<p>As I was registering for summer orientation, I was confronted with a foreign language placement question. I have not taken AP Spanish or the Spanish SAT II but I did take 5 semesters of Spanish in high school and scored a 5 on the IB Spanish SL test. Since I qualify for the Spanish placement test, what exactly does the foreign language test do for me? If I am required to take 4 Spanish semesters at UVa, does my score mean I can take fewer spanish courses or that I can just take 4 higher level Spanish courses? Can someone please help me out here with info or perhaps a link? Thanks.</p>
<p>You aren't exactly required to take four semesters. [url=<a href="http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/requirements/competency.html%5DYou're">http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/requirements/competency.html]You're</a> required to demonstrate proficiency<a href="generally,%20this%20means%20getting%20to%20the%20202%20level">/url</a>.</p>
<p>The exam helps place those without testing into the appropriate level.</p>
<p>....please try and at least search before you ask for these things... is the test you took the one below (i have very little knowledge of IB)? otherwise you just need to score what they say on this page to place up or out</p>
<p>
[quote]
SPAN 202 passing grade in SPAN 201, or SAT II Subject Test score of 600-640, or Orientation Foreign Language Placement exam score of 410-535, or IB Exam score of 5 or 6 (Spanish B, high level only), or permission of the Department
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Foreign</a> Language Placement Index — Undergraduate, College of Arts & Sciences, U.Va.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, he has that 5 on the standard level exam, which is a lower level exam that is not awarded credit.</p>
<p>UVA needs to start giving due credit to IB exams SL or HL!!</p>
<p>For second languages, SL should receive credit. After 3 years of Spanish Ab Initio SL I have been able to easily converse in Spanish in both Costa Rica and Mexico. I also wrote my 4000 word Extended Essay in Spanish with little trouble. If a student can do this after Ab Initio SL, then I see no reason for which credit should only be given to HL.</p>
<p>If you feel strongly about this, maybe you all could organize and meet with your deans about.</p>
<p>I certainly agree that SL foreign language exams should be given credit. The difference between a normal SL and HL exam is fairly large e.g. an additional paper, more difficult, less time. However, I have seen the SL Spanish exam and the HL Spanish exam and there simply is not much of a difference. SL students must write a 250 word essay while HL students must write a 400 word essay. HL students must answer a few more questions on the Paper 1. To recap, HL and SL students cover the same material, same Oral Presentation, and the same number of papers (Paper 1, Paper 2). The only difference is 150 words and a few additional questions. There may be a difference in how severly the exams are graded but that doesn't necessarily reflect the student's achievement in his or her foreign language.</p>
<p>Also, I understand from research that has been done that there isn't much difference in terms of difficulty between AP and IB SL or HL. So why give credit to AP and not to IB? It's part of this pattern where colleges, even prestigious ones still don't properly recognize IB.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
I understand from research that has been done that there isn't much difference in terms of difficulty between AP and IB SL or HL.
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If you have that research, it might be something to present to the CLAS deans.</p>
<p>Just trying to make sure you all know that the Office of Admission doesn't administer credit or make the decisions about what scores get what sort of credit here.</p>
<p>I have looked at the language websites but I have not been able to find where you are placed if your SAT score is above 650 for spanish. I know it gets you out of all the foreign language requirements but it doesn't say anything about where it places you if you want to keep going. Could anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.</p>
<p>Email the person on this page, it says
Department</a> of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese - Studies in Spanish - Undergraduate Program - Spanish 101-201 - Placement Grid</p>
<p>
[quote]
So why give credit to AP and not to IB?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is such a valid yet complicated point. </p>
<p>IB students typically take 5 years of an SL language. If they score a perfect 7 there is zero credit given (even though years 4 and 5 are full IB and weighted .5 in Ffx), yet an AP language student can take 3 years of a language and one year of AP and score a 4 on the exam and get 6 credits.</p>
<p>The disparity doesn't stop there. For example an IB History (which covers History of the Americas IB History I and Topics of the Twentieth Century IB II) score of 6 gives 3 credits and and IB History exam with a score of 7 gives 6 credits. An AP US History score of 4 gives 8 credits and an AP European score of 4 or better gives 6 credits. So an IB student gets 6 credits for a perfect History score after two years of IB vs 14 credits for 2 years of of less than perfect scores in AP History.</p>
<p>The highest scoring teacher in Ffx county for both IB and AP Spanish told me that it comes down to a matter of familiarity. The College Board does a better job of familiarizing university staff (albeit in the US only) of its standards where the IB (which covers the world) does not do as strong a job in communicating it's testing rigor.</p>
<p>Having gone through the admissions process, I do think admissions staff understands IB. It seems to be the department staff that remains unfamiliar.</p>
<p>
[QUOTe]
I do think admissions staff understands IB.
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We definitely do. Virginia ranks third in the nation when it comes to states with the most high schools with IB programs.</p>
<p>I think UVA is lacking in terms of awarding credits for IB students, as AP students receive many more credits. I know a girl who took AP and she was awarded like 40 credits, which is basically a third of the minimum number of credits (120) you'll need to graduate. </p>
<p>I would say that any IB subject taken at HL is still much more demanding than any AP subject. AP is structured differently, however, from IB in certain areas; for instance, in math, there is AP Calc(AB) and AP Calc(BC) whereas in IB Math HL, you are learning many topics at the same time (such as calculus, matrices, differential equations, etc.) and not going into as much depth in calculus. College math classes follow a similar sequence, beginning from Calc 1, Calc 2 and Calc 3 - which is why it's hard to award credits to a student who took IB Math HL.</p>
<p>Also, overall, an IB diploma student puts as much or more work into high school than a typical AP student. The vast majority of AP students are not taking all their courses at the advanced/honors/IB/AP level, they are not doing a 4000 word extended essay, taking TOK (on top of everything else), or doing CAS hours. While I understand that certain courses, such as AP Calc are more difficult/in-depth than IB HL Math, and many AP students are taking many advanced courses, along with volunteering, sports teams, etc. comparing a typical IB Diploma student with a typical AP student, the IB student has put comparable work in, and should receive comparable credit where deserved. </p>
<p>While the comparison in courses between IB and AP does show many differences, I think that it is more than fair that the AP and IB student get similar recognition. Perhaps the AP student would get more credit for math, where the IB student would get credit for TOK, Extended Essay, and the Diploma as a whole. In the end, equal credit. </p>
<p>my $0.02</p>
<p>In my opinion, IB Math HL is much, much more demanding than AP Calculus (AB or BC) because of the sheer amount of topics you have to cover. While the calculus may be more in-depth in AP than in IB, there is more breadth covered in IB Math HL.</p>