Hello everybody,
I have reached a recent dilemma which I simply cannot seem to make a decision on. I keep going back and forth and back and forth, and something needs to be done!
I have just finished high school in England and currently have 11 GCSE’s under my belt. After finishing my GCSE’s I moved to the U.S, where I am currently attending a school that offers the IB program, which I have elected to do. My options are choosing between the full IB Diploma and the IB Associate Diploma, where instead of testing in 6 subjects, you only test in 4, do 100 CAS hours instead of 150, and do not do an extended essay (just T.O.K.). My goals (they may sound more like dreams to some!) are to have a solid chance at applying and getting into Stanford or M.I.T, or perhaps a public school like UC Berkeley to (most likely) major in Computer Science, as programming is a big hobby of mine that I would like to make a career out of.
My problem is this. I must take a language in order to qualify for the diploma program, which I would ideally like to do, as I understand it gives me more of an edge than an “Associate” diploma when applying to most elite private schools. In England, German as a subject is common and offered throughout years 7-11 (Grades 6-10). I elected to learn German for all of these 5 years and as of now I am fairly proficient by their standards (I got an A in my GCSE). Unfortunately, German courses in the U.S. seem far less common; My school does not offer one for IB and I cannot seem to find one online either (http://www.ibo.org/en/programmes/diploma-programme/dp-online/diploma-programme-courses-online/). So it seems as if my only option is to either take the full Diploma and learn a new language, or choose the IB Associate where a language can be dropped, as only 4 subjects are necessary.
Learning a new language would require me to study all of next summer in order to catch up and pass - no small task, of course. On top of that, I feel like it might just be a gigantic waste of time. As I said, I would like to head for a degree in Computer Science, or at the very least something STEM related, and I feel as though attempting to relearn another language in 2 years (to catch up to IB SL standards), on top of testing in all 5 other subjects (plus getting up at 5:30 every day to do zero period concert band), would create too much pressure, and would not be worth the “edge” that the diploma gives me in my college application. I am worried that with the extra pressure, I might end up with only mediocre scores/grades, whereas with an Associate’s diploma I could worry less and stay more focused, leading to higher scores/grades.
Any thoughts or advice on the matter are gratefully accepted. I thank you in advance. 