Choosing your subjects. Going from MYP 5 to DP 1

Transcription

1 Choosing your subjects Going from MYP 5 to DP 1

2 INTRODUCTION To enter DP1, students have to choose six subjects, THREE at HIGHER LEVEL and THREE at STANDARD LEVEL. The Higher Level (HL) subjects are, normally spoken, your strongest subjects academically; you should be aware of the fact that in many subjects you may have to go considerably over the academic level of various national secondary programmes. To illustrate this with an example, many U.S. top ranking universities will give advance credits to DP IB students provided they score at least a 5 in a HL subject. Standard Level (SL) subjects are not necessarily easier than HL subjects: very often they merely cover fewer topics than at HL. To choose the six subjects for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme it is important that you consider the following questions carefully: What are the DP requirements? What are my relative strengths and weaknesses i.e. which choice of subjects is possible? What are my plans for the future? Are there specific entry requirements put forward by universities or colleges?

3 DP SUBJECT CHOICE REQUIREMENTS To follow the IBDP as a Diploma candidate, every student must choose: 1. One Language from Group 1: Studies in Language and Literature Generally speaking, this is the mother tongue, or native language, unless you are really and truly bilingual. At the AICS you can choose from Dutch Language Literature, English Language Literature or English Literature. You can also follow a Self Taught Language programme in your own mother tongue (Standard Level only). 2. One language from Group2: Language Acquisition (or a second group 1) This is the group of foreign languages. At the AICS we offer two sorts of Languages: Languages B: This is the second language that you speak best, which has to be studied as a foreign language. In order to take the subject at the Language B level, you should have studied it for at least 3 5 years and have achieved an intermediate advanced level. At the AICS you can choose from English B, Dutch B, French B, Spanish B or German B. All HL and SL. Language Ab Initio: For students who have had no previous education in a foreign language or feel like studying a new one, there is the possibility of taking Spanish Ab Initio (Standard Level only) for beginners or students with a very basic knowledge. 3. One subject from Group 3: Individuals and Societies This is the Humanities category in which you can choose from History, Geography, Economics and Business & Management. 4. One subject from Group 4: Experimental Sciences In the Sciences category this school offers Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Environmental Systems & Societies (SL only). 5. One subject from Group 5:Mathematics and Computer Science In the Mathematics category our school offers Mathematics HL, Mathematics SL or Mathematical Studies SL. 6. One subject from Group 6: The Arts or an additional subject Either Visual Arts, or any additional subject chosen from the first four groups.

4 Seven Subjects and/or four Higher Levels: In exceptional cases students are allowed to choose a seventh subject as an extra certificate subject. The seventh subject is usually a Standard Level subject. The teachers need to be convinced that the student can handle seven subjects, academically, and the careers counselor, will therefore act on their advice. Also in very exceptional cases students can take four Higher levels. Again, teachers need to be convinced that the student will handle such a big amount of work, and the careers counselor, will therefore act on their advice. Choosing wisely It is obvious that the final choice is or should be the students choice. Parents, teachers and the Career Counsellor will discuss matters with the student and will advise, but students know which subjects they are good at and, even more important, enjoy doing, which will, in the first instance, help students to choose six subjects. The next step to take is to determine which of these subjects should be chosen at the Higher level and which at the Standard level. It is important in this respect to remember that in order to study most DP subjects successfully, either at the HL or the SL, students should have had previous education training in that subject (with the exception of Spanish Ab Initio, Economics, Business and Management and Environmental Systems & Societies). And of course, it is important to ensure that within these parameters you also meet the Promotion Criteria, which are detailed in the School Guide on page 30 (available in the school s website). Requirements of tertiary education institutions There may be a further complicating factor in choosing six subjects for entry into DP1. Universities, Higher Professional Schools and Colleges often demand a certain combination of subjects at the HIGHER level. The key subjects in this respect are mathematics and sciences. If students already have some idea of what they want to do after the DP programme, check very carefully what the specific university requirements are for the chosen area and in the chosen country. Admission requirements vary from country to country and often also from university to university. For quite a few academic areas at the post secondary level no subject requirements are set, but to be absolutely sure students should check with the Career Counsellor and/or the university websites. Furthermore, in many areas of study there are logical support subjects; again check with the Career Counsellor. Those who are still unsure about their future careers could at least bear in mind the following rules of thumb: For medical areas the combination of Biology and Chemistry at Higher Level is usually required. In the case of application to UK universities check the status of Physics in combination with Chemistry. At technical universities (e.g. Engineering) the combination of Mathematics and Physics at Higher Level is usually required. For Economics/Business Management areas Mathematics Standard Level is usually considered sufficient. Most institutions prefer Economics to Business & Management. To study Biology at university students need to choose Chemistry and Biology at Higher Level.

5 RANGE OF CHOICE We believe that students must have as wide a choice as possible and that the choice should be as free as possible. This means that many combinations of subjects are possible, except where the DP sets requirements or where the school timetable dictates that some combinations will not be possible. (See Impossibilities next page). We are currently offering the following subjects to choose from: Subject group Subjects Group 1: Studies in Language and Literature Group2: Language Acquisition Group 3: Individuals and Societies English Literature HL/SL English Language Literature HL/SL Dutch Language Literature HL/SL *Self Taught Languages A1 (SL only) English B HL/SL Dutch B HL/SL French B HL/SL Spanish B HL/SL Spanish Ab Initio (SL only) OR AN EXTRA GROUP 1 LANGUAGE Geography HL/SL History HL/SL Economics HL/SL Business Management HL/SL Group 4: Experimental Sciences Biology HL/SL Physics HL/SL Chemistry HL/SL Environmental Systems & Societies (SL only) Group 5:Mathematics and Computer Science Mathematics Higher Level Mathematics Standard Level Mathematical Studies SL Group 6: The Arts Visual Arts HL/SL OR ANY CHOICE FROM GROUPS 1,2,3 and 4 IMPORTANT: We are looking into the possibility to offering new subjects, always if more than 4 students are interested. Please bear in mind that a subject with less than 4 applicants will not be offered. Students who are affected by this, will be notified. * All languages of the world (group 1). In principle, a language literature other than Dutch or English language literature, will be offered by the school as Self Taught Standard Level subject (for further information, please see Mrs. Young).

6 Impossibilities Some subjects cannot be taken in combination. Those combinations are in the academic year : English Literature, English Language Literature and English B Dutch Language and Literature, Dutch B, Spanish B, French B, Dutch Ab Initio and Spanish Ab Initio History and Economics Business Management and Geography Physics, Biology and Environmental Systems & Societies Visual Arts, Chemistry LAST BUT NOT LEAST Please be aware of the importance of MYP5! Apart from the fact that students are asked to make choices that may very well affect their future life, one should not forget that many good universities or colleges in the world will not only look at your performance in the final DP exam but will assess students on their academic ability shown in the years preceding, i.e. MYP 5 and DP 1!