IB Course Path for rising 9th student at Marshall
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Anonymous
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DS was asked to fill his course plan (due July 15) in Naviance. I neither took IB nor went to high school here so it is a bit of confusing for me.
Currently in AAP. Well rounded kid but not super exciting or very good at math (still get enough to get A). Will not pursuit STEM. At this moment it is Business or Econ. Here what we get so far English 9th : English 9HN 10th: English 10HN 11th: IB English Lit HL 1 12th: IB English Lit HL 2 History and Social Science 9th : World Hist/Geog 1 HN 10th: World Hist/Geog 2 HN 11th: ??? (APUSH) 12th: ??? Mathematics 9th : Geometry HN 10th: Algebra 2 Trig HN 11th: IB Math Anl&App SL 1 12th: IB Math Anl&App SL 2 Laboratory Science 9th : Biology 1 HN 10th: Chemistry 1 HN 11th: IB Environment System SL 12th: ??? (does Physics 1 needed) Health and Physical Science 9th : Health & PE 9 10th: Health & PE 10 (may do this in the summer to get one more elective) Economics and Personal Finance 11th: IB Business Mgmt SL 12th: IB Business Mgmt HL Electives 9th : Principles of Business 10th: Creative Writing 1 11th: IB Economics SL 12th: IB Economics HL 2 World Languages 9th : Spanish 2 10th: Spanish 3 11th: IB Spanish Lang& Lit SL 1 12th: IB Spanish Lang& Lit SL 2 I did read the recommended path by Marshall and do some research on Reddit and dcurbanmom. https://marshallhs.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/RecommendedSequenceofHonorsandIBCourses.pdf Any thing I did wrong or any recommendation. Does Math SL enough or should he try Math HL instead (for college admission purpose) ? TIA |
Anonymous
No advice and only sympathy that school asking for this before even start 9th grade. So many reasons disagree with it and it’s entirely backwards. At this point should only be example schedules being given to you and not asking kid to do this. |
Anonymous
+1. You should not worry about if your kid should take SL or HL math at this time. It is way too early. - math teacher |
Anonymous
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I would ask if SL test scores count for college credit, I am not sure if they do.
I agree with the previous poster, it is crazy that you need to do this entering 9th grade. I suspect that many of us have an idea about what classes kids will take but this level of detail is nuts. I don’t see the IB specific class so he is not going for the diploma? |
Anonymous
| We are at Robinson and have never been asked to do a plan for all 4 years. Just figure out 9th and worry about 10th next year. What he does in 9th has no impact on whether he can or will or won’t do IB. |
Anonymous
| PP here. Also - they don’t commit to IB until junior year. He will pick those courses in early spring of 10th grade. |
Anonymous
Correct. 9th and 10th grades he will follow the honors/IB track given he's in AAP. It's 11th grade where the choices come into play (what science, SL vs HL, and so on.) Marshall has IB info sessions sophomore year before the kids need to pick their courses for junior year. |
Anonymous
| My kid is a rising 10th grader at Marshall and has never had to submit a plan for high school like this OP. She was also in AAP. |
Anonymous
https://marshallhs.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/RecommendedSequenceofHonorsandIBCourses.pdf They start out of world history 2 honors in 9th grade. 10th is US history. |
Anonymous
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My DS just graduated with an IB diploma. He is going to UVA in the Fall.
My overall observation is that the proposed curriculum here is too easy. It does not demonstrate that your DS took the hardest courses available. If anything it looks like he just "checked the boxes" to get the diploma rather than challenging himself. To begin with, the curriculum has one HL course in 11th grade and three HLs in 12th grade. Aim for at least three HL in 11th as well as 12th. What's more concerning is that the proposed HL courses are not very difficult. English Lit, Business Management, and Econ are well known to be pretty easy (definitely known to college admissions staff to be easy), especially the latter two. Environmental Systems is a weaksauce science course, especially at the SL level. Your DS should take IB Chemistry or IB Physics for two years even if he's not a STEM kid. This will demonstrate to college admissions that he challenged himself. I don't understand why you don't have IB History courses listed. Those are better HL choices than Business Management or Econ. IB World History is particularly good because it focuses on topics most students haven't heard before. I don't see EPF or TOK courses on there but those are required. Overall, your DS needs a more rigorous curriculum. |