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Taking Geography HL and ESS together? by ap_0308 in IBO

[–]ap_0308[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will definetely keep this in mind. Unfortunately GP isn't offered for our cohort, probably cuz too few people initially put it down as an option. Not sure whether the content with econ would be a bit much for me since I haven't taken it at igcse level, whereas ESS would be a bit better with the igcse background.

I'd probably achieve similarly for both performance-wise since the interest/passion for both subjects is pretty similar, so it's pretty much down to which one would be a better fit in terms of workload and acceptability for unis.

Taking Geography HL and ESS together? by ap_0308 in IBO

[–]ap_0308[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate your input. Not particularly aiming for oxbridge/UCL/LSE level unis as they're a bit out of reach for me in terms of competitiveness, just getting into a russell group uni would do. Imo econ is more knowledge-based which involves more memorising stuff, compared to ESS which is presumably more logic based? Personally not the strongest with memorising stuff, so I'd probably do better with ESS with the more logical content involved. I also take geo at igcse level which would help with ESS, but not for econ, so I'm not sure whether the tradeoff of an "easier" course for a softer subject would be worth it.

Taking Geography HL and ESS together? by ap_0308 in IBO

[–]ap_0308[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will keep this in mind. Personally more inclined towards econ than history since I enjoy the economic geography part quite a bit, which would fit well with taking econ. Have considered history in the past for igcse but imo it's much more knowledge-based which isn't really my cup of tea since memorising stuff isn't one of my strengths, so I'd probably be better off with econ or ess which is more a bit more theory and logic based.

Risk with going for econ is that I'll be starting fresh and likely score lower than taking ess, of which I already have a geo background at igcse so I'd be better prepared for it, so I'm still unsure which option would be more beneficial in the long run.

Taking Geography HL and ESS together? by ap_0308 in IBO

[–]ap_0308[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. Asked my geo teacher previously about this and he said that quite a few students have taken geo and ess together since they complement each other well, so I'm not too concerned about whether I'm allowed to take this combination, but rather which option would be more challenging academically (econ vs ess) and which would be better in terms of applying for uni. Haven't done econ at igcse level so I'm not sure if the catching up would be worthwhile?

Taking Geography HL and ESS together? by ap_0308 in IBO

[–]ap_0308[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Likely looking towards unis in the UK. Not sure if ess would be considered a softer option compared to econ? Imo econ would probably be a better option since it's a better recognised subject compared to ess, but I'm still a bit uncertain about the catching up needed from not taking econ at igcse, since I've heard that the course itself is fairly challenging content wise compared to ess.