<p>Hi again everyone! Thanks so much for all your insight and advice. I just got my scheduling options for next year from my guidance counselor at the beginning of this week, and I’ve decided to to the full IB Diploma Program. 
Good luck to anyone currently in the program and anyone else who just signed on for it next year! Thanks again!!</p>
<p>If you can handle it, do the full IB diploma. It is usually viewed as the most rigorous curriculum available, and this is what more selective universities look at- they want to know that you are challenging yourself as much as possible.</p>
<p>Do you find that some students dropped out after they started?</p>
<p>^Yes. Only a few, less than 5 every year, but then again there are definitely people who find that DP is not right for them.
Lol, there’s this one girl in my grade who I’m really hoping will do that so I will barely have to deal with her anymore…</p>
<p>My son hasn’t told me of anyone dropping out of the IB diploma track. All 30 or so kids that started in the program are now in their final semester.</p>
<p>That’s good. At our school there have been kids in the program who should not have been. Some dropped out while others stayed but did not earn the diploma. These were kids who always struggled in school, procrastinated, etc.</p>
<p>Of course, might as well. I don’t see the point in taking a mixture.</p>
<p>I take IB Math SL and I’m doing just fine and math is not my strongest subject. I make A averages. I’m currently a senior.</p>
How was it? I have to submit my paper today!! 
@Michelle530 How was what?
This IB thing is kind of a mystery to me. I assume what it offers is a set curriculum that should impress colleges by its rigor. So it is essentially a qualification, kind of like being a Eagle Scout.
The reason I am writing here is because, as a European, my d did a normal BAC in France. It was highly disciplined and everything depended on test results at the end, i.e. the pressure was intense. We were told that, because my d wanted to study abroad, she should go to a private school and do an IB, but nobody could explain why. We felt we got the same advantages, but in public school. So we ignored the advice and she got into Ivies as well as Cambridge U in the UK.
I would think that if one did well enough and chose one’s courses strategically, one would have no need of the expense and extra pressure. What it appears to boil down to is that it is a means to stand out. Wouldn’t some work experience offer at least equal value? The program doesn’t make sense to me.
As a Junior in IB Diploma, (Math HL, Physics HL, English B HL, Chemistry HL, ESS SL, Turkish Literature SL)
I am tired of drinking redbulls with coffee and doing investigations till 3 am so don’t waste yourself. The only thing
that I learned in the IB was how to endure pain. It is like a simulation of real life actually.
It might be easier to do 3 HLs instead of 4?
In India, there’s no “choice” in International schools- we all do the full diploma. Nobody is allowed to drop out either unless you’re failing all classes… A fail in my school is below a 60 which is a very good 4-5 in the IB. But, Im at the fag end of doing the full DP program and I can say I made it. It took long nights and a LOT of hardwork to be straight As- look at 4 hours of sleep a night, skipping a lot of weekends and staying extra hours in school- but I feel thats what will prepare me to handle the pressure in college. Ive become a time management ninja for sure and I know how to handle hard hours and deadlines. I think it prepares you and we realize that only when the acceptances start rolling in… But I say its great only if you do not mind losing of sleep 2 years to hard work. The IB is BRILLIANT if it is done right.
I have noticed with incoming students that the IB program can both overwhelm or prepare a student. Ultimately it is up to you whether you want to sacrifice the time - but I believe it builds the reinforcement in character and future endeavors. The direct reward from the program beyond that of character often varies based on your choices about where you want to go with your academic future.