Pros and Cons: BCC IB vs AP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The smartest kids do AP. If that is the cohort you are looking for. Strong B students that get around 1450 SATs do IB.

LOL. What an idiotic post by former AP student.

[Anonymous]

"Any time you have 3-4 classes together with a smaller cohort of kids people start to call it a “school within a school.” But at these big HSs, a “school within a school” is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s impossible to really know 400 classmates. This is why a lot of big HSs have “academies” - to try to create a smaller group with some interests in common so kids don’t get lost in a huge school."

Best comment I have seen on DCUM today.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all. I read the IB page on the BCC site and got the impression that the kids form a tight bond. Is it still @ 100 kids and a school within a school?

A tight bond is probably not unusual for successful IB programs. Kids need each other to survive the program and get the diploma.

I would assume its tight bond between a group and then there are the outliers who probably are not included so it can be good and bad. I don't see the point of it.

OP here - I asked about the bond because BCC is a huge school and my kid will be new. The “surviving” comment is disheartening - why can’t the program be something inspiring that the kids want to go through?

Is your kid entering as a junior? I think as a freshman or even sophomore you can’t really opt in to IB (and as a senior it’s too late to cover all the classes).

There are tons of clubs(/theater/music/sports) if your kid is looking for smaller groups.

Thank you. He would be entering as a freshman, having started at BE and then moved to private school for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any time you have 3-4 classes together with a smaller cohort of kids people start to call it a “school within a school.” But at these big HSs, a “school within a school” is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s impossible to really know 400 classmates. This is why a lot of big HSs have “academies” - to try to create a smaller group with some interests in common so kids don’t get lost in a huge school.

OP again - thanks for explaining this.

[Anonymous]

Do the IB kids get the same “bump” in grades that the AP kids do? Or, are they on a 5.0 scale instead of a 4.0 scale? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the IB kids get the same “bump” in grades that the AP kids do? Or, are they on a 5.0 scale instead of a 4.0 scale? Thanks!

IB grades are weighted the same as AP and Honors classes

[Anonymous]

There's plenty of grade inflation to around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any time you have 3-4 classes together with a smaller cohort of kids people start to call it a “school within a school.” But at these big HSs, a “school within a school” is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s impossible to really know 400 classmates. This is why a lot of big HSs have “academies” - to try to create a smaller group with some interests in common so kids don’t get lost in a huge school.

OP again - thanks for explaining this.

BCC parent here. IB at BCC does not at all have the feel of an academy or school within a school. No one here thinks of it as school within a school - that is way too non-inclusive for the BCC environment, both parents and students. IB is open at BCC, which means any student can sign up for one IB class or the whole program. My DC did a mix of IB and AP because full IB has pretty limited choices. You do not go to three or 4 classes with the same kids. Everyone is taking different maths, electives and different languages. There are 100 kids in the program isually, so the odds of being in the same 3-4 classes with more than a couple kids is slim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all. I read the IB page on the BCC site and got the impression that the kids form a tight bond. Is it still @ 100 kids and a school within a school?

A tight bond is probably not unusual for successful IB programs. Kids need each other to survive the program and get the diploma.

I would assume its tight bond between a group and then there are the outliers who probably are not included so it can be good and bad. I don't see the point of it.

OP here - I asked about the bond because BCC is a huge school and my kid will be new. The “surviving” comment is disheartening - why can’t the program be something inspiring that the kids want to go through?

OP, IB doesn’t start until 11th grade. Is your DC starting as a freshman or junior? BCC is a big school. Kids now come
from 2 different MS. Friendship groups open up and change for everyone in HS. Best advice for every kid is join something in the Fall when you arrive - sport, club, play, whatever.

If coming in as a junior. Opting gor IB definitely gives you a smaller group of kids to get to know, but it’s not school within a school feeling.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from BCC's IBDP several years ago - my information is about a decade old, so take it with a grain of salt. I knew pretty much everyone in the IB program, but it's not really a "school within a school" - since you start the classes in 11th grade, you already have an established friend group from MS/earlier in HS. About a third of my friends did the IB diploma, the rest did a mix of IB/AP or just AP. And even among the cohort, people were in different math, science, and language classes - the only courses that everyone took were IB English HL, IB History HL, and TOK/Extended Essay.

I took 4 AP exams as well - a lot of the classes (particularly upper-level language courses) are mixed AP/IB, so the only difference among the students is the exam they'll take at the end. And I took AP English, which I found to be a much better English course than IB English, which was pretty much a joke. But I found the IB classes to be on the whole more challenging, and would absolutely recommend the program. It is well taught at BCC and really does teach important critical thinking skills, and it requires you to write a 20 page original research paper, which is a hugely important college prep skill. Also, everyone I know who did the IBDP got into great schools.