IB Certificates - Universities?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hey, I'm considering taking IB Certificates instead of the Diploma, and am curious to know what universities will think. But hold up! There's much more to the story:</p>

<p>I'm in Y11, going into Y12 and Sixth Form, and basically, after the exams this year, I will have completed 2 Math A2s & 1 Math AS, 1 Physics A2, (A<em>A</em>aA) and 10 GCSEs (Predicted 9A*s, 1A). So basically I have covered all of the general high school requirements etc.</p>

<p>Now, that leaves me with a lot of freedom with what to do for the next to years, and frankly, it makes more sense for me to self-study math and physics, and do university level courses instead of the IB Diploma with those subjects because that would be an utter waste of time. Of course, if I swapped them with other subjects, my course load would be far too much to handle for me to do extra math and physics.</p>

<p>I do have a TON of things I'm interested in doing in Math and Physics, but I obviously need to be qualified in other subjects - English, French, Geography, Chemistry are my picks. My school does not offer A Levels to students in Y12 and 13 but they are willing to accommodate me doing the IB Certificates for those 4 subjects in SL, SL, HL, HL respectively (as I would've taken them) and allow me to skip the periods where I would've done Math and Physics. During this time, I could pursue the higher level stuff that I want to. They are also willing to write a letter addressed to universities when I leave in Y13 for exactly why I am going for this route as opposed to the Diploma.</p>

<p>They are also going to let me attend EE, which is something I want to do. Once again, the essay will be in a mathematical or scientific topic, and I am interested in doing some kind of research in this area.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how TOK works, but I think I will be able to attend that as well, and naturally I can do as many CAS as I want.</p>

<p>So, my question is, will this go down well in my records? Or will universities dismiss this idea as being rather stupid? And also, what else could I do, bearing in mind I want to go to university in USA, (if it helps, then in particular, MIT)?</p>

2

<p>OK, back up a second. your post is a bit confusing. from what I understand, you didn’t complete any AS or A-levels fully, and you’ve completed 10 GCSEs, but your school won’t allow you to finish the AS and A-levels you’ve started.</p>

<p>if this is the case, just go for the Diploma. IB Physics and IB Maths shouldn’t be a waste of your time at all. a few things you may have already learned before, but you didn’t finish your A-levels in Maths and Physics. I feel like you’re underestimating the IB curriculum. </p>

<p>make life easy for yourself, and just get the diploma</p>

3

<p>Oh no! I have finished the following A Levels, completely:
A2 Math - A* (C1, C2, C3, C4, M1, S1)
A2 Further Math - A* (FP1, FP2, FP3, M2, M3, S2)
AS Additional Further Math - a (S3, D1, M4)
A2 Physics - A (Papers 1-6)</p>

<p>And I’ve given 4 GCSEs before, and I’m taking 6 more at the end of this year (Year 11). Hope that clarifies things, as it may affect your answer :)</p>

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<p>oh, I see. that makes things clearer. in that case, I would email and ask MIT (and other universities you’re interested in) if it’s OK if you’re qualifications can consist of a combination of A-levels and IB Certificates :)</p>

5

<p>Alright :slight_smile: Thanks!</p>