IB Subject Selection

bobbycheung

My kid is thinking of taking either IB History HL or Economics HL.  Looking at the statistics, only 2% of the candidates doing History HL get Grade 7 whereas for Economics HL the percentage of candidates getting Grade 7 is 13%.  Despite the fact that it is so much more difficult to get a good grade in History HL, 34,000 candidates still chose to do it compared with 10,000 candidates taking Economics HL.  I know personal preference and options made available by each school play a part in these decision.  But apart from these factors, are there other reasons that could explain why so many people choose to do a far more difficult subject?  Could it be that Economics HL is considered a "soft" subject by universities?

ANChan59

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Replied the same post in IS sub-forum.

Shootastar

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Both of my kids took World History at the senior year. I can share their experience with you about taking History.
My son studied LLB in UK. He obtained 4 offers (3 from London). All offers would require him to have a score of 5 in AP World History. Some of his classmates who eventually studied LLB in UK failed to obtain offers from the best two colleges in London. The different treatments seemed to attribute the fact that the other classmates did not take AP World History.

My daughter studied medicine in Hong Kong. Apart from the two offers from the local medical schools, she also had 2 offers from UK colleges.The admission tutors of all the medical schools were keen to know why she studied AP World History when she was interviewed. She gave the obvious reason that History could train her the reading, analytic and writing skills. Those skills are essential to further tertiary education. As a medical student, she needed to read a lot of materials. Dissemination of knowledge was one of the key roles of a medical doctor. Writing and presentation skills were therefore essential in medical study. The day to day work of a medical doctor would require him to have an analytic mind in the diagnosis. Taking History would equip her with the necessary skills to face the challenges in her medical study and future work.

Having said that, I think Economics or Geography would also provide such training to the students.