<p>Mdemvisi, my kids said that if people only do things to get into College X, then College X will be filled with people who don’t like those things once they get to college. It’s sad to go through life motivated by external recognition and awards. Both of mine refused to join honor societies or get involved in activities because they “looked good” or would pad the resume. </p>
<p>Pruneface: An IB diploma student can take four HLs, but no more. Our program does not encourage it. S2 is taking a seventh IB course because he likes the subject matter, but is not taking the exam. No comparable AP, either – it’s just out of love for the subject.</p>
Although it is true that one can only count 4 HL classes toward the Diploma, it’s possible to take additional HL classes/exams that result in certificates on top of the Diploma. </p>
<p>I’ve known at least a couple people who took 5 (3 sciences, English, History).</p>
<p>I think at most US schools it would be hard to do that, since you have to take 6 IB courses for the diploma, and most kids have some other requirements for graduation as well.</p>
<p>At the same school Counting Down is talking about, which offers only 2 HL sciences (biology and physics) and discourages people from taking 4 HL subjects, some students take HL biology and take AP chemistry and AP physics as outside-the-IB-program electives.</p>
<p>Yup, esp. since HL Bio is a double period, seniors-only class and SL and HL Physics are two-year sequences. Add two more HLs, an SL and TOK/EE senior year, and electives are an afterthought. S2 is almost sorry he didn’t take AP Physics B last year, though – it would have been a better course than Honors, by a long shot. He was the only soph in AP/IB Enviro – the timing on that one worked out well.</p>
<p>Some people don’t need sleep or a life. S does.</p>
<p>Marian, I think at times that he has spread himself too thin, nonetheless. He has 13 APs on top of the IB. While some overlap AP, I have wondered how much of a price he has paid. He really loved being on set crew, but it was just too hard to juggle the courseload, his sport, plus drama. They are each hugely time-consuming – in mostly good ways, but tough to manage all three at this school. Just for once, I think he’d like to be the best at something, instead of alwaysthisclose.</p>
<p>Not if the coursework leaves you unprepared to take the SAT Subject Tests at the proper time. That won’t help you in admissions at all.</p>
<p>At our HS the IB program spreads the traditional one year of Biology over three years which, unless you are taking five or six years to get through high school, will leave you having covered only 2/3rds of the material you need for the Biology SAT Subject test at the time you need to take it in time to apply your senior year. </p>
<p>This is exactly what happened to D1, and I had to buy cram books and prepare special study flash cards for to help her cram the info for the test. It was a painful effort, and both of us were cursing the IB program the whole time she was cramming.</p>
<p>So their fancy integrated approach to Biology may look good on paper, but it doesn’t always fit very well with the rest of the world.</p>
<p>What I meant is that it signals rigor. I always recommend studying for the SAT tests with SAT material. I wouldn’t rely on whatever you learn/may not learn in school.</p>
<p>^^Sure, we always augmented classroom material with SAT study books for all SAT tests, but there is a difference between the amount and intensity of study required to brush up on stuff you already have some degree of exposure to and what’s needed to cram in concepts and facts you’ve never heard of.</p>
<p>For all its “rigor,” the IB Bio left my daughter with big gaps in her knowledge and thus unprepared to take the SAT Subject Test at the time she needed to take it.</p>
<p>Coureur, I had just the opposite impression. At our school IB bio is 2 years, (separately intro to bio is freshman year) you can take the first year as a sophomore, which D2 did and then took the SAT subject test at the end of that year. She scored near perfect on Bio E and I attribute that to great preparation in her IB bio class. Btw, she also scored the same on her chem subject test at the end of junior year, so I think the idea that the sciences are weaker in IB is not necessarily true. Maybe, depends on the school. I will say her Math Level 2 test could have definitely been better. She is taking the second year of Bio and Chem HL this year.</p>
<p>It is hard to fit a good level of the three sciences in with IB, but she did the first year of IB physics junior year to have a base, but will not take the exam.</p>
<p>Now at S2’s HS, the pre-IB Bio was superb prep for the SAT-II exam and lots of kids took it then. Was also a good segue directly into AP/IB Enviro. IB HL Bio here is for seniors only – making it tough to take the SAT-II subject test then.</p>
<p>Friend of S2’s has found (and teacher has confirmed) that IB Physics covers precious little of what is on the SAT-II and she had to do massive self-study. (Some engineering schools will take Bio as a science exam – others want Chem or Physics – including bioengineering programs. Be warned!).</p>
<p>The point that was just brought up about SAT Subject Tests is an important one. I think you should ask what Subject Tests the IB students at your new school usually take and whether the program provides good preparation for those tests or whether they have to study on their own.</p>
<p>If you are considering college programs that require specific tests (math, physical science, whatever), this is especially important.</p>
<p>You may also want to ask whether your school allows students to take individual IB courses for certificates or whether they want students to either commit to the entire IB diploma program or not do IB at all.</p>
<p>I had posted upthread about asking how many folks start vs. graduate, and splits between those w/full diploma vs. certificates.</p>
<p>Tagging on to Marian’s comment – if you attend this full IB program and decide it’s not for you, do you have to transfer back to your old school or can you stay at the school and do AP/honors instead? Some schools that let students matriculate from outside the local boundaries for IB have to return to their neighborhood school if they drop out of IB. I remember there was a thread last year from a parent whose D was considering dropping IB and was faced with changing high schools mid-junior year. This is also the policy at S2’s school.</p>
<p>More good news! The school would allow me to test out of its highest math class junior year and will be able to take Calculus BC… The only “problem” is that they currently don’t offer physics higher level.</p>
<p>D decided to go for it because she is interested in a military academy (they all like IB). Our IB schools have been up and running for 6 years, are fully enrolled and most kids get diplomas. College freshmen come back and tell the younger ones how much it helped their transition. We don’t care about the college credit match; it would just let D skip to tougher classes. IB minimizes Senioritis. In our family we have much experience with panic-attacked college freshmen and I wanted to smooth out the shock. IB is hard but I’d rather have the tears and drama at home than get those late night phone calls from far away. </p>
<p>There can be a social stigma against IB when it involves magnets. D left our affluent neighborhood for a less “desirable” school. She was lonely in 9th, happy in 10, delirious in 11. She loves the program, the kids have a very tight group and the best teachers seem to be involved. The Washington Post has a column “Class Struggle.” You can read there some of the IB/AP controversy. Seems that some believe IB takes away money from AP, some act threatened that you’ve rejected their belief in AP programs.</p>