Hey I’m a sophmore in Abu Dhabi and right now I’m considering the two path my school ofter: the IB diploma or IB courses. I know how everyone always says that I should not decide my life for a degree and I really don’t want to. But I really want to get into a good college in the United States like UChicago. I was wondering what type of courses schools like this would want. I know I’m listing a lot of questions but please just answer as many as you can:
Do colleges in the US prefer the IB diploma over many IB courses? For example if I were taking IB certificates in HL Bio,Chem, Physics and Math along with a few other SLs would that be considered better than a diploma?
Do good universities in the US like if a student does the same language throughout highschool or would they like if the person got to Intermediate High (highest level before IB language) and then choose a different IB language AB nito?
I am not an expert on the IB program, but I think most colleges would prefer to see the IB diploma for a good reason: it is very rigorous and shows a lot of commitment. Having said that, your alternative suggestions are also rigorous. If you do all those courses as suggested, it probably isn’t going to make a difference between being accepted or rejected. Mostly they want rigor, and if your transcript shows rigor, you are good.
I can tell you that top US colleges prefer to see a student do at least four years of one language. They would rather see you push yourself in a first foreign language than do a couple of years each of two foreign languages. They like to see the highest level language course available in your school.
Remember that admissions to top colleges in the US are holistic. Yes, they like rigor, but they want to see good extra curricular activities. They will be looking for good recommendations from two teachers, ideally in two quite different subjects. They will want to see a good essay that shows them who you are. They will want high test scores. They also want diversity and lot of other qualities that are important to their particular school.
UChicago values intellectualism. Their essay supplements are known fo being weird, quirky, strange, etc… You will need to put a lot of effort into them to have a good chance.
I think the point is that the IBD is good enough, if you don’t do the diploma but choose 6 HLs, that would be something you could stress in your application. it won’t be unheard of as SLs won’t count for credit.
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"IB certificates in HL Bio,Chem, Physics and Math along with a few other SLs" >>>
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well, that would be the IBD minus the EE and TOK+CAS. Many US students take 4 HLs and 2 SLs as the IBD with EE/TOK/CAS. You are just shooting yourself in the foot by not completing the iBD but doing the IBD reqs,
Do all the years of the same language. AB. isn’t any advantage.
I doubt most universities would even notice the difference between 2 or 4 HLs. What they will notice is that you won’t have an IB Diploma score to compare to other applicants.
To be honest, you are already way behind in the admissions race to the top universities. Applicants who get admitted based on academic achievement alone are much more advanced than IB courses. You’re competing against applicants with awards from international academic competitions, or who have taken graduate-level courses (at a university) in high school.
Applicants who are not academic over-achievers will need some noteworthy extracurricular achievements to be competitive. I don’t see much time for ECs when you try to cram more courses into your schedule.
^ It is more actually than %90. Top universities don’t even consider a student who is not on the most rigorous course path. Not doing IBDP in an only-IB school is a very bad sign.
To the OP: your life would be miserable in UChicago if as a HS sophomore you’re thinking whether to do IBDP or not. There are easy universities in the US, but in UChicago (or in similar universities) life is like doing IBDP++ for another 4 years. If you don’t like the IB’s extensions or the program itself, you’d better to find another HS four yourself. In fact if you have an AP school around, it might be a good solution for you.