you Might, just might consider a field - I think could be quiet exhausting. It just seems like HL math has so many different applications, and yes so does chemistry and biology, but to some extent. There are careers out there that take you into biology and chemistry quickly, and then you move on to other things. But these specifics, are so specific themselves that taking a science in IB as a advanced general course wont help. For example, to be trainer or expert on fitness you need to know nutritional chemistry. Not fuels, depsite relevance of hydrocarbons, and other items like radioactivity.

back to the point. If you really dont have a need for a foundation for a science, than taking one would just impede you from direct results. Psychology has many applications, so that might be a good one to take up. If you are looking for a business degree, well then I would tell you that psychology is a good choice - even in literature.

Keep French, do Math HL, take Psych and keep history. history in a way is more relevant to business and writing than is biology.

[philipb]

I personally wouldn't do 4 highers I do the stock standard 3 and have enough on my plate as it is with CAS and homework and trying to keep a social life together. So I would recommend you think about that first. If you like writing, history may be the way you want to go. I do HL math and am starting to find it quite demotivating I would say to do it only if you really love maths cause it asks for a lot unless you're insanely talented. Plus uni's won't generally ask for HL math if you're pursuing a business degree.

[Tilia]

Don't take Maths HL just to show off (not suggesting that you are), if you don't [b]really[/b] like it and want to become something mathematical, it'll probably just take time and energy from our other subjects. Personally, I think chemistry HL is comparatively easy, even though there is a quite large difference between HL and SL.

Also, you must know that 4 HLs is seriously very hard. Three students in my year chose to have 4 HLs, but two of them switched down Maths to SL after a couple of months. But there was one girl switching up to 4 HLs, but none was a science.

If you're into psychology, why not chose it? Then you'll find out whether you like it or not. You said you liked writing and then to have two languages HL seems like a good choice. I think the language courses are fun and German B is at least quite easy, so that probably goes fro French as well.

Good luck with choices!

[Hyperbole]

First off, I'd like to point out that the choices you make now won't completely close or open [i]any[/i] doors out there. There are always possibilities to change direction, you know. So don't worry too much! I think it's way more important to make sure that you have an interest in the courses you select, because you'll be spending a considerable amount of time with each of them.

I think that HL English and French are wise choices, because they are both writing and literature oriented, and languages are always lovely. French is fairly easy, in my opinion, so I don't think having it as a fourth HL will be too much of a problem. (I had it as that too, at first, but then after a year I came to terms with the fact that Chemistry HL was just way, way above my interest and ability. The workload was definitely manageable, though, and back then I even did the same Swedish A1 work as the HL students even though I was in SL.)

But if you want to go into Economics or Business, don't you think it would be smart to study Economics at HL? I don't know much of the content in the course, but that sounds sensible to me, at least. History, on the other hand, is not so relevant to that, I think, and I can't say it's very related to neither literature nor business. The things we study in our course are far more geared towards wars and dictators than the social options available in the course, and I think that is how it is at most schools.

I think Maths HL is a good choice if you want to go into Economics, but if you don't take Economics at HL too I don't really see the point. (Unless, of course, you're a maths genius. I'm very happy that I'm in SL myself.)

Chemistry is good, I guess. You have to have a science anyway, and what level you do choose to have it at is up to you. I don't actually have any advice here. All I know is that SL is Easy with a capital E whereas HL was super difficult for me. I know that isn't the case for everyone, but still!

[Addy]

First off, thank you so much to every that posted with advice - it's been really helpful.

Something that I think I should have mentioned before:
my school doesn't offer Psychology at all.. SL or HL. Nor does it have HL Economics. The only HLs it offers are: English, French, Math, Biology and Chemistry.

That said, if I were to take a science as an HL, I'd definitely drop the HL Math.

Does anyone else have any advice on taking 4 HLs? (thanks to Tilia and Hyperbole for sharing your experiences even though now I'm probably even more confused! heh)

From what everyone's said though.. I'm gathering that HL Math really isn't the right choice for me.

I mentioned this only briefly in my original post, but what do you guys think of IB and applying to the U.S.? Do the courses you select matter? What I mean is, they can't consider a student with 4 HLs in say.. Math, Chemistry, History and English the same way they consider a student with 3 HLs in English, French and Biology.

[Sandwich]

If you want to do Psychiatry, in this country at least (United Kingdom) you need to do HL Chemistry and Biology (not strictly a requirement, but very relevant). You'd need to apply to do Medicine. I don't know how it works in the US etc. but to do Psychiatry you have to take Medicine

Being honest, if you want to become a writer but not do it actively as a career, I'd drop the idea of doing History. It's a very heavy workload. Concentrate all of your efforts on a particular career-- IB'll keep other options open for you simply by its breadth. Otherwise you're basically going in for competitive things like Business up against people who have made Business their ultimate goal, and you'll fall short because you spread your bases too wide.

I love writing, but at the end of the day, to become a writer you don't need any grades. To do Business, you do

As for French, unless you're absolutely brilliant at it, I'm not sure it's wise to do loads of Higher Levels. Doing an extra subject doesn't make you a better candidate, on the whole. Actually it can damage your chances by taking up time away from other subjects (Chem is a time eater, and so is Maths) and also extra-curricular pursuits which Universities value highly. Most people reviewing applications probably blink at it, but unless you want to do French, it's not going to set you out by enough to justify the effort (unless it's genuinely effortless for you!).

If you want to go into either Business or Medicine, I'd take Chemistry and Maths as your higher level subjects alongside English. SL Economics and Biology would help pad it out, then French at either HL or SL. Although of course ultimately the only person who knows what they enjoy is you I'd just not underestimate the workload which is the IB. Ever!

[1-2-3]

I fully understand what you mean by wanting to keep your options open.
I had a similar viewpoint when I started IB.
& These are the courses I ended up taking (no regrets).

HL English
HL Chemistry
HL Economics

SL French
SL Math
SL Biology

I took Physics (not IB) in summer school.

I understand what you mean about not going into a stereotypical field like medicine
I thought the same way but I ended up changing my mind (partly because I loved chemistry and biology and partly because of the excellent career prospects).
However, I think it was good to keep those options open.
+ You don't require history if you want to go into business.
For law, it might be useful.

[__inthemaking]

If you want to leave the option of going into med open, you should take biology.

And 1-2-3, I had the EXACT same IB courses as you (right down to taking physics in summer school) haha, weird.