IB vs HSC (1 Viewer)

[lmaoslastdancer]

Dear All,

I am currently experiencing difficulty choosing whether to undertake the IB or HSC program next year (I am currently in year 10). I plan to study medicine at university after I graduate. My subject selections would include:

- IB:
HL ENGLISH
HL BIOLOGY
HL ECONOMICS
HL/SL CHEMISTRY
SL MATHS
SL CHINESE


-HSC:
Chemistry
Biology
English
Maths
Economics
Chinese

I want to do the IB as my final mark only be determined by me, and no one else. Moreover, the subject syllabus' appear engaging and interesting.

However, the IB could be too difficult, and seeing as I need a very high atar to get into medicine, the HSC could be a better option.

In terms of my academics, in my most recent report (received last week) I achieved all A's across my 8 subjects. I am at the top if not top 5 in my year group for most of my subjects but am still worried about scaling.

I am currently leaning towards the IB, but am still hesitant. Any advice or personal experience would be greately appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Drongoski]

Since you appear to be a very good student, do the IB. It is a very challenging programme, in my view. More challenging than the NSW HSC. But it seems to be a lot easier to achieve an ATAR of at least 99.80 via the IB than the HSC. If you choose SL Maths, that's a lot easier than the HL Maths.

Also, a good idea to start preparing for your IB, by yourself or with external guidance, now. The IB programme is so heavy that any head start you have will help you enormously. Some schools like Trinity Grammar start term 4 of Yr 10; which I think is a good policy. Others start Term 1 of Yr 11 - which would put a lot of pressure on you. But opting for Maths SL instead of HL will take a lot of load off you, since, in my view, HL is so much harder and yet you get no extra credit or reward for choosing it.

And don't forget to come to me for your Maths. You can start your IB Maths now, for a start!

 

[lmaoslastdancer]

Thanks, I'll be sure to take your advice!

 

[andrew12678]

Having made a few IB friends at uni:

Pros of IB:
-Higher chance of getting 45 than 99.95
-Easier to get 42+ (UAC conversion: 99.45+) in IB than it is to get 99.45 via HSC
-You will struggle less at uni with content (personally IB teaches some 'harder' content that the HSC should be teaching so when it comes to uni, the IB students are a bit head)
-No internal rankings (can be good or bad depending on your school/ranks)

Cons of IB
-Once you get lower than 45 (ie 44,43,42...) you are no longer eligible for USYD/UNSW scholarships for academic achievements (they require 99.90+ but 44 IB only gets converted to 99.85 by UAC, so if you're gunning for these scholarship with IB it's all or bust-don't get me wrong I'm not saying that 99.85 is bad at all but you could be missing out on 10k/per annum)
-IB results arrive later than HSC results and this creates a lot of headaches at the interview stage for medicine (you will receive separate dates from your HSC counterparts who will be interviewed first-for USYD Double Degree Medicine IB students were interviewed after HSC students had already been offered places via first round UAC, they say that you're all equally considered but I don't really buy into it
-Harder content for most subjects (except for HSC English which is a whole new ball game)

 

[davidgoes4wce]

PROS of IB:
* IB is more worldly recognised around the world in comparison to the HSC.
* It seems to me like there is a huge private school element, which means heavier funding and possibly richer network to connect with. (and inter schools)

CONS OF IB:
* You can only take it once in your lifetime, HSC allows mature age students to come back and do it
* You lose a slight touch with the state curriculums (which has more a local content) from Year 10-12, depending if you take on the MYP and/or Diploma. Reflecting back on high school, my economics course had a huge emphasis on the Australian economy and what was happening in our economy. This could also apply to other subjects such as: Business Studies, Legal Studies etc. Doing IB , I think you would be thinking more on a global context for particular subjects.


Anyway if I had the choice, I would have done IB over any Australian state curriculum. But I do feel that you need to be at a highly funded school to have a chance to do IB. But having read a lot of news reports in the recent year, things could be changing in the next few years, with more schools taking the IB path (including public schools)

 

[Drongoski]

Also if you are not very bright you can do the HSC; but you will not be able to handle the IB. That's why I call it a very challenging programme. In the local Independent schools, only the academically better students do the IB.