Navigating the Decision: Math AI or AA HL

"Sir, do you think I should take AI or AA HL?"

As a math teacher, there's no question I've heard more. I've heard some variation of this question from every student I teach and every parent I've ever talked to.

Despite all this, I often find myself struggling to answer. Answering this question for any particular student is impossible without consulting them, and having a long conversation with them (and often their parents) about what they want and expect out of their IB experience.

In order to save myself some time and offer any parents or prospective IB students some guidance, I decided to write this article.

Of course everything here is just general guidance. If you're a parent or student looking for more specific aid, feel free to contact me for a one-to-one appointment, where I can offer some advice more specific to you.

With that out of the way, let's get started.

TO STUDENTS

When students ask me for my opinions on which HL math to take, I find they often keep coming back to one thing: the difficulty.

There's a very common misconception students have, which is that AA HL is impossible deathtrap set by the IB, while AI HL is actually an SL technology course masquerading as an HL math class. This couldn't be more wrong. They're both difficult, just in different ways.

There's a trend I've noticed. Ask an AA HL student about their course, and they'll go on a rant about how hard their content is. Ask an AI HL student about their course, and they'll start ranting about their teacher.

I've found that the biggest opponent students face in AI HL isn't the difficulty of the content itself, but rather the fact that very few teachers are actually able to teach it! This isn't even necessarily due to the quality of the teacher; some of the most talented and beloved teachers I know have spoken to me about their struggles with teaching the course.

AA HL is a fairly standard math course. It aims to teach rigorous math. Students are faced with grueling schedule that is built around a seemingly never-ending amount of calculus, trigonometry and functions. While it's brutal to experience, it's easy to teach, and easy to learn. The hard part isn't the concepts - its their application.

AI HL on the other hand is built around concepts that are so new and modern that teachers themselves often don't understand them. Learning AI HL means grappling with extremely confusing and new ideas, with their difficulty balanced out only by their obvious applications.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way out. All it really comes down to is picking your poison, and understanding which type of math you'll be better suited to.

FOR PARENTS

A lot of parents pressure their children into picking a certain math based on what they believe will look better on their transcript. While its true certain unis might hold either of the two in higher regard, I would like to propose an alternative option: choosing your math based on your child's interest.

AI HL and AA HL cover different bases entirely, and suggest the development of very different skills to universities. A student who excels in AI HL is one whose grown very accustomed to technology, thinking in 3D, and (of course) calculators. A student who excels in AA HL is someone who has an extremely strong base in basic math, and has developed excellent logic and problem-solving skills.

It's also important to think about your courses not just from the perspective of how a university might see you, but also how you might view your field. I've had computer science students in university telling me their most important course was AA HL, over even Comp Sci itself!

It's important to consider how the skills you'll learn will interact with the skills you need to know as well, and whether the two will work together is an important question to ask yourself before you make your decision.

FOR EVERYONE

Finally, if there's one thing I could leave you with its this. Any direct answer to the question of "AI or AA HL" leaves out a lot of the nuance and subjectivity that should go into your decision. It also leaves out the two other options that exist.

Please remember that you *can* take math as an SL. This might no hold true if you're hoping to do engineering or physics, but if you're hoping to work in any of the hundreds of non-STEM fields out there, consider it as an option.

No matter which way you look at it, taking math as one of your HLs is a lot of work. It's up to you whether that's worth it.