@Gora14 You say there is support in IBCE, but it is very minimal, along with this, I wouldn’t even say neglect The advisors sell students to join under one set of criteria and one set of experiences but the more you go on, you realize that criteria is null and void. Also last I checked, the French cohort is just getting started, and then in addition, the MENA and IBA cohorts have not had enough students or been functional in years. Be careful.
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@IBCEBATCH6 Thank you for your perspective. You express a lot of the concerns that I have had with the program, especially about being away from school and the support that can help with obtaining jobs. I also have heard from others giving a very different perspective. Certainly the program is not for everyone. In addition, IBCE has its own set of challenges. I am familiar with Asian techniques in education and they differ greatly from those of the West. In addition, there is the Cantonese problem that is unique to Hong Kong. These particular issues would not be present in the other cohort programs, although they would come with their own set of challenges.
@IBCEBATCH6 I’m so sorry that you had such a horrible experience.
Would you mind if I ask a few questions?
Could you have stayed in IB if you dropped out of the cohort? D is aleardy accepted into IB if I understand things correctly. She isn’t using the cohort as a backdoor; the French and finance/Econ focus just fit her goals.
Did you want to study abroad before you started college? Did you enjoy being abroad at all? Was your time abroad different or similar to typical study abroad semesters? If it was different, would you mind sharing how? (I know with the CIFA, students are continuing their in major courses at the abroad university, but all of the classes are taught in French, so your French needs to be strong enough to be able to handle no English courses.)
Being abroad your sr yr does seem incredibly poor planning for employment. Did they not offer any career planning for the cohort students. Did they think students would interview in the abroad location?
Why is USC the only school that is an option for grad school? My d is planning on grad school. Does the cohort cause a problem bc of the courses on your transcript? Bc you were abroad your sr yr and couldn’t really apply to grad school? Bc you have been abroad and didn’t have good connections for LOR? Just trying to get a better idea here as to what is going on.
Also, did you know any Mandarin before you started college? (I am wondering if the university is shifting away from not needing any language before starting. The CIFA application requires a 500 word essay in French. I wonder if the IBCE has any similar requirements?) Did the other students in the cohort already know Mandarin? If they did, did it impact their experiences?
Did you bring in credits as a freshman? Did you have flexibility in your schedule?
@gora14 I don’t think the possibility of changing majors is a valid reason for not offering cohort mentoring from the start. That sort of mentoring is what helps kids decide if they want to stay the course bc they understand exactly what it means. Out of everything described above, the employment aspect is the one I find most disconcerting. Being abroad in general causes students to lose connection to friends, etc. The French cohort only has students abroad jr yr, but the needs of the students in any of the cohort programs should have been well-thought out ahead of time. Sr yr abroad would be a drawback I would think unless there are additional recruiting avenues offered that aren’t mentioned here. This is the sort of issue that cohort support at the beginning of freshman yr could help students prepare for and have plans in place.
The cohorts sound like they can offer unique opportunities. I do wonder if having stronger initial language skills might make them a better fit. If a student is planning on that yr or more abroad anyway, does the cohort make more sense? (A yr in France is already planned by my Dd.) I would like to know the employment prospect breakdown of the cohort vs. regular IB, but with the programs being so new, obviously that data does not exist. Do all of the cohorts’ schedules impact the ability to do internships? Etc. Things to think about.
Is she in Honors? That is the only way she has guaranteed acceptance.
If I drop IBCE, I am out of IB, unless I dropped before I even left my first year, but that was before I realized how terrible of a choice this program was.
I enjoy being abroad, I love Hong Kong, it is a fantastic city. The problem with being in Hong Kong is with my Visa. I have a lot of free time, and I can’t do anything because my visa forbids me from gaining any type of employment or internship opportunity. This hurts double because classes are pass/fail so my desire to work harder and do better are severely lacking. Students can interview online/through skype, but there is plenty more opportunity if you are meeting recruiters at a career fair on campus than submitting applications online.
USC is likely the only option for grad school because of the grading at CUHK, the host university in Hong Kong. The professors know the international kids are pass/fail and tend to reserve the A’s they do give for the local students instead of us. Applying to grad school while abroad should be fine… but refer back to the previous point. I personally have resources I can definitely fall back on, but I don’t want to use that safety net, but that is becoming tough.
I took a few years of Chinese in high school and placed into a higher level at USC upon entering, but I don’t think there has ever been a requirement for needing to know Mandarin. Due to all of the Mandarin we take in Hong Kong, it all ends up evening out long term. I don’t remember the application because it has been 3 years since I have applied.
I took 10 AP classes in High School and came in with 35 Credit hours, which helped with all of the Carolina Core. I definitely had flexibility, but the ultimate problem is still with all of the Chinese classes while abroad when I am trying to do two majors in IB/something else (I don’t want to list because I am scared the advisors will narrow it down to who I am and screw me over). Due to the policy of the Chinese language center at USC, I can not get a minor in Chinese using those classes.
@IBCEBATCH6 Thanks again for the additional feedback. This suggests several issues specific to IBCE. Certainly these should have been worked out, especially the language classes not counting toward a minor. It is unclear how these issues translate over to the other cohort programs. I would love to get input from students in the other programs.
In addition, I pulled up the calendars for the cohorts. The time they spend abroad definitely depends on the program:
IBCE: students spend sophomore and senior year in China (spring senior year optional in China)
IBA: students spend spring junior and fall senior year in Chile.
