Anyone here goes (went) to an IB school?

[kuk]

Well, I do ... 11th grade for me, and the Full Diplome seems more and more discouraging. Too much work I think. This year I'll present my Extended Essay, and next year are the finals. Nobody who chose chemistry high-level passed ... and that was the course I had chosen (obviously, I'm changing).

What do you guys think? Is the Full Diplome really worth it, thinking that for me, it won't help me get into college.

 

[kuk]

/^^^\ Bump /^^^\

 

[thEnEuRoMancER]

Shalmanese does IB and my sister finished it.

 

[LaBang]

i am a senior. It is FRIGGING HARD! holly shist.
the diploma itself doesn't help you get in to college because by the time you are accepted you haven't even take the finals. if you follow all of the deadlines that are set for you it is managable. i think that i am going to fail. F*CK

 

[StageLeft]

I don't know how much reaction potential universities have to an IB diploma in the US, but in Canada undergrad universities couldn't give a rat's ass. My school offered it and I, thankfully, said screw that. Sounds like a lot of work with little to know pay back, and I was right.

Oxford and Cambridge might like it, but the question is, are the universities you're going to apply to going to give a damn?

 

[The Mutha]

I did IB while I was living in Maastricht, Holland.

I did:

Higher:
- Chemistry
- Physics
- English B

Subsid:
- Math Methods
- Portuguese A
- History

I got 31 points, with 3 bonus points. An A for my extended essay on the Portuguese poet Bocage, and a B on my TOK essays.

Where are you guys doing your IB's, and what do you think of it?
What do you expect to get?

 

[axelfox]

My school offered when I was a senior. My brother did it, and he said its not worth it. A lot of school don't recognize it, unlike like AP classes.

They are, like your handle, "kuk." If you know what I mean.

 

[The Mutha]

It was the best quality education I've ever had.
Granted that has more to do with the school I went to (less than 5 pupils per class), than with the syllabus.

 

[Handle]

I completed the full diploma programme last year. I didn't find it was particularly hard--it was kind of odd... I left many exams thinking I'd do terribly but I didn't end up doing too bad. Where I live, it's kind of funny... I know quite a few people who have gotten perfect marks or close to perfect marks in IB (that means 45 or almost 45). Chemistry higher level isn't that difficult, although some of the options (higher level organic chem) were quite difficult, as the local curriculum does not even touch organic chemistry. Physics standard level wasn't really much above the regular curriculum where I live at all. English higher level wasn't too bad either. History (European) was relatively easy too, although it was way above the local curriculum.

I'm not the type to study much, and I didn't get lower than a 6 in any subject, so I guess I did fine.

It doesn't really help to get you into college... I mean, it'll be an asset, but not a free pass or anything. It is a lot of work on the whole, but I know many people who did fine and didn't spend much time at all. I found extracurricular activities took up way more time.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[XMan]

I was in IB for all four years of high school, but chose not to do the diploma candidate because they were requiring beaucoup hours of community service at the time, and I didn't have the spare time to do it between football, basketball, and WORK. It was unfortunately a bit cliqueish as the majority of the kids in the program were from upper-crust families (the kind where mommy and daddy give you a new Mustang for your 16th birthday) so most of the people I associated with weren't even in the program. Other than the Richie and Rachael Richs of the world, HS was actually pretty much a blast . . .

Anyway, I did well on all of my IB exams (French, english, and history I believe. I seem to remember certificate candidates could only take three tests, but I could be wrong.) I got certificates in all the tests I took, and I presented them to the admissions counselor when I enrolled at Purdue - and she'd never heard of the IB. I'd heard you could at least get some 100-level credits or at least get the option to test out with the IB under your belt, but they wouldn't do it.

Would I do it again? Yeah, because the teachers were some of the best I'd ever had, and the quality of the education was a good start on college - but don't do it expecting to get any real benefit out of it.

