What kind of grades do average RMIB kids get?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of grades do average studentss at RMIB get? We are curious how stressful it is at the magnets. Seems like kids are also self-studying for AP tests? Do teachers or the program help support the students with these, or do most kids skip the AP tests and just take the IB tests that are administered at the end of 11th/12th grade?

Program is extremely stressful.
RMIB kids do take AP and IB exams (mine took 16AP exams plus 6 IB).
RMIB kids do self-study some AP exams.
Most kids are crazy self-driven.

This sounds INSANE! is there a mental health crisis among the kids?

I've had two do the IB program. Neither took or will take 16 AP exams, more like 8-10 APs. There are some who do, but many of them don't. The 6 IB exams are required for the diploma program. Both are A students (partly due to grade inflation in some classes) but did get Bs in their classes for occasional quarters.

Both my kids didn't have a ton of extracurriculars and made time for a social life. Maybe they're not the "norm", but I really don't know since they hung out with kids more like them. They both are good at managing time and learned not to procrastinate.

They're not gunning for the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc, b/c they don't have a chance. But they are getting an excellent education and are prepared for college!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of grades do average studentss at RMIB get? We are curious how stressful it is at the magnets. Seems like kids are also self-studying for AP tests? Do teachers or the program help support the students with these, or do most kids skip the AP tests and just take the IB tests that are administered at the end of 11th/12th grade?

Program is extremely stressful.
RMIB kids do take AP and IB exams (mine took 16AP exams plus 6 IB).
RMIB kids do self-study some AP exams.
Most kids are crazy self-driven.

This sounds INSANE! is there a mental health crisis among the kids?

I've had two do the IB program. Neither took or will take 16 AP exams, more like 8-10 APs. There are some who do, but many of them don't. The 6 IB exams are required for the diploma program. Both are A students (partly due to grade inflation in some classes) but did get Bs in their classes for occasional quarters.

Both my kids didn't have a ton of extracurriculars and made time for a social life. Maybe they're not the "norm", but I really don't know since they hung out with kids more like them. They both are good at managing time and learned not to procrastinate.

They're not gunning for the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc, b/c they don't have a chance. But they are getting an excellent education and are prepared for college!

This is my RMIB kid also. Definitely a better education than what she would get at the home school. And she is able to play a sport that she enjoys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how RM is a school with what, 2500 kids and despite the OP asking about average, non-IB students, so many parents whose kids have straight A's feel compelled to tell us about it.

Don't ever change, pony moms. Stay golden.

read fail! Topic: "What kind of grades do average RMIB kids get?"

Classic RMIB parent. I'm an NP and know this post is about IB but the point holds about people jumping on to tell the whole internetverse about their kids straight As. It's the same off-putting tone that you read from parents on threads about Blair.

I am the original poster. I am here to ask the RMIB students' parents, so I welcome their opinions. I am not too sure why you are talking about non-IB kids here only because it's not related to my question?

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your replies. This was helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how I would get a sense of the "average IB student."

But my own IB student has had a smattering of marking period Bs, but they have all averaged to an A for the semester total. He has taken 5 AP exams by junior year. Two friends dropped out of the program during or after freshman year, and I know at least one friend who was really struggling in math/science and likely ended up with a C in at least one of them.

If I had to guess, I would assume that any student earning majority B/Cs drops from the program to earn higher grades in non-IB. That is likely why you hear so much about straight A students. But there is a mix.

Do HS transcript show quarter grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how I would get a sense of the "average IB student."

But my own IB student has had a smattering of marking period Bs, but they have all averaged to an A for the semester total. He has taken 5 AP exams by junior year. Two friends dropped out of the program during or after freshman year, and I know at least one friend who was really struggling in math/science and likely ended up with a C in at least one of them.

If I had to guess, I would assume that any student earning majority B/Cs drops from the program to earn higher grades in non-IB. That is likely why you hear so much about straight A students. But there is a mix.

Do HS transcript show quarter grades?

Just semester grades. Not quarter or year long grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how I would get a sense of the "average IB student."

