Reply to S/o (VA public schools). IB and college preparedness

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But AP lets you be great at some things and only OK at other things, right?  Whereas IB you have to be great at everything?  [/quote]

IB is essentially like taking two full years of AP only courses. A student who could handle AP in every subject would be able to handle the full IB diploma. However, just like with AP, the student can pick and choose some IB courses without going for the full diploma. [/quote]

Some of the IB diploma candidates I met definitely could not handle a schedule of AP-only courses.  Some IB courses are not particularly rigorous. [/quote]

I have heard the exact opposite. People seem to want their kids to do AP instead of Ib because it's easier and less work. [/quote]

Not so.  In any event, it's ridiculous to suggest that only kids who could handle AP in every subject would be able to handle the full IB diploma.  The IB analog to a student taking all AP courses would be IB students taking all IB HL courses.  That isn't required, and IB diploma students often take multiple SL courses as permitted under the IBO rules.

When I hear such nonsense, it makes me think IB exists only so that small groups of IB diploma candidates and their parents can try to mislead others into thinking their kids have been in some elite, academic "boot camp."  It does nothing for most students at IB schools, and the amount of disinformation about IB is staggering.  But as long as the IBO has marketing materials that suggest IB will help students to become "global citizens" who have learned "how to think" (presumably, this means how to approach an assignment, not what they should believe), some people who think their kids might not do well in AP-level math and science courses will jump on board. 
[/quote]

Great. The FCPS crazies have discovered this thread. [/quote]

+1000. Look, there is a whole thread over in VA public schools about how IB is destroying FCPS.  Please don't hijack this one to bash IB unless you have a child who was or is in the program and can speak from actual experience and about an actual experience. This thread isn't for a discussion of IB policy or IB implementation in FCPS. It's for parents trying to learn about IB to get information from parents who have been there.  There have been a lot of great, thoughtful responses and it seems like some experienced IB parents are following. I hope parents who are looking at IB will throw out questions, and the IB haters who have never seen IB in action will, please, go back to VA public schools so we can have a meaningful dialogue. Thanks!! -- OP[/quote]

I'm genuinely curious as to why you would complain when someone corrects an obvious misrepresentation about IB, such as that being in the IB program is equivalent to taking all AP courses.  You do know IB has SL and HL courses; that IB diploma students typically take a mix; and that academics comparing AP and IB course content typically compare AP courses and IB HL courses?

The irony is that very few students at IB high schools in FCPS pursue IB diplomas and that percentage would probably be even lower if parents and students thought it was the equivalent of taking only AP courses.  It seems like only those who want to create a false image of IB to exaggerate the significance of an IB diploma would go down that route. [/quote]

My dc has taken both AP and IB classes. The IB SL classes have been at least as rigorous, if not more rigorous than the AP classes. [/quote]

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