DC can’t get full IB because foreign language

[Anonymous]

DS is a rising junior. He has been in advanced/honors and then started some IB courses sophomore year.

He was told he won’t be able to get full IB unless he does IB language this year.

DS was in language immersion in ES, but the quality was not the same every year and he got off track during the pandemic. I ended up taking him out of FCPS and put him into an in person private during the pandemic because his mental health was suffering. The private did not have his target language. We returned to FCPS once they were reliably in person and he was allowed back into immersion, but he never really caught up and ended up with a B freshman year, and didn’t feel like he was going to be able to keep up, so he asked to switch to another language sophomore year.
I was dealing with my own stuff and not as on top of things as I should have been and I regret not looking into the consequences of failing to continue in the immersion language sequence. Now it looks like he is screwed and there is no way he will be able to complete the world language for IB, so no IB certificate.

I’m just venting, because his peers at school are all on track to complete it and I’m afraid he won’t be as competitive for college admissions since he will be compared to them.

Is there any option I am missing?

[Anonymous]

Most students do not get the IB diploma. He'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

No, the diploma requirements are strict. I only did 3 years of science to fit everything in (I was MIT bound do that was a big decision)

[Anonymous]

IB sucks - too inflexible.

[Anonymous]

This was six years ago so it is probably irrelevant now. But my DS didn't want to take IB French 2 his senior year. He talked to the IB coordinator at his FCPS high school and somehow, he was able to get the diploma without taking the second year of IB French. I know he took the IB French exam after his junior year instead of senior year.

[Anonymous]

I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

[Anonymous]

This isn't just an IB problem, your student wouldn't even get an advanced studies diploma with either 3 years of one language or 2 years of 2 different languages. You DC needs to pick one language and stick with it for two more years, or do one more year each of the previous 2 languages. Alot of kids treat IB like AP and don't get the full diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't just an IB problem, your student wouldn't even get an advanced studies diploma with either 3 years of one language or 2 years of 2 different languages. You DC needs to pick one language and stick with it for two more years, or do one more year each of the previous 2 languages. Alot of kids treat IB like AP and don't get the full diploma.

Since he was in immersion, 7th and 8th grade were high school level world language courses. Since he took the 3rd year of the sequence in 9th grade and took another language 10th grade, he has satisfied advanced diploma requirements, I think. So at least there’s that.

[Anonymous]

Take the IB classes to get the college credits, grades and overall rigor matter more than the actual IB diploma. This also allows him to skip TOK, CAS, and the extended essay if he wants. Make up for it with an extra HL class or two.

[Anonymous]

You should ask your school IB coordinator what to do.

There MAY be a way for him to do summer work this summer or next summer to complete the IB language requirement. This could be independent study rather than a formal class.

[Anonymous]

He can get an IB CP degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a rising junior. He has been in advanced/honors and then started some IB courses sophomore year.

He was told he won’t be able to get full IB unless he does IB language this year.

DS was in language immersion in ES, but the quality was not the same every year and he got off track during the pandemic. I ended up taking him out of FCPS and put him into an in person private during the pandemic because his mental health was suffering. The private did not have his target language. We returned to FCPS once they were reliably in person and he was allowed back into immersion, but he never really caught up and ended up with a B freshman year, and didn’t feel like he was going to be able to keep up, so he asked to switch to another language sophomore year.
I was dealing with my own stuff and not as on top of things as I should have been and I regret not looking into the consequences of failing to continue in the immersion language sequence. Now it looks like he is screwed and there is no way he will be able to complete the world language for IB, so no IB certificate.

I’m just venting, because his peers at school are all on track to complete it and I’m afraid he won’t be as competitive for college admissions since he will be compared to them.

Is there any option I am missing?

Does the school offer AP classes or is a high school transfer feasible? In AP he can just focus on his strengths, and there are no odd diploma requirements and he would still get the most rigorous coursework if this matters to his college application.

[Anonymous]

Let it go. This doesn’t matter. They can state they are IB diploma candidates but won’t even know if they earned the actual IB diploma until after graduation. None or very few care at that point since all are looking ahead to college. They have moved on and all of the stressing over the IB diploma now seems silly. -IB teacher and none of my own kids are working towards the IB diploma because it’s too restrictive

[Anonymous]

Wahhhh. He’ll survive.

[Anonymous]

That’s one of the problems with IB, too inflexible and may not be a good fit for everyone. In hindsight, always check graduation and any other requirements that might matter. On the up side, the diploma may not matter much, but I’d me more concerned about the most rigorous checkmark if he is interested in competitive colleges/majors.

In retrospect an AP program would have been a much better match for your student profile, if the school offers it.