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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree with the PP that going the IB route is not for the faint of heart. However, at a lot of schools which have the IB program, the faculty [u]strongly[/u] encourages all kids to sign up for it and talks it up so much to the parents that some kids who have no business being in the IB program start it and fail miserably. A friend of one of my DS's was an average student, but his parents encouraged him to go IB; he ended up with D's in most of the courses and wasn't even eligible to play the sport he loved for a full year because of his grades. I know the teachers talk up the program a lot so that they can keep the IB program at the school, but they need to be a little more forthcoming about it all.

Certainly you want to encourage all children to be challenged, but the bottom line is that IB is not for everyone. Neither of my children would have done well in the program; they have taken AP classes instead and done quite well. The oldest was accepted to 4 of the 5 universities he applied to, so we feel that AP was definitely the best choice for him.[b] I also wish the schools would be more honest about the IB program and not lead people to believe that it will make a huge difference in college acceptances.[/b] The kids I know at our school who have gotten the IB diploma have, for the most part, ended up at the same schools as the kids who took AP classes.

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I agree, IB is not for everyone. DC is in RM IB magnet program - it is very rigorous and difficult program.   DC is a good student in most every subject - so could not decide to go in Humanities or Science in HS.  Wants to get into medicine later and so we felt that HS may be the only chance DC gets to get a good liberal arts/humanities education. RM IB fitted that profile.

Pros -
1) If DC will survive the 4 years in RM IB  :-)  -  will be able to breeze through ANYTHING in college.  Superior writing, superior analysis.   It takes blood, sweat and tears...
2) Admission officials in US know about the rigor of this program. It has a 98% diploma achievement rate, higher than schools in Europe.
3) At RM IB - they take their first AP in Freshman year.  Most kids who take IB tests also go and take the equivalent AP tests.
4) A good balance of Science and Humanities.

Cons -
1) If DC was not in RM IB - I would have encouraged DC to take  AP courses, or a mix of AP and IB courses- not necessarily do the whole IB Diploma. 
2) If DC was more SMACS focused - I would not have asked to get into RM IB program.
3) There is not a vast difference in how AP or IB is perceived by college admissions officers. And if the end goal is to get into a good college - I think concentrating on APs would be more fruitful for most HS students - than work on IB diploma requirements.

Most top colleges will not award AP/IB credits for coveted majors. After all, if you get a degree from Brown or Duke - they want to make sure that you have taken all your courses there.   So AP/IB scores are used more for signalling that the student can handle heavy and challenging work loads.

There are students from the "W" schools that get into Ivies, but I think many RM IB students get full /partial scholarships and other merit scholarships.  A lot of them go to state schools - again on full rides...  I am sure this is true even of Poolsville and Blair magnet programs.

What RM IB  is good at is giving a really good education to students.  Getting into a good college is also about strategy - not necessarily about a good HS education. The rigor of the IB program can take a toll on the perfect GPA.

However - succeeding in college depends quite a bit on the good HS education..

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