Advice: Which IB classes should I take for a Business/Commerce majors at top UK Universities?

Hello,

As a current junior IB student taking these subjects HL; Physics, Chemistry, Psychology and Maths AI (In my school, the valedictorian and salutatorian are expected to take 4 HLs, not compulsory though), SL: English lang and lit, Norwegian B. I'll answer it this way.

First of all, as a prospective IBDP student, I hope you know that Maths is a group 05 and compulsory IB subject for all IBDP students(except that we differ in levels).And so whatsover you choose, at SL or HL will directly affect your application. I want you to keep in mind that that unlike US universities which have holistic application and consider the applicant as a whole, including demographics and background SAT scores, academic rigourness, extra curriculars, leadership and letters of recommendations among others, most UK universities heavily rely on academic potential and so, I'll keep it this way.

If you are only applying to UK universities and a few more European universities, I'll advice you to take the Maths AA at HL as you initially have, be ready to work your brains out and do enough practice( a simple secret: Unlike the few who were born naturally great in Maths, most have been great since they take enough time to practice Maths problem. When they say there's no substitute for hardworking, it directly applies to Maths as well. While you can cram last mins content in most subjects and perform fairly well, Maths and probably Physics and Chemistry are exception, you need to study enough, understand the main basics you get from your teacher, and practice, practice and practice again. Form a good daily schedule and utilize your free time such as weekends and just make enough practice on Maths, you'll steadily improve and be comfortable in doing Maths AA at HL and you'll definitely see improvement in your grades, there more Maths study tactics I could share on how I maintain 7/7 no matter how tough exams get, and I'll be glad to share with you if you want to but lets focus on answering your initial question first).

If you are looking forward to applying a couple US universities as well just incase UK doesn't work out, you better keep in mind that they have holistic applications and consider you as a whole and so, even though you take Maths at SL and do Econ,business and design at HL, but you are well rounded at other aspects, then you'll definitely get in a fairly good school. And even though for top univesities such as Ivy League and MIT and Stanford, academic rigor is necessary and its more impressive to do Maths at HL, interests play role and so you can do it the way you love.

Final note: I can best advice you to do Maths AA HL since Maths SL is really looked down upon in the UK(according to some online resources and some really life experience on Quora). Strive to perform at best through enough practice, use online resources if you think your teacher can be a factor on not having the best Maths performance and if you need any assistance on how to perform best in Maths, let me know and I'll be glad to help. Just keep in mind that the IB is well known to be a rigorous and academically challenging program and that's already playing a good role and so you have to use this to your advantage to show how college-ready you are as the whole reason for such requirements is because they want to be sure that you are ready for the academic challenges at Oxbridge and other top UK universities and taking Maths AA at HL and performing at best will prove just that. (I hope you know its more rigorous that Maths AI HL and you may want to consider it if you think AA is much of a burden).

Best of luck and hope you do best at it!