But my own IB student has had a smattering of marking period Bs, but they have all averaged to an A for the semester total. He has taken 5 AP exams by junior year. Two friends dropped out of the program during or after freshman year, and I know at least one friend who was really struggling in math/science and likely ended up with a C in at least one of them.

If I had to guess, I would assume that any student earning majority B/Cs drops from the program to earn higher grades in non-IB. That is likely why you hear so much about straight A students. But there is a mix.

That's a problem in the way you measure expectations for your child.

If something is difficult the answer isn't to take something easier. The answer is twofold: one, to work harder--and two, to learn how not to be perfect. My RMIB student has gotten C's. Obviously, with the pressure cooker extremists around them, they'd never admit this, but it shouldn't be their issue. We all have different things we're good at.

But this is just another thread where people can brag about their straight-A perfectly-adjusted kids , and do lest anyone consider them or their children lesser in any way. It is, yes, just like all those annoying Blair threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how I would get a sense of the "average IB student."

But my own IB student has had a smattering of marking period Bs, but they have all averaged to an A for the semester total. He has taken 5 AP exams by junior year. Two friends dropped out of the program during or after freshman year, and I know at least one friend who was really struggling in math/science and likely ended up with a C in at least one of them.

If I had to guess, I would assume that any student earning majority B/Cs drops from the program to earn higher grades in non-IB. That is likely why you hear so much about straight A students. But there is a mix.

That's a problem in the way you measure expectations for your child.

If something is difficult the answer isn't to take something easier. The answer is twofold: one, to work harder--and two, to learn how not to be perfect. My RMIB student has gotten C's. Obviously, with the pressure cooker extremists around them, they'd never admit this, but it shouldn't be their issue. We all have different things we're good at.

But this is just another thread where people can brag about their straight-A perfectly-adjusted kids , and do lest anyone consider them or their children lesser in any way. It is, yes, just like all those annoying Blair threads.

PP here, and what?

Where did I say anything about my expectations for my kids, or anyone else's?

I had a hypothesis about why you don't often hear about mostly B/C kids in the IB. And if my child were in a position where they were working incredibly hard and stressing themselves out and sacrificing their personal life and interests and achieving mostly B/Cs, I would certainly have a conversation about whether they should leave the program in order to have a better experience and better quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of grades do average studentss at RMIB get? We are curious how stressful it is at the magnets. Seems like kids are also self-studying for AP tests? Do teachers or the program help support the students with these, or do most kids skip the AP tests and just take the IB tests that are administered at the end of 11th/12th grade?

Program is extremely stressful.
RMIB kids do take AP and IB exams (mine took 16AP exams plus 6 IB).
RMIB kids do self-study some AP exams.
Most kids are crazy self-driven.

This sounds INSANE! is there a mental health crisis among the kids?

I am sure even though I don't know any personally. That's also true for any other schools. Mine, luckily, didn't have any mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how I would get a sense of the "average IB student."

But my own IB student has had a smattering of marking period Bs, but they have all averaged to an A for the semester total. He has taken 5 AP exams by junior year. Two friends dropped out of the program during or after freshman year, and I know at least one friend who was really struggling in math/science and likely ended up with a C in at least one of them.

If I had to guess, I would assume that any student earning majority B/Cs drops from the program to earn higher grades in non-IB. That is likely why you hear so much about straight A students. But there is a mix.

That's a problem in the way you measure expectations for your child.

If something is difficult the answer isn't to take something easier. The answer is twofold: one, to work harder--and two, to learn how not to be perfect. My RMIB student has gotten C's. Obviously, with the pressure cooker extremists around them, they'd never admit this, but it shouldn't be their issue. We all have different things we're good at.

But this is just another thread where people can brag about their straight-A perfectly-adjusted kids , and do lest anyone consider them or their children lesser in any way. It is, yes, just like all those annoying Blair threads.

PP here, and what?

Where did I say anything about my expectations for my kids, or anyone else's?

I had a hypothesis about why you don't often hear about mostly B/C kids in the IB. And if my child were in a position where they were working incredibly hard and stressing themselves out and sacrificing their personal life and interests and achieving mostly B/Cs, I would certainly have a conversation about whether they should leave the program in order to have a better experience and better quality of life.

