anyone enrolled in the IB diploma?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi,
I'm new here, and noticed everyone here takes AP courses. My school offers both AP and IB courses. currently I'm enrolled in the IB diploma program, but start to doubt my decision. because to get the diploma not only do you have to take the 6 courses, you also have to fulfill hours of creativity, action and service (which is easy for me), and the dreadful extended essay and theory of knowledge class-- these two extras just take so much of my time.</p>

<p>here are the breakdown of my courses for this year (and next year):
-. IB Standard English
-. IB Standard Math
-. IB Standard Spanish B*
-. IB Higher Economics*
-. IB Higher Physics*
-. IB Higher Biology*
* equivalent to the AP course</p>

<p>does anyone take the IB? what are your opinions on it? does taking the IB have any effect on your admissions?</p>

2

<p>I'm also in the IB diploma program. My subjects are:</p>

<p>HL language A1
HL language A2
HL econ
HL psych
SL math studies
SL bio
and I'm doing my EE in English (but have yet to find a topic...).</p>

<p>I quite like both ToK and the EE. Sure, they take time, but both seem useful. ToK has really taught me how to think critically, and that's a super-useful skill. As for the EE... Well, I'm having some problems there, but in theory I like it! </p>

<p>I think the IB does help in college admissions, since schools realize how rigorous the course is. A few weeks ago I got a brochure from U Tulsa that said "we value your IB experience" on the front page!</p>

<p>The one thing I really dislike about the IB is that I can't study history or Spanish anymore. That's probably just because of my school though. </p>

<p>The IB is time-consuming and difficult, but the good thing about that is that we also tend to do really stupid and crazy things to have fun. The group 4 project, for example. Pretty much everyone has a crazy, fun topic! Both students and teachers seem to enjoy taking advantage of any opportunity that could be made fun and making it enjoyable. </p>

<p>I love the IB program! :)</p>

3

<p>There are plenty of people on CC who are IB Diploma candidates. While fewer than those who just take AP, sure, there are a good number.
I am a senior with only one easy SL test left standing in front of the end of my IB career. From this end, I certainly enjoyed it. I have found it to be rewarding, and I have learned a great deal, though of course much of that
can be attributed to my individual teachers.</p>

<p>Like your school, at least from what I have gathered, perhaps I misinterpreted you, we take APs concurrently with IBs, where applicable. I think this is definitely a benefit in terms of college admissions and such.</p>

<p>I will say that I am a horrible procrastinator, and there are times when the work has been troublesome. My EE and many of my Internal Assessments are not nearly as good as they could have been. However, I think that all of the writing that IB requires (both at home and in the exams) is a great benefit, and I feel confident that I am prepared for college.
In fact, while I'm headed to a notoriously challenging college and I imagine it will be tough, I have heard from some people at other schools that their experience has been easier than that of our high school.</p>

<p>I wholeheartedly recommend the IB program to anyone considering it...it provides a well-rounded education, while still allowing you to play up your strengths and weaknesses. It is well respected in this country by any top college, as well as around the world. However, it isn't for everyone, and taking APs is certainly also a good option for many. But if you're already in it, I would stick with it. </p>

<p>And if you're interested, my courses are:
English HL
Math HL
Chem HL
History (Americas) HL
French SL
...and then I took both Psychology SL and Physics SL as potential sixth subjects my junior year, and got the same score on them, so which I chose doesn't really matter, though I believe Psych is going on my diploma.</p>

<p>I will also add that our ToK sitation was far from ideal, and probably very different from how yours will be run, so I can't comment too much on that.</p>

4

<p>pinnipotto:
our school does some subject concurrently with the AP. like most first year IB HL Math students took the AP Calc AB/BC this month. </p>

<p>like flattie9, if I didn't take the IB I probably could have taken more classes, and since all my classes take two years, I can't explore other areas.
I wish I had taken HL math and sl economics. that way I could have done AP stats or maybe IB S History.</p>

<p>I guess EE and IA are more of a problem than TOK. I like TOK (I was really looking forward to it), but my teacher likes to go off on a tangent all the time and forgets that during our period she has class.
and if you're interested i'm doing my EE on math. I got a topic but need to talk with my advisor soon...</p>

<p>I know for sure the IB will pay off in the future, but I guess it's just the time of the year I am currently in, where work just piles up and gets quite stressful</p>

