If AP is more popular/better/more flexible, why does FCPS put IB in all the lower-ranked schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.

My old roommate at Harvard had an IB diploma. She was an amazing writer and her high school experience sounded better than any of my other friends. The rest of us just took a million AP classes. I had never heard of IB until I met her.

PP here. This is the IB school she attended. The IB curriculum sounds excellent. Unfortunately, the FFX schools who have IB seem to be the lower performing schools so the AP schools appear to be better.

http://www.uwc-usa.org/page.cfm?p=531

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.

My old roommate at Harvard had an IB diploma. She was an amazing writer and her high school experience sounded better than any of my other friends. The rest of us just took a million AP classes. I had never heard of IB until I met her.

PP here. This is the IB school she attended. The IB curriculum sounds excellent. Unfortunately, the FFX schools who have IB seem to be the lower performing schools so the AP schools appear to be better.

http://www.uwc-usa.org/page.cfm?p=531

I'm pretty sure that the IB schools in Fairfax County aren't boarding schools with Outward Bound programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.

My old roommate at Harvard had an IB diploma. She was an amazing writer and her high school experience sounded better than any of my other friends. The rest of us just took a million AP classes. I had never heard of IB until I met her.

PP here. This is the IB school she attended. The IB curriculum sounds excellent. Unfortunately, the FFX schools who have IB seem to be the lower performing schools so the AP schools appear to be better.

http://www.uwc-usa.org/page.cfm?p=531

Why do you keep saying that?

It's only 8 schools in the county, and at least three of them are great schools I'd be proud to send my kids to. (We're zoned for Lake Braddock, an AP school)

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of people though opt for Lake Braddock instead of Robinson.

[Anonymous]

Maybe FCPS should keep IB in those three schools and do away with it in the rest of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=2416

390 received the IB diploma in 2013. How many millions doe we spend extra on IB? For 390?

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

[Anonymous]

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

In the words of princess Elsa...

Let it go...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

In the words of princess Elsa...

Let it go...

You need to stop clicking on these posts if this discussion really bothers you that much. This hasn't been talked about to death, it's not even on the school board's radar yet, and it will continue to be discussed till something's done. You need to let it go and stop getting upset that people are continuing to talk about a topic you'd rather have not discussed.

[Anonymous]

My children are in preschool so I have not looked into hs. I'm curious which program private hs in the area offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

I'm PP who has a rising 9th grader considering transferring to an IB HS, reading this thread with interest. She prefers the IB ideology/framework/focus more so than AP, however, she has no idea whether she would end up pursuing a full diploma - it's a lot of work, as previously mentioned - and it's hard to know how she will handle it until she gets a little older and starts taking the courses. We've considered whether it's worth the transfer if she doesn't pursue the diploma, so I'm curious why you would make the statement that if you don't go for the full diploma, you should go for AP. I know that you are more likely to get college credit with AP then IB (incidentally, I understand that anyone can take the AP exams - no need to take the course first - so I suspect if she wanted to ensure credit, she could sit for the exam).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

I'm PP who has a rising 9th grader considering transferring to an IB HS, reading this thread with interest. She prefers the IB ideology/framework/focus more so than AP, however, she has no idea whether she would end up pursuing a full diploma - it's a lot of work, as previously mentioned - and it's hard to know how she will handle it until she gets a little older and starts taking the courses. We've considered whether it's worth the transfer if she doesn't pursue the diploma, so I'm curious why you would make the statement that if you don't go for the full diploma, you should go for AP. I know that you are more likely to get college credit with AP then IB (incidentally, I understand that anyone can take the AP exams - no need to take the course first - so I suspect if she wanted to ensure credit, she could sit for the exam).

DP, but if you look at the information published by FCPS, they focus on the IB diploma candidates and recipients, and not those at IB schools who just take a few IB courses or receive some type of certificate. At AP schools, there is no similar dichotomy, and the College Board recognizes multiple levels of achievement in AP courses, depending on the number of AP courses taken, test scores received, etc. I think many parents perceive with some justification that, if you do not pursue an IB diploma at an IB school, you end up lumped into a "second-class citizen" bucket, both by the schools you are attending and the colleges and universities to which you apply.

I guess your DD has to decide soon, but if you were to attend a graduation ceremony at an IB high school, you might be surprised by the amount of attention that the IB diploma candidates receive compared to the other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

In the words of princess Elsa...

Let it go...

You need to stop clicking on these posts if this discussion really bothers you that much. This hasn't been talked about to death, it's not even on the school board's radar yet, and it will continue to be discussed till something's done. You need to let it go and stop getting upset that people are continuing to talk about a topic you'd rather have not discussed.

You're quite defensive. The reality is that you are constantly posting on this forum about the cost of IB. Posting here isn't going to get you anywhere. Take your concerns to the school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The cost for IB is not comprised only of IB Diploma candidates.

But, those who do not get IB diplomas would be better suited to AP. The expense is ridiculous.

In the words of princess Elsa...

Let it go...

You need to stop clicking on these posts if this discussion really bothers you that much. This hasn't been talked about to death, it's not even on the school board's radar yet, and it will continue to be discussed till something's done. You need to let it go and stop getting upset that people are continuing to talk about a topic you'd rather have not discussed.

You're quite defensive. The reality is that you are constantly posting on this forum about the cost of IB. Posting here isn't going to get you anywhere. Take your concerns to the school board.

I can't think of more than two other postings on the cost of IB and typically it's been about someone looking at IB vs AP not whether or not IB is justified in poorer performing schools. You're exaggerating how much this topic comes up and I've only posted about 1/5 the comments on the cost here. FCPS checks the VA public schools site probably once a week. I'll go to the school board if I need to, but sometimes saying less works better. Give them the credit for figuring out their own problems. Do you also comment on the weekly "how is my K child's reading level" or "help me figure out if this cogat score gets into AAP"? Much more prevalent than IB talk. Admit you have some reason to keep it going in these schools.

[Anonymous]

You're quite defensive. The reality is that you are constantly posting on this forum about the cost of IB. Posting here isn't going to get you anywhere. Take your concerns to the school board.

FWIW, there are at least two posters on here posting about the expense. Why is that off limits?