IB students, as many may know, one of the most stressful times of the year is approaching: subject selection week! As a junior, I have gone through subject selections the past two years and feel as though now I have enough knowledge to be able to guide some future sophomores and juniors who are a little confused or unsure of what to select! In this post, I will briefly outline what selections are available for tenth and eleventh graders, along with my opinions and experiences in specific courses and electives!
Going into either sophomore or junior year, both of these classes are automatically chosen for you. Unfortunately, there is no opting out of these.
Prospective Sophomores- AP European History and AP English Language will be the required classes.
Prospective Juniors- AP United States History and AP English Literature will be the required classes.
If you are finishing Algebra II this year, that means you will be required to take IB Mathematics next year. IB Math is a two year course and there are two SL options given at Coral Reef. The first option is IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations SL, which revolves around algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, and an introduction to calculus. The second option is IB Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL, which covers all of precalculus and calculus.
These two math courses have very different curriculums, with the calculus class being infamously more difficult. As someone who is in their second year of IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations, I highly recommend choosing this course over calculus if you are not the strongest in math and are not looking to pursue a career in the STEM field. However, those of you who are interested in STEM and can handle some tough maths, the Analysis and Approaches class is for you. One important thing to keep in mind is that those of you who will be starting IB Math sophomore year will have a free class senior year. Most of the time, students take an AP math class with this free elective. Those who took the Analysis and Approaches course will most likely go into AP Calculus BC while Applications and Interpretation students will take AP Statistics.
IB Science classes will not start until junior year, but there are still a few options to consider here.
Prospective Sophomores- Some of you will be automatically taking Pre-IB Chemistry sophomore year if you have not yet taken it. However, if you are finishing Chemistry now, you will have the option of taking an elective science course sophomore year. There are a few great honors and regular science courses that some students take their sophomore year. For instance, a great deal of students that take Anatomy and Physiology report back really great experiences with a relatively easy and interesting learning experience.
Besides that, those who are willing to challenge themselves take an AP Science course, such as AP Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Environmental Science. As someone who chose to take AP Environmental Science, I would recommend anyone interested in learning about real world environmental issues to enroll in the course. Being an AP course, it can be demanding at times, but it is very rewarding for all the knowledge students gain from the curriculum. I highly recommend anyone to choose this class as an elective if they want to challenge themselves but also be able to learn something useful. The other AP science courses are reportedly more challenging but also very good for students wishing to pursue STEM careers.
Prospective Juniors- All Juniors will begin their two year long IB science courses, which include: Biology SL/HL and Chemistry SL/HL. To pick between the two, it is recommended to go with Biology if you are better in reading and Chemistry if you are good at math. However, it is important to consider the difficulty of each course. IB Chemistry has double the amount of topics than IB Biology, meaning HL Biology and SL chemistry learn the same amount of course material. Therefore, the paces and rigor differ tremendously.
In addition to that, you need to consider whether you are taking SL or HL. This depends on the language you are taking, because one of either your language or science needs to be HL. Therefore, first you must consider if you are better with your second language or science.
Prospective Sophomores- All Sophomores language courses will differ based on the last course they took. Therefore, this part of the subject selection is easy, you just need to move up to the next level before going into IB Spanish, French, or German.
Prospective Juniors- Juniors will pick between taking SL or HL of the langauge they have taken the previous two years. Again, this choice depends on if you are better at languages or sciences, as your decision will influence the level of your science class.
One unique feature of IB Spanish students is that one may choose to take IB Spanish SL 1 year. This means that the students test out of the class in one year instead of two. This class in recommended for those who are okay with learning at a faster pace and will need to be recommended by their language teacher.
Prospective Sophomores- There are many elective options for sophomore year, with a wide variety of honor and AP courses to choose from.
If you find yourself able to handle another AP class for a subject of your own personal interest, I highly recommend taking an AP elective. The really good thing about being able to choose an AP for this category is that it has a great possibility of boosting your GPA.
In terms of choosing which AP elective to take, the options are varied and diverse. My main advice for choosing one is to go by your own interest, keeping in mind what you hope to study in college so that you may be able to get college credit if you perform well.
I chose to take AP Psychology sophomore year as my elective because I was considering it as something I would want to study in college. However, I did not actually enjoy the class as much as I thought I would. Although this may come off as a bad thing, it was actually a great experience for me to find out something I am not interested in. Therefore, don’t be scared if you do not yet know what area you want to go into, as that is very much subject to change the next few years. Pick an elective that sounds appealing to you.
Prospective Juniors- Surprise! All of your electives junior year are IB classes. You have the choice to take Anthropology, Psychology, Economics, a second language class, or a second science class.
Again, your choice should fully depend on what you hope to study in college. If you are interested in business or mathematics then economics is most likely the best choice for you. If you are interested in medicine or anything in the STEM field, then psychology or a second science class is probably the way to go.
This is only my opinion of how you should go about picking your elective, there is really no right or wrong way to do it. If you are interested in engineering but really find anthropology to be interesting, then you should definitely go for it.
Electives are where you should pick the best course for your own goals and interests.
I know all of this may seem extremely overwhelming, but you cannot forget that your teachers, Ms. Ortiz, and Ms. Wise are here to help you make these tough decisions. I definitely recommend taking other student’s opinions but also remembering that every single IB student has their own unique experience with each course that may or may not be similar to yours. Therefore, in short, go with your gut! You will be able to succeed in whatever you pick as long as you put in effort and work hard.