<p>In response to the recent hooha concerning the International Baccalaureate (IB) as an up and coming pre-U program, I decide to air my 2 cents worth as well....just hope i wun stir up too much of a controversy =)</p>
<p>One key concern plaguing the A-levels is the failure to differentiate between the bright and the brightest, sth which the graduated scoring system of the IB professes to be able to do</p>
<p>A newspaper recently reported that a sub-par school in Singapore ( yes ACS I for those of you SGers) had half of the top scorers for the entire world. That certainly doesnt sound very convincing to me.</p>
<p>While I also lament the lack of cross-disciplinary studies ( having been forced to choose between arts and sciences when I took the a-levels), I feel that this problem can be duly addressed by requiring students to take up contrasting subjects (i.e. physics, maths, history, econs)</p>
<p>Besides, as some British teachers have commented, the IB is no where near the A-levels in terms of the depth of knowledge and thinking required. Thats certainly another intriguing point because how can you differentiate the good from the best if you dont push them to their limits and stretch their critical and analytical thinking.</p>
<p>Anyone took the IB? Would like to hear your-side of the story =)</p>
<p>lol ajay are u monish's fren? theres a difference between recognising the genuine quality of a program and the mere curiosity in a less commonly offered qualification....so is it the former or the latter when you say "colleges simply cannot resist IB students"?</p>
<p>I believe that you can't compare two boards of education per se. An IB Diploma candidate with a 44/45 would look much better to the admissions commitee than an A level candidate with relatively lower grades, and vice versa. IB & AP scores help you get exempted from some mandatory college courses. I'm not sure if A level candidates are granted that privilege though.</p>
<p>Just because 1 school (that you know nothing about) dominated during the November session, you're questioning the IB program? I'm about to complete the programme and I must say it is wayyyy better than A-levels. I'm not even interested in debating about this, but if you want I can give you some links to old threads.</p>
<p>haha well to me ACS is a sub-par school....and trust me S33D, i know my stuff</p>
<p>besides, your completing your IB programme, unless you happen to take 2 pre-U courses (highly unlikely possibility) or you were fortunate to witness the transition from A-levels to IB first-hand, I dont see how you can say that its "wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" better than A-levels =)</p>
<p>wel longbowmen, i'm just going to make a guess here and suggest that you're from raffles. First off, i highly doubt you "know your stuff". Have you ever been in ACS? well i have and i then went on to RJC cos the IB wasn't ready for my batch. I went on to score 4As in every common test/promo/prelim and then 4As and 2 Dist for the A levels. not bad for someone from a "sub-par" school huh? in fact do you even know the meaning of sub-par? ACS might not be considered the best in terms of results but it is very far from sub-par.</p>
<p>now to answer your question about IB vs A levels. i think that the 2 schemes prepare you differently for university. the A levels definitely go further in terms of depth especially if you choose to take higher level courses (S Papers in the past and H3 nowadays) which suits you fine if you know early on what you want to do in uni. </p>
<p>On the other hand i find that the IB (my girlfriend's younger sis is taking it) has a more holistic approach. they focus less on stuffing your brain with knowledge and more on teaching you how to learn (ie less spoon feeding). The students come out more well-rounded now only because of the subjects they learn but also because of how they learn them.</p>
<p>haha i apologise for slighting ACS...it has its share of outstanding students as well, clearly evident from joe26...but even as joe has commented, ACS would probably not be considered the best, and YET it dominated the IB scoring scene, i wonder what this implies =)</p>
<p>onto the difference between IB and A levels, as joe himself probably have witnessed, esp when it comes to higher level courses like S Papers and H3 in the A-levels, its very little about "stuffing your brain with knowledge" and much more about the applying what you learn to really really complex questions that even I have no idea where they popped out from =)</p>
<p>besides, the required depth of thinking really pushes our intellectual capabilities to the limit, allowing us to maxmise our potential....how can you say the same about a course that encourages you to learn broadly and skimming (relative term here, in case i get flamed) through most topics?</p>
<p>btw joe, class of which year? in uni now? what do you think of the possibility of us dominating the ENTIRE IB scoring scene if the whole of SG were to adopt IB lol?</p>
<p>longbowmen has a point here. i think it would be safe to assume if the whole of SG were to adopt it, then we would be face with the problem we have now of not being able to differentiate the students. Realistically, students who score 4As with 2/3 Distinctions could very possibly score a near perfect/ perfect score. Right now the IB seems fantastic because there is no yardstick to compare it with other Singaporean students. as such, the IB students who apply overseas might be considered differently from the A level students because the competition is just different.</p>
<p>there are 2 reason why i think AC dominated the IB scene. Firstly, those who came out in the newspapers are the cream of the crop. They would have gone on to be competitive in the A levels in schools like RJ and HC if they wanted to; therefore it is not surprise that they did so well and vice versa would be true too so if RJ and HC wished to, they could dominate the world IB scene if they wanted to. now, as to why the school as a whole did well, i think its a combination of the program suiting the type of student acs attracts as well as the fact that the school seems follows an A level methodology towards the IB. From what i have heard from my gf's sis, the school provides much more support for the projects and work when compared to foreign schools, thus resulting the greater average score.</p>
