Does it look bad to not do the IB diploma at an IB school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, IB diploma requires a TON of writing. My child wrote a 4000 word paper for the Extended Essay and an Internal Assessment essay of ~2-3000 words for each 2-yr subject. The IB exams require writing as well. I feel like my kid got a really solid education at our neighborhood school with an IB diploma and they were accepted ED to their first choice college, a highly competitive school that accepted 12% of applicants. However, high school was a slog. I don’t think my kid would redo it if they could. They decided to do the full diploma they were forecasting for 11th grade and realized how close they were to meeting the credit requirements (due to starting high school in Algebra 3-4 and Spanish 3-4; some schools don’t offer higher level classes that aren’t IB. The AP classes that my second child is taking are far less rigorous, require less writing and a lot less critical thinking.

Kids in the IB diploma program this year are attending an impressive array of ivies and top universities, and are very bright kids, but they are tired.

look on the bright side, your IB diploma kid will probably find college a cakewalk. I like to think that it's better for my kid to stress while still living at home where DC has family support than when they go off to college and have very little family support around them.

My IB diploma senior is almost done. I keep reminding DC...just six more months, and you're done. It's been tough, but DC knows that college will more than likely be a bit easier for them than most people. DC is looking forward to being more relaxed next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, IB diploma requires a TON of writing. My child wrote a 4000 word paper for the Extended Essay and an Internal Assessment essay of ~2-3000 words for each 2-yr subject. The IB exams require writing as well. I feel like my kid got a really solid education at our neighborhood school with an IB diploma and they were accepted ED to their first choice college, a highly competitive school that accepted 12% of applicants. However, high school was a slog. I don’t think my kid would redo it if they could. They decided to do the full diploma they were forecasting for 11th grade and realized how close they were to meeting the credit requirements (due to starting high school in Algebra 3-4 and Spanish 3-4; some schools don’t offer higher level classes that aren’t IB. The AP classes that my second child is taking are far less rigorous, require less writing and a lot less critical thinking.

Kids in the IB diploma program this year are attending an impressive array of ivies and top universities, and are very bright kids, but they are tired.

look on the bright side, your IB diploma kid will probably find college a cakewalk. I like to think that it's better for my kid to stress while still living at home where DC has family support than when they go off to college and have very little family support around them.

My IB diploma senior is almost done. I keep reminding DC...just six more months, and you're done. It's been tough, but DC knows that college will more than likely be a bit easier for them than most people. DC is looking forward to being more relaxed next year.

+1 to the above.

Parent of a college senior here, and my kid did the full IB diploma track. She says that IB prepared her phenomenally well for college level work. She got to college and while some students were struggling freshman year with juggling so many writing and research assignments, she already knew how to manage her time well, thanks to HS IB. She was not at all daunted by writing essays. She also says that the critical thinking skills she was taught and developed with IB a a huge help in college. Just a fantastic preparation -- and not only because IB is tough and makes college seem easiser by comparison, but because IB teaches thinking and writing skills that everyone needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, IB diploma requires a TON of writing. My child wrote a 4000 word paper for the Extended Essay and an Internal Assessment essay of ~2-3000 words for each 2-yr subject. The IB exams require writing as well. I feel like my kid got a really solid education at our neighborhood school with an IB diploma and they were accepted ED to their first choice college, a highly competitive school that accepted 12% of applicants. However, high school was a slog. I don’t think my kid would redo it if they could. They decided to do the full diploma they were forecasting for 11th grade and realized how close they were to meeting the credit requirements (due to starting high school in Algebra 3-4 and Spanish 3-4; some schools don’t offer higher level classes that aren’t IB. The AP classes that my second child is taking are far less rigorous, require less writing and a lot less critical thinking.

Kids in the IB diploma program this year are attending an impressive array of ivies and top universities, and are very bright kids, but they are tired.

look on the bright side, your IB diploma kid will probably find college a cakewalk. I like to think that it's better for my kid to stress while still living at home where DC has family support than when they go off to college and have very little family support around them.

My IB diploma senior is almost done. I keep reminding DC...just six more months, and you're done. It's been tough, but DC knows that college will more than likely be a bit easier for them than most people. DC is looking forward to being more relaxed next year.

+1 to the above.

Parent of a college senior here, and my kid did the full IB diploma track. She says that IB prepared her phenomenally well for college level work. She got to college and while some students were struggling freshman year with juggling so many writing and research assignments, she already knew how to manage her time well, thanks to HS IB. She was not at all daunted by writing essays. She also says that the critical thinking skills she was taught and developed with IB a a huge help in college. Just a fantastic preparation -- and not only because IB is tough and makes college seem easiser by comparison, but because IB teaches thinking and writing skills that everyone needs.

