Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:57     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:anyone know if Robinson will check the most rigorous box for kids taking the IB classes but not doing the Diploma?

Have same question for Marshall.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:56     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:You’re not asking the right question.
The question should be is IB diploma path the right fit for my child.

Know your child & also Know the reputation of the IB Teachers at your HS
It’s like asking is a medical degree worth it.
Ask is a medical degree the right fit for my child, and what’s hen reputation of the medical program

In retrospect - My DS1 did full IB, he’s thriving in college but he could have done all AP instead. The IB teachers at his HS were pompous and not responsive when we reached for help. The program was not a good fit for him.

AP would have been a bitter fit because those teachers are strong and supportive, DS2 did the AP route and I couldn’t believe the day and night difference between the quality of the teachers.

Good luck !

OP here-she’s been in all Honors classes and she’s like her history and English teachers who also teach IB. Not sure if she would get those exact teachers.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:55     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:It makes me sad to think of the kids forced into doing the IB diploma program by their parents who for other reasons don't stand out. So many end up at JMU and VCU with kids who didn't do the IBDP and they wonder why they had a miserable high school experience compared to most of their peers when it didn't really pay off.

Is it anymore miserable than taking AP across all subjects? And tons of really smart kids end up at those schools?
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:54     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:It makes me sad to think of the kids forced into doing the IB diploma program by their parents who for other reasons don't stand out. So many end up at JMU and VCU with kids who didn't do the IBDP and they wonder why they had a miserable high school experience compared to most of their peers when it didn't really pay off.

Wow, you sound a bit patronizing.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:15     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:You’re not asking the right question.
The question should be is IB diploma path the right fit for my child.

Know your child & also Know the reputation of the IB Teachers at your HS
It’s like asking is a medical degree worth it.
Ask is a medical degree the right fit for my child, and what’s hen reputation of the medical program

In retrospect - My DS1 did full IB, he’s thriving in college but he could have done all AP instead. The IB teachers at his HS were pompous and not responsive when we reached for help. The program was not a good fit for him.

AP would have been a bitter fit because those teachers are strong and supportive, DS2 did the AP route and I couldn’t believe the day and night difference between the quality of the teachers.

Good luck !


+1. Know if they are small minded, for example if your kid decided not to sign up for another year (year 2) of a class that is offered at Standard level and also at Higher level and teacher uses it against the kid for not signing up for year 2 (which was not a requirement).
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 18:05     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To me, not really. The actual diploma program is so stress inducing that it's not worth it nor will it give a significant advantage over someone who just took a bunch of IB classes . At the end of the day, someone taking a bunch of IB classes is in the same classes as the IBDP students except the IBDP students have to do a research extensive long form essay.

This is a good thing to prepare kids for college. Every former IBDP student I have spoken to said that the IBDP made college a cake walk. And it's better for the kids to be stressed while at home with support at home than when they are away at college.


Literally every kid my daughter goes to school with who opted for the IBDP wanted out and regretted losing so much of their high school experience the last 2 yrs because of this.

Indeed, IBDP is not for everyone. Not everyone can hack it.


Not true. Everyone CAN hack it, if they truly want it. Is it worth it, as the thread question asks? No.


The poster meant hack it happily. Or at least be willing to make the commitment to do all that work and believing the work to be valuable.

There is nothing wrong with making some sacrifices to achieve something of value. But it is not required to do that if it is too much.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 16:24     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:It makes me sad to think of the kids forced into doing the IB diploma program by their parents who for other reasons don't stand out. So many end up at JMU and VCU with kids who didn't do the IBDP and they wonder why they had a miserable high school experience compared to most of their peers when it didn't really pay off.


Boo Hoo
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 15:48     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
You’re not asking the right question.
The question should be is IB diploma path the right fit for my child.

Know your child & also Know the reputation of the IB Teachers at your HS
It’s like asking is a medical degree worth it.
Ask is a medical degree the right fit for my child, and what’s hen reputation of the medical program

In retrospect - My DS1 did full IB, he’s thriving in college but he could have done all AP instead. The IB teachers at his HS were pompous and not responsive when we reached for help. The program was not a good fit for him.

AP would have been a bitter fit because those teachers are strong and supportive, DS2 did the AP route and I couldn’t believe the day and night difference between the quality of the teachers.

