<p>My goal is to be accepted into an Ivy League college. For my secondary education, I have three schooling options. </p>
<p>School A
Offers the International Baccalaureate program School B
Run-of-the-mill public school School C
Offers the enhanced program, for intellectually gifted students [which I am currently enrolled in]</p>
<p>I know it seems like an obvious choice, go with IB, it has a good reputation, recognized by elite colleges, yady-yah. The thing is, if I went to IB, I wouldn't be able to get as high grades as I would at School B and C. I also wouldn't have as much time for ECs. However, if I did attend either school B or C, I would take AP exams at the nearest participating school. So basically, what it comes down to is:good grades and a few ECs at IB, or great grades and plenty of ECs at the public/ enhanced school. The way I see it though, is that the Ivy league school couldn't penalize me for attending a public school where IB wasn't offered [obviously, I would take AP exams outside of the school, and take all academic courses] Is IB worth it in the eyes of the people on the admissions board? IB=lower grades than gifted and public. I really want to get into Harvard College or U of Penn.</p>
<p>dude, go with IB. Its a great experience. You can’t find a class like TOK at school B or C. Its worth pushing yourself for IB, even if your grades drop a little bit.</p>
<p>But if you work hard and are dedicated you can easily get through IB without any grade deflation.</p>
<p>There is no one-size-fits-all answer to your question. It depends on much, much more information about the schools than you have provided. Around here (which may be where you live), School C would pretty clearly be the best choice, and School B a disaster, but School A would be close enough to School C that other factors could influence your decision. But even then my answer might be totally different if what you meant by Schools A, B, and C were different from what I imagined.</p>
<p>The point is that a lot of elements are important in picking a high school, and you can’t boil it down to one or two. </p>
<p>The really, really important thing I want to tell you, though, is that you should make the choice based on what will give you the best education and the best high school experience. Don’t use “getting into Harvard” as your goal. First of all, you can do everything right and not get into Harvard. But more importantly, what will get you into Harvard is the same thing that will make you a more valuable, productive person even if you don’t get into Harvard: being well-educated, engaged in your community, productive, successful, and challenged. If you go to a school that will help you be that kind of person, you will be a winner no matter what.</p>