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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a sophomore at WL high school who is struggling with whether she should do the full IB program at WL high school, or simply do a mix of AP and IB classes without getting the full diploma.  A key factor in her decision-making is future college options.  She is worried that if she does not do the full IB program, colleges will question why she did not take the most rigorous curriculum offered at her school.  [b]She is aiming for some of the most highly competitive colleges[/b].  Any thoughts from those who have been there/done that?  It is worth putting yourself through the rigor of the IB program?  She is interested in a STEM career and IB is not necessarily a perfect fit for that, but it is what it is.  Have any of your children regretted their decision to do the IB program?[/quote]

Uh?  She wants to go to some of “most highly selective colleges” and yet the rigor of IB is at all a concern?   I mean, I get that she wants to do STEM, but come on.  Have you looked at the W&L matriculations to the “most highly selective colleges”?   Not to mean, but you sound like you have no clue.  Almost no one from that smart group of kids is getting into those schools.  Except athletic recruits.  And THE VERY BEST students, like top ten.  None of those kids are scared off by IB and would only consider the most rigorous courses.  To be clear, I am not including UVA.  [/quote]

This is the OP.  She is not concerned about the rigor, but rather, the fact that the IB requirements preclude her from taking other classes that are more relevant to STEM and her areas of interest/focus.  There is no question she would do the IB program if she was interested in going into a humanities field.  [/quote]

Again, look at the matriculations.  No one from W&L is going to MIT or CalTech (ok like maybe one kid in ten years).   So where is aiming for?  Any of the best colleges or universities will expect her to be able to write cohesively and critically — even in the engineering school.

I really dont think you appreciate what it takes to get into these schools. She’d have to be one of the very best students at W&L out of a class of 500 AND that means in the classes perceived by everyone as the hardest.  Most people think thats IB at W&L.

But since she’s not getting Harvard (and you are willing to accept that reality),  and she truly doesn’t want to write papers and just do computer science, then she should do that.  Following her passion will likely serve her better in the long run than chasing some nonexistent prestige war that she will never win. [/quote]

She does not reasonably think she is getting into Stanford/Harvard/MIT/CalTech, but she would love to be competitive for a tier or two below, such as Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, UVA, University of Michigan, and some of the UC schools.  Even schools like University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Purdue are very difficult to get into these days if you are applying for some of the more popular STEM majors like computer science.[/quote]

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