How much does getting a full IB diploma help with college admissions?

[Anonymous]

In my DC's experience, the IB program was definitely an advantage because it spoke to the rigor of his academic course load. His (Admissions Office) interviewer noted that his IB candidacy was a plus. He applied to a SLAC ED and got in. The thing is, he didn't take any IB exams until this spring (senior year), so his college will only know/care how he did on the exams if he decides to ask for credit. The school won't even know/care if he got the dipolma unless he decides to notify them.

[Anonymous]

The IB diploma route is definitely a plus and because of the emphasis on writing should be a major help in college. But my anecdotal sense from this year's admissions is that rigor is what is most important, so if in IB, it is important to take the toughest courses, just doing IB will not be enough, and for many kids AP would be a better route. My child got regular letter grades in IB but they are just finishing the IB tests necessary for a diploma, and they actually will not get those scores until late in the summer so they play no factor in college admissions whereas many Juniors will have taken a number of AP exams that they can report as part of their college application.

[Anonymous]

I've probably posted up thread somewhere. The benefit to IB in public school is that you get some aspects of private school type classroom structure and learning. Or it's possible if well-implemented.There's plenty that falls short wrt how the curriculum is delivered, though, depending on the teacher. For my kids, I value the writing demands, and even though one of my kids is pretty frustrated with the time this requires, it may be one of the better take-aways from a mediocre FCPS HS. I don't care about getting college credit for IB courses and the most selective schools don't give credit for IB or AP, they just like to see the student took on and succeeded with the demands. It might give your kid some more elective choices at some universities, as they'll get some general ed requirements out of the way, though it can also be done with AP. Here's some examples of what you can jump over at VA TEch depending on your scores.

https://registrar.vt.edu/content/dam/registrar_vt_edu/documents/Updates/ap_ib_clep/IB-Higher-Credits-2017.pdf

[Anonymous]

Not from what I have seen. A friend's child did the full IB diploma and was rejected from all but a couple of state schools that non-IB students from the same school are accepted to in large numbers. Her senior had great grades and solid extracurriculars and leadership positions. And yes I am sure someone will chime in and say that is only one example, but even my friend says she will not encourage her second child to participate in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not from what I have seen. A friend's child did the full IB diploma and was rejected from all but a couple of state schools that non-IB students from the same school are accepted to in large numbers. Her senior had great grades and solid extracurriculars and leadership positions. And yes I am sure someone will chime in and say that is only one example, but even my friend says she will not encourage her second child to participate in the program.

Honestly, the course "IB Math Studies" on a transcript is a death certificate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doing full IB AND excelling in it is definitely an edge in college admissions. By excelling I mean getting a 41/45 or higher. You need a score above 40 to even begin to be competitive in top Ivies and SLACS.

Doing the full IB and doing just okay in it is not going to help in college admissions any more than taking 6 AP classes your junior year and getting 3's on the AP exams would be. If your grades are mediocre, then they are mediocre. It doesn't matter if it's IB or AP.

This is it exactly. To get into a top tier college you must take the hardest courses and still out-perform your peers. Makes sense, competitive colleges require that ability to succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not from what I have seen. A friend's child did the full IB diploma and was rejected from all but a couple of state schools that non-IB students from the same school are accepted to in large numbers. Her senior had great grades and solid extracurriculars and leadership positions. And yes I am sure someone will chime in and say that is only one example, but even my friend says she will not encourage her second child to participate in the program.

If her grades were that good than she must have done poorly on the SATs...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not from what I have seen. A friend's child did the full IB diploma and was rejected from all but a couple of state schools that non-IB students from the same school are accepted to in large numbers. Her senior had great grades and solid extracurriculars and leadership positions. And yes I am sure someone will chime in and say that is only one example, but even my friend says she will not encourage her second child to participate in the program.

If her grades were that good than she must have done poorly on the SATs...

Yes, whenever something is left out, you can bet it's because they didn't do well at it.

[Anonymous]

Advantage for non-U.S. colleges as you would expect. Other than that - it is a recognized course of study that colleges know how to rank but with no specific advantage or disadvantage assigned.