Should I do the IB program or not?

Pre-College Issues International Baccalaureate (IB)
1

I’m trying to figure out whether I should do the IB program. I’m in grade 9 about to go into high school and I need to make the decision soon. The IB program would give my early access into university and university would be paid. I love everything about the program, I love learning and I like school, but I’m worried that I don’t have what it takes to be an IB student.

My grades in most of my courses are high to low 90’s. But in math and science my grades are in the 70’s. I really excel in science, I’ve received either 90’s or 80’s on my tests, but I got bad grades on a couple labs which brought my grade down. As for math, I’m not naturally good at it. If I do the IB program, I don’t want my grades in math to drop. Here are my grades for my courses:

English- 93
Social Studies- 95
Science- 78
Math- 72
French- 92

I think IB would be a fun way to interact and become more involved in the world, with volunteering credit that they do, but I don’t want to do something that will overwhelm me. If I do IB I want to get good grades in it.

If anyone knows anything about how hard IB is, or how they think I would do in the program, please help!!

2

I think you would do fine, based on your grades take English, Social Studies, and French as your HLs and for math take either Math Studies or SL.

3

I agree with nw2this. Math studies is the way to go. I’m in it right now, and it’s basically an honors stats class.

4

I’m graduating from the IB program this spring, and I would say go ahead with IB! You don’t need to excell in everything, especially in the math or sciences as I have found that IB is much more rigorous in the humanities anyway. You can always do math studies, and SL in a science like bio which I took (and is honestly very easy). The IB makes you really think about global perespectives and your impact on the world so I think you’ll really enjoy it. Good luck!!!

5

Here is a handy list of pros and cons
Pros:

  • Really prepares you for research
  • Good for showing colleges you are competitive
  • Helps with admissions (only if your school is reputable)
  • Everything is based on practical applications of a concept
  • English is very interesting in the IB DP
  • Languages are focused on communication skills rather than abstract grammar
  • Encourages you to self-study
  • Opens opportunities to Extracurriculars due to CAS
  • Internationally renowned

Cons:

  • Destroys your social life
  • Math HL and science HL can be very tough for some
  • Only doing good in exams will not help you.
  • CAS is mandatory and so is TOK, they tend to take a lot of time
  • Managing timetables in IB is tough
  • You definitely need good teachers to make it through
  • Tough to manage sports/music/hobbies when so much work is on your head
  • Sleep schedule can get messed up to say the least
6

Definitely agree with the above. As someone in an extracurricular activity with very few students from IB involved, it’s hard to manage conflicting schedules. However, after one year in the program, I feel my classes are definitely preparing me for college and teaching me the importance of time management. Hopefully IB teachers at your school are very good; one of the reasons I picked IB over AP was because of the quality of teachers between the two programs…

As for your grades, you should do fine. Many students with good grades in IB had good grades before. As for math, your best bet would be taking IB Math Studies. The IB students at my school that were never in Honors math before the program take math studies, and most of them get their diploma.

7

IB doesn’t ruin your social life. I got to an IB school, so all I do is IB courses, and everyone at my school is very social and manage to have good social lives and keep up good grades.

Yes that may be the cases for some, but definitely not all.