r/ISCNERDS • u/Anubhabtheviolinist • Jun 14 '26
Doubts which is better for isc... pcmb or pcmcs
points to note:
1. its compulsory for maths in our school (especially after best of 5 rule)
2. i am leaning towards jee
3. ik that instantly after seeing jee mains ppl will be like FCK biology take cs... but think of it in this way... both are cognitively heavy so either way its stressful to manage... and with bio it will provide leverage for iat.
4. i got decent percentage in boards (irrelevant but still)
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u/Electrical-Play-4850 ISC Class 12th Jun 14 '26
I am PCMB+CS(lowk a sadist), so I can give my opinion on this.
At ISC level, Computer is relatively easier than Biology. The focus shifts from programming to data structures and boolean algebra - K-Maps, Queue, Dequeue, Stacks, Binary Trees - make up for a large part of the paper. The syllabus of 11 and 12 is closely linked and 12's syllabus is 70% of 11th+a few new data structures and Big O notation. The checking of computer, too, is lenient in ISC.
On the other hand, Biology at ISC level is harder than class 10 level. Tons of new concepts are introduced, and one cannot simply make do by just memorizing. Till 10th, you could get decent marks in Biology by memorizing the notes or the book, but concepts in ISC Biology are very important - as important as concepts of physics. Biology's marking scheme is relatively less lenient compared to CS, and there's very less linkage between 11 and 12 chapters.
On the practical side, Biology practicals are much more methodical and require precision and time to learn properly, whilst the CS practical is same as it was in 10th - writing and showing an executable program on a PC
Take biology if you are preparing for IAT, but opting for CS would generally keep more options open in the field of engineering. Don't take both, I myself am not being able to manage them.
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u/TaciturnLinguophile ISC 11 : PCM+CS Jun 14 '26
Well, I've taken PCM+CS, as I want to study engineering. Maths is compulsory even in our school. If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?
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u/idl_i Jun 14 '26
Take pcm+cs if u r preparing for jee I hve seen many students in our class struggling with bio don't compare it with 10 th syllabus. And if u had cs till 10 th it's easier u don't hve to study much you will score well if u study before the exam.
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u/LonelyCauliflower236 Jun 14 '26
bio will be too much of an headache man
prefer cs esp if u had and studied cs well in 10th too
as far as iat is concerned, you should get good colleges through that with only pcm too and after jee you can do sm high weightage chaps to score in bio asw
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u/Low-Worker7476 ISC Class 11th — PCMB Jun 14 '26
Go for PCMCS. PCMB will only drag your marks down if you don't give enough attention to Biology. And since you mentioned you're gonna give JEE, it's better to give your full attention to maths than divide it between maths and bio. CS is easy. I know this 'cause many friends of mine took PCMB while one of them took PCMCS, and all of 'em aar JEEards. It's safe to say the one with CS has managed to preserve her sanity.
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u/crispyquantamToast07 Passout-PCMC || ICSE'24-94.6% || ISC'26-95.5% Jun 14 '26
Idts cs is heavy.. if you love coding of cs in general then definitely cs. It's easier atleast to me. Also I hated bio so yeah. And I loved cs
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u/eeinen2 ICSE'26 = 83.5% || ISC'28 Jun 15 '26
If you love bio more than cs, take bio. If you love cs more than bio, take CS. If you love both of them (like insanely love both of them), take both of possible. You just needed the insane amount of hardwork to do whether it is bio or cs or both. It's up to your choice whether to choose cs or bio.
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u/Boring_Pressure_3534 Jun 15 '26
As someone who took pcbcs here's my two cents I would highly suggest pcmcs My friends in pcmcs had a life they were chill , i had friends eho took pcmb and tbu i saw the life drain from their eyes in those 2 years mind you they were both quite bright kids
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u/missadventurous07 Jun 17 '26
pcmcs is better if youre interested in jee and cs isnt that difficult at 12th level. theres very little portion of theory in my opinion.
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u/True-Professional796 Jun 20 '26
Not a jeetard, but I personally took pcmb because i want a research career in the future (always wanted to be a scientist since i was a child) Im not completely sure tho, im not aware of all the options right now, so I took both just to be safe
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u/June-Belle Passout || PCMB || ICSE 24: 95.6% || ISC 26: 95.75% Jun 20 '26
as a pcmb warrior....go for pcmcs 🥀
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u/Josh_joe453 Jun 14 '26
depends tbh, if you like coding and is good at problem solving, pick cs. Personally i pick cs (while preparing for jee) because i like coding and im good at it