Washington Liberty IB Program - Was it Worth It?

[Anonymous]

YHS and W&L is choosing between two different but very good schools. There’s no advantage to a student to attending one or the other FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING INTO COLLEGE. There are significant differences that can be described generally as: at W&L, easier to make a sports team, more diverse, IB program offered, and your distance to school will vary depending on where you live. I’m sure others will list other things. People have different preferences and your child may have vastly different experiences which would matter to their academic performance. But UVA accepts the exact same number for each school every year and elite acceptances are the equivalent. I suspect YHS does better for middle/bottom of class due to socioeconomic differences but I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP is more rigorous than IB, which is what school systems implement in failing schools to create the illusion of rigor.

Not for languages. Higher Level IBD language exams are much harder than AP because they stress advanced speaking and listening (unlike AP).

My kid easily scored a 5 on AP Chinese language sophomore year but only scored a 5/7 on HL IB Chinese after senior year. IB HL language is pitched at least a year past AP, maybe two years.

[Anonymous]

Families of strong W-L students considering college abroad are well advised to go with IBD. Look on the web sites of top colleges in Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands etc. Colleges abroad that attract some American undergrads for BA work routinely publish IBD points total cut offs for applicants and generally prefer IB to AP background. We're looking college bargains in Scotland, Amsterdam, Dublin, Toronto etc. as a back-up in case our eldest doesn't crack UVA. Kid has doubled up on AP exams in four subjects (with IB exams in those subjects in June). His standardized test scores, high 700s on SATs, 6-7s on two early IB exams junior year and 5s on AP, are much stronger than his GPA. His GPA might not work for UVA. Glad that our kid is on track for full IB on the road to affordable college options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP is more rigorous than IB, which is what school systems implement in failing schools to create the illusion of rigor.

Maybe in Fairfax County where it has been badly implemented at the highest poverty schools.

In APS, IB is only grades 11 and 12, so students have plenty of time to figure out if an AP/IB mix, mostly AP, or the full IB diploma aligns with their academic and university goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP is more rigorous than IB, which is what school systems implement in failing schools to create the illusion of rigor.

Maybe in Fairfax County where it has been badly implemented at the highest poverty schools.

In APS, IB is only grades 11 and 12, so students have plenty of time to figure out if an AP/IB mix, mostly AP, or the full IB diploma aligns with their academic and university goals.

Unless they're a transfer-in student whose only choice is (according to policy anyway) full IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Families of strong W-L students considering college abroad are well advised to go with IBD. Look on the web sites of top colleges in Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands etc. Colleges abroad that attract some American undergrads for BA work routinely publish IBD points total cut offs for applicants and generally prefer IB to AP background. We're looking college bargains in Scotland, Amsterdam, Dublin, Toronto etc. as a back-up in case our eldest doesn't crack UVA. Kid has doubled up on AP exams in four subjects (with IB exams in those subjects in June). His standardized test scores, high 700s on SATs, 6-7s on two early IB exams junior year and 5s on AP, are much stronger than his GPA. His GPA might not work for UVA. Glad that our kid is on track for full IB on the road to affordable college options.

Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Families of strong W-L students considering college abroad are well advised to go with IBD. Look on the web sites of top colleges in Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands etc. Colleges abroad that attract some American undergrads for BA work routinely publish IBD points total cut offs for applicants and generally prefer IB to AP background. We're looking college bargains in Scotland, Amsterdam, Dublin, Toronto etc. as a back-up in case our eldest doesn't crack UVA. Kid has doubled up on AP exams in four subjects (with IB exams in those subjects in June). His standardized test scores, high 700s on SATs, 6-7s on two early IB exams junior year and 5s on AP, are much stronger than his GPA. His GPA might not work for UVA. Glad that our kid is on track for full IB on the road to affordable college options.

This is true everywhere. The IB diploma is more valuable if your kid wants to go to college abroad. Not many are interested in doing this. It’s still a very small minority.

[Anonymous]

It's a growing tiny minority at a time when private colleges run you 80K+ a year and many of us are in the fi aid doughnut. Our suburban DC houses and salaries are too valuable for us to qualify for aid but we can't afford to pay without borrowing heavily. If our kids don't get into UVA or CoWM a top univ in Canada and the UK may work out better than a VA public college where most students commute (I'd put George Mason in that category). Obama ensured that American students can borrow from the Stafford Loan program to attend many of the best universities abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a growing tiny minority at a time when private colleges run you 80K+ a year and many of us are in the fi aid doughnut. Our suburban DC houses and salaries are too valuable for us to qualify for aid but we can't afford to pay without borrowing heavily. If our kids don't get into UVA or CoWM a top univ in Canada and the UK may work out better than a VA public college where most students commute (I'd put George Mason in that category). Obama ensured that American students can borrow from the Stafford Loan program to attend many of the best universities abroad.

Yup. Many U.S. students go to McGill in Montreal (the premier Anglophone school in Canada), the Sorbonne, ETH Zurich, TU Delft, St. Andrews, Ludwig Maximilian University, Humboldt, etc.

[Anonymous]

I believe one or two W-L students went to UCL (University College London) last year.

[Anonymous]

An IB student from W-L went to Univ of Toronto, another to Queens College Ontario. Last year, one went to Leiden in the Netherlands (run in English). Those are fine schools than run families half what private US colleges do, 34-40K a year and yes, students can take out Stafford Loans to attend.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that your kid has to start a language in 7th grade to even be considered eligible for IB (i.e. they need to be in level 2 of a language in 8th grade)? Or is pre-IB optional and you can choose IB later in high school so it doesn't matter? That seems insane to weed out that early. I don't see my kid going down this path, just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An IB student from W-L went to Univ of Toronto, another to Queens College Ontario. Last year, one went to Leiden in the Netherlands (run in English). Those are fine schools than run families half what private US colleges do, 34-40K a year and yes, students can take out Stafford Loans to attend.

There are families from AP schools sending their kids to schools abroad every year; it's correlated far more with family wealth and origin than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that your kid has to start a language in 7th grade to even be considered eligible for IB (i.e. they need to be in level 2 of a language in 8th grade)? Or is pre-IB optional and you can choose IB later in high school so it doesn't matter? That seems insane to weed out that early. I don't see my kid going down this path, just curious.

Yes, that's in the listed requirements: https://wl.apsva.us/international-baccalaureate-program/application-information/

They also have to take ALL intensified classes in 9th and 10th grade + AP Government in 10th grade. So, even these "Pre-IB" years are a pretty hefty schedule.

fyi the AP Gov thing is because US Government is a state-required class but there isn't room for it in the IB 11th-12th schedule. I believe at the other HS's it's generally a seniors class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that your kid has to start a language in 7th grade to even be considered eligible for IB (i.e. they need to be in level 2 of a language in 8th grade)? Or is pre-IB optional and you can choose IB later in high school so it doesn't matter? That seems insane to weed out that early. I don't see my kid going down this path, just curious.

Yes, that's in the listed requirements: https://wl.apsva.us/international-baccalaureate-program/application-information/

They also have to take ALL intensified classes in 9th and 10th grade + AP Government in 10th grade. So, even these "Pre-IB" years are a pretty hefty schedule.

fyi the AP Gov thing is because US Government is a state-required class but there isn't room for it in the IB 11th-12th schedule. I believe at the other HS's it's generally a seniors class.

PP here, thanks. That's kind of nuts. Definitely a very self-selecting pool of people if you need to know in 7th grade what path you're taking. And, yeah, I grew up in CA (years ago) and government and econ were senior year classes (semester each).