IB Bio SL vs. ESS SL as a sixth course?

globaleyes
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 06:41:07 +0000

My son transferred from a selective private high school into an IB Diploma school for 11th/12th grades. At his previous school he already took high school physics and Honors chemistry (their program had students take Bio in 11th grade) and got A’s with one B+ in chem (his only one in 9th-10th grade). In college he wants to study engineering and either econ/physics/business to be an “entrepreneur who invents something to help the world.” He is trying to prepare for application to HYPS-type schools.

His new school only allows three HL courses and does not offer ESS (Environmental Systems and Society) in HL, only in SL. Help us decide whether Bio SL is a better choice for his sixth course, or if he can make a compelling case for why he is taking ESS SL. In other words, how critical is Bio at HYPS-type schools if he is more interested in the environment? What about the fact that ESS may have the reputation of being an easier course?

Here are his courses:

Math HL
Econ HL
Physics HL
English SL
Chinese SL
Either Biology SL or Environmental Systems and Society SL
Theory of Knowledge, etc.

Thank you for any insight you could provide! He has a couple weeks to make changes to his schedule!