<p>I'm currently a sophomore in WA state. My HS only has IB and honors, no AP. Which would be a better option if I hope to attend UW, IB or Running Start? Either way, I do not intend to do a full IB diploma or do entirely college classes. I live walking distance from a CC that does RS, and there's a city bus that would take me directly from my HS to the CC. If it makes any difference, I hope to go into CSE (which I know is very competitive) or EE.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to go for a full IB diploma, I don’t see the point of doing IB at all. I was a full diploma student in high school and, in my opinion, it does somewhat prepare you for college level course work (more so than AP). However, if you’re only going to be a partial candidate, I think you would be better off doing Running Start.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you get way more credit from Running Start than even a full IB student. However, people who do full IB generally don’t do it for the credit, but rather for the challenge or experience.</p>
<p>Looking back, I slightly wish I did Running Start (although I wasn’t aware of the program). Getting ahead of others in terms of college credit would have sounded really appealing to me as a high school student.</p>
<p>The only draw back with running start is once you do running start, you don’t see a lot of your high school friends. I’m just finishing up my IB Diploma and it was well worth the challenge. If you’re looking for lots of credit, running start is the way to go. But! Be careful if you plan on applying to grad school because you may put yourself in a bad spot if you have a lot of classes that are community college classes (science for med school for example) and may have to retake these anyways in college.</p>
<p>I’m a senior who’s going to UW this fall. I have been a full-time Running Start student for the past two years, and if you’re serious about your academics, I could not recommend it highly enough. I’ll graduate this June at the top of my high school class, and with a full Associate’s degree. I’ll enter the UW with about 90 credits – basically a junior. </p>
<p>Besides the obvious benefits of free college, knocking out college requirements, and being more challenged academically, being in Running Start teaches you a lot about being independent and accountable to yourself. I took full time classes at my local college as well as a theatre class at my high school so that I could keep connected with my friends, and it really worked for me. I didn’t have a huge circle of friends outside drama, so that wasn’t a big deal for me, but I could see that being a drawback if you’re big into the high school social scene. </p>
<p>Honestly, I feel a hundred times more prepared to go on to university than I would have if I’d stayed in high school and taken the one or two AP classes that were offered there. I’m a more mature person, and more self-confident. I’ve had practice working at a collegiate level, and I feel ready to move on to a university and work even harder. It’s not scary, though, it’s just exciting. Running Start gave me confidence I never would have had otherwise. </p>
<p>Whatever you decide, it’s your choice, and a very personal one. But, looking back, I know I made the right decision, and I feel bad for my peers who decided against Running Start. They don’t know what they’re missing. Good luck. :)</p>
<p>If you aren’t doing a full diploma, running start hands down. The money you save is incredible. Absolutely worth it. I did running start, Varsity Cheer, and IB French. I never felt disconnected from my HS. If you are able to finish two years of CC and end up with a free associates when you are only graduating high school… you will be at an amazing advantage financially and mentally! It will be hard work, you might struggle, but through those struggles you will learn more about your true self, which is so worth missing a couple hours a day at your HS.</p>
<p>Like the other folks, I absolutely recommend doing Running Start instead of the IB Diploma Program. I am in my second year of IB this year and I’m starting my exams tomorrow and I must say that I absolutely regret doing IB and do not recommend it to anyone unless they are planning to attend an international university. </p>
<p>With Running Start, you have lots of flexibility to do what you want (Computer Science classes, etc) whereas in IB, you are very limited to what classes you can take and because IB pretty much eats up your entire schedule, you dont have time to take the classes that you want to take.</p>
<p>Probably the most important thing to consider with the IB diploma however is that at the UW, they only award 15 credits for completing the Diploma Program and around 5 credits for each good HL score. So on average, you can only obtain around 30 credits through the IB program. On the other hand with Running Start, you can obtain a maximum of 90 credits which you can transfer over to the UW. Getting into CSE directly is hard and there is a big chance that you will not get in. However should that happen, if you take the right classes through Running Start, you can use the credits to satisfy most or perhaps all the prereqs for CSE which allows you to apply for CSE right when you get into UW (or the first winter quarter) while the IB diploma only gets you 30 credits so you have to spend your freshman and sophomore years taking prereqs.</p>
<p>I did Running Start full time my junior and senior year, got my Associate’s degree, and was a direct admit into the computer science program if that helps.</p>
<p>We have a handful of running start kids as direct admit students every year in CSE.</p>