<p>Does anybody know the number or percentage of IB students applying?
Or admitted?</p>
<p>DO they really consider our predicted IB results in the application process?
I heard they are not as important as SATs.</p>
<p>IB doesn really count for anything..........
very depressing. . . . . .
(I am IB candidate myself)</p>
<p>When do your predicted results come out? In my school, they're only out in March!</p>
<p>zzibuya.. you are dead wrong on your comment. The IB course load is more rigorous than AP. The grades than you are getting in your courses ( and which are taken into consideration for your GPA ) do matter!!!.The final scores (on a 7 scale) only matter towards college credit courses. An IB candidate has a definite advantage over another student with comparable GPA and grade scores ( whether AP, Honors or not )</p>
<p>How many current IB high schools have publicly posted college matriculation numbers?</p>
<p>In my school you could get predicted grades if you asked in October, because many people applied to Oxford & Cambridge in UK where you have to submit your IB predicted grades.</p>
<p>Maybe you can ask your IB Coordinator to do this earlier??</p>
<p>My biggest problem are my low SAT results.
Anyone else with low SATs but high IB predicted?</p>
<p>I'm a Bilingual (English/French) IB Diploma candidate, but I haven't decided whether I'm applying to Harvard yet. My school's administration likes to remind us of the significant avantage that the IB will give us in admissions, but listening to them you'd think that just having completed the Diploma is a one-way ticket to the Ivy League, so I'd take that with a truckload of salt.</p>
<p>tokenadult, is this what you're looking for?
Colleges</a> and universities attended by my IB high school's graduates, 2000-2005
2006-2007</a> Profile - includes 2002-2006 college destinations as well as average SATs, average IB scores by subject and other info</p>
<p>
[quote]
My school's administration likes to remind us of the significant advantage that the IB will give us in admissions, but listening to them you'd think that just having completed the Diploma is a one-way ticket to the Ivy League, so I'd take that with a truckload of salt.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Thanks for reviving the thread. Especially, thanks for providing the links to information about one school's college destinations for graduates from an IB program. I was wondering about this at noon today, because I was out-of-state visiting the home of a friend who is an IB high school teacher. (His main subject is geography, but he has IB theory of knowledge books on his home bookshelf, which I was paging through.) As I think I have noted before on CC, my own school district is bringing an IB program into its sole high school. (My son doesn't attend the high school in our district; he takes most of his classes through a distance learning program.) I think the IB curriculum is great, and wish it were available to homeschooling families like mine, but I am skeptical about claims that IB programs IN ALL CASES are preferred to other high school programs, because I suspect that some IB programs are implemented lousily, and some non-IB programs (e.g., at Exeter, Andover, Stuyvesant, TJHSST, IMSA, etc.) are very fine high school programs indeed. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing the info. I'd love to hear from other participants on this subject.</p>
<p>You make a good point that the quality of the program varies greatly between high schools. I've had a very good academic experience at mine, but I suspect that that had more to do with my wonderful teachers (some of whom could be considered mentors or role models), small classes (mine have between 3 and 12 students), and emphasis on discussion and quality of writing than with the IB curriculum in itself. Because of the centralized nature of the program, there are many instances of bureaucracy and formalities and procedures that you have to follow for no other reason than that the IB likes it that way and that even the teachers roll their eyes at, and my English teacher sighs and says it sucks the creativity out of people--but then I'm sure the AP program is much the same way, and as standardized curricula go, the IB isn't half bad, but it's not magic like some people would have you believe. I guess it's whatever you make of it.</p>
<p>(I apologize for my long, convoluted sentences and punctuation abuse... can I just blame the fact that it's past midnight and English is my third language? :o)</p>
<p>Well,the Ib is CONSIDERED TO BE A COLLEGE PROGRAMME. That is why one takes extra credit from it. Plus, it counts greatly for all colleges and especially Ivy Leagues. Plus, the more demanding ur IB curriculum is , the better us shots. For instance, i have 4 HL and 2 SL. I checked and the majority of the students that take 4 HLs and have top grades (40 and above), will pretty much definitely get into an Ivy. ( there was a kid from my school, who had 4 HL, a predicted of a 41 (kinda low), and still got into Harvard). It all depends on how demanding ur schedule is and what ur grades are. What are ur grades, btw? (addressed to all people in this thread)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well,the Ib is CONSIDERED TO BE A COLLEGE PROGRAMME. That is why one takes extra credit from it. Plus, it counts greatly for all colleges and especially Ivy Leagues.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I see your screen name is "debate_addict," so let me do some cross-examination here. What is your evidence for the points you make in either statement quoted above? Especially, what is your evidence for assertion made in the last quoted sentence? </p>
