IB diploma students take 6 IB courses simultaneously junior and senior year. Advanced math students may start IB math courses sophomore year.

How many National AP scholars are there at FCPS AP high schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Would you like to show your work? From what I've seen and heard anecdotally, the percentages would be significantly higher at many AP schools.

I would assume most good students take an average of 3-4 APs, most great students take 4-6 APs, and a lot of students don't take any at all. I think the number of kids who take more than 6 AP classes, especially across all subjects, is pretty small.

Are you talking about in a single year or over four years? Typically, in FCPS, few freshmen take AP courses. It is common for sophomores to take 1-2, and for juniors and seniors to take at least three AP courses. Add it up and there are large numbers of students taking more than 6 AP classes before they graduate. Since you typically only take seven courses each year, it would be highly unusual to take more than six AP classes in any single year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Would you like to show your work? From what I've seen and heard anecdotally, the percentages would be significantly higher at many AP schools.

Most IB classes are two years long. Each year is IB and each year gets the GPA bump. So essentially, an IB student is taking the equivalent of 12+ AP classes.

I assume by "IB student" you are referring to full IB diploma candidates, not the students who take one or two IB classes.

I'm skeptical of your assertion, given the mix of SL and HL and one and two-year IB courses, but in any event the posts underscore how much confusion exists in trying to compare IB with AP. What is clear, however, is that the percentage of seniors getting diplomas at IB schools is very low.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for the all the replies. OHS is in our backyard, and I was under the impression that IB was very selective to get into - similar to other states. Knowing that it's not a super selective program and open to all leads me to think that this is not what our DC would want, nor us for that matter. OHS is a great schoo. I will further look into the AP capstone program that a PP noted. Thanks again for all the insight.

OOOHHH OP you are going to make those IB boosters very mad

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Would you like to show your work? From what I've seen and heard anecdotally, the percentages would be significantly higher at many AP schools.

I would assume most good students take an average of 3-4 APs, most great students take 4-6 APs, and a lot of students don't take any at all. I think the number of kids who take more than 6 AP classes, especially across all subjects, is pretty small.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Would you like to show your work? From what I've seen and heard anecdotally, the percentages would be significantly higher at many AP schools.

Most IB classes are two years long. Each year is IB and each year gets the GPA bump. So essentially, an IB student is taking the equivalent of 12+ AP classes.

Anonymous wrote:

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

We are not spending the extra money in each school that IB schools get, though. Big difference. Remember, in addition to other extra expenses, IB requires a coordinator in each school. That, alone is costing FCPS over a million dollars.

You again?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Would you like to show your work? From what I've seen and heard anecdotally, the percentages would be significantly higher at many AP schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

Has it dawned on any of you people that the numbers are low because the program is difficult? People would be falling all over themselves in Fairfax County if there was one IB program you had to apply for. Instead, smart /hardworking kids are given the IB option (which outside of the US is more impressive than AP any day) at multiple schools.

Yes, if there was an application-only IB humanities magnet, it would indeed attract significant interest. But, instead, we pay for IB at eight different schools, and the percentage of students getting IB diplomas at them is very low.

There is nothing about the word "IB" per se that is impressive abroad. It's only the IB diploma that carries weight, and the overwhelming majority of students at IB schools in FCPS neither receive one nor have any intention of attending college outside the United States (junior year abroad programs sponsored by American universities don't count). Moreover, if you actually checked to see which kids in FCPS are going to schools like McGill or St. Andrew's, I'd bet you'd find most are coming from AP schools like Langley, not the IB schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The issue is pretty obvious. If the program was amazing you would see all of the schools with tons of education oriented parents pushing for it because they would crap bricks if they felt their kids were missing out. So, yeah. I completely agree. It's sad that on top of all of the other crap the bottom performing schools deal with in Fairfax county, they have a second rate "honors" program like IB. And let's not forget the cost of these programs. It's terrible, a waste, and like I said, if it was so great, you would see Langley parents clamoring for it and you wouldn't have seen Woodson parents fighting against it.

x a million. It's more of a marketing program to sell poor performing schools to parents who might send their kids there if promised a "private school experience." Horrible, and a terrible waste of our tax dollars.

No one is naive enough to think that an IB program at a poor performing school is like a private school experience. However, at a school like Marshall or Robinson, it is a high quality program with a strong cohort of students.

ik

There's a big gap between the performance of students at a top private, or at an IB magnet like the selective IB program at Richard Montgomery, which has a lower admissions rate than TJ, and the IB students at Marshall.

As a group, perhaps, but groups don't get into college, individuals do. On that score I think you'd be surprised at how impressive the top kids are at your garden variety high school.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. I just understand that the OP reasonably could have determined that attending a magnet IB program at a school like Richard Montgomery in MoCo might be worth the effort to pupil place, if such a program existed in FCPS (which it does not), but not if it's just being offered at a "garden variety high school."

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

We are not spending the extra money in each school that IB schools get, though. Big difference. Remember, in addition to other extra expenses, IB requires a coordinator in each school. That, alone is costing FCPS over a million dollars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

And if you were to compare that to the number of kids not taking more than 6 AP classes at any AP high school, you would likely have very similar numbers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so, so sad. These schools have enough to deal with, it's a shame the county saddled them with an ineffective (no one gets the damn IB diploma), inefficient program.

I'm assuming that's hyperbole, but is there a place to look up percentages?

The last information released by FCPS was in late 2013 and noted these percentages of seniors at IB schools graduating in 2013 without IB diplomas:

Mount Vernon 96.9%
Annandale 95.4%
Lee 93.7%
Edison 92.2%
Stuart 92.0%
South Lakes 83.5%
Robinson 83.5%
Marshall 80.3%

Has it dawned on any of you people that the numbers are low because the program is difficult? People would be falling all over themselves in Fairfax County if there was one IB program you had to apply for. Instead, smart /hardworking kids are given the IB option (which outside of the US is more impressive than AP any day) at multiple schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The issue is pretty obvious. If the program was amazing you would see all of the schools with tons of education oriented parents pushing for it because they would crap bricks if they felt their kids were missing out. So, yeah. I completely agree. It's sad that on top of all of the other crap the bottom performing schools deal with in Fairfax county, they have a second rate "honors" program like IB. And let's not forget the cost of these programs. It's terrible, a waste, and like I said, if it was so great, you would see Langley parents clamoring for it and you wouldn't have seen Woodson parents fighting against it.

x a million. It's more of a marketing program to sell poor performing schools to parents who might send their kids there if promised a "private school experience." Horrible, and a terrible waste of our tax dollars.

No one is naive enough to think that an IB program at a poor performing school is like a private school experience. However, at a school like Marshall or Robinson, it is a high quality program with a strong cohort of students.

ik

There's a big gap between the performance of students at a top private, or at an IB magnet like the selective IB program at Richard Montgomery, which has a lower admissions rate than TJ, and the IB students at Marshall.

As a group, perhaps, but groups don't get into college, individuals do. On that score I think you'd be surprised at how impressive the top kids are at your garden variety high school.