MENA: students spend sophomore year in Egypt
CIFA: students spend junior year in France
IBEA: students spend spring sophomore in Germany; Spring Junior in Singapore; Fall Senior in Brazil
Definitely the IBCE and IBEA have a much more significant commitment to travel.
@Gora14
Unfortunately, you won’t be hearing from students of any of those programs. They have been defunct for a while.
First, common sense wise I would not go to Hong Kong to learn Mandarin, even if Mandarin is an official language. One American who is fluent in Mandarin told me HK is not a good place to learn Mandarin for the reasons mentioned by Icebatch poster.
@Gora14 @Mom2aphysicsgeek My S is in the International Business of the Americas (IBA) Cohort and will be graduating in May. I will give you my perspective on the Cohort programs. If you are interested in the IBCE Cohort program, I would definitely read the posts by IBCEBATCH6 and do a lot of research on the program.
You will probably not get a lot of feedback on the other cohort programs since most of them are relatively new. My S was accepted into the SCHC as Pre-IB and applied for the IBA Cohort program at the beginning of his freshman year. He was part of the 2nd cohort class. He was very interested in studying in South America and potentially working abroad at some point in the future. The IBA Cohort program was developed to replace the MENA Track, but I guess the MENA cohort is now available again.
His IBA cohort group had around 15 students from USC and only one from Chile. The other classes had around 6 Chileans I think. The cohort group took IBUS 310 together the 2nd semester of their sophomore and definitely had periodic meetings to get to know each other and to plan their study abroad.
If you are accepted into the SCHC and your main focus is to be in the best position to receive a full-time job in your desired major after 4 years, then I would recommend the Classic IB track. This track is set up the best for landing an internship the summer of your junior year, interviewing for jobs the first semester of your senior year and providing you with a study abroad experience. USC has a fantastic study abroad program and a lot of students study abroad the spring semester of their junior year. My S said that he could have visited any city in Europe and would be able to connect with a USC student.
If you want to have lifetime experiences, plan on going to graduate school or need a backdoor into the IB program, consider a cohort program. I am not saying that you will not be a strong candidate in the workforce, but depending on when you are abroad and your field of study, the interview process may be more challenging…
Some of the pros that my S experienced through the IBA Cohort Program:
- Acclimation was much easier since you had other USC students with you. He was also able to get a lot of information on where to stay and what to do from the 1st cohort class. In addition, he also new Chileans that had participated in the 1st cohort class.
- He is now a very experienced world traveler. While in Chile, he visited 9 or 10 countries. It was easier and more enjoyable to be able to travel with someone else or a group of people.
- Life experiences - He took trips to Manchu Picchu, Patagonia and many other cool places. In addition, since he was in Santiago for 10 months, he was fully immersed in the Chilean culture. He made friends with people from all over the world.
- Education - The education was excellent, he took a majority of his finance classes at FEN.
- International Work Experience - He was able to intern at a Top 10 World Bank with students from a variety of countries.
Cohort Advisor - He relied on his cohort business advisor almost exclusively. His advisor was instrumental in helping him navigate a triple major. He did come in with 10 AP’s and 52 credits, so a triple major was much more attainable for him. The cohort advisor always went to bat for the students to get them in the classes that they needed.
Cons
- The biggest con regarding the IBA cohort is that the students are abroad their 2nd semester of their junior year, the summer of their junior year and the 1st semester of their senior year. You miss out on internship opportunities during the summer of your junior year and you are abroad during the interview cycle the 1st semester senior year. Therefore, if you elect to participate in a cohort program, start your networking during your freshman and sophomore years. My S interned at 2 Fortune 500 companies before heading to Chile. One was in the summer of his sophomore year and the other was Dec - Feb of his junior year before heading to Chile. My S was interested in Management Consulting and Investment Banking jobs and had to fly back to the US for their Super Day interviews. The flights from Santiago to the US can be expensive. The initial interviews were done via Skype.
The experience was great for my S, he had excellent job opportunities and has already accepted a job in his desired field.
I hope this helps, PM me if you have specific questions and I will try to answer.
I re-read my post above and apologize for the typos. One additional pro is that once you are in the interview process with a company, the cohort experience is a plus. My S commented that once the interviewer had checked the box related to the specific job requirements, they usually discussed his cohort experience.
Does anyone have any experience with the IBEA cohort? I know it is relatively new but my daughter may be looking at applying next year
@NEmom65 It is quite new. I believe the first class is taking their first semester abroad right now, so it is impossible to say anything about that program yet. She would be in the third class, so I would expect that most of the bugs would be worked out of the system by the time she participates. I believe the adviser is the same one that atikaw6 speaks highly of.
Anyone know what kind of questions they ask during the phone interviews, specifically for IBA?
I applied early decision for the IBCE program, and I had my interview last monday. I still haven’t received an email saying if I was accepted or denied. Should I be worried? Has anyone else received an email?
@dankennedy i had my IBEA interview on the 24th and when it ended they said they would be contacting me within 2-3 weeks for final decisions. That would be around the 10th of March to the 17th. Don’t sweat it, I’m sure you did fine 
Not many people make it to interviews!
I had my IBEA phone interview Feb. 21st and just heard back yesterday that I was accepted!
@girlfromGA congrats! we should make a facebook page/group chat for IB Cohort accepted students!