That is a problem with YOU, not the child who gets B's in a challenging academic setting. The point of taking challenging classes is to learn. Getting B's and the occasional C doesn't mean they aren't learning. It also doesn't mean they're stressed. My B student (with the occasional C in math), loves their classes. They--and our family--put that experience above any letter grade.

This idea that you have, that anything less than a perfect score means the learning process needs to be dumbed down is so damaging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of grades do average studentss at RMIB get? We are curious how stressful it is at the magnets. Seems like kids are also self-studying for AP tests? Do teachers or the program help support the students with these, or do most kids skip the AP tests and just take the IB tests that are administered at the end of 11th/12th grade?

Program is extremely stressful.
RMIB kids do take AP and IB exams (mine took 16AP exams plus 6 IB).
RMIB kids do self-study some AP exams.
Most kids are crazy self-driven.

This sounds INSANE! is there a mental health crisis among the kids?

I am sure even though I don't know any personally. That's also true for any other schools. Mine, luckily, didn't have any mental health issues.

Like all the kids in Lake Woebegone, hers are above average.

Again, this thread doesn't exist to discuss real issues or answer real questions.

[Anonymous]

My IB kid did not self study for any AP, I know others do.
She still ends up at with 9AP because from the AP courses she actually took. so 9AP + 6 IB total
She is a straight A student

[Anonymous]

I don’t think all the kids are straight A students. Mine has at least one B. And I know she is considered kind of a grinder by others —. Let of her friends do not have straight As and they are all top students applying to top schools. I think it’s really hard to always get As because some times you get a teacher that is just checked out. (That happened to her during the pandemic and the teacher ended up leaving the school.)

It is very stressful with a lot of work but the kids are mostly supportive and non judgmental so it seems to me like maybe fewer mental health issues than other schools. But kids really have to want to do it—don’t push your kid into it.

Mine self studied for a few APs but in some subjects the IB class is pretty close to the AP material — the teacher will tell you if that’s the case. I think something like AP Euro would be really hard to self study for, as the IB social studies class is quite different. But the math and sciences are pretty similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grader has all As, so are many of her friends. The program is very strong and intense. Lots of homework.

She has taken AP classes and has to study.

Technology teachers have 0 knowledge, have 0 interest in teaching, do not know how to work with (motivated) kids. Very invested in killing student interest in the subject. They should have been fired but school cannot find replacement or cannot fire.

Otherwise, it is wonderful program with very smart motivated kids who have goals, highly motivated and stay focused on school. The amount of work, self imposed desire to keep up does take a mental toll which teenagers are not good at managing.

I am curious about the technology teachers. At least the one my son has now is clueless. The kids can tell that she is clueless. What can a student and their parents do to make a change? It may be too late for my child but I am willing to work so that the next class don't suffer.

Go back in time and encourage more people to go into CS 20 years ago and set up a different comp structure for HS teachers with in demand skills. Even the colleges are having a hard time finding professors to teach CS. Have your kid make friends with the other kids in the class. There’s always a couple that know this stuff and will help others. My kid was that kid last year but is in a different CS class this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think all the kids are straight A students. Mine has at least one B. And I know she is considered kind of a grinder by others —. Let of her friends do not have straight As and they are all top students applying to top schools. I think it’s really hard to always get As because some times you get a teacher that is just checked out. (That happened to her during the pandemic and the teacher ended up leaving the school.)

It is very stressful with a lot of work but the kids are mostly supportive and non judgmental so it seems to me like maybe fewer mental health issues than other schools. But kids really have to want to do it—don’t push your kid into it.

Mine self studied for a few APs but in some subjects the IB class is pretty close to the AP material — the teacher will tell you if that’s the case. I think something like AP Euro would be really hard to self study for, as the IB social studies class is quite different. But the math and sciences are pretty similar.

Just want to echo this. My kid is in the RMIB and her friends are super supportive. They do work hard, but they help each other and most of them seem to thrive on the challenge.

My kid knows that we don’t expect straight As and that we would much prefer that she is being challenged and getting Bs than being at her home school and easily getting As.

I’m super grateful that my kid got into the RMIB and recognize/appreciate it for the unique experience that it is.