How well does I.B. Diploma prepare you for first-year?

<p>I am seriously considering University of Chicago and if I get accepted there is a high probability that I will matriculate.</p>

<p>However, I might (, might!) also get a Guaranteed Transfer into Cornell University. It's not like I will 100% transfer to Cornell in my sophomore year. It's just that I wanna keep my options open.</p>

<p>I really want to excel at Chicago in the first year, and I really enjoy learning (you guys should see my jump-for-joy emotions when I see chemical reactions and my eager attitude in my I.B. English class).</p>

<p>I love to make analysis and discuss human emotions, and human conditions, and "use the original text," as Chicago puts it.</p>

<p>I don't plan to use any of my I.B. credits. I have predicted grades of 41/45 (top 3%).</p>

<p>Was anyone in the I.B. Diploma program in high school? How are you doing right now? How did you do in freshman year (if not freshman currently)?</p>

<p>Oh and I am so worried about physics right now. Do I have to take general physics in my first year?</p>

<p>4 students from our full IB program are first years at U of C and the two I know more about got 7 A's and a B+ in the first quarter and are doing very well in the second. Your academic background (APs and IBs) will allow you to place higher. As for taking the courses all over again, why would you pay good money to retake stuff you already know? X number of lower level classes you don't have to take in the beginning, will translate into X number of higher level classes you'll take later on. That's why there's placement testing during orientation.</p>

<p>Don't worry about physics. You don't have to take it first year, and there are versions designed for humanities majors. Your love of learning and original sources makes UoC a great fit for you.</p>

<p>J'adoube,
That is great news to hear about the IB students. S2 is in a full diploma program and is also interested in Chicago -- it's encouraging to hear that all the hard work pays off down the road! Right now S2 could use some encouragement in that regard!</p>

<p>
[quote]
4 students from our full IB program are first years at U of C and the two I know more about got 7 A's and a B+ in the first quarter and are doing very well in the second. Your academic background (APs and IBs) will allow you to place higher. As for taking the courses all over again, why would you pay good money to retake stuff you already know? X number of lower level classes you don't have to take in the beginning, will translate into X number of higher level classes you'll take later on. That's why there's placement testing during orientation.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I just wanna retake everything because people told me that colleges tend to teach slightly more materials than high schools do. For Calculus for example, I heard colleges teach two more chapters than high school.</p>

<p>As someone with an IB diploma and a current student at the U of C, here are my thoughts:</p>

<p>If your IB program is strong and you do well on your exams, I think you will be more than prepared for the core.</p>

<p>I think it prepares you particularly well for your writing intensive courses (Hum+) and you will see that manifest itself when you begin writing your papers. I also think the rigor of the IB program prepares you for the rigor at U of C, but be warned, things do get more difficult.</p>

<p>Your math perpetration depends on your Math class (and option topic). If you took HL Math with Infinite Series and Differential Equations or completed further Math, you'll be in great shape. If you took Math Studies, you might have to put in a bit more time when you take Calculus, but if your admitted, there is no doubt you can do the work.</p>

<p>The admissions people look highly upon students who complete the IB program...my only issue with the administration has been the somewhat biased granting of credit as I do not feel an AP 4 is equivalent to an IB 6 by any means.</p>

<p>akx06, I hear you on the AP 4 not = IB 6. IB is starting a big campaign to get more recognition of the program out to colleges -- too late for current applicants, but I think that with time, more colleges will appreciate the difficulty of IB and grant credit accordingly, esp. in certain areas.</p>

<p>S1 is taking HUM this year and I can say that what S2 is doing in first year HL English WRT critical analysis is very comparable to HUM. I could see clearly how IB English would be excellent preparation for HUM and the level of writing generally expected at Chicago. The expectations from S2's IB English teacher and S1's HUM prof were very similar. This may vary depending on one's school, but IB English at S2's school is a killer.</p>

<p>FB, Chicago teaches five levels of first year math, so there is certainly a math course you could take that would be challenging, not beyond you, and not repetitive.</p>

<p>CountingDown: That's really nice to hear! Yah I love my English class. My English teacher's teaching philosophy has three parts</p>

<p>1) Identify literary device
2) Reason for using literary device
3) Effect of literary device on the readers</p>

<p>And also, more importantly,</p>

<p>4) Cultural context/connotations (allusions, current events, major historical events, traditions, etc)</p>

<p>I LOVE MY ENGLISH CLASS!</p>

<p>akx06: Thanks for your personal insights! I am currently taking math HL with the optional topic in Infinite Series and Differential Equations. My math class has been quite challenging, and my first-term math grade suffered a bit (but I pulled it back up... now it's chemistry >"< - the class average is 53% haha) but I think the whole IB program is well worth it.</p>

<p>As both an IB diploma holder and AP Scholar with Distinction, I would disagree in the other direction on the AP / IB examinations being comparable. </p>

<p>In general, I think an IB higher level 6 or 7 maps well to an AP 4 or 5, but below that things get very hazy with IB being less rigorous by way of examination, especially at the standard level. I also don’t like the idea of students turning in pre-prepared work to be graded, as there is clearly administratively condoned cheating at some programs that skews the performance of pupils (e.g. lab reports are improved by teachers before being forwarded for review, papers corrected by students after receiving marks). The AP exams, meanwhile, are just harder to manipulate by their day-of-reckoning mantra.</p>

<p>I would also that when choosing your courses be VERY careful.</p>

<p>For instance, with Hum, you have many choices and your looking at topics that you may find interesting, but your experience depends much more on your classmates (via discussion) and your professor.</p>

<p>I went to Human Being and Citizen my first day, there were 24 kids in the class and students making obnoxious comments and a Professor who enjoyed that. Not my cup of tea, so I switched over to Greek Thought and Literature with a class total of 4 students and a Professor that was absolutely brilliant - he used the original Greek texts instead of translations and would dismantle the text and ask us very very difficult questions. I think I learned much more in that sort of setting that I could have in a class of 24.</p>

<p>uchicagoalum,
The grading can cut the other way, too. S2 wrote an essay last quarter that got a D from the IB teacher. No grammatical errors, strong fundamentals, decent critical analysis. The paper was comparable in quality to an HBC paper that S1 wrote for a B+. Could not figure out for the life of me what in that paper constituted a D. A friend who teaches college English gave S2's essay a B+. The IB program S2 attends teaches to a 6-7, so kids who get IB 5s in this program get AP 5s pretty easily. </p>

<p>I know most colleges don't give credit for SLs, so that's why most of the kids we know take the comparable AP and get a study guide to fill in the gaps. S2 will also be a full diploma/AP Distinguished Scholar by the time he is done.</p>

<p>Condoned cheating -- We would have been happy if S2 got to write a practice Econ IA (as the guidebook suggests) for feedback before having to write them for marks!</p>

<p>axk, I think idad's S took GTL and also loved it.</p>

<p>Countingdown: Fair enough. Some schools teach beyond the seven level, even for HL. If you are lucky enough to attend one, you will be in good stead. </p>

<p>Otherwise, Greek Thought and Literature is generally regarded as the headiest of the the HUM courses, in the same way that Classics is for SOSC.</p>

<p>ucalum,
Is that Classics of Social and Political Thought or another SOSC sequence?</p>

<p>Yes, GT&L was S1's favorite core sequence. He took all three courses even though, I believe, only two are required. He too had brilliant professors and from time-to-time a visiting scholar would drop by to discuss the work he or she was doing.</p>

<p>Yes. Classics of Social and Political Thought.</p>