IB grants a diploma for a very wide range of accomplishments — everything from 42 (7s on all six exams, with 4 HLs) down to 24 (an average of 4 on the six exams, with 3 HLs, and that 24 can include scores below 4, for example you could score 2s on three HLs and 6s on the three SLs). Do you think that any IB program is good preparation for college, or only IB programs where diploma scores commonly meet some higher standard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, IB diploma requires a TON of writing. My child wrote a 4000 word paper for the Extended Essay and an Internal Assessment essay of ~2-3000 words for each 2-yr subject. The IB exams require writing as well. I feel like my kid got a really solid education at our neighborhood school with an IB diploma and they were accepted ED to their first choice college, a highly competitive school that accepted 12% of applicants. However, high school was a slog. I don’t think my kid would redo it if they could. They decided to do the full diploma they were forecasting for 11th grade and realized how close they were to meeting the credit requirements (due to starting high school in Algebra 3-4 and Spanish 3-4; some schools don’t offer higher level classes that aren’t IB. The AP classes that my second child is taking are far less rigorous, require less writing and a lot less critical thinking.

Kids in the IB diploma program this year are attending an impressive array of ivies and top universities, and are very bright kids, but they are tired.

look on the bright side, your IB diploma kid will probably find college a cakewalk. I like to think that it's better for my kid to stress while still living at home where DC has family support than when they go off to college and have very little family support around them.

My IB diploma senior is almost done. I keep reminding DC...just six more months, and you're done. It's been tough, but DC knows that college will more than likely be a bit easier for them than most people. DC is looking forward to being more relaxed next year.

+1 to the above.

Parent of a college senior here, and my kid did the full IB diploma track. She says that IB prepared her phenomenally well for college level work. She got to college and while some students were struggling freshman year with juggling so many writing and research assignments, she already knew how to manage her time well, thanks to HS IB. She was not at all daunted by writing essays. She also says that the critical thinking skills she was taught and developed with IB a a huge help in college. Just a fantastic preparation -- and not only because IB is tough and makes college seem easiser by comparison, but because IB teaches thinking and writing skills that everyone needs.

IB grants a diploma for a very wide range of accomplishments — everything from 42 (7s on all six exams, with 4 HLs) down to 24 (an average of 4 on the six exams, with 3 HLs, and that 24 can include scores below 4, for example you could score 2s on three HLs and 6s on the three SLs). Do you think that any IB program is good preparation for college, or only IB programs where diploma scores commonly meet some higher standard?

More complicated than that.

Minimum scores:

https://www.bsge.org/ib_diploma_requirements

[Anonymous]

No. It is pretty pointless.

- IB Diploma Holder.

[Anonymous]

My kid is going for the IB diploma (currently in tenth grade). His school’s only physics offering is two-year IB Physics SL, which he will take in 11th and 12th. The school has decided to make TOK a two-year course as well starting next year (it was previously one year). He is thinking of taking in his only elective slot either IB Bio HL for two years, IB Psych HL for two years, or IB Global Politics SL for one year and a different one year elective the second year. Will he still be considered “most rigorous” if his diploma does not include an HL science and instead he takes Psych or an SL social science? Would hate for him to do all the extra work for the diploma and still not be considered “most rigorous.” On the other hand he is also very interested in political science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the top public schools in the region are AP. IB is the consolation prize for being assigned to a lower-performing school.

RMIB is the only good IB program in the DC region. The rest are a bit of a farce.

A ridiculous and totally implausible claim. If your kid went to RMIB then you have no idea how IB is taught at the other schools. Moreover, all IB schools have to meet and maintain a common set of standards and practices and a common coherent curriculum set by the IBO, so the IB programs at different schools are simply not going to be very different from each other.

Robinson awards the second most (maybe most?) number of IB diplomas in the world. So I guess it can’t be that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is going for the IB diploma (currently in tenth grade). His school’s only physics offering is two-year IB Physics SL, which he will take in 11th and 12th. The school has decided to make TOK a two-year course as well starting next year (it was previously one year). He is thinking of taking in his only elective slot either IB Bio HL for two years, IB Psych HL for two years, or IB Global Politics SL for one year and a different one year elective the second year. Will he still be considered “most rigorous” if his diploma does not include an HL science and instead he takes Psych or an SL social science? Would hate for him to do all the extra work for the diploma and still not be considered “most rigorous.” On the other hand he is also very interested in political science.

FCCPS? I think the two year TOK with extra time for the EE and CAS is great, and I am looking forward to that change for my kids, even if the support for CAS/TOK is only in theory I am so happy my kids wont have to wake up early for before school TOK. The problem is that you have to decide in 10th which classes you are doing HL and which SL so that sucks....when we bought a house here I thought all classes were offered HL and SL and that year one was the same for both....

[Anonymous]

How is the IB program at Marshall? Unfortunately, they do not have AP classes.