Hi! I am going into my summer before junior year. I’m torn between whether I should go full IB because I do cross country, winter track, and spring track. So a sport every season and I’m going to have driver’s ed for the first half of the year and I have to take the SAT’s and ACT’s. These are the classes I’m taking next year and I want to know if it will be too much?
IB Bio HL
IB Math SL
IB Spanish SL
IB English HL
AP/IB Euro History
IB Film HL or IB Psychology SL (I don’t know which one to take because Film will give me an extra HL but it seems funner and like less work than Psych so could someone give me insight on the two?)
TOK
IB Junior Research
Any suggestions/comments/advice? Thanks so much!
Hi, recently ex-IB student here! My IB class was full of students who committed themselves to multiple extracurriculars. One of my good friends was a three-season athlete, and there were students who played sports and were on the debate team (which took up a lot of time at my school). I personally went into the IB program with show choir taking up most of my extra time. All of us finished the IB, and everyone except for me and another girl went for the full diploma (I had to go the certificate route because of scheduling conflicts my senior year and the other girl just gave up on her EE).
What I’m trying to say is that you can most definitely do IB with multiple extracurriculars and with the SATs and ACTs and other things going on. It really depends on how your school doles out assignments and such, but the Big things for the IBO, such as the IAs, the EE, CAS, and the exams, are more than manageable. If you’d like me to, I can PM you after July 6th when our scores are posted and walk you through what I received and why I received that mark. I probably am not the best to ask for that, since I think I’m facing 5s, but it’s up to you.
As for the classes, it looks as if you’re putting the bulk of your SLs in your junior year. I would recommend spreading them out if at all possible. We took our Math and foreign language SLs in our senior year, and I feel as though that was a lot better than doing them junior year. I didn’t take Psych SL, but my friends who took Psych said that the IA was almost like the EE (a.k.a. hell) and the exam was a lot of memorization of names and studies and dates (also hell). With the AP/IB Euro History, is it one class? Like, for my Math SL, my school didn’t have a separate class for IB Math SL so we had to take AP Calc and do the IA and exam in addition, so I’m wondering if it’s like that. If not, I wouldn’t recommend doing both.
Finally, in response to your title question, I definitely feel like IB was worth it. I may have had a few breakdowns and had to do a lot of work, but I feel as though the IB programme really prepares you for college in a way that the AP program cannot. I don’t think I would’ve gotten into the college/program I did if I hadn’t had the IB. I think that being able to put the fact that I was an IB student on my application played a part in getting me into New York University. Don’t worry about the scores, though. By the time they come out, you’re already accepted and enrolled into whatever university you’ll attend. It’s the dedication that colleges see when you put IB on your application, not the scores.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for the response! I feel like I can push through for the SAT’s and ACT’s and IB at the same time! The PM thing after July 6th would be awesome if you could but if it’s too much trouble don’t worry! I’ll try to see if I can spread out my classes with my guidance counselor but they seemed to really want me to get a lot done this year so we’ll see. Overall, thank you! You really convinced me to go through with it. But, by any chance can you explain the difference between the certificate and diploma? Thanks again!
No problem! I’ll try to remind myself to PM you once I get my scores. Definitely talk to your GC because the beauty of the IB is that you have the chance to spread out your work. I’m glad you’re choosing to go full IB!
Okay, so diploma v. certificate. The diploma is the three HL, three SL, TOK, EE, and CAS programme that everyone hears about. With the diploma, you have to average a certain score on your HLs/earn a certain amount of marks in addition to satisfactory completion of TOK, CAS, and the EE in order to gain the diploma. The certificate is just taking the exams, almost like how the AP program is run; if you pass your exams (a 3 out of 7 is passing), you get the certificate. The certificate is basically the diploma without the point requirement and the TOK, CAS, and EE.
If you’re looking at it from a college admissions standpoint, the diploma is worth more. But, as http://web.wis.edu.hk/public_html/IB_University_Acceptance_Rates.pdf shows, the IB is very valuable when it comes to college admissions, regardless of diploma or candidate. Even though the data is a bit outdated, take Stanford for example. Stanford’s acceptance rate this year was 5.1%, making it the most selective university in America. From the year this table was made, the acceptance rate was 13%, but the acceptance rate for IB students was 17%. While that statistic is not stellar, it is better than the total acceptance rate. Being an IB student is just one part of the application, so while it will not get you into a university, it will definitely help.
I hope I was able to help!
It’s absolutely worth it! IB is a struggle but the growing pains make you do better
