Reply to IB - chance that schools will drop IB for AP

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "IB - chance that schools will drop IB for AP "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Other than the theory of knowledge course which is unique, why is IB desirable if kids in general are not well rounded enough to get an IB diploma?[/quote]

I've always wondered what is so special about this class, other than the lofty sounding name? People I talked to in the program all hated this class and how much BS and a waste of time they thought it was. I hope this is not fully true and there is more to IB classes than forcibly having to produce essays about fluff.[/quote]

Sure, and there are also others who love the ToK class.  Like many classes, much depends upon the teacher.

More broadly with respect to IB, we knew kids who thought it was great college prep, and others who were forced by their parents to do the full IB program, thought many of the required essays were busy work, and were bitter about not having much free time in high school.  Another thing to keep in mind that being on the IB diploma track won't compensate for so-so grades or SAT/ACT scores.  [/quote]

I heard that IB isn't really recommended for those really into math and science, as much of the program focuses on a lot of writing and is time consuming from that point of view, but not really different and/or special in math and science.[/quote]

My senior is solidly obsessed with math and science, and in an IB school.
At graduation, he will have completed 2 years of biology, 2 years of chemistry, and 2 years of physics. In addition, he will also complete HL math, which goes beyond AP BC calc. The writing in science in math is really not as dramatic as people make it sound. He completed one paper for math, and outside of the paper that goes with the science fair project, I think he will only complete one paper in each science course as well. He took two undergraduate classes at a well regarded college this past summer, and the professor was impressed with his ability to write a thorough lab report. Most of the kids in his class had never written one before. In all honesty, he was a pretty terrible writer his freshman year, and I have to credit the IB program with his progress. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics