IB students accepted to Columbia?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>(Note: I posted a thread similar to this in the HSL forum. I hope that's okay, but feel free to remove this one if it's not allowed) </p>

<p>Hi everybody! I'm a high school student, planning on applying to Columbia. I'm currently taking all pre-IB/honors classes, and I'm doing pretty well in them (all A's and 95%+). I'm set to take all IB and/or higher level IB classes in my junior and senior year. I was pretty confident that I'd do well in IB, until I began hearing rumors that are really starting to scare me. For example, apparently a 75% is the highest most students get on IB tests? And apparently senior year of IB is more difficult than freshman year of college for most students? All of this is really beginning to intimidate me, since 75% is waaaaay below my standards, and I'm afraid that once senior year comes along, I'll crack easily under all the pressure. </p>

<p>I was looking at the ED results for this year, and I didn't see very many IB students who were accepted ED. So my question is, are there any IB students out there who were accepted into Columbia or any other Ivy League? If you are/were an IB student, do you have any advice for me on how to maintain a strong GPA? Even if you weren't accepted, I could really appreciate some advice or help! Also, how do colleges tend to view IB, compared to AP? And what's the whole deal with Higher Level IB? Please help!</p>

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<p>There is no difference between IB and AP. The reason that you didn’t see so many was prob because not that many schools HAVE IB in the first place (to my knowlege, only really big schools have it). Your performance in those IB classes and exams will be weighted on par with AP, as the highest course load and your ability to handle upper level classes. Don’t worry about that, focus on doing good in those classes. GL.</p>

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<p>The AP is nothing compared to the IB. IB students have to not only worry about the difficulty of classes and tests but Internal Assessments in every class… extended essays which require hours and hours of outside research and work… 50 hours of creativity/action/service … i have talked to several college representatives that visit our school and they say they fully recognize the work of an ib diploma candidate and how it is much more rigorous than that of a typical AP student…</p>

<p>i seriously haven’t slept in 4 days so please don’t think I’m angry… it’s just part of IB syndrome</p>

<p>oh and yes … senior year of IB is much harder than freshman year of college- some of my friends that graduated last year, or the year before can attest to this… and they went to some pretty rigorous colleges (wash u/berkeley/columbia)</p>

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<p>^ I would like to agree with everything iwanttobegandalf posted. But my junior year of IB was a lot harder because I took my HL Math and HL History classes last year [testing in them this year]. And for some reason, Psych SL was much more difficult than Psych HL. </p>

<p>But all in all, as an IB student who’s taken both AP and IB classes, IB definitely takes the cake in making you sleep-deprived/frustrated/feel out of your depth. AP classes are hard yes, but do not come close to IB’s level of rigour [from my personal experience].</p>

<p>In most recent years, all the students at my school who’ve been accepted to Columbia were IB students. I guess that says something.</p>

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<p>There’s also the required Theory of Knowledge class that an IBer has to complete.</p>

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<p>Adcoms cannot officially recognize a difference between the two since many schools don’t offer the IB program (it involves quite a bit of certification). However, being an IB senior in a school with AP and in a town with non-IB schools offering AP, I would wholeheartedly agree with the above statements: IB is much more rigorous all-around.</p>

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<p>In terms of playing the college admissions game, there are no differences between AP and IB, but IB is undoubtedly more rigorous. It offers an entirely different way of thinking and is more concerned with the student’s ability to form well-supported arguments on a subject rather than regurgitate facts on it.</p>

<p>My school just began the IB programme, and my class (2012) is the first to take it; thus, we are running into multiple problems, such as grading, scheduling conflicts, etc. Our coordinator is currently working on a statistical analysis of IB vs. other students, and the results show that any current IB student could drop out into AP and instantly raise his/her grade by one letter. IB expectations are, in a sense, incompatible with American schools’ expectations, and that is why IB students at your school may suddenly receive 75% on their tests after earning straight A’s in previous years. Therefore, if you compare your standards to IB standards, a 75% might not be awful at all.</p>

<p>Of course, IB isn’t for everyone, so you have to determine whether the programme will suit you better than AP will as a learner. If you truly put effort into IB, those initial 75s will motivate, rather than upset, you as a student, and you will improve. At the moment, the IB students at my school are struggling in nearly every class, but no one wants to drop out because everyone enjoys this way of learning, and everyone is gradually improving.</p>

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<p>^ Case in point, I outright failed my first HL Math test last year. I had to work hard in that class, and until that point I had NEVER had to work hard in a math class before.</p>

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<p>littlepenguin my school too just adopted IB and my class(2012) will be the first to go through it. I’m a junior now and in my first year of IBDP. I find that AP History was harder( took it as a sophomore) but IB English and math are far harder. AP was a lot of memorization while IB is a lot more writing and really forces you to under stand concepts rather than just memorize them. Unfortunately for me my school has issues like littlepenguin’s in that there are scheduling, grading, and other issues and our coordinator is trying to fix. Also unfortunately for he there is no HL math at my school so I’m taking SL Math 12 as a junior and dual enrolling at Pitt senior year to take Calc 2. Most o the seniors in my school hate themselves for taking IB because they have no time</p>

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<p>Oh man. This is really beginning to scare me, haha… but thank you for all the help! </p>

<p>Is it possible to maintain straight A’s or close to straight A’s, though? That’s the main thing I’m worried about. I think I can deal with the sleep deprivation/hard work, but if it’s almost impossible to maintain a good GPA, I’m pretty much screwed.</p>

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<p>hmm, my teachers use a progressive scale; i.e. if you get an x/20 on this rubric, that means it’s an 85 this quarter, but next quarter it’ll be an 80, and next quarter it’ll be a 75, etc. They don’t scale non-IB graded assignments, though. I am getting straight A’s in all my classes, but your school might be different. You might want to ask some of the current IB students at your school?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that grade motivation shouldn’t be the key factor in this decision. IB is a fantastic program, unless you’ve talked to the IB teachers at your school and you know the IB way of thinking just isn’t for you. At my school, the biggest difference between AP and IB students is that AP students care more about quantity (college credits, gpa, number taken) while IB students care more about quality (how in-depth a project or discussion is)</p>

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<p>Why put yourself through the pains of IB when you can do AP and still have the knowledge necessary to get straight A’s in top colleges? I quite frankly feel sorry for students who are in schools that offer both IB and AP because in most cases they know that they have to take the IB classes in order to have a competitive record at their school when college decisions come around. IMO, IB is a cut-throat, outdated system that needs to disappear…</p>

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<p>I have straight A’s in IB and my teachers use the IB rubrics to grade. BTW sites anyone know how colleges view IB middle years classes since I took a couple as an underclassman and all my other classes were gifted?</p>

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<p>overachiever92 -

  1. In terms of year established, AP is actually more outdated than IB.
  2. Yes, both AP and IB students will be able to do well at top colleges, but they don’t gain the same knowledge. At all. IB offers a completely different approach: think of AP as studying extensively (more straightforward facts) and IB as studying intensively (more analysis of fewer facts).
  3. Most people agree that IB better prepares students for college courseloads. We receive long-term assignments and must be able to research/analyze on a college academic level.</p>

<p>…AP and IB people have blatant biases. I know that at my school, the AP kids bash the IB kids all the time, and they assume there is a constant war between us over which program is better. Really, individuals can only decide what’s better for themselves and not what’s better for everyone. I’m sure my own pro-IB bias has come through, and certainly AP students on here have shown theirs, so be careful reading these threads! :)</p>

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<p>@littlepenguin</p>

<p>My argument is that IB is significantly harder than AP, and that it prepares students much more rigourously for college. HOWEVER, AP may be easier but it still provides its students with the knowledge necessary to get straight A’s in college and learn (but not as rigorously as IB). Therefore, IB is complete overkill because it doesn’t allow its students to live a normal teenage life while still juggling school work (with a few exceptions I know…), and provides experiences that high school students are better off learning in COLLEGE. Let kids be kids, but still top college-prepared kids.</p>

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<p>^ Then for you, AP is better.
But I would rather get a start on this kind of work in high school, so I prefer IB.</p>

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<p>Internationally it’s generally recognized that while IB has a greater depth in language/history courses, their science programs are a bit lacking.</p>

<p>I mean, a higher level physics course with no calculus is sort of inexcusable, despite the fact that Physics C only uses calc in the rudimentary sense.</p>

<p>IB Exams are infinitely harder than AP exams. While a 70% (a harsh curve for AP) on AP Physics(regardless of level) would easily get a 5/5, to get a 7/7 in IB Physics, I don’t know the precise numbers but only 8% of people who take the HL chem test got a 7. Certainly a much smaller number than the % of people who get a 5 in AP Physics.</p>

<p>In Math HL (which is crazy difficult compared to any AP math class), you need a 80% to hit a 7. (Source: TSR archives)</p>

<p>If you want to do less work, do AP; you’re not obligated to take classes from all fields (English, second lang, social science, lab science, math/compsci, arts/elective + tok + Extended Essay + CAS), but rather can focus on what you like to do. In my view, doing the IB diploma makes you look much more well rounded than taking 4 AP classes a year. </p>

<p>Oh, and IB seniors don’t and never will have it easy. That sucks. But it doesn’t mean you can’t have a social life too… Just don’t procrastinate; </p>

<p>/taking 8 IB courses (6 being HL, another thing that sucks, can’t test more than 4 HL, and our school mandates History and English HL - my worst subjects); it’s not impossible. At all. (Currently I only have a B+ in history, but I would love to bring it up… haha)</p>

<p>tl;dr: if you can do IB, do it. It’s more about your ability to manage time than anything else, really - nothing in the curriculum is particularly difficult to *learn<a href=“Except%20maybe%20Math%20HL%20for%20some/most”>/i</a>, there’s just a lot of it.</p>

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<p>^There’s absolutely NO POINT in taking IB, you just said yourself that it’s CRAZY difficult compared to an AP class. Why should a HIGH SCHOOL student go through a curriculum that is more difficult than a freshman COLLEGE curriculum? You’re not getting any type of advantage in college by doing IB because AP still provides its students with the necessary skills and work ethic to do excellent in college. Why make yourself go through an even more rigorous course of study and minimize the amount of time you can spend on your social life, sports, music, etc… There’s no logic in it all. If the French want to force their kids into this system,that’s absolutely fine, but it doesn’t belong in the U.S educational system.</p>

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<p>The US educational system is so far behind. It’s all about college credits and admissions, when it really should be about actually learning.</p>

<p>I learn so much more through IB than I do through AP (and yes, I have taken both courses). With IB, I understand the material, and I know I won’t forget it after I take a test.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand the point of this debate. Clearly the IB kids will prefer IB, and the AP kids will prefer AP. But I will say that as someone who’s taken both, I overwhelmingly prefer IB because I actually learn instead of just memorizing, and a lot of subject matter overlaps, making the learning experience holistic. I suppose to an extent IB is the reason why I really like the concept of the Core.</p>