<p>I'm a sophomore thinking about the IB program. As of right now I'm taking AP world history, Spanish 101, algebra 2, band, chemistry, and English 2 adv. I'm also starting a medical club and in varsity tennis since freshman year. The upcoming IB program is starting next year with HL chemistry, English, and history of the America's. the SL are Spanish, music theory, and math studies. They are planning to keep band as 1st period and have theory of knowledge as a 7th period. That means I won't be able to do the clubs that I like. What I want to know is if its worth it to give up sports and clubs to do the entire ib program. How many hours do u usually have homework? Are you able maintain straight A's. I'm trying to figure out if I should go full IB or take some ib and AP so that I could still do sports and clubs. Thanks for your time guys! :)</p>
<p>I think it’s a matter of what you decide your priorities are. In the IB program at my school, it was rare for someone to keep a 4.0 through full IB, but I did manage it. I also didn’t back off on my extracurriculars (actually stepped up some of them), and took a college course and some AP tests. But something had to give. In my case, it was sleep. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it, but my logic was something like this: I knew that I would regret it and wonder “what if” if I didn’t go for the IB diploma. I also knew that if I started it and changed my mind I could drop to the certificate, but I couldn’t do the reverse.
So I think you have to think really hard about what your priorities are. My approach was to try to do ALL the things, and then drop something if necessary when the time came. Definitely the most stressful approach, and when it came to it I didn’t want to give anything up. For giving up clubs/sports, what do you mean by “worth it”? Do you mean this from the college admissions perspective, or in the personal satisfaction sense?</p>
<p>Such a great response! Well, I mean I love to do the activities I’m doing as of now such as varsity tennis, my medical club, and band. These things are probably the centers of my life, but one of my high school goals is becoming valedictorian and basically just being the best that I can be. Having band as 1st period, and having 6 IB classes would make one class come after school. Which means I wouldn’t be able to commit to my club, sports, and other extracurricular activities. I can do a mixture of IB and AP and still have the clubs and sports (since I wouldn’t have a 7th period) or, I can do straight IB and not fully commit to these activities. My “worth it” perspective is basically to benefit myself and look good to colleges.</p>
<p>OK, I’m a little confused as to how the scheduling is set up… You have 7 periods in the day? So the first would be band and then you’d have 6 for IB classes. Why do you say you wouldn’t have a 7th period?</p>
<p>If I took the full IB diploma program I would have one of the classes as a seventh period which would interfere with some of my extracurriculars. If I took I mixture of AP and IB without having an extra 7th period, I could still do my activities.</p>
<p>Don’t do it if it’s just to “look good for colleges.” They don’t care if you go IB or take AP. Do the mix so you can maintain your clubs and sports.</p>
<p>Thanks! Are you an an IB student yourself?</p>
<p>Thanks! Are you an IB student yourself?</p>