OP here, I think we are all settled on moving forward with changing it to another course. Luckily, he already had a science so it was easier to find a substitute because it could be any one year course that would fit into his schedule.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. Apparently, one of his friends has also had to change out one of his courses so it really isn't that uncommon. I was just shocked as I thought the schedule would have already been locked in as he was in all two year courses.

Anonymous wrote:My kid had to do this last year. Was in a 2-year Physics SL class. Had done a lot of prep work for his IA, and then was told right before school started that the Physics class wouldn’t fit I to his schedule and the only way to get the IB Diploma was to switch to a 1-year Biology SL class. He wasn’t too happy about it, but the Bio teacher was pretty understanding, and he did well in the class. He did explain the situation somewhere in his Common App

This was at W-L

My kid had to do this last year. Was in a 2-year Physics SL class. Had done a lot of prep work for his IA, and then was told right before school started that the Physics class wouldn’t fit I to his schedule and the only way to get the IB Diploma was to switch to a 1-year Biology SL class. He wasn’t too happy about it, but the Bio teacher was pretty understanding, and he did well in the class. He did explain the situation somewhere in his Common App

I think what would be perceived by admissions officers is phrasing it as an imposition ("forced to give up") rather than a course of action to complete a well-known requirement for the full diploma

My kids in an IB program in MCPS, and I'm by no means an IB expert....but kids at our school are instructed they must take TOK their 11th/12th grade. They aren't allowed to take more than 3 HLs. Since IB HLs are 2 year classes, it's my understanding that it's not uncommon for kids to take the first year of a 2-year HL, and then decide they just aren't that into it, and decide not to take the second year of hte HL. I don't think that looks bad, since even the first year of an HL is a pretty advanced class. Kids at our school were instructed to do that for Comp Sci for their third HL, as it was not clear they would have an instructor to offer the second year of the comp sci HL.

TOK is also supposed to be one of the most significant parts of the IB program. So I'd drop the HL that he cares about least, and take TOK.

Dropping a course in order to achieve the full diploma could be explained in a college app. I'm sure it's a common scenario among very high achievers. The counselor might also offer advice on how to approach this with college admissions in mind. (W-L likes to boast about the college stats from time to time, so I'm sure they would be interested in helping chart the best path forward.)

I had this posted in the college discussion board but it was suggested I also post here to see get more readers from W&L.

DS is a rising senior at W&L and is enrolled in full IB. He currently has all As in all classes and is enrolled in 4 HL courses and 2 SL courses. Today, less than two weeks before undertaking the second part of all the IB courses he signed up for in year 10, we were told by his school counselor that he has to drop one of is HL courses half-way through and take a new SL instead so he can fit TOK into his schedule (TOK is required for the IB Diploma but from what I can gather only has an essay and a few presentations and DS has already written the essay.) So the question is, is he better off dropping TOK, and by extension the full IB Diploma, so he can keep the higher level courses or should he drop the extra HL and get the IB Diploma? Noting the transcript is going to show that he dropped a class half way through, which to me also looks like it would be perceived really badly by college admissions staff.