Not having Pre-Calc when going into IB Math HL

ucbalumnus
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 06:03:37 +0000

https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/recognition/5_mathhl.pdf describes the topics covered in IB math HL.

It does look like IB math HL is supposed to have 98 hours of instruction on precalculus topics (topics 1 through 4: algebra, functions and equations, circular functions and trigonometry, vectors), followed by 36 hours of statistics, 48 hours of calculus, 48 hours of additional topics (which may be more calculus), and 10 hours of exploration.

So (assuming that the 48 hours of additional topics are more calculus) it looks like a two year course covering precalculus and calculus, with some statistics and exploration thrown in. Assuming that IB math HL is actually a two year course at your school, since you are +2 on the math sequence (two years ahead), it looks like it should not be too hard for you, though IB courses are generally considered to be a lot of work.

You may want to check with both your current math teacher and the one teaching the IB math HL course that it covers precalculus starting from where your algebra 2 course left off.