 

[Handle]

Oh, and I did forget to mention... in many Canadian universities, you can receive advanced credit for higher level courses that you took. This can save you both time and money in university. I believe IB's website has a place which tells you which universities will give advanced credit for whatever IB course.

 

[Maverick]

I went through 4 years of IB...I was part of the first four year IB graduates at my high school in Colorado.
As far as getting into college, it won't help you too much...but the amount of credits you can get towards your college education is phenomenal.

All in all I got 28 credits from IB. Thats nearly a whole year of college credits (2 more and it would be). I've been able to take 12 credit semesters for 2 years and I'm still one semester ahead. From that standpoint IB helped a lot. And the tests are way easier to pass and get credit for than in Advanced Placement.

The only problem is that high school pretty much sucked. I had no where near the social life I have in college since school was all I did. It sucks to hear about all your college buddies talking about all their crazy high school stories when all you did was study, play quake, or watch TV. There was just not enough people to interact with in IB and most of the people are super smart and as a result...stuck up.

Forget about going out to parties and meeting lots of girls in IB. I'm not say it can't happen...but its a lot tougher because of the people you're forced to interact with. In that respect IB sucks.

The decision is up to you, do you want the college credit and ultimately a better future? Or do you wanna have fun while you're still young? Good luck and I hope you make the best decision for yourself.

 

[Handle]

I agree with a lot of what Shiva112 said (except for the IB students are stuck up bit... I thought most IB students were as friendly as anyone else). IB does tend to put a damper on the social life... although some IB students maintained good marks and great social lives. I don't think it's the program per se that stops a person from having a social life, but the mindset that the program creates. You get too caught up in studying and getting good marks when you don't really have to spend that much time on it. To a large extent I regret my high school experience, but as I've mentioned, I believe that extracurricular activities were just as much at fault as IB. And academic conditioning in junior high / elementary is also at fault.

The university credit though really helps, and as a result, I have to do less work than people who didn't do IB.

 

[Shalmanese]

Speaking from an australian perspective, Do IB if you are at leat slightly above average because the conversions are damn high(24, the passing mark converts to a 78 percentile rank) and the high 30's and low 40's are not really that hard to get if you are smart (or work hard, but whats the fun in that?). I think that the IB experience has a lot more to do with what your teachers/school/classmates are actually like rather than the syllabus and most of it is actually a breeze.

I do Maths, Chem and physics HL and Economics, English and Spanish ab initio SL
The EE is pretty easy if you choose to do it in a humanities area(which I didnt) but doesnt get as high a mark so keep that in mind

the Community service hours are a breeze if you take some inititive and do the stuff you like(I got 40 hours working for free building computers) and TOK is pretty easy if you have mastered the fine art of bullshitting.

As far as social life goes, yes you might not be able to make as many friends but the friends you do make are far stronger as you are spending more time with them and are rallied around a mutual cause(plotting to kill your TOK teacher).

If you love reading as I do then English will be a breeze and Ive always been a science/maths person so those were easy too. Eco is just boring as crap and the only one which is even challenging is spanish.

Stick with IB and you will be rewarded in the end. and if you get a 5 or above in physics/maths/chem HL you get to skip the course in uni so that's a hell of a lot MORE free time to make friends in

 

[cpl593h]

I finished the IB program in 1998, and it wasn't too difficult. The faculty was unorganized (I went through the program the first year it was offered at my high school) because of this the students could get away with a lot. I never really worked that hard and the final exams were MUCH easier than I thought they would be-- much easier than AP. I remember our instructor for TOK said that out of the 36 students going through IB at our school, only about 12 would actually graduate with the diploma. About 24 got it.

One mail-damaged IB diploma and a few hundred dollars later, I can say that IB didn't help much for me. I didn't get into any of the colleges of my choice the first time around, didn't really get much units for college (about a semesters worth), and still wasn't really prepared for some of the sciences (im sure this is just a thing with my school. MHS didn't even offer Chemistry HL when I did it). LaBang has a good point in that you usually take the exams much after the time when you apply to schools, so its more the IDEA that you're a full diploma candidate that colleges will likely look at than your actual scores on the tests. Ultimateley I think if you have the qualifications and a pretty good essay, you'll get into some pretty good colleges IB or no.

