The diploma literally means nothing. I had to do 360 hours of community service (I think they've changed that now) and extra work. I could've gotten in to MIT without it. I also have a PhD I wouldn't say the thesis taught me anything that was helpful. I did enjoy the project, though.

Friend of mine whose DD has similar stats. They just got a 504 with extended time due to her anxiety. My friend would love for her DD to drop the IB program as she is pretty stressed and already taking many AP classes but she is at odds with her husband who is pushing it (my friend is looking to divorce him when the kids go to college).

^and neither of my kids want to take Theory of Knowledge or write the extended essay. There are other electives they would rather take and don’t want to write one more essay.

I am a high schooler teacher at an IB school. I would not pressure her to earn an IB diploma. It’s restrictive with what they take and can limit her choices of electives. Neither of my kids will get one. Being an IB diploma candidate might be helpful if she wants to apply to the most selective colleges with the lowest admission rates. My kids won’t be doing that so it doesn’t matter. They take advanced classes in courses where they are interested in and do not feel they have to keep taking courses where they have weaknesses. For example, one of mine would never want to take 5 years of a foreign language in order just to fulfill the IB diploma requirement. They don’t find out if they actually get the diploma until after graduation anyway.

Have her take the IB classes she wants to take. Don’t worry about the full diploma.

Take the IB classes a la carte! The diploma isn’t even inferred until after graduation when scores are released, so there’s no point unless they want the challenge. If they don’t, just take classes the way you would AP, a few at a time.

Most every kid at my FCPS school takes at least one or two IB classes. The high achievers take almost all IB, and then choose not to test or take TOK if they don’t want the diploma. It’s a healthy balance.

Anonymous wrote:I’m pushing my kid to do the IB diploma. I am European and this is the closest thing to what European kids have to master in order to go to university. Really the only other parents I see valuing the IB diploma are other Europeans. Not sure that I would push it if I didn’t have the cultural expectation.

Don’t plan to push, but same background and encourage it for my organized, self-driven kid.

I find the anti-IB posters on DCUM to be a bit nuts. It’s challenging, but not as intense as they make it out to be, and makes for an easier transition to university. And my own kids are bright, but not gifted or prepped.

I agree with letting her take IB classes but not pushing her for the diploma. I actually went through the program back in the day and it was tough. I was happy I did it, but I was extremely self-motivated and wanted to do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of looking at it like IB or not IB, look at it as what classes is your kid most interested in taking, and should they take normal or AP classes. IB is very non-stem, so if your kid is more of a math and science kid versus language, it makes no sense to do IB. But it’s worth laying out the options of what classes your kid should take each year to get to the ones they are most interested in.

I agree with this, but point out that not every school has an AP option. So the choice then becomes IB or not IB. (With maybe a side of should I take an AP exam as well without the class.)

The third choice is some IB classes, but not the full diploma. At our school, you can take as many a la carte as you want to.

My son is full IB. He wanted to pursue it and thrives on the heavy workload. I was against it at first, because I worried that he would not have time for friends/sports/extra curriculars. He can handle it but has lots of late nights.
It really depends on the kid, my daughter will most likely take some IB classes but not full IB. She has anxiety and it's not worth it for her mental health.

Anonymous wrote:Instead of looking at it like IB or not IB, look at it as what classes is your kid most interested in taking, and should they take normal or AP classes. IB is very non-stem, so if your kid is more of a math and science kid versus language, it makes no sense to do IB. But it’s worth laying out the options of what classes your kid should take each year to get to the ones they are most interested in.

I agree with this, but point out that not every school has an AP option. So the choice then becomes IB or not IB. (With maybe a side of should I take an AP exam as well without the class.)

Instead of looking at it like IB or not IB, look at it as what classes is your kid most interested in taking, and should they take normal or AP classes. IB is very non-stem, so if your kid is more of a math and science kid versus language, it makes no sense to do IB. But it’s worth laying out the options of what classes your kid should take each year to get to the ones they are most interested in.

No, I would not push into an IB diploma. It will probably burn them out before graduation.

Depends on the alternatives and your child's personality.

At my kids' high School, if you don't do the diploma track, you are with students in the career track. Many, but not all, of the kids who do career track are not really into academics. Some may choose career track because of a particular interest, but many choose it because it's "easier." That means you end up with classmates who may not be motivated and a lot of group projects and class discussions are not that interesting.

For one of my kids who is naturally self driven, this wouldn't matter. They'd still try their best no matter who their peers are. They wouldn't care if they were the only one in the class putting in effort. My other kid who is more externally motivated would likely slack off and then feel even less excited about school than they already are. They'd be more likely to thrive in a more competitive class, even if it means getting B's instead of A's. They know I care more about effort than grades.

Anonymous wrote:We wish we could go back and have our kid choose AP over IB because his college gives credits for AP but not IB.

OP said they don't have a lot of APs in their school.

I would also encourage your kid to take the IB courses but not necessarily go for the diploma. They can self study for AP exams if they want to.

Colleges only give credit for HL IB exams with scores of 6 or 7, some 5.

I say this as a parent of an IB Diploma grad. For DC, it wasn't hard. Lots of work, yes, but DC is very high achieving, so DC didn't find IB difficult at all. We are absolutely not pushing DC#2 to go for the IB diploma because this DC doesn't need the challenge, and our HS has a lot of AP courses.

I had one kid who did the full IB diploma and another one who is just taking mostly IB courses (but not going for the diploma which requires the extended essay and Theory of Knowledge). Kid #2 is not quite as organized so knew the extra work might be too much if they were to go for the diploma. Whether or not you do the full diploma, you still take the IB exams and if you achieve certain scores, you still can qualify for credit in college. By the time my oldest got his scores and found out he actually earned the diploma, it was July and it didn't really matter since he was already accepted to college. Maybe it looks a little better on the transcript if the kid is actually attempting the IB diploma, but not sure if that outweighs the pressure, especially if the kid is prone to stress or is not committed to the program.