AP vs IB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I live near OHS. It is a very nice school. I would not pupil place into Marshall or SL from that location. Oakton is a good school and those schools are far. You are looking at a LOT of traffic/ commuting time for course work that is part of a program with problems -- and not the same as the overseas program. We had one neighbor who went to SL -- transferred out ASAP. Same Marshall. Marshall is great for some students, but it is not the perfect school that the supporters say it is.

This is true of every school, everywhere. Great for some, not for others, no place is perfect. Nobody on this thread made out that Marshall (or SL) was perfect, and nobody here said OHS wasn't a perfectly nice school. So why bring this up? There's no relevance other than that you know one kid who left SL (over IB? You don't say, so what's the relevance to OP's question?).

Your post doesn't give OP any concrete information about the specific question originally asked.

OP, be aware that DCUM is full of folks who come on here to make digs at schools they don't like, or heard something negative about, whether or not they actually have kids there themselves. Focus on what you want to know about AP and IB and the specific school your kid would attend if you did a transfer -- talk to parents who actually have kids at that school. Better yet, talk to those parents' kids--the students doing the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I live near OHS. It is a very nice school. I would not pupil place into Marshall or SL from that location. Oakton is a good school and those schools are far. You are looking at a LOT of traffic/ commuting time for course work that is part of a program with problems -- and not the same as the overseas program. We had one neighbor who went to SL -- transferred out ASAP. Same Marshall. Marshall is great for some students, but it is not the perfect school that the supporters say it is.

This is true of every school, everywhere. Great for some, not for others, no place is perfect. Nobody on this thread made out that Marshall (or SL) was perfect, and nobody here said OHS wasn't a perfectly nice school. So why bring this up? There's no relevance other than that you know one kid who left SL (over IB? You don't say, so what's the relevance to OP's question?).

Your post doesn't give OP any concrete information about the specific question originally asked.

OP, be aware that DCUM is full of folks who come on here to make digs at schools they don't like, or heard something negative about, whether or not they actually have kids there themselves. Focus on what you want to know about AP and IB and the specific school your kid would attend if you did a transfer -- talk to parents who actually have kids at that school. Better yet, talk to those parents' kids--the students doing the work.

You can always count on Marshall booster to chime in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I wonder what sort of tune many of the anti-IB posters on here would be singing if, say, 20 years ago, FCPS had decided to put IB in the "better" FCPS schools and left AP in the "lesser" FCPS schools. Oh, I'm sure you'll tell us that your opinion would be unchanged based on your objective, scientific analysis of college admissions, but somehow, I sort of doubt it.

NO. I think those schools are happy with the AP program. I think you put everything on a racial/class card. The IB program is an expense that FCPS does not need in these times.

Uh, I wasn't really asking a yes or no question or suggesting that schools that currently have AP aren't happy with it. Maybe you need to go back to school and take a few reading comprehension courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I live near OHS. It is a very nice school. I would not pupil place into Marshall or SL from that location. Oakton is a good school and those schools are far. You are looking at a LOT of traffic/ commuting time for course work that is part of a program with problems -- and not the same as the overseas program. We had one neighbor who went to SL -- transferred out ASAP. Same Marshall. Marshall is great for some students, but it is not the perfect school that the supporters say it is.

One thing that Oakton and Marshall have in common is that their boundaries pull from a lot of areas further west of the schools. It can take a while to get to Oakton if you're zoned for OHS and live in Herndon/Oak Hill. That's also the case if you are zoned for Marshall but live in Vienna out towards Reston. We used to live in Vienna/22182. The two closest high schools were Madison and Oakton, but we were zoned for Marshall. It would definitely chew up a lot of time to pick up or drop off our oldest, if he needed to stay at school late and needed a ride. Getting there from Oakton would take even longer. We now live less than two miles from two high schools, and it's been more convenient. Our younger kids were able to walk to school, or quickly go back and forth from the house to the school for different activities.

Maybe the OP didn't want to hear about travel times, but only about the differences between the two academic programs. But I'd treat it the same way that I'd look at buying a house when considering a commute to a job. If you are thinking about pupil-placing and will have to provide transportation, do a number of test runs at times when you'd need to drop off or pick up your child (and factor in whether this would be on top of commuting to work). I don't know if getting to SL from Hunter Mill and Lawyers in Oakton is too bad, but I'm not sure there's any good way to get to Marshall from Oakton that doesn't involve going through Tysons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:f tune many of the anti-IB posters on here would be singing if, say, 20 years ago, FCPS had decided to put IB in the "better" FCPS schools and left AP in the "lesser" FCPS schools. Oh, I'm sure you'll tell us that your opinion would be unchanged based on your objective, scientific analysis of college admissions, but somehow, I sort of doubt it.