<p>i agree that the A levels provides for a greater depth of thinking, as anyone who has taken S papers would know. the past year papers in this case are absolutely useless because the questions never repeat themselves. each time you face a question, it is unique and requires you to search through the great chapters of knowledge that have been burned onto your brain to find a novel way of solving the question. you come out feeling like your brains might leak from your head but it is this that really prepares you well when it comes to advanced university work as you would be more used to that sort of work, though in terms of A levels you are generally only proving yourself in a narrow field. trying to broaden that field would result in there being a loss of depth in your study</p>
<p>what the IB offers that makes it so attractive is the fact that doing well in the IB shows your ability to handle a slew of very very different subjects. from this foundation, the universities know that you can handle a broad curriculum and can worry about training you towards a narrower field once they get you.</p>
<p>the benefits will therefore vary. For example assuming equivalent grades, i think an A level student would benefit if they were applying for a more specific course that is related to their pre-university course of study while an IB studen would benefit when applying for a more general course.</p>
<p>P.S i'm from the RJC class of 2006. serving out my NS now. what about you?</p>
<p>lol as a RJ alumni from the class of 2005, i feel that our pole position is under serious threat....if we dont do anything bout this plague that aka IB soon, we could jolly well fade into oblivion and watch as AC becomes the dominant school in terms of admissions to top unis overseas =(</p>
<p>the problem lies in the fact that our A-level system is actually a distinctly separate entity from the British system....SG students are ranked amongst themselves instead the entire A-level cohort (which is what the IB is doing), resulting in our brightest and best brains not getting the recognition and achievements they deserve....worrying trend imo</p>
<p>well, AC is already making strides in terms of top tier admission but we have to make the distinction that these top scorers are the best that AC have to offer so it is only expected that they make it. what would be of concern to the rest of singapore would be whether the average student doing IB would be viewed better than the average student doing A levels simply because of the type of course.</p>
<p>in terms of the bell curve, in the long run i dont think it'll be that big a problem. even though the IB is marked internationally, the top schools would compare the students against their peers (ie other singaporean students) and not the international average. for the A level students i think there's no worry because the schools have quite a considerable number of A level students who have gone on to do very well there, helping us in terms of recognition.</p>
<p>if you dont mind me asking, where are you gonna study? finished your NS already right? i'm still waiting for the replies from the US & UK schools.</p>
<p>I haven't read through everything.. but I just want to give my 2 cents..</p>
<p>IB is as good as SINGAPOREAN A Levels.. because Sporean A Levels are generally considered to be better than the CIE/UK board A Levels.. </p>
<p>However, when people are saying that IB is better than the A Levels.. they are considering all the A Levels in the world (isn't it weird that so many different exams have the same name).. and on average IB is better than all the A Levels.. IB is definitely better than the CIEs, and EdExcels.. but not necessarily as good as the Sporeans/HK's</p>
<p>I'm not a Sporean.. but I would love to see Sporeans doing the A Levels take 5/6 A Levels, to demonstrate both breadth and depth.. I know 4 Spore A Levels are tough enough.. but what can Sporeans not do?</p>
<p>I think just do well and everything falls in place....there's plenty of good universities and LACs arounds, locally or overseas....no point fighting over just a few of the big names uni. At the end of the day, you'll find it's just a phase.</p>
<p>i think IB is attractive to top universities because the IB diploma include not only the academics but also extra-curriculars, research work and other learning initiatives that broaden the students' exposure. But a large percentage of A-levels takers focuses more on the academics part and does not have enough EC, research experience or exposure. I mean, a student who has 5-6 As in his/her A-levels with considerable achievement in extra-curriculars and exposure would be as competent as an applicant who scores 45 in his IB.</p>
<p>does anyone know how the top Us in the states view the cambridge pre-U program?</p>
<p>with all due respect AC isnt really making strides in top tier admission, that is if you consider "strides" in the truest sense of the word....1/5 of our school dominate the top tier unis, and given the quotas they impose on foreign students, i dont see how ACians can wriggle their way thru =)</p>
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<p>hmm to be honest, its better that we take 4 A-levels plus 2 S-Papers rather than 6 A-levels....anyone whos been there like joe26 would know that it doesnt take much work to get an A (more than half our school got 4As) while it does take some work to get a Distinction for S-Paper....speaking from personal experience here as well, i slacked my way thru and got my 4As, couldnt say the same for the S-Papers though =)</p>
<p>btw joe26, where did you apply? if u dont mind me asking =)</p>
<p>considering that ACS(I) hasn't had ANY batch in university yet, I suppose you are technically correct. rjc, i'm proud to agree, has a fantastic record as a feeder to top unis, but seeing as how raffles programme is turning out to be a farce, its possible my alma mater is headed for a fall pretty soon. btw, as joe asked, where are you going?</p>