Reply to What are my child's chances of getting into the IB program?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "What are my child's chances of getting into the IB program?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]BCC is not cohorted in 9th and 10th grade, but you can take AP classes in 10th grade.  AP NSL and [b]AP Lang are pretty common in 10th grade. Those 2 classes, [/b]together with above grade level math tends to create a loose cohort in core academics.

If a kid has never experienced a magnet or isn't  confident in their own intelligence or tends to try to hide their intelligence, then RM IB might be worth it over an open IB program.  There is something to be said for being in a peer group that are all very intelligent kids with their own interests.

For kids who have been in the magnet program or who have very narrow or broad interests, IB can be a bad fit because it has pretty restrictive rules about what to take to fill the IB degree requirements.

My DC had a deep interest in a specific subject and wouldn't have been able to take as many classes in that area if DC had done IB, so a mix of AP and IB turned out to be a better fit.

As a BCC parent, I can say that the really bright kids find each other, both socially and academically.  There is no cohorting, but they do end up in a lot of the same classes together because many of them are on an above grade level math track, which means that schedule-wise they get thrown together in a lot of non-math classes as well. [/quote]

Are you saying 10th graders at B-CC can take AP English? That is not listed as an option on the course card: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/Co  1YGMAyGB-rds5z8YtzF11eCHPWh_9ColgLrMCeIrw1Js/htmlview
To my knowledge, the only course that can be substituted for “Honors” English 10 in MCPS is AP Seminar, which is not listed on the 10th grade course card for B-CC. [/quote]

Sorry, I should have said AP NSL is common in 9th grade and AP History is common in 10th.  AP English Lang is not common for 10th grade.  But, I know a number of students who have done it.  There used to be a process for students to "apply" to AP Lang (no matter what grade) by writing an essay.  That was lame.  College Board has no prerequisites for AP Lang, and asking kids to apply is just a way of gate-keeping.  Most kids don't take AP English Lit until junior or senior year, and many who would consider taking AP Lit, take the 2 year sequence of IB English instead.

Counselors are not helpful, IMO.  As long as you and your DC are OK about taking an AP class that is higher level than what is commonly done, you can insist and it should happen, even if it's not on the "course card" for your grade.  Counselors and teachers are mostly worried that a kid won't get an A and then the parent will be upset.  The problem is that neither counselors nor teachers can tell which kids are smart enough/organized enough to get As and commonly underestimate instead of overestimate and gatekeep talented kids out.  (Also, frankly, there is some prejudice/bias involved.  Teachers, particularly, have certain misconceptions about which kids are smart, and miss a lot of talent, IME.)[/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