<p>I am grade 10 at Canadian high school. So I am in full pre IB courses and I was just wondering if doing full IB diploma would be neccessary to be accepted into highly selective schools like say Harvard. I heard that the IB diploma actually is given to me after I will have made applications to colleges and how am I to put down my academic career on the application?? </p>
<p>Please help...</p>
<p>Highly selective schools recommend that propspective students take the most challenging course their high school offers. If the high school offers the IB Program, and the student is not a full diploma candidate, the guidance counselor would have to answer no to the question asking if the student is in the most rigorous program.
Having said that, please note that the results of the IB Diploma Examinations are released in the summer after graduation...long after students have made their college choices. In fact, the exams are given a month after colleges release their regular decisions.
Your school report will indicate that you are an IB full diploma candidate, and your guidance counselor will submit your predicted grades.
Also, if you take the one exam that is allowed in your junior year, the grade will be in your transcript.
Remember that being in the IB program does not exempt you from taking the SAT I and SAT II exams.</p>
<p>Not necessary but it's very good prep for college. I appreciate all the work I did for the IB even though I didn't even get one measly credit for it. It's definitely paying off though -- I have confidence in my ability to adjust to university academic standards.</p>
<p>Hi, m_c, which IB courses did you take? What college courses do you have lined up for this year?</p>
<p>My HLs (higher levels) were math, physics, and english A1. My SLs (standard levels) were spanish, psychology, and history. They don't reflect my interests very well -- my strengths are english and history, and I'm planning on concentrating in government. There were a few reasons I chose my HLs as I did -- how I liked the teachers, how the course was structured (e.g. I took math SL in one year, when I was a junior, and I wanted to take a math course senior year. The only course available to take as the "next step" was math HL. The IB is taught a little weirdly at my school..)</p>
<p>This semester, I'm taking a Lit and Arts class called "The Medieval Courts," a Gov class called "The Politics of Congress" (my absolute favorite. amazing class), Spanish, and a freshman seminar.</p>
<p>My comment above was not directly referring to the subject matter I learned for the IB. Rather, I gained a great deal of experience and knowledge regarding skills ranging from time-management to analysis+synthesis of literature. I feel that the IB demands a great deal of its candidates, both by writing and by oral examination. The fact that all of the exams are by essay or by showing work (as in math) really shows the IB's emphasis on quality and thought, rather than -- for example -- guessing on a multiple choice exam. The IB curriculum basically demanded that I learn to think for myself and to have confidence in my ideas, two skills that are rather difficult to learn, I would imagine, when one is sitting in lecture listening to a brilliant scholar while surrounded by (insert # here) intimidatingly-smart students.</p>