Does a full IB diploma make a difference?

[Anonymous]

If you are considering college in the UK or abroad, you may have to wait until summer for your official college acceptance and scholarship info as many of these schools grant a contingent acceptance. But this can happen with AP classes taken senior year as well.

[Anonymous]

This is my son's exact profile right now down to the GPA and ACT score. He is told that UVA is a reach.

Anonymous wrote:Curious to hear from parents whether they perceived that the IB diploma made a difference in admissions? My kid has a 4.3 weighted GPA, 33 ACT and will be completing the IB diploma in VA. Does it make a difference? UVA is the target if that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is STEM focused and wants to go into math or engineering. Looking at the IB curriculum, it seems very heavy on humanities, so she is declining full IB. If anyone can correct me or fill me in, TIA.

My DC graduated from an IB magnet, STEM focused kid, double majoring in STEM field.

Colleges don't care about IB diploma since you don't actually know whether you passed the IB exams to get the diploma until July. A lot of IB credits also don't transfer, so from that perspective, it's not really worth it.

Having stated that... the IB program is heavy on writing because of the heavy critical thinking and analysis that is required in ALL classes, including the STEM classes.

DC is now in college and says that the IB program really helped with their writing, critical thinking and analysis, and time management. DC has gone to internship fairs already, and the recruiters there were very impressed with DC's communication skills (another benefit of being in the IBDP, IMO).

I had often wondered whether DC should've gone to the STEM magnet instead of the IB magnet, and when I shared this with DC, they said that they were glad that they did the IBDP because it made the more well rounded, gain better time management skills, and be a more effective communicator.

My dc is not stem but this. All this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are considering college in the UK or abroad, you may have to wait until summer for your official college acceptance and scholarship info as many of these schools grant a contingent acceptance. But this can happen with AP classes taken senior year as well.

Maybe but a lot of unconditional offers are sent to students with very strong profiles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid (HS class of 2022) did the full IB Diploma at W-L. Its not clear whether it benefited him from an admissions perspective, as he aimed really high with his applications and didn't get in to many places (though he did end up in a very good spot), despite straight A's through HS, the IB Diploma, and an additional 5 AP classes. He did not get into UVa. He has been very well prepared for college, however, and continues to do very well.

Ouch! I was afraid of this.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Definitely can’t assume your kid will get into uva with full IB. Lots of kids in NVA do full IB. Many of them with all As. But not all get into uva.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are considering college in the UK or abroad, you may have to wait until summer for your official college acceptance and scholarship info as many of these schools grant a contingent acceptance. But this can happen with AP classes taken senior year as well.

Maybe but a lot of unconditional offers are sent to students with very strong profiles

How about for McGill? Kid is dual citizen

[Anonymous]

People have such unrealistic expectations. I remember one IB parent quizzing me about Ivies as if their kid was Ivy-bound just because she was getting an IB diploma. Fast forward and the kid ended up at JMU.

[Anonymous]

Most of these posts are really only anecdotes....

Anonymous wrote:People have such unrealistic expectations. I remember one IB parent quizzing me about Ivies as if their kid was Ivy-bound just because she was getting an IB diploma. Fast forward and the kid ended up at JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid (HS class of 2022) did the full IB Diploma at W-L. Its not clear whether it benefited him from an admissions perspective, as he aimed really high with his applications and didn't get in to many places (though he did end up in a very good spot), despite straight A's through HS, the IB Diploma, and an additional 5 AP classes. He did not get into UVa. He has been very well prepared for college, however, and continues to do very well.

That is disappointing. My kids went to W-L and opted not to do the diploma, took a mix of AP/IB classes, definitely not top rigor with the full expectation that it meant they would not be competitive for UVA but I'm surprised a kid with this profile did not get in. At one time this would definitely = UVA admit but as W-L and the IB program gets bigger and bigger but UVA only takes about 50 student max each year, it just gets more competitive.

[Anonymous]

IB is great for people looking at overseas colleges or global careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are considering college in the UK or abroad, you may have to wait until summer for your official college acceptance and scholarship info as many of these schools grant a contingent acceptance. But this can happen with AP classes taken senior year as well.

Maybe but a lot of unconditional offers are sent to students with very strong profiles

How about for McGill? Kid is dual citizen

I would think it would be very helpful prep for McGill both to get in and stay in. Competitive Canadian schools can be easier to get into but the challenge is handling the work once in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not valued very much at UVA. My nephew did not get many credits for is full IB diploma.

The value it highly in terms of admissions. Often the kids that get in from our HS are the full IB students.

Our IB director said that there are many schools that don't hand out the credit for IB classes like they do for AP -- that's a real problem if you want to/need to graduate early. But if you are on the 4 year plan anyway, why not retake the Calc class, etc and have an easier time of it in college rather than advancing through to the next course right away.

If your school offers the IB Diploma, completing that is the "most rigorous" program offered at the school and for highly selective colleges that want you to take the most rigorous program, not taking it would count against you.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not valued very much at UVA. My nephew did not get many credits for is full IB diploma.

The value it highly in terms of admissions. Often the kids that get in from our HS are the full IB students.

Our IB director said that there are many schools that don't hand out the credit for IB classes like they do for AP -- that's a real problem if you want to/need to graduate early. But if you are on the 4 year plan anyway, why not retake the Calc class, etc and have an easier time of it in college rather than advancing through to the next course right away.

If your school offers the IB Diploma, completing that is the "most rigorous" program offered at the school and for highly selective colleges that want you to take the most rigorous program, not taking it would count against you.

This

No. If you are taking 10+ AP and scoring 5s on each, they know you can handle rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not valued very much at UVA. My nephew did not get many credits for is full IB diploma.

The value it highly in terms of admissions. Often the kids that get in from our HS are the full IB students.

Our IB director said that there are many schools that don't hand out the credit for IB classes like they do for AP -- that's a real problem if you want to/need to graduate early. But if you are on the 4 year plan anyway, why not retake the Calc class, etc and have an easier time of it in college rather than advancing through to the next course right away.

If your school offers the IB Diploma, completing that is the "most rigorous" program offered at the school and for highly selective colleges that want you to take the most rigorous program, not taking it would count against you.

This

No. If you are taking 10+ AP and scoring 5s on each, they know you can handle rigor.

Only some of the IB schools also offer AP.