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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter is in 8th grade. She wants to go to the IB program at RM. [b]She enjoys english and history class but doesn't like math[/b]. She also really enjoys her foreign language and she skipped level 2 of the language. Her spring map r was a 262 and her fall was 253 (don't know what happened there). Her extracurriculars are okay (should have pushed her more lol). However, I have heard that this program is very stressful and has a lot of work. It is also very hard to get in. Do you think it is a good fit for her and what are her chances of gettting in? (I'm hoping for at least 70%). [/quote]

IB kids take high level math. it's not a STEM program but that doesn't mean IB is weak on STEM subjects. [i]My kids (and many of their friends) took AP Cal BC in their junior years followed by high level IB math in senior year[/i][/quote]

How did they do that? The IB math classes are two-year classes.

[i]Mathematics: applications and interpretation SL
Mathematics: applications and interpretation HL
Mathematics: analysis and approaches SL
Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL[/i]

https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/mathematics/
[/quote]
[b]The "two year" math is not taking IB HL math for two years.[/b] Rather, it is about taking the IB math exam after year 2.  IB HL Math covers 2 years of math.

My DC did the same:  Jr year AP BC Calc; senior year IB HL math and MVC/diffeq. Then took IB HL math exam senior year.[/quote]

Yes, it is. You take IB math for two years. Then you take the IB math exam. That's what makes them two-year classes.[/quote]
? My kid was at RMIB last year, took the HL IB math exam.  They did not take HL math for 2 years.   This is the pathway they took:

IBAAF
IB Pre calc
AP BC Calc
HL math & MVC

Maybe you are confusing the prior years IB label math classes with HL math.[/quote]

[b]I think what PP is saying is that the AP BC calc class serves as the first year for IB HL math.[/b] The exam covers two years worth of content which is taught to you over those two years regardless of what the class is called.[/quote]

I guess so, at RM? Because elsewhere, you take IB HL math (or IB SL math) for two years. And yes, the IB exam covers two years of content.[/quote]
Which IB program in MCPS does this, where you take two years of IB HL math, and not the prescribed pathway from above?[/quote]

At Kennedy, IB HL Math is 2 years and the class is called Stats & Calc. The first year is equivalent of AP Stats while the 2nd year is (roughly) equivalent of AP Calc AB.[/quote]
That means that the IB programs are not the same.

Here's RMIB math pathway, page 18 (19 physical page).

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/2022-2023-ib-course-handbook.pdf

My DC followed the path: AP BC Calc in 11th, then IB HL math and MVC in 12th.[/quote]

My guess is that Kennedy doesn’t offer MVC. Einstein doesn’t. I don’t know about BCC. RM has always had the most challenging course offerings among the IB schools. MCPS plays fast and loose with the IB Math sequence and it is confusing.  I had a kid transfer from an IB high school overseas.  The way MCPS implements IB is a joke and diploma participation rates in these schools are abysmal.[/quote]
? RMIB is super hard compared to all the other IB schools in MCPS, and the diploma rate is above 90%, has been for many many years.  That's why the in cluster students not in the program choose not to participate, though they can take the classes.[/quote]

The IB Diploma Programme at RM is not any harder than the IB Diploma Programme at any other school. It's the same IB Diploma Programme content. It's the same IB Diploma Programme tests. If RM adds stuff that isn't part of the IB Diploma Programme, then that isn't the IB Diploma Programme - by definition. Also, as far as I know, RM students not admitted to the magnet program in 9th grade can and do participate in the IB Diploma Programme.

The IB Diploma Programme "rate" is presumably the number of students who actually do everything required by the IB Diploma Programme, divided by the number of students participating in the the IB Diploma Programme - right? [b]My guess is that the rate is high at every school in MCPS. [/b] You don't go into the IB Diploma Programme unless you're bright and ambitious (or your parents are). Taking IB classes =/= participating in the IB Diploma Programme.[/quote]

[b]Your guess is very wrong.[/b] I forgot where you can find the diploma graduation rates, but outside of RM, they are not great in many MCPS high schools. Especially the newer Regional IB programs at Kennedy, Watkins Mill and Springbrook.[/quote]
What makes your guess better than my guess?[/quote]
dp.. because they did publish the IBDP rates for the different schools, and RMIB was much higher.[/quote]

Do you have the source for that and if so can you repost it? I was looking for that the other day and had a hard time finding it.[/quote]

I do not think the difference in IB diploma graduation rates means what you think it means.  Do you think that a higher IB graduation rate means better teachers and a better program?  I don't think so.  The open IB programs have a different goal - to allow anyone to take an IB class.  Just because a kid chooses to take one IB class, doesn't mean that that student isn't as smart as the kids taking the full IB load.  Also, many kids in open IB schools actually take a mixture of IB and AP classes that is just as rigorous and valued as an IB diploma.  My DC did this and went to top 5 undergrad Ivy and top 3 grad program.  No admissions committee cared that DC hadn't done full IB.

It's not the case that a lower IB diploma rate at an open IB program means a worse program or worse teaching.  It is true that the class curriculum and requirements at an open IB program are exactly the same as an admission only IB program.  That's what makes IB IB -- it's the same everywhere.  [/quote]

From MCPS:
"In 2022, the share of graduates who took at least one IB exam ranged from 15.8 to 32.8% among IB schools. The percentage of 2022 graduates who earned at least one IB score of 4 or higher varied from 14.3 to 29.8% across all schools offering the IB programs."

Please see performance data by high school and come back to say that all of the programs offer the same quality.
https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2023/230209_2022_AP_IB_Exams_HS%20Principals.pdf
[/quote]

You should probably go look at the data you shared.  Aside from maybe the Math IB exams, no one is going to look at this data and think the other schools besides RM are doing poorly.  Especially once they factor in that RM’s IB program had  an application magnet alongside it whereas the other schools it was just a local program/classes that students were opting into during 11th/12th.  Of those who attempt a specific exam, a large share are scoring 4/5/6 regardless of school.

If anything the data shows that MCPS was right in their thinking of going to regional sites for the IB magnet.[/quote]

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