IB math test if took Algebra in 7th

[Anonymous]

I just learned that if kids are accelerated and finish IB math in 10th or 11th grade (so they finished geometry or alg 2 in MS), if at IB school, they cannot take IB math test until 12th grade- so wait a year or 2 before allowed to take test. I was AP and can’t imagine waiting year or 2 after a class to take test on the class material. For those whose kids did IB, any tips for what your kids did to be ready for test if they finished IB math long before allowed to take the test?

I saw 1 suggestion if school offers AP classes as well to take one of those either before or in between the IB math classes, but if AP classes not available at HS, then what do?

Do schools maybe have reminder sessions for kids that finish the IB math requirements a year or 2 years early and before test?

[Anonymous]

Great question. No answer but hoping someone shares insights.

[Anonymous]

calc bc between year 1 and 2 of hl
that is what FCC does always, usually kids that take alg in 8th just do sl

[Anonymous]

Your question doesn’t make much sense or you need to be more specific about the coursework the student is taking. For magnet IB, you can start Algebra 1 in 7th grade, and presumably end up taking some version of Calculus in 11th, but the HL Math exam will be taken in 12th grade and that will cover IB HL material which is a combination of calculus, statistics, precalculus, algebra and geometry. Some schools offer multivariable in 12th, but you’d still take the HL math exam for the diploma.

For everyone taking algebra in 7th, it makes little sense to follow the IB path because inevitably you’d have to repeat material for the sake of the IBDP exam. A combination of AP and DE is more flexible and appropriate for that student. For math, the IB program is quite pitiful anyways so even without the repetition it’s a subpar option. Ditto for sciences.

I suppose IB is a great preparation for global citizenship or some other inane blurb you hear during school presentations to parents, but I imagine there aren’t that many people falling for those cheap tricks.

[Anonymous]

It is ridiculous and one reason we are looking to place our child at an AP school instead of his base school, which is IB. But then he has to leave his friends from ES to move to a new school and that is a hard ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your question doesn’t make much sense or you need to be more specific about the coursework the student is taking. For magnet IB, you can start Algebra 1 in 7th grade, and presumably end up taking some version of Calculus in 11th, but the HL Math exam will be taken in 12th grade and that will cover IB HL material which is a combination of calculus, statistics, precalculus, algebra and geometry. Some schools offer multivariable in 12th, but you’d still take the HL math exam for the diploma.

For everyone taking algebra in 7th, it makes little sense to follow the IB path because inevitably you’d have to repeat material for the sake of the IBDP exam. A combination of AP and DE is more flexible and appropriate for that student. For math, the IB program is quite pitiful anyways so even without the repetition it’s a subpar option. Ditto for sciences.

I suppose IB is a great preparation for global citizenship or some other inane blurb you hear during school presentations to parents, but I imagine there aren’t that many people falling for those cheap tricks.

AP does make more sense, but not every high school offers AP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your question doesn’t make much sense or you need to be more specific about the coursework the student is taking. For magnet IB, you can start Algebra 1 in 7th grade, and presumably end up taking some version of Calculus in 11th, but the HL Math exam will be taken in 12th grade and that will cover IB HL material which is a combination of calculus, statistics, precalculus, algebra and geometry. Some schools offer multivariable in 12th, but you’d still take the HL math exam for the diploma.

For everyone taking algebra in 7th, it makes little sense to follow the IB path because inevitably you’d have to repeat material for the sake of the IBDP exam. A combination of AP and DE is more flexible and appropriate for that student. For math, the IB program is quite pitiful anyways so even without the repetition it’s a subpar option. Ditto for sciences.

I suppose IB is a great preparation for global citizenship or some other inane blurb you hear during school presentations to parents, but I imagine there aren’t that many people falling for those cheap tricks.

If at IB-only school, the “most rigorous” path that college looks for is to take the IB HL path, but means those kids in accelerated math finish IB Math- Analysis or Applications at least 1 year or more before would be tested- hence the question of what do kids do if stay at IB school as guessing not all of the 30-60 kids that take algebra in 7th transfer out to AP schools.

[Anonymous]

Where I teach the options are 1) kill time in 10th grade taking AP statistics (helps write a killer IA in year 2), 2) take AP calc between year 2 and year 2 analysis or AP stats between year 1/2 apps, 3) take SL math (then you can test whenever, 4) take HL math junior year, do a nova or mason course fall of senior year, and then audit the HL review sessions in the spring, 5) forgo the IB diploma, take the course in 10th or 11th grade, and just take higher level courses at nova/mason in 11/12th.

I’ve seen kids do all of the above.

If a kid is so far ahead to be doing algebra 2 in middle school, the IB diploma is likely not the best fit for further acceleration. Stand alone courses are fine, but just don’t test. If you are that far ahead, you’ll have plenty of college credits for math and the lack of an IB test isn’t a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where I teach the options are 1) kill time in 10th grade taking AP statistics (helps write a killer IA in year 2), 2) take AP calc between year 2 and year 2 analysis or AP stats between year 1/2 apps, 3) take SL math (then you can test whenever, 4) take HL math junior year, do a nova or mason course fall of senior year, and then audit the HL review sessions in the spring, 5) forgo the IB diploma, take the course in 10th or 11th grade, and just take higher level courses at nova/mason in 11/12th.

I’ve seen kids do all of the above.

If a kid is so far ahead to be doing algebra 2 in middle school, the IB diploma is likely not the best fit for further acceleration. Stand alone courses are fine, but just don’t test. If you are that far ahead, you’ll have plenty of college credits for math and the lack of an IB test isn’t a big deal.

OP here. Thank you above (and others who replied). Question for poster of above- do I follow that IB test is only to get credits and must test to get an IB diploma but is not that have to take to pass the class? And from college perspective, if test in spring, student will already have been accepted (or not) so whether gets the actual IB diploma, doesn’t matter…. Is that right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

So did your son take IB analysis SL 1 and then Analysis HL 1 and 2 or did school make him take IB applications SL because it was/had to be different course?

[Anonymous]

Does TJ have IB program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

So did your son take IB analysis SL 1 and then Analysis HL 1 and 2 or did school make him take IB applications SL because it was/had to be different course?

He took AA, not AI, for all three years - AA SL1, AA HL1, AA HL2. I thought the overlap between SL1 and HL1 was going to be significant but somehow it was a good progression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

So did your son take IB analysis SL 1 and then Analysis HL 1 and 2 or did school make him take IB applications SL because it was/had to be different course?

He took AA, not AI, for all three years - AA SL1, AA HL1, AA HL2. I thought the overlap between SL1 and HL1 was going to be significant but somehow it was a good progression.

Thanks for replying. I had wondered if school would say couldn’t do AA SL1 and the AA HL 2 levels because considered same class or too much overlap. Seems like good idea if no AP option and if already know kid not great at doing online DE. Hopefully something base school will allow. Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does TJ have IB program?

No, their curriculum is much more rigorous and challenging