<p>I am going to be a Senior in the IB program at my school this upcoming school year and I have yet answered that question.</p>
<p>During the college admission process, you will not even know if you will get the diploma or not. Your counselor or co-ordinator submits a predicted exam report along with your college app, right? So how does college distinguished IB diploma candidates in the admission process?</p>
<p>I have a friend who scored a 1550 on his SAT (the new one) and got into UPenn and another friend with really low stats who got into Columbia. Both we're in the IB program at my school and got the diploma.</p>
<p>Does your predicted grade really reflects your chances of getting the diploma for those types of colleges?</p>
<p>It's certainly an accomplishment, but look somewhere else if you want something to brag about in college. Before I started coming on CC, I didn't know there was such a thing as an IB diploma, or even IB classes. I really don't think anyone except you, your friends, and your family really cares about your IB diploma, unless your school gives special recognition at an awards assembly or something.</p>
<p>no, i'm in ib. it will not work miracles for you and get you into reach colleges. it is like a coating of polish for a car. if you have a great car, it will only make it look better. but if you have a beat up ford, looking shiny will only go so far.</p>
<p>Well, the IB diploma itself won't get you into reach colleges because you get that after you've been accepted everywhere. Sure, an IB course load will get you into reach colleges, but still, you can't brag about those either. It's pretty much a personal accomplishment.</p>
<p>^ Solidarity indeed. Especially around the EE due date... that was fun.</p>
<p>Just put it this way - what are your other options in high school? If you have to choose between IB and the regular stream, IB will give you a leg up. If you have to choose between IB and AP, do a combination of both, or take whichever suits you best (IB = well rounded, AP = possibilty of being more specialized). </p>
<p>IB can also help you once you're in uni. Find a school that gives you advanced credit for your HL subjects, and yes, it will be worth it. You can either retake a subject you know a lot about already (thus attaining a high GPA in uni, which will help in first year when a lot of people do really poorly), or take the credit and do advanced, more interesting classes sooner. </p>
<p>I graduated with my bilingual IB diploma in '06, and in the fall I will be starting my "third" year of university because I had almost a full year of credits to start with. I'm still planning on doing fours years at uni, but I got a better registration date and way better classes than all of my friends who are now in second year (which I essentially skipped). IB also gives you a bit of leverage with your uni advisors. I wanted to take a few extra courses last year, and usually first years aren't allowed to do so. The advisor looked at my IB transcript and changed my registration in about 5 minutes. </p>
<p>That being said, I wouldn't brag about being in IB once you get to uni. A lot of other people will have done similar programs. Actually, during orientation, the fact that you did IB can be a conversation starter as long as you aren't arrogant about it - "oh, what hl's did you take", etc.</p>
<p>Getting in at UPenn with a 1550??? You're friend must have some really good ECs like curing cancer and an awesome hook!</p>
<p>Anyways, an IB diploma is only as good as AP courses. IB/AP classes are usually the most rigorous at most high schools. That's the type of classes colleges wants you to take--the hardest. So it is really hard to avoid AP/IB in highschool.</p>
<p>That said, the only real advantage of an IB diploma are earning college credit. That would save you a lot of money and time. Be aware though that AP credit is more widely recognized at IB ones.</p>
<p>I think it would be worth it to get an IB diploma.
It would be like an AP curriculum, so it's a good schedule for top universities.</p>
<p>My school doesn't offer it, but another school in my school's district does offer it. It's ironic that they offer more AP classes even though they're IB.</p>