You don't have to speculate. Here's a timeline for IB in FCPS:

Mount Vernon - 1994
Stuart - 1994
Marshall - 1997
Edison -1998
Robinson - 1998
South Lakes - 1999
Woodson - 1999 [proposed for IB: parents rejected]
Westfield - 2000 [new school; opened as AP]
Annandale - 2001
Lee - 2001
South County - 2012 [new school; opened as AP]

It's difficult to look at this and not conclude that FCPS went through a period of infatuation with IB, but that this period has come and gone. No other schools are clamoring for IB (some Falls Church parents asked whether FCHS could get both AP and IB, but primarily as a way to limit pupil placements out of the school), and there seems to be more than enough "IB capacity" in the system.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks for the all the replies. OHS is in our backyard, and I was under the impression that IB was very selective to get into - similar to other states. Knowing that it's not a super selective program and open to all leads me to think that this is not what our DC would want, nor us for that matter. OHS is a great schoo. I will further look into the AP capstone program that a PP noted. Thanks again for all the insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I wonder what sort of tune many of the anti-IB posters on here would be singing if, say, 20 years ago, FCPS had decided to put IB in the "better" FCPS schools and left AP in the "lesser" FCPS schools. Oh, I'm sure you'll tell us that your opinion would be unchanged based on your objective, scientific analysis of college admissions, but somehow, I sort of doubt it.

NO. I think those schools are happy with the AP program. I think you put everything on a racial/class card. The IB program is an expense that FCPS does not need in these times.

Oh, take this tired canard please and go away.

[Anonymous]

The minute IB is adopted in McLean or Langley or Woodson is the day I sign my kids up. Just sayin'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The minute IB is adopted in McLean or Langley or Woodson is the day I sign my kids up. Just sayin'

So if it's good enough for the rich kids, you're in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minute IB is adopted in McLean or Langley or Woodson is the day I sign my kids up. Just sayin'

So if it's good enough for the rich kids, you're in?

Stick a fork in it, folks. Sounds like OP wanted to explore IB if it was a selective program like the IB program at Richard Montgomery over in MoCo. That's not the case for IB schools in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minute IB is adopted in McLean or Langley or Woodson is the day I sign my kids up. Just sayin'

So if it's good enough for the rich kids, you're in?

Stick a fork in it, folks. Sounds like OP wanted to explore IB if it was a selective program like the IB program at Richard Montgomery over in MoCo. That's not the case for IB schools in FCPS.

What does that have to do with pp saying he/she wouldn't consider IB unless it was in the wealthiest schools in the county?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for the all the replies. OHS is in our backyard, and I was under the impression that IB was very selective to get into - similar to other states. Knowing that it's not a super selective program and open to all leads me to think that this is not what our DC would want, nor us for that matter. OHS is a great schoo. I will further look into the AP capstone program that a PP noted. Thanks again for all the insight.

You do know that AP is also open to all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for the all the replies. OHS is in our backyard, and I was under the impression that IB was very selective to get into - similar to other states. Knowing that it's not a super selective program and open to all leads me to think that this is not what our DC would want, nor us for that matter. OHS is a great schoo. I will further look into the AP capstone program that a PP noted. Thanks again for all the insight.

You do know that AP is also open to all?

That is true. In fact, a higher percentage of OHS students take AP courses than Marshall or South Lakes students take IB courses.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Yes, I know AP is open to all. This is why, had IB been selective, would had looked into pupil placement and driven DC instead of DC walking to OHS. Now that I know IB isn't like IB in other states I don't think we will further consider IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, I know AP is open to all. This is why, had IB been selective, would had looked into pupil placement and driven DC instead of DC walking to OHS. Now that I know IB isn't like IB in other states I don't think we will further consider IB.

It's still the exact same program that is offered in other states or schools where it is "selective." And it is "self-selective" in the sense that every kid who goes into the IB program has bought into the marketing that it's elite and advanced (i.e. they are the best students in the school whether some committee picked them or not).

I think your reasoning is kind of off, OP.