10th grader: stay at "elite private" or move to W-L IB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We plan to have our eldest, who is at W-L in the IBD program, apply to UK and Canadian universities from a gap year with all IB and a few AP exam scores in hand.

If you look on the web sites of UK universities under admissions, you can find info about which IB and AP scores they're looking for in which subjects for admissions, along with the kind of volunteer and work experience they want to see. This info tends to be v. specific, e.g. IB scores of 6-7 in Bio and Chem and a third subject to apply for veterinary or medical programs.

We know that "predicted" IB exam scores provided by teachers that most American applicants rely on in applying to colleges at home and universities abroad don't carry the same weight as actual scores in admissions, so we're going to wait to apply to colleges from a gap year.

Our kid wants to train as a vet tech during the gap year while applying to vet programs abroad (many vet programs abroad confer certification that works in the US).

Can you say a bit more about that? So kids can't apply to US universities without the grades in-hand?

[Anonymous]

The timing of the IBD exams doesn't work well vis a vis the admissions cycle in applying to highly competitive US colleges, over the winter of senior year. Guidance counselors don't tend to tell IBD students this, but it's undeniable.

The IBD exam cycle is of course geared toward European and Asian applicants who get "conditional offers" to universities contingent on their having earned certain exam scores in the summer after Senior Year (on IBD, British A-Levels, French Bacca or whatever). For example, the Univ of London will admit the applicant to a certain program if they've scored, say, at least 38 points on IBD and earned scores of 6-7 on 2 in 3 specified subjects. As you may know, the IBD pass range is 24-45 IBD points. IBD students score 1-7 points on each of the 6 subject exams, plus up to 3 more points for the TOK class and the Extended Essay.

What happens in the US is that your IBD student generally won't have enough standardized test scores to submit competitive applications to US colleges admitting in the single digits and teens (Ivies, elite SLACs etc.) unless perhaps they've doubled up on a number of AP exams. IBD only allows students to take 2 of their 6 subject exams in May-June of Junior Year and only at the Standard Level (the practice is called "early exam taking," long permitted by Geneva IBD HQ). The remaining four IBD exams, 3 Higher Level Exams, and 1 Standard Level exam, can only be taken in spring of Senior Year, with results coming out in July.

But, if you wait to apply to highly competitive US college in the fall of a gap year, your kid's chances are better all around. They can apply Early Decision or Early Action to US colleges with a good many standardized test scores, all 6 from IBD plus any AP exams taken by May-June of Senior Year. And if the kid's HS GPA isn't stellar, which can be a real problem in applying for elite public universities (e.g. UVA, Chapel Hill, Berkeley) but their IBD points total is impressive, in the high 30s or 40s, the IBD points total can trump a lackluster GPA. I saw this happen with my nieces and nephews who scored 39-41 points on IBD with GPAs no better than B+ or A-. They were admitted to Ivies, applying from gap years Early Decision in Oct.

Second tier US colleges won't care nearly as much about standardized test scores. They're going to be satisfied with seeing IBD rigor on a transcript and with the "predicted scores" the high school provides. The standardized test score deficit problem only arises with IBD if your aiming high.

If you're shooting for competitive universities abroad with a high IBD points total in the fall of a gap year, your kid is generally golden. Know that the IBD points total is going to be 90% of the application abroad. Admissions officers at prestigious universities abroad don't care nearly as much about EC accomplishments as those at US colleges do. But they like to see serious volunteer or paid work experience related to the applicant's chosen field of study on top of strong standardized test scores. The kid can build the work experience the summer after senior year and during the gap year.

One of my nephews trained as a vet tech during a gap year and was admitted to veterinary schools in the UK in the spring of the gap year. His applications for UK programs were due in mid Oct and he was admitted in March. Most vet programs in the UK are accredited here in the US.

We're aiming for colleges abroad mainly for financial reasons. We don't want to go into debt for undergrad and won't qualify for need-based fi aid because we earn a little too much. Most degrees in England are just 3-years, so would run us less than half what 80K+ private US colleges would charge. You can even take out Stafford Loans for an American citizen to study at universities in the UK and Europe (unless the Trump administration changes that). But college abroad only seems worth it if the kid can crack name undergrad programs US employers and grad schools will have heard of, e.g. St. Andrews, Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics, etc.

Hope this info helps!

[Anonymous]

v interesting and insightful.