By Mia Smith, Isabelle Loveblad, & Nora Salem, Y12
Mia Smith
I take English Literature HL, Bio HL, Geography HL, Maths AA SL, French Literature SL and Chemistry SL. So far I haven’t regretted any of my subject choices. However, some of my subjects are quite different from what I was expecting. For example, Biology HL is considerably more challenging than what was in my previous years of high school. Not only are the actual topics studied more complex, but the pace of learning has to be very fast to keep up with the number of topics to cover. That being said, if you manage to stay on top of your class notes, and regularly review topics, the workload is manageable. One of the courses I was initially hesitant about taking is Chemistry, as I had heard that it was one of the harder sciences to take. I am actually really glad now that I did take it, as although it is fairly hard, so far the workload has been not too hard to keep up with. Also, there are lots of opportunities for hands-on lab work, which is always a nice break from typical classes. Lastly, coming from Year 11 Intermediate Maths, Math AA SL is definitely a step up, and my grades have taken a bit of a hit. Part of me wishes I had taken AI, but in the end, I am going to stay in AA due to university requirements.
Isabelle Lovblad
Currently, my higher-level courses are English, Biology and Geography (in French), and my standard level classes are Math AA, French A Language and Literature and Spanish B. Until now, I have liked all of my subjects and don’t regret my choices. Last year before choosing my subjects, people were warning me about the amount of reading I would have to do if I took English HL. Nonetheless, I took it anyway and I do not regret the choice I made. Since the beginning of the year, we have read 6 books (three poetry, one play, one non-fiction and two novels), but we read them all in class and do not have any reading homework. Additionally, French A Lang Lit SL is very different from Year 11 French A, which follows roughly the same structure as Français A Literature SL. In French A Lang Lit, we have read a comic book, novels and analysed non-literary works in addition to literary works. Also, in the middle of the first semester, I was debating on switching to Chemistry instead of Spanish, and although it was possible, I decided against it because I really enjoy learning a third language.
Nora Salem
My higher levels throughout the school year have caused no problems so far. I am enjoying the subjects I’ve taken. However, I started my school year by taking German SL instead of what I take now: Art SL. I was considering taking Art instead of German but I told myself that universities would not accept Art and that there was always the possibility of doing art as an extra-curricular activity, so I ended up sticking with German. I soon regretted this because I didn’t have time for art after school since I was busy with my other after school activities. I then decided in October that I would switch German with Art. It didn’t matter if universities acknowledged Art or not, because at the end of the day taking a class that I enjoyed was more important than taking a class that looked good on an application.
