Should I take 4 HLs? Is Italian Ab Initio seen as too easy?

Pre-College Topics International Baccalaureate (IB)
1

Hi! I’ve never made a post on here, so I’m sorry if this is in the wrong place.
Context: I am an international student who just moved to Italy this year (speaking no Italian) and now attends and international IB school. I want to go to university in the USA.

I am currently taking HL Economics, Maths AA, Art, and Physics, and I am taking SL Italian Ab Initio and English Lang+Lit. My school is trying to get me to drop down to 3 HL subjects, which I completely understand. However, I worry that taking Italian Ab Initio as someone living in Italy doesn’t look very good to university admissions officers… because it seems like the easiest possible choice (especially as I speak Spanish fluently already).

To counter this, I wanted to continue taking 4HL subjects, as I am a student who gets good grades and I want universities to be able to see this. I think it would require me to put up a bit of a fight with my school, but it would be possible. Is it worth it?

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No.

The workload for IBDP is intense. You are clearly underestimating how intense it is. For admissions, there is zero value in doing a 4th HL. Nor will anyone question ab initio

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No one will question the rigor of the IB diploma and since you just moved to Italy speaking no Italian (sth you can easily mention in CommonApp as would your guidance counselor) Italian ab initio actually makes perfect sense.
Drop either Art or Physics HL to the SL version. There’s no benefit, only drawbacks, to taking 4HL in your situation.

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