IB Program- What is it? IB or AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:



I wouldn't be so sure, but I'd like that poster to elaborate on the claim that IB grading is biased against American students and will pull down their GPAs. I don't understand that, as I understand IB courses get weighted the same extra 1.0 as AP courses. If he/she is referring to the grading of IB exams, that's a different point, but it wouldn't have any impact on a student's GPA.


I am that PP. Thank you for not slamming me as the others have.

Regarding GPAs, yes, the IB courses are weighted the same as AP courses, but the structure of the IB grading system pretty much ensures that students will not receive the equivalent of an A as easily as a student in a comparable AP course would. The bar for an "8" or "10" on the IB scale can be very high. (And no, I am not suggesting that AP is any less rigorous, it's just different).

Regarding the bias against American students, you rightly discerned that I was referring to IB exam/project grading. This is work that is shipped off to IB evaluators in other countries for grading to see how it fares against IB cohorts locally. There is most definitely a bias in certain localities against the American IB students. And yes, it can affect the student's GPA, because that feedback is supposed to be folded into the student's grade.





You are making quite a few assumptions and presenting it as fact.

And you are being vague. What assumptions am I allegedly making?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:



I wouldn't be so sure, but I'd like that poster to elaborate on the claim that IB grading is biased against American students and will pull down their GPAs. I don't understand that, as I understand IB courses get weighted the same extra 1.0 as AP courses. If he/she is referring to the grading of IB exams, that's a different point, but it wouldn't have any impact on a student's GPA.


I am that PP. Thank you for not slamming me as the others have.

Regarding GPAs, yes, the IB courses are weighted the same as AP courses, but the structure of the IB grading system pretty much ensures that students will not receive the equivalent of an A as easily as a student in a comparable AP course would. The bar for an "8" or "10" on the IB scale can be very high. (And no, I am not suggesting that AP is any less rigorous, it's just different).

Regarding the bias against American students, you rightly discerned that I was referring to IB exam/project grading. This is work that is shipped off to IB evaluators in other countries for grading to see how it fares against IB cohorts locally. There is most definitely a bias in certain localities against the American IB students. And yes, it can affect the student's GPA, because that feedback is supposed to be folded into the student's grade.





You are making quite a few assumptions and presenting it as fact.

And you are being vague. What assumptions am I allegedly making?

"pretty much"
"can be"
"can affect"
"supposed to be"

You don't have any information on the actual IB implementation, procedures, or grading in FCPS high schools. You're just spewing what you've read and heard elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

^ NP - @9:50 -- do you realize how stupid and obsessed you sound?

[Anonymous]

FACT: very few kids in FCPS graduate with IB diploma.
FACT: The IB program is much more expensive per student n FCPS than AP.
FACT: We have budget shortfalls. This is a drop in the bucket--but the drops do add up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:



I wouldn't be so sure, but I'd like that poster to elaborate on the claim that IB grading is biased against American students and will pull down their GPAs. I don't understand that, as I understand IB courses get weighted the same extra 1.0 as AP courses. If he/she is referring to the grading of IB exams, that's a different point, but it wouldn't have any impact on a student's GPA.


I am that PP. Thank you for not slamming me as the others have.

Regarding GPAs, yes, the IB courses are weighted the same as AP courses, but the structure of the IB grading system pretty much ensures that students will not receive the equivalent of an A as easily as a student in a comparable AP course would. The bar for an "8" or "10" on the IB scale can be very high. (And no, I am not suggesting that AP is any less rigorous, it's just different).

Regarding the bias against American students, you rightly discerned that I was referring to IB exam/project grading. This is work that is shipped off to IB evaluators in other countries for grading to see how it fares against IB cohorts locally. There is most definitely a bias in certain localities against the American IB students. And yes, it can affect the student's GPA, because that feedback is supposed to be folded into the student's grade.





You are making quite a few assumptions and presenting it as fact.



And you are being vague. What assumptions am I allegedly making?



"pretty much"
"can be"
"can affect"
"supposed to be"

You don't have any information on the actual IB implementation, procedures, or grading in FCPS high schools. You're just spewing what you've read and heard elsewhere.

And you could use a course in reading comprehension (as well as vocabulary, since you apparently do not know the meaning of the words "assumption" or "fact.") I am a teacher, which I stated earlier. I used to teach in an IB school. I am not spewing what I've read and heard. I have experienced this firsthand. You, on the other hand, have not said anything about what qualifies you to criticize me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:



I wouldn't be so sure, but I'd like that poster to elaborate on the claim that IB grading is biased against American students and will pull down their GPAs. I don't understand that, as I understand IB courses get weighted the same extra 1.0 as AP courses. If he/she is referring to the grading of IB exams, that's a different point, but it wouldn't have any impact on a student's GPA.


I am that PP. Thank you for not slamming me as the others have.

Regarding GPAs, yes, the IB courses are weighted the same as AP courses, but the structure of the IB grading system pretty much ensures that students will not receive the equivalent of an A as easily as a student in a comparable AP course would. The bar for an "8" or "10" on the IB scale can be very high. (And no, I am not suggesting that AP is any less rigorous, it's just different).