 

[Passions]

Yes my HS did it, I took a couple of exams. But you know I dont think its worth it cuz even back then not alot of colleges recognized it. AP was much more important for me, so I focused on those. If you have the passion for studying and higher education I would do it, but if it something to bump you into a better college forget about it.

 

[joohang]

I got my diploma last year.

FYI, I took:

English A1 HL
History (20th Century European) HL
Chemistry HL
Physics SL
Math Methods SL
French SL

I also had Computer Science SL, but I hated the course. I refused to take Computer Science even at university, and it was definitely a wise choice.

skoorb: I got a full-tuition scholarship (from UBC) with my IB scores, even though my provincial scores sucked. Not to mention the 12 extra credits I earned. Not to mention it was a pretty cool experience to attend CHEM 202 as a first year student. hehe

It is not just about recognition and grades. It's all about discipline. First year has been such a slack for me since I've learned the "art of essay writing" (no, not BS'ing), researching, time management, and believe it or not, social skills. All my best friends are my IB friends.

One more thing: It helps you develop a well-rounded character, and appreciate different points of view. With that alone, IB is worth it.

If you can handle the workload, stick with IB.

 

[LaBang]

well, this post has renewed my motivation to get my IB. I am sooo late with all of my school set deadlines and now if i want the diploma I have to get everything done for the actual upcomming IB deadlines. I have sooo much work to do but if i get it all done i think that i have the chance to pass. At the moment, i am working on my extended essay and my TOK essay.
Let's hear some words of encouragement for me! yeah! i know that if i get discouraged i could so easily just say "screw it".
i hope i have the motivation.

 

[Sugadaddy]

I'm finishing my IB in science this semester (I go to cegep in french in Quebec). It's not that bad, although I know I won't be doing chemistry courses in university. (organic chemistry, yuck!) The courses are a little harder than regular courses, but the difference isn't too big. The hardest part is I have alot of courses each semester, and this semester is the worst. It's funny, we were 22 in science for the first semester, but there's only 10 students who'll be finishing.

 

[kuk]

Here's my situation:

Next year, I'll choose for HL:
- Portuguese
- English
- Geography

For SL, I'll pick
- Chemistry
- Mathematics
- Biology .. I think

CAS would be cooler if it was just CA ... I mean, i'm ok with social work, but it takes too much time. All my saturday mornings this semester will be spent with social service.

My extended essay will be on Urban Geography, with the development of the city of Sao Paulo. I think this will be fun to work with. I haven't started my TOK essays yet. I dunno, TOK gets on my nerves. :|

Are your TOK teachers "God-wannabes"? My gawd ... my teacher is the head president of the Theologist Association of Brazil (or whatever it's called), not to mention professor at several universities ... we normally call him God, and his classroom, "Room 101" ("1984" reference). It's torture ... he applies his catholic view on everything, making moral judgements (even when he says he's not making any). His speech makes you feel a sh!t-headed numbskull if dare argue with him.

Well, gotta go ... first two classes tomorrow is with god.

 

[linuxboy]

aRyll, you are SO right

I'm 17 and a senior in HS this year.
By going to a local community college and through AP tests, I will get my AA degree in June. I will get my HS and college degrees at the same time. Same week...

It is a really good way to get ahead. I'll be enrolling as a transfer student at UW this fall and I have junior status AND my general ed requirements are COMPLETELY done. So 3 more terms and I'll get my bachlor's. Then on to grad school...

for all of you that are above average and those of you that are in the top 2 %, I would strongly recommend taking 2-3 evening/online classes each term. If you start your junior year in HS, you will be done with 2 years of college by the time hs is over. And alot of states pay for the college tuition. Either way, doing AP/IB/college stuff early is better then going through HS and slacking off. But have fun too