<p>What will having an International Bacculerate Diploma (2 year high school course) do to an American citizen like me, who hopes to get accepted into a UK university for medicine?</p>
<p>If it matters, I am of Indian nationality, but have grown up in the United States. I am doing well at school, with an excellent GPA and enrolled in various AP/Honours courses.</p>
<p>Sorry for the bad shakespearean pun, but it had to be said...</p>
<p>In addition, what advice can you give to me to improve my chances of acceptance? </p>
<p>I wouldn't agree - I was at a college fair over the weekend, and a college rep answering questions after a workshop said they "love" IB. Not that my kids are doing IB, but hopefully that won't matter, since they are still doing rigorous courses and interesting activities.</p>
<p>I'm doing IB (the full diploma), and here is what I have to say: </p>
<p>First, I am sorry if I turn out too pesstimistic, but really, IB has not been the best experience for me.
1. A lot of the things are pretty pointless: Internal Assessments, External Assessments, Extended Essays, etc.
2. Too much complicated paper-work things
3. It's not always recognized (half the colleges don't even know what the heck it is.)</p>
<p>In short, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't IB.</p>
<p>If you're planning on going abroad, IB will be more recognized, especially in Europe. If you're planning on staying in the US, AP is just as good; colleges don't have any preference between one or the other, just as long as you are challenging yourself with a rigorous courseload.</p>
<p>One of the downsides of IB is its rigidity; it is very structured, and forces students to gain a well-rounded education. If you're the type that wants to "specialize" in say science, it can be difficult to do so.</p>
<p>That said, I feel that IB has prepped me very well for university, and many of my friends who also graduated with the IB diploma feel the same way, despite all of our late nights complaining about how terrible it is. It's a rite of passage in some regards I guess ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, but as for those who said that IB did not benefit them, I'm unsure whether they meant if I were to apply to colleges in the US or in the UK. </p>
<p>Just to clarify once again, my plan is to study abroad in the UK. :) Thank you.</p>
<p>im doing ib in my school, which is in shanghai, and i must say it is alot of work and time, esp TOK and EE. The only reason i didnt choose AP is cuz the AP courses in my school is even worse: our skl only has 3 ap courses!!!
im going to america btw, just that my skl suks</p>
<p>Do the IB if you want to study in the UK.
It's much easier to get an offer than if you only did AP.
Many students in the UK do the IB instead of A-levels too and British universities are very familiar with the system.
Make sure you have the right subjects combination though...</p>
<p>some facts:
Oxbridge's minimun requirements for IB canditate is: least 38 point diploma with at least 7 6 6 in HL subjects, while requirements for normal non IB US students is SAT over 2100 and 2 5s in APs relevant to ur major. </p>
<p>the second option is much easier to obtain. so majority of us student applying oxbridge used the second one, so if you are sure that can do well at IB then it let you stand out. But at disadvantage, at best you can only get conditional offer as IB grades won't be available at time u apply and u uses predicted grade to apply, while if u uses AP+SAT u can use your junior APs.</p>
<p>I'm doing the IB, and I'm of Indian Nationality as well. I have two friends who are also doing the Diploma and are applying to Cambridge for Medicine.
It's a fact that IF you're applying to the UK, the IB is the most respected program out there. it's clear evidence that you've taken the toughest courses avaliable. I've taken at Biology at Higher Level, and i can vouch for the lab work we do in the IB- it's college level stuff. The Bio (higher level) program in IB is fantastic in a word. </p>
<p>However the downside of doing the IB is that you have a conditional offer. You should get your oxbridge or UK reply by latest January, with a condition- that you have to attain 38 points with a requirement. You give your exams in May (Nov if u live in the southern hemisphere) and u get your results in July. Now, if you don't fulfil your conditions (lets say the condition was a 38, and you got a 37) you can negoiate with the college. But for Cambridge and medicine, that's very unlikely. I had a friened who got into King's for Law, but did'nt meet his condition of 38 (he got a 36). He visited Kings thrice, and tried to negoiate but they did'nt budge. He eventually went to Warwick. On the other hand, i know of a guy who got into Cambridge for land economy, but did'nt meet his condition. however, since Land Economy is not as popular (comparitively) as other courses, he was able to negoiate his way through. So, on the whole, i hate the fact that IB applicants to the UK have to slog till the end.</p>
<p>Like bv123 said - MAIL A COUPLE OF COLLEGES IN CAMBRIDGE and ask them about your stats. (wheather it be ure IB subject choice or grades, or ure AP scores) It's really imp- they can assess you acdemically and gauge ure chances of admission. Visit if u can as well..</p>
<p>Another thing-UK lays a lot more emphasis on Grades than the US does. Rather, they lay a lot less emphasis on ECs than the US. </p>