Hi everyone,
I know that when it comes to IB scores, top tier schools (ivies,etc) like to see a mix of 6s and 7s in higher level courses. My question is if I applied to business programs but took higher level courses in engineering, will they still weigh the higher level engineering courses heavier? I realized now that I should have switched to higher levels related to business but at the time I thought engineering courses would demonstrate versatility and they are also the hardest of all IB courses offered at my school. I am not doing that well in my HL courses (6,6,5) - will they take that I’m applying to business and NOT engineering into consideration? Also, I had 6,7,6 in my grade 11 year for my HLs - will that make them think I am incapable because of the drop? Do the deans look at the percentages as well for IB students or just the IB grade bands (5,6,7,etc)? I applied to Brown, Wharton, Cornell, Duke, NYU and Yale.
Thanks!
Yes they will weigh the HLs higher than your Sls, because the choice is yours (HL vs. SL) and presumably reflects both strengths and interests.
6,6,5 in your HLs means you’re highly unlikely to get into Brown, Wharton, Duke, or Yale.
What are your matches and safeties?
What about Cornell and NYU (Stern)? My matches are Georgia Tech, Wellesley College, and University of Michigan. My safety is Boston University and some universities here in Canada. Do you know if the deans for american universities look at percentages or simply IB grade bands? I had percentage increases in my SL courses (within the same grade band - 3% higher in English/1% in Geography!) but my HL math dropped a few percent (also still in the same gradeband - dropped 3%). I don’t know if it’s better to submit an update as my English mark is now in the mid 90s… or would that be more detrimental to my case because of my percentage drop in math HL?
Thank you so much!!
Both Stern and Cornell are reaches/high reaches.
GTech, Wellesley, and UMich are all “automatic reaches” due to selectivity levels (you can’t consider anything a match with less than 40% admits). But you do stand a chance there.
Typically, admission officers look at predicted IB results. They may look at your grades, too, but increases in your SL classes wouldn’t necessarily sway them. In any case, your midyear report is expected so it’s not up to you to submit the update or not, it’s required.
Would it help if i’m getting recruited by the NYU coach for a sport and I’m not applying financial aid to any of my reach institutions? It’s just NYU is div 3 so i’m not sure how much pull the coach will have in the admissions process 
Thanks for your feedback. My counsellor sent in my midterm marks already but i have increased in my standard level courses as i mentioned above so it owuld be an update on top of the midterm. I just wasn’t sure if it would be worth the hassle because my counsellor used my commonapp optional report for a mistake on my transcript so she would have to email each institution separately for any further updates. I guess it won’t make much of a change so I won’t bother. Thanks again!