Good luck !
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 15:17     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
anyone know if Robinson will check the most rigorous box for kids taking the IB classes but not doing the Diploma?
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 15:00     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Parent of kids whose school offers both IB and many APs. They only school I've heard it matters for is UVA. It's very difficult to get in from our school if you are not full IB. The only ones I know of were wait listed first. On the other had I know kids at Ivies and top LACs (e.g., Williams) who did not do the full IB diploma.

What about William & Mary?


I'm the previous poster and no, plenty of kids from our HS (WL) go to William & Mary without the IB Diploma. It's really just UVA that it's hard to get into without IB.


Is there any shred of evidence for this? The diploma results come much later than acceptance notifications.


The evidence is they see your IB courses on your transcript and know you are a diploma candidate, duh.


Seriously, AO will look at the course composition if 3 HLs and 3 SLs and say this candidate will do a diploma and is more deserving than others? That’s some copium right there. They’ll just look at the facts in front of them, not infer and guess.


But TOK is a class I thought. So if you do not have TOK on your course record then presumably you are not going for the diploma.


This is ridiculous, colleges are not going to sort candidates based on who took TOK, a class literally nobody cares about for college admissions.

Only thing that matters is checking the most rigorous coursework box. Usually you don’t need IBDP for that but check with the counselor.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 14:57     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an AP Research seminar course? Is it similar to IBDP's Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class?


I live in the hinterlands. I haven't heard of high schools here offering AP Seminar. Or some of the other new courses (AP Pre-Calc).

My younger child is taking AP classes but there's no unified perspective or method across AP classes. I have a hard time understanding what added value AP Seminar would have compared to TOK.


What unified perspective do you want across APs? They are supposed to be introductory college classes not Unified Theory of Everything. As if IB classes have that feature beyond some empty drivel from marketing materials.

AP Seminar can be taken as English 10, so kids are doing more challenging work early. You may not understand the added value of AP Seminar but many colleges like MIT do and give college credits. Unlike TOK that doesn’t get any.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 13:06     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
It makes me sad to think of the kids forced into doing the IB diploma program by their parents who for other reasons don't stand out. So many end up at JMU and VCU with kids who didn't do the IBDP and they wonder why they had a miserable high school experience compared to most of their peers when it didn't really pay off.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 11:42     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To me, not really. The actual diploma program is so stress inducing that it's not worth it nor will it give a significant advantage over someone who just took a bunch of IB classes . At the end of the day, someone taking a bunch of IB classes is in the same classes as the IBDP students except the IBDP students have to do a research extensive long form essay.

This is a good thing to prepare kids for college. Every former IBDP student I have spoken to said that the IBDP made college a cake walk. And it's better for the kids to be stressed while at home with support at home than when they are away at college.


Literally every kid my daughter goes to school with who opted for the IBDP wanted out and regretted losing so much of their high school experience the last 2 yrs because of this.

Indeed, IBDP is not for everyone. Not everyone can hack it.


Not true. Everyone CAN hack it, if they truly want it. Is it worth it, as the thread question asks? No.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 11:32     Subject: Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:IB teacher:

No. Students don’t even find out if they received the IB diploma until after they graduate. It’s a personal challenge, but as long as they take enough IB courses to check the “most rigorous course load” concept, it’s fine. They can skip “theory of knowledge” and the extended essay and all that.

If the school will only say they took the hardest offered classes if they are diploma candidates, then I’d hesitate. Reach out to your child’s counselor and ask.


Kid's school has strongly hinted this and the in-state UVA admits only come from the full-IB kids. At our school it is considered the harder track, mostly because they do not offer the rigorous APs. At the top public school in a different county, AP is considered the harder track, and the ones who get in to UVA take APs in almost every subject. We moved when the kids were in middle and looked at all surrounding counties as well as privates to compare differences.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2025 11:02     Subject: Re:Is the IB diploma worth it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To me, not really. The actual diploma program is so stress inducing that it's not worth it nor will it give a significant advantage over someone who just took a bunch of IB classes . At the end of the day, someone taking a bunch of IB classes is in the same classes as the IBDP students except the IBDP students have to do a research extensive long form essay.

This is a good thing to prepare kids for college. Every former IBDP student I have spoken to said that the IBDP made college a cake walk. And it's better for the kids to be stressed while at home with support at home than when they are away at college.


Literally every kid my daughter goes to school with who opted for the IBDP wanted out and regretted losing so much of their high school experience the last 2 yrs because of this.

Indeed, IBDP is not for everyone. Not everyone can hack it.