Regarding the bias against American students, you rightly discerned that I was referring to IB exam/project grading. This is work that is shipped off to IB evaluators in other countries for grading to see how it fares against IB cohorts locally. There is most definitely a bias in certain localities against the American IB students. And yes, it can affect the student's GPA, because that feedback is supposed to be folded into the student's grade.





You are making quite a few assumptions and presenting it as fact.



And you are being vague. What assumptions am I allegedly making?



"pretty much"
"can be"
"can affect"
"supposed to be"

You don't have any information on the actual IB implementation, procedures, or grading in FCPS high schools. You're just spewing what you've read and heard elsewhere.

And you could use a course in reading comprehension (as well as vocabulary, since you apparently do not know the meaning of the words "assumption" or "fact.") I am a teacher, which I stated earlier. I used to teach in an IB school. I am not spewing what I've read and heard. I have experienced this firsthand. You, on the other hand, have not said anything about what qualifies you to criticize me.

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Ok. Now it's all coming together. The poster who always hijacks AP/IB posts to complain about the cost of IB is a former IB teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Now it's all coming together. The poster who always hijacks AP/IB posts to complain about the cost of IB is a former IB teacher.

Why would you assume that only one poster knows that IB costs more for FCPS than AP or that most IB schools in FCPS have few diploma candidates? It's clear that's not the case, and more people are thinking these days about inefficient programs within FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Now it's all coming together. The poster who always hijacks AP/IB posts to complain about the cost of IB is a former IB teacher.

Why would you assume that only one poster knows that IB costs more for FCPS than AP or that most IB schools in FCPS have few diploma candidates? It's clear that's not the case, and more people are thinking these days about inefficient programs within FCPS.

I am sure there are plenty of people who agree that IB is an unnecessary cost, but writing style is unmistakable.

[Anonymous]

Ok. Now it's all coming together. The poster who always hijacks AP/IB posts to complain about the cost of IB is a former IB teacher.


Why would you assume that only one poster knows that IB costs more for FCPS than AP or that most IB schools in FCPS have few diploma candidates? It's clear that's not the case, and more people are thinking these days about inefficient programs within FCPS.

I hate IB and am not a teacher. I do live in a crappy school zone (Mount Vernon), so I find it frustrating that we are wasting money on this in our school and other poor schools when it obviously isn't as valuable as AP. If IB was so great, it would be everywhere instead of being concentrated in poor school zones in the county (yes, I know there are a few exceptions, but really, it is sort of obvious when you look at a map).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Now it's all coming together. The poster who always hijacks AP/IB posts to complain about the cost of IB is a former IB teacher.

Why would you assume that only one poster knows that IB costs more for FCPS than AP or that most IB schools in FCPS have few diploma candidates? It's clear that's not the case, and more people are thinking these days about inefficient programs within FCPS.

I am sure there are plenty of people who agree that IB is an unnecessary cost, but writing style is unmistakable.

So what are the hallmarks of that poster's writing? I think you are giving your detective skills too much credit.

"or maybe you think everyone who bothers to use UC is the same poster, lolz"

[Anonymous]

NP here. I'm in the same position as OP. I was following this thread, but it's going nowhere. For anyone interested in the substance of IB (rather than the politics), I posted a s/o in the college forum asking parents with kids who have gotten an IB diploma about college preparedness and admissions experiences and whether they thought IB was a good choice. You might want to check it out-- but please don't hijack it. You have a great forum right here for bickering about whether the program is worth the cost.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested as well, and so tired of whomever hijacks every IB thread to say it's a ce ap program and not worth the cost. It's not worse than AP, it's different. Lots of elite colleges do not accept either top AP or top IB scores for credit these days. They do show you took a demanding HS program. I will not pupil place my kid out of IB HS unless the teacher quality proves dismal. That remains to be seen.

[Anonymous]

Some people just want validation that IB is a good program or that it's superior to AP. It would probably be better if they were more candid about their objectives. The responses reflect the open-ended nature of the questions and the general preference in NoVa for AP over IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested as well, and so tired of whomever hijacks every IB thread to say it's a ce ap program and not worth the cost. It's not worse than AP, it's different. Lots of elite colleges do not accept either top AP or top IB scores for credit these days. They do show you took a demanding HS program. I will not pupil place my kid out of IB HS unless the teacher quality proves dismal. That remains to be seen.

You're absolutely right! I was at an event last year where there were HS academic counselors from four high schools including TJ. All of them said the same thing that we were also told by our MS: Colleges want to know whether a student took the most rigorous academic offerings available to him or her. I heard that phrase several times from different HS representatives and heard it again at two different high schools' curriculum nights when they were talking to rising ninth graders. The point is that kids should take whatever is the most challenging thing on offer to them. In FCPS, we are unusually lucky that kids can have the option to switch high schools if their assigned school doesn't have the program they want (AP or IB). But whatever kids take, wherever they take it, colleges are focused on whether the student took the most advanced or demanding courses available.