<p>Thanks for the replies</p>

5

<p>You're not the only IB student out there. My daughter graduated in 2006 and got her diploma. By taking AP classes that didn't overlap with IB classes, she was able to start with 19 credits with her combined AP/IB scores. She took HL English, Spanish B, Biology and AP Euro and AP US History and something else.</p>

<p>As for the whole admissions process, the student who takes the IB Diploma Programme is seen comparable to the student who takes a similar number of AP courses. </p>

<p>I'm not sure that your SL Spanish B is considered equivalent to AP. Most upper tier colleges and universities only give credit for HL exams.</p>

<p>She felt it was well worth the work. Also, it wasn't all work and no play -- she played varsity sports and was in one play.</p>

6

<p>I will be an IB junior next year!</p>

<p>Junior year
English HL
History SL--will take HL
Psychology SL--will take HL
IB Pre-calc
IB Bio SL
IB I French SL
TOK
Orchestra</p>

<p>Senior Year
English HL
History HL
Psychology HL
Chall. Physics
Math studies SL
IB II french SL
TOK
Orchestra</p>

7

<p>My school annoyingly only offers 6 periods, and no IB Music SL or HL, so basically if you want to take a music class you can kiss hopes of IB goodbye. In any case, I'll be doing 5 IB classes next year and choir:</p>

<p>Junior Year:
IB Math HL
IB Bio HL
IB European History HL
IB English A1 HL
Concert Choir
French 3 Honors</p>

<p>Senior Year:
IB Math HL
IB Bio HL
IB Euro HL
IB English HL
Concert Choir
IB French SL</p>

<p>Very exciting, I know.</p>

8

<p>I'm in it. Well pretty much Pre-IB. I will be in 10th next year. I plan on taking
Junior year-
IB Bio SL
IB Chem HL
IB Math Methods II
AP French lang
AP Macro/IB TOK
IB American History
AP English Lit/IB English HL</p>

<p>Senior Year-
IB French SL
IB Chem HL
AP Physics B
AP Bio
IB History of the Americas
IB TOK/Free Period
IB English HL</p>

<p>I don't know if I can take IB Bio HL and IB Chem HL, but if I can I will.</p>

9

<p>I'm in the PreIB program as well, although I'm not sure of my exact schedules for the next two years. The courses I'm taking are:</p>

<p>Math HL
Chem HL
Physics HL
History SL
English SL
French SL</p>

10

<p>IB's a joke. You just take all your regular AP courses, but study a little extra for a few exams at the end of the year.</p>

<p>Math HL
Chem HL
English HL</p>

<p>History SL
Physics SL
Spanish SL</p>

11

<p>IB is a pain in the neck a lot of the time. Still a good program though (attracts different kind of kids than AP).</p>

12

<p>I'm an IB Diploma candidate...it was good for me because my school doesn't offer AP's and it's a program that Canadian universities or fond of. </p>

<p>It's stressful, but I don't know how stressful it is compared to AP courses because I've never taken any... Sorry I can't help more =/</p>

13

<p>I did the IB programme (got my bilingual diploma in '06).
I wrote English A1 HL, French A2 SL, European History HL in French, and Chemistry HL in May '06 and Biology SL and Math Methods SL in French in May '05. </p>

<p>I would really recommend sticking with the IB program if you're doing well currently. It's not for everyone, but it is a very good program that will help prepare you for university.</p>

<p>A few good things about the IB program
-TOK, EE, CAS: these things actually help prepare you for college and the admissions process. You'll be laughing in your first year if you're assigned a research paper after doing the EE. Also, chances are that if you want to be a competitive applicant at top schools, you'll have more than enough hours to fill out the CAS forms.<br>
-overlap with AP: You can take IB courses and write AP exams with a little extra prep. You cannot, however, take AP classes and write IB exams due to the external requirements like World Lit, Historical Inquiry, Math Porfolios, Group 4 Project, Oral Exams, etc.
-IB offers a well rounded education. If you want to specialize, take AP - you can pick and choose courses you want to take at that level. IB provides some opportunity for this through the SL/HL distinction, but ultimately you need subjects in at least five areas (unless you have specific permission from the IBO). I think IB is great for someone who is generally intelligent but isn't sure about what they want to do with their life. </p>

<p>AP is also a good program, but I have little experience with it. I'm just telling you what I know.</p>