I’m an American citizen but I go to an international boarding school and take the IB program. While my courses are extremely difficult, it has been hard to keep up with straight-A’s, and I know almost no one taking the IB with A’s!! It is a very challenging program, and I am worried about how my transcripts may be reflected on my college application.
For example, a 70% in Maths HL is a 7 (perfect score), but still appears as a C on the report card. Report cards for my peers going to UK schools do not matter, as colleges will only look at their perfect 7s, and not the Cs. However, I am applying to the US with a C on my report card in one of the hardest classes, will this reflect poorly on me?
I’m aware (most) US schools do not accept IB scores but mostly look at transcripts and SAT/ACT.
Should I drop out of the IB? Are the poor letter grades not compensated by the fact that the classes are IB?
Colleges will view your transcript within the context of your school. Every AO is well aware that most schools outside the US do not give out A’s like candy. If your grades put you in the top 10% of the class, your actual GPA will not be seen as detrimental. Even if your school does not rank, AOs can generally figure out the decile. If the vast majority of students are taking the IB program, then no, you should not drop it, since course rigor is a factor in the admissions decision as well.
@yellowstonebart: see your guidance counselor and ask whether the school profile lists what percentage students reach a 30%, a 40%, a 50%, a 60%, a 70%, or an 80%, with the letters they correlate these with (A, B, C, D, E,F, G, H…?) Does the school profile indicate clearly that 70%/C usually results in a 7 on the IB exam, a …%/D typically results in a 6, a …% typically results in a 5, a …% typically results in a 4?
If not, make SURE the school profile does include these percentiles and indications as they’re crucial for the admission officer to evaluate you within the context of your school.
Do most students in your school attend US or UK schools?
Universities in the US should understand the IB system as my kids are in an IB public school in the US. I agree that some schools go overboard in grading and work load (which was the case with my kids at a private school in the Middle East). It will be tough to explain and most of my son’s friends did end up in the UK. It will be tough but you will have to manage the schools you apply too. What’s the major your looking at? Universities?
My son is just graduating from an IB school outside the US. On his report cards, a 7 is a 7, etc. I don’t understand why your school would convert to letter grades, particularly in the way you describe - it makes no sense to report a 7 as a C. In any event, as people have noted above, US schools understand, and certainly accept, the IB system and value the work involved in obtaining the IB Diploma, so there should be a way to explain what your grades mean when you apply. For example, most IB schools issue predicted scores in senior year, so you would have an estimated total score for application purposes.
Most students apply to UK schools, so that’s why I’m worried
Please talk to your GC and have them establish a school people for us colleges, which include the information listed in #2