Currently taking IB diploma. I am doing really good, my gpa is above my goal right now but EE is about to come up. I heard that the IB diploma doesn’t matter when applying to U.S. colleges. Is this true? And I am still interested in getting credit for college courses by passing the IB exams. Am i allowed to take the IB exams without the full diploma?
Thanks
THIS IS A COMPLETE LIE. The IB FULL Diploma is deemed the most rigorous course of study. I am in it and it is the hardest and most rewarding thing I have done in my life. The skills one learns in it is so transferable to aspects of everyday life, and colleges understand this. You can get credit for passing the HL versions of the exams and in some schools you can take specific IB classes, but it depends on the school. At my school, this year we have had two people get accepted to Duke, one to Brown to play football, one to Georgetown (just today) and four full ride volleyball scholarships to D1 schools. They were all IB. Believe me, it helps a lot.
IB is seen on the same level as AP by top colleges, and then there is probably some preference to IB at a lot of state colleges.
OP: the actual diploma is not evaluated by colleges – results are made before an IB diploma is conferred. The coursework is, of course, recognized as extremely rigorous
@camtheman98 no one is lying. You’re misunderstanding. “Believe me, it helps a lot.” As if there weren’t other routes to selective schools? Sure IB helped among the people you know. But lots of ppl are and were being accepted to selective colleges before IB came to the US. (FYI: my kiddo got her IB diploma and placed out of tons of 1st year classes (saving me some $) – but having or not having the IB diploma per se, didn’t affect her admissions)
OP, it depends on what colleges you’re looking at in the US. If you’re aiming for “top tier” schools, then will not taking the Diploma affect whether or not your counselor ticks the “most rigorous curriculum” box? If you need to take Diploma to be taking the most rigorous curriculum (like my school’s policy) then yes, the IB Diploma matters.
You also said that “my gpa is above my goal” - does that mean that you get grades in addition to taking IB? If you receive letter grades at semester (A,B,C, etc), then IB scores won’t matter as much. If, however, your semester grades are basically predicted points (1-7 scale), then your predicted diploma score will matter.
As for getting credit, you’ll have to check with each individual college you’re interested in applying to. Generally, though, colleges will only grant you credit for IB courses IF you have the Diploma, not Certificates. The higher ranked colleges also don’t give credit for SL exams.
I’m also an IB diploma student and my friend quit the diploma but she still has to take her exams. You get can college credits if you score 5 or above (but that depends on the colleges). The IB diploma does matter to colleges b/c it shows course rigor but again that depends on the college.
@AriaSalvatore No one says the IB curriculum or college-awarded credits for high IB Exam scores aren’t helpful. The OP asked about the IB diploma itself.
Since the diploma is awarded in May or June (?) of the senior year, beyond the date of college notification, it’s not helpful for students in terms of college admissions.