Anonymous wrote:Does TJ have IB program?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

So did your son take IB analysis SL 1 and then Analysis HL 1 and 2 or did school make him take IB applications SL because it was/had to be different course?

He took AA, not AI, for all three years - AA SL1, AA HL1, AA HL2. I thought the overlap between SL1 and HL1 was going to be significant but somehow it was a good progression.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

So did your son take IB analysis SL 1 and then Analysis HL 1 and 2 or did school make him take IB applications SL because it was/had to be different course?

Anonymous wrote:Lots of misunderstandings in this thread.

It is actually not true that you can’t take the IB test before senior year. The IB counselors are VERY stingy with this information, but I did get it out of them after reading on Reddit. If you are NOT part of the IB Diploma program, but are taking IB classes a la carte, you CAN take the IB test after junior year. However the counselors don’t want to deal with your kid. They prefer to push everyone in the diploma program and most parents aren’t as stubborn as to find out the ways to be flexible.

However, they may not recommend or alllow your sophomore to sign up for HL1, and instead push them to take SL1 sophomore year, HL1 junior year and HL2 senior year. This is the route my son went as I didn’t want to fight with the school, and he would have had to do DE senior year to take any higher math, and unfortunately DE isn’t as highly regarded by colleges as IB/AP, because there isn’t standardization across colleges.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, as the step up between Algebra 2 HN and IB Math AA HL1 is significant, and SL1 felt like the right step in between. No one suffers from having a better foundation in calculus.

Anonymous wrote:Where I teach the options are 1) kill time in 10th grade taking AP statistics (helps write a killer IA in year 2), 2) take AP calc between year 2 and year 2 analysis or AP stats between year 1/2 apps, 3) take SL math (then you can test whenever, 4) take HL math junior year, do a nova or mason course fall of senior year, and then audit the HL review sessions in the spring, 5) forgo the IB diploma, take the course in 10th or 11th grade, and just take higher level courses at nova/mason in 11/12th.

I’ve seen kids do all of the above.

If a kid is so far ahead to be doing algebra 2 in middle school, the IB diploma is likely not the best fit for further acceleration. Stand alone courses are fine, but just don’t test. If you are that far ahead, you’ll have plenty of college credits for math and the lack of an IB test isn’t a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:Your question doesn’t make much sense or you need to be more specific about the coursework the student is taking. For magnet IB, you can start Algebra 1 in 7th grade, and presumably end up taking some version of Calculus in 11th, but the HL Math exam will be taken in 12th grade and that will cover IB HL material which is a combination of calculus, statistics, precalculus, algebra and geometry. Some schools offer multivariable in 12th, but you’d still take the HL math exam for the diploma.

For everyone taking algebra in 7th, it makes little sense to follow the IB path because inevitably you’d have to repeat material for the sake of the IBDP exam. A combination of AP and DE is more flexible and appropriate for that student. For math, the IB program is quite pitiful anyways so even without the repetition it’s a subpar option. Ditto for sciences.

I suppose IB is a great preparation for global citizenship or some other inane blurb you hear during school presentations to parents, but I imagine there aren’t that many people falling for those cheap tricks.

Anonymous wrote:Your question doesn’t make much sense or you need to be more specific about the coursework the student is taking. For magnet IB, you can start Algebra 1 in 7th grade, and presumably end up taking some version of Calculus in 11th, but the HL Math exam will be taken in 12th grade and that will cover IB HL material which is a combination of calculus, statistics, precalculus, algebra and geometry. Some schools offer multivariable in 12th, but you’d still take the HL math exam for the diploma.

For everyone taking algebra in 7th, it makes little sense to follow the IB path because inevitably you’d have to repeat material for the sake of the IBDP exam. A combination of AP and DE is more flexible and appropriate for that student. For math, the IB program is quite pitiful anyways so even without the repetition it’s a subpar option. Ditto for sciences.

I suppose IB is a great preparation for global citizenship or some other inane blurb you hear during school presentations to parents, but I imagine there aren’t that many people falling for those cheap tricks.