<p>More generally, what process of inquiry have you gone into to compare </p>
<p>a) attending an IB high school in your town, </p>
<p>b) attending a high school in your town with many AP classes, </p>
<p>c) taking a strong distance learning program for high school, </p>
<p>d) attending an out of state boarding "prep" school, </p>
<p>e) attending a public magnet high school for gifted learners, </p>
<p>f) attending a community college or state university as a dual-enrollment student, </p>
<p>g) doing something original, creative, and unusual of an "unschooling" nature? </p>
<p>What are the tradeoffs of each choice? What DATA are there about how alumni of each kind of program fare in applying to Ivy League colleges in general, and Harvard in particular? </p>
<p>I'm sure other families are considering these issues, so I'd be thankful to hear responses about this from any participant here.</p>
<p>Well, IB as you are all aware of, is a highly specialised course. Not only are the courses more demanding and more focused, but the very rationale is thoroughly different.Regarding other means of education, IB is similar to AP classes. However, there is a main difference. Ap as well as IB are highly appreciated by all colleges. Since IB gives Ivies a visual of how efficiently the applicant is likely to cope with i.e. the Harvard curriculum and Harvard obligations, IB students are more reliable than students with honor classes, regarding scholastic aptitude. AP is equally proficient as the IB. Nevertheless, IB can be more promiscuous and IBO is dedicated to offering a wide range of subjects and obliging the student to choose from different disciplines. It is that particular aspect of IB that makes it stand out as a programme--the fact that it offers spherical knowledge and development of critical thinking. So that distinguishes any IB school from prep schools (IB schools can be prep schools as well, since after all IB schools do prep one for collegiate life). </p>
<p>Plus, u shouldn't ommit the CAS requirement. CAS offers the opportunity to excell both intracurricularly as well as extracurricularly. </p>
<p>In the long run, it all boils down to this:
If u are a gifted/diligent/auspicious person and your determination is great, u are most likely going to excell in any school whatsoever, let that be IB, an expensive prep school or a public college. IB just offers better opportunities. After all, IB mainly focuses upon the motto "knowledge for the sake of knowledge". And i am sure that all of you who have done TOK pretty much grasp the main concept of what i am saying. After all, why would a class be offered even though it is not graded, if not for the acquisition of erudition?</p>
<p>Actually, my impression of the IB science courses (and I have downloaded the IB syllabus for physics) is that they are LESS specialized than the corresponding AP courses. The IB courses in all subjects seem like "[subject] for poets," while the math courses and science courses in the AP program really like "math for math majors" or "science for science majors." I think a humanities and historical perspective on a hard science subject is valid--that's actually the kind of math and science reading I like to do for fun--but I think the science-and-math-loving young people I coach on our homeschool group's math team may be better served by an AP curriculum in those subjects. </p>
<p>I'd still like to see in this thread ANY evidence whatever that Ivy League colleges have a special regard for IB students. I have never seen a statement to that effect on an Ivy League college Web site, for instance.</p>
<p>
I'm curious about what led you to that conclusion, because the closest to a "humanities and historical perspective on a hard science" I've come across is the science and math unit of my TOK class, whereas my science classes (I take Chemistry HL and Biology SL) are very much fact- and problem-oriented... and I wrote my Extended Essay in chemistry, and the endless "there is no such thing as reality; the scientific method is just another example of antiquated patriarchal eurocentrism, and religious mysticism is equally valid" arguments in TOK frustrated the hell out of me, so I'm definitely not the kind of kid who'd enjoy a "science for poets" type class. I guess the one exception is that my entire bio class except yours truly voted for the "Further Ecology" unit over "Diet and Nutrition" because the latter contained "too much chemistry", but that's a reflection of the student body much more than the curriculum.</p>
<p>PS: I also have a test on analytical and higher organic chemistry tomorrow... feels pretty substantial to me. Of course I don't know what the AP Chem curriculum covers, so forgive any generalizations.</p>
<p>Are you sure, tokenadult, that you didn't download the standard level curriculum for the IB? I can assure you, as cameliasinsensis has stated, that IB can include hardcore science. Take Maths HL for instance. The curriculum coverred goes up to the second year of university in Greece, stuff that people go to college in order to learn. Therefore, it is self-evident that Math is a subject fully covered (amply for both SAT1 and SAT2). As far as chemistry is concerned, i have HL in chemistry as well, and the approach is very methodical and experimental, much like it would be, were one to enroll in an actual college. Biology is pretty much a factual lesson. It is mainly memorizing key points and just a tad of problem solving, regarding genetics. I cannot offer information about physics, but i do know that after 2 years in IB, one is obliged to conduct a scientific investigation, in which all three subjects are involved (bio, chem and phys).
