<p>I'm wondering how bad it would look on my transcript if in the beginning of my second year of IB I dropped out of full diploma and got a certificate instead. I would still take exams in all my IB classes, I just absolutely can't stand TOK. I think it's absolute BS that only exists so IB can pretend to have some kind of revolutionary idea, when in reality it's just dumbed down, misinterpreted epistemology, that views the world through it's own little box made out of it's stupid terms that it's so proud of. "Question everything" it proclaims. Except our box, don't question if Faith is really a way of knowing, or if any of these terms actually exist in the real world, or even apply to it.
Sorry, just had to rant. Anyways, if I drop the full diploma to do a certificate so that I can avoid TOK will that look terrible? even if all my other classes are still IB? Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>In my experience, most large state schools will just care that you took challenging courses, There are some schools who take a more holistic approach to admissions who may question why you dropped. But overall, I don’t think it will be terrible. You might even contact admissions at colleges you are interested in and ask if it will affect they way they look at your application.</p>
<p>I’m sorry ToK has been a bad experience. It is really a great course, nothing else offered in most public high schools really compares. If taught well, it does broaden students’ viewpoints, and teaches them critical thinking skills. However, I saw in my 12 years experience with IB as a teacher, parent, and coordinator, teachers that made this class a favorite of students, and teachers who made it a hated class. I think the teacher is what makes or breaks ToK. </p>
<p>Frankly, yes, I think it would look bad. I mean, they’ll see that you had nearly all of the classes to get the diploma, just not one last one. And seriously, how can you not just suck it up? You have two easy assessments for a “gimme” class, whether you like it or not. I’d say stick it out and get over it.</p>
<p>It really depends on what your school is like, and where you’re looking at going. At my high school, half the students took IB classes, but there were generally only about 10 diploma candidates every year out of a class of 300. The way IB is set up, it requires you to be good at EVERYTHING, to an extent. My brother was not a strong English student, even though he was brilliant at math and science. He dropped the diploma by dropping IB English. His GPA benefited, though, and he was able to get an extra couple thousand dollars a year in scholarships at his college because he hit their GPA cutoff.</p>
<p>But if you issue really is with just TOK, and not because you find it difficult. At least at my school, TOK, was a freebie class, only 2-3 days a week, and the assessments were not hugely burdensome. TOK isn’t claiming to be a PhD level philosophy class; it’s trying to get you to at least be a little bit more open-minded and think critically. Can’t you put up with their way of presenting it for this course? You’ve come off as rather stubborn and aloof, and your annoyance with TOK in and of itself doesn’t seem worth dropping the IB diploma over.</p>