<p>SL courses aren’t really a waste of time. The thing is, the IB will only let their full diploma candidates take a maximum of 3 HL exams, meaning you are basically forced to take 3 SL courses. SL isn’t really a way to get over courses you know you can’t do, but it is a way to regulate the amount of workload you wan’t to take over the year. For example I took HL physics, economics and A1 English. I would’ve wanted to take HL math but given the extensive workload and “toughness” of HL economics and physics, it would have just been detrimental to my grade to take HL math. In history for example SL covers less material than HL, but it goes A LOT more in-depth on the fewer topics it covers. </p>
<p>Many other courses are almost the same as well, say IB spanish, the level between SL and HL is very similar, meaning SL isn’t as easy as most people think. The only thing I would have to critizise about with the IB is the math methods level, or math SL. I took this class thinking it would be ok for college…but its so damn easy and covers important topics too fast and superficial. I hardly knew any calculus by the end of the class, which is why I’m taking individual classes with a teacher, but oh well. AP was completely removed from my school the year I got into IB so I wouldn’t be able to say how it compares between each class. Personally I think both programs are great, and if someone takes the necessary amount of AP’s, especially the tough ones, it’s probably weighted about the same.</p>
<p>I disagree. I think there is a very big difference between SL and HL exams. For example, Math Studies SL was a rehash of algebra, geometry, and pre-calc…what I had taken for the past three years. It was essentially a repeat of previous courses. I took Math SL to recieve credit and to fulfill requirements. I am not a math person so I took a more lenient route in regards to it. I also remember looking at a Bio SL exam which IMO was not as difficult as my HL Bio. </p>
<p>The same thing happened with Spanish. I was intially registered for HL Spanish but went down to SL since I felt that I wouldn’t do to well on the exam. Still, the teacher in that class gave out past HL exams as tests in that class; they were difficult for me. I thought that since I was having so much trouble with these practice exams that the HL would be too much for me. Anyhow, I ended up taking the SL exam and boy was that exam ever easy. There is a big difference in what SL and HL expect. The HL exams were much more difficult than SL. The other girl in my class who was taking the exam SL thought it was a joke too since we had both been prepped on HL exams.</p>
<p>Considering that many top schools don’t even accept SL, I would consider it a waste of time. The same with my Psychology SL (IB elective) and pretty much any other SL. </p>
<p>My only regret is not taking the HL exam for Spanish…I was overly prepared for SL. Who knows how I might have done in HL…</p>
<p>Spanish it doesn’t matter so much. If you’re capable of scoring well on the IB Spanish exam than you shouldn’t have much of a problem with the language placement tests. </p>
<p>Aless I remember you were an international student? Is Spanish your primary or secondary language? Maybe what you are saying about Spanish is similar to what we can say about English (though I don’t know much about English SL)</p>
<p>I also disagree Shaddix. Even in HL physics, the topics covered between SL and HL are EXACTLY the same for the entire 1st year, and starting the 2nd year then the only difference are the extensions of topics that the SL already do, and the same goes for chemistry and biology for the most part. Perhaps the only major difference are the levels of difficulty of th questions between SL and HL, but as far as the information goes, its relatively the same. In the case of math it depends since math studies is basically the lowest possible level, math methods is intermediate and HL is the insane level. In this case yea HL is waaaaaaaay more difficult than SL, but in other courses not so much. In economics, the HL people learn the same macro and micro economic topics, with VERY few exceptions of the theory of the firm and a couple more. However, I agree with you in the sense that the exams are much more difficult, but the information taught between SL and HL isn’t excesively different, and for the most part HL is just a longer continuation of the same topics. </p>
<p>In the end it depends on each course. In physics for example the only differences are the extensions of some of the topics such as optics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, and the most important difference the options of relativity…astrophysics etc. So the information does not vary greatly, but the questions do. Meaning in SL you are tought similar subjects, but since the tests are easier people work less for those classes, while in HL your basically forced to excel in the course if you wan’t to get decent grades. </p>
<p>Just my opinion (yea im a spanish native speaker)</p>
<p>Well, I am looking back and you were talking about classes and I am talking about exams. I agree with your first and second post, but I was looking at it through an “exam” perspective. Silly me… my mistake. I thought you were talking about SL and HL exams being similar. See how I repsonded to your first post.</p>
<p>I agree with you that the topics covered are very similar and that SL and HL expect different things. In my earlier statemnt, what I meant to say was that for the colleges that I was aiming for, SL exams weren’t even excepted hence why I thought they were useless, not the courses.</p>
<p>oh yea, I didn’t realize you were talking about exams Yea then in that case your perfectly correct. Out of all the universities I checked before applying, NONE of them gave ANY credit at all for SL courses, basically they were none existant haha.</p>
<p>No, IB lets diploma candidates take, the maximum 4 HLs leaving you with 2 SLs. In special cases, you are allowed to take 5 HLs - that is if you are insane.</p>
<p>Have you taken AP and IB courses simultaneously? I have (and Gov School Sci Tech Courses at the same time as well), and I say it is the same for the most part where I lived and in surrounding counties/cities that had it (York, Warwick, Princess Anne, Hampton, etc). Maybe it’s different outside of Hampton Roads, though chowdhury’s friend is saying close to the same thing.</p>
<p>You can take 6 HL courses if you feel like it, but in the end you can only take 3 HL exams, or at least thats how it goes in Europe and South America.</p>
<p>sv3a: If you’ve taken AP and IB classes at the same time, I take it you did not obtain an IB diploma. Obtaining an IB diploma leaves little room to take AP classes (maybe a few at best) since you have to satisfy the IB requirements. Overall, IB and AP classes are about the same – I’m not disputing that. However, obtaining an IB diplomas vs. taking AP classes is totally different. Taking AP classes is very challenging but not as challenging as achieving the full IB diploma. Taking IB classes w/o obtaining the diploma is not a big deal. Also, if the IB program was “the same” as taking AP classes, counties would not offer the IB program due to the expense of it. If Chow’s friend thought AP and IB were about the same, why did she knock herself out commuting 40 minutes a day to a school in the ghetto when she could have attended her plush upper-middle class school just 5 minutes away?