The nature of the IB is to offer, as i have previously stated, a wide spectrum of subjects, so as to achieve spherical knowledge. So if your students are more science oriented, then perhaps IB is not the place for them. IB is the place were you can debate upon Germany and the first world war, and concurrently calculate the odds of getting three times double-six when rolling the dice (history and math correspondingly). And this concept is the feature that differentiates IB from AP, or any other course as a matter of fact. I am not proclaiming its superiority, just enlisting its advantages.</p>
<p>It's up to u and up to the student to choose IB, regarding whether or not it covers the student's needs and/or wants.</p>
<p>One data point about math is that students who apply to top United States universities get higher class placement for getting a 5 on AP calculus BC than they do for a 7 on IB Higher Level mathematics. </p>
<p>The IB syllabus document I was referring to </p>
<p>covers both standard level and higher level topics (making clear that not all schools offer the same "higher level" course). I am a subscriber to the AP physics teachers email list, and some teachers on that list who teach both AP and IB physics report that AP physics C (certainly) is a much more advanced course than IB physics higher level. A good IB higher level physics course might be better than a typical AP physics B course, but a bad one might be worse. For comparison, you can find the College Board "acorn book" for the AP physics courses at the link below. </p>
<p>I personally think the historical and writing emphasis built into the IB science courses is not a bad thing, but it is possible for students at any high school to go beyond the school curriculum through recreational reading and thus comparing school curricula is never the whole story for college admission officers. </p>
<p>I would still like to see some evidence in this thread that Ivy League admission officers have stated a preference for IB graduates over other high school graduates. That has been asserted on this forum (not solely on this thread), and that is an assertion worth checking out.</p>
<p>Well, there is a source that i can suggest. It's "A is for admission", a very popular and highly accurate book that ill clarify all. In it, it is clearly stated that AP and IB courses are more appreciated than regular high schools for the aforementioned reasons (there is no need to repeat myself). I also found this link <a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Efdo/publications/as0405/general.htm#1%5B/url%5D">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fdo/publications/as0405/general.htm#1</a> , here it is stated that IB and AP get advanced standing. I am pretty sure that u r perfectly aware of what advanced standing is. But for the rest of the people on this thread, advanced standing is defined as the additional credentials that one gains for having completed college-level courses (such as IB and AP). It allows one to either graduate one year early or take higher level classes (i.e. graduate courses).
But i would indubitably recommend "A is for admission", as it is highly accredited and it is written by a Dartmouth admissions officer.</p>
<p>I read A Is for Admission when you were no older than elementary school age, I'm sure. It was a very helpful book for me in understanding how competitive Ivy League admission is, or was in the early 1990s. (Ivy League admission has become MORE competitive in the years, now more than a decade, since that book was written.) </p>
<p>Harvard's policy about advanced standing </p>
<p><a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Efdo/publications/advancedstanding0607/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Efdo/publications/advancedstanding0607/</a> </p>
<p>(the more updated policy, for the current school year, is found at the link in this post) </p>
<p>is interesting in that it is based entirely on test scores, and thus for some AP students doesn't even presuppose attending a classroom course in a subject. AP scores of 5 are largely considered equivalent to IB higher level scores of 7 in this regard.</p>
<p>It's precisely this I'm wondering about:
the historical and writing emphasis built into the IB science courses
Like I said, I take two IB science courses, one HL and one SL, as well as Mathematics SL. The only "writing emphasis" I've seen is in the context of writing lab reports, a skill I'd consider necessary for any student wishing to pursue science further, and the logical extension of any science experiment (why would you collect data if not to analyze it?). History has never even been mentioned. It's possible that some aspects of AP Physics may be more advanced than the equivalent IB course, but what you describe is incongruous with everything I've experienced so far.</p>
<p>Sorry if the answer to my question is in the syllabi you linked to; I can't open PDFs on this computer without causing serious damage (it's several years old and taking its proverbial last breaths).</p>
<p>PS: I hope I don't come off as an IB apologist. As I stated in my original post, the curriculum has many disadvantages and, if implemented incorrectly, can be a disaster... and of course college admissions depend infinitely more on each individual student's abilities and achievements than on the particular brand of Most Challenging Courses Offered, as the counselor report would have it. It's only in the supposedly "humanities-based" sciences that I don't recognize my experience at all.</p>