As far as admissions go – taking a bunch of AP classes vs. obtaining a full IB diploma is probably looked upon the same – although it shouldn’t especially if both were available to an applicant.</p>
<p>I obtained the IB Diploma with a total score of 35 (Biology-6, English-6, Spanish-4, History of the Americas-7, Mathematics-6, Geography-6, no extra points for EE or ToK). I’m definitely qualified to talk about the difficulty of IB and how to obtain the diploma, since I exceeded the minimum point requirement by like 11 or whatever. I did not find IB too difficult at all; in relation to the several AP courses and Governor School courses I took I would say there is generally no difference. If you consider little annoyances like internal assessment and an EE which is easily BSed (we did various prep work for two years, and then I actually wrote my essay the day before it was due as did most other people in my class) then yeah IB is ‘harder’. For course content then I still say ‘no’ except in Mathematics (HL), but I never took the Gov School course offered in any of the advanced maths. The IB Diploma is worthless and irrelevant, anyway, unless you derive some self fullfilment for obtaining it. Admissions (and you) don’t even know if you’ve gotten it or not until almost half a year past college application submissions.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you feel that way, too… writing down BS for a few hours to get at least 24 points isn’t what I consider an achievement. Of course our teachers tried hard to convince us otherwise, but it was blatantly obvious to us that the diploma itself wasn’t very valuable.</p>
<p>90% of what you learn in school, more like 95% is a load of BS so really, anything you do, including AP’s or IB is worthless. Getting an IB diploma is about challenging yourself, not about learning stuff that’s actually useful :S Thats the point of going to a UNIVERSITY, school is just to measure your level of dedication basically. Even if the IB diploma is mostly BS, at least you challenged yourself more than with taking a bunch of AP and having no extra work. So really, you can’t expect to take a school diploma and expect the classes to enlighten you. </p>
<p>Its like sports, who really gives a sh** if you can hit the ball across the court in tennis, or insert a ball into a hoop in basketball, its totally irrelevant and really, it doesn’t actually help society in any way possible :S But you challenge yourself to these things, and accomplishing them for most people is something to be proud of, even if it involves writting dumb essays and taking more time doing stuff you won’t ever use in your life.</p>
<p>I am a senior full IB Diploma candidate, and while I am very proud of both the amount of work I put into getting the Diploma and my sucess, I regret my decision to take all IB classes somewhat. While I got into every single other school I applied to, such as Wake Forest, William and Mary, and Haverford, I did not get into my first choice, UVA. I feel if I had taken only a few IB classes instead of all 6, I would have gotten a higher GPA (my 3.7 UW, 3.77 W was just too low from my school). From what I can tell from my school, where over 70 kids got into UVA and 43 are going as of right now, UVA does not care very much about anything besides having a very high GPA while taking a few IB/AP courses. Kids from my school got in with 1900’s while taking only 2 IB classes, I got waitlisted with 6 IB classes and a 2100. Having taken a few AP exams and AP government as a sophomore, I do feel that AP classes are easier for the “naturally smart” kids to do well, whereas IB courses require a substantial amount of work regardless of natual intelligence. That is just my personal opinion, but it holds true pretty much across the board at my VA public school.</p>
<p>ggunit, hard to believe that you were waitlisted…Have you heard back from UVA? If they don’t accept you, it’s their loss… Which VA hs did you attend? Your other choices are outstanding schools. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I was rejected by UVA a few days ago. I do not wish to state my highschool, but will say it is one of the biggest in Fairfax County, and that it is not TJ.</p>
(yea im a spanish native speaker)</p>
my mistake. I thought you were talking about SL and HL exams being similar. See how I repsonded to your first post.</p>