The IB program

<p>Does anybody know how many IB points one needs to get accepted...or roughly the range of points on which the accepted students fall? Does harvard consider the fact that your school may be new to the IB program and cannot handle it for ****?</p>

<p>By the time you get your final IB scores, Harvard will have already decided whether or not they will accept you. As long as you get the diploma, there shouldn't be a problem.</p>

<p>Sorry I was talking rather about predicted grades. My school isn't very generous with them however, I am in the top 5% of the IB class....I don't know how that may be seen..</p>

<p>I don't think colleges see your predicted grades...I know I didn't put them in there when I applied, and my teachers didn't mention it in their recs, so unless my counselor hunted them down and put it in her info, Harvard had no idea how well I was expected to do on my IB exams when they read my application.</p>

<p>The issue is that there is a sheet that asks the counsellor to fill in your predicted grades...so I was wondering about that because some schools are generous with them while others or not...so do they take that into account? As well, since my school is new, the results haven't been good in the past years but I was one of the first to score a 7 on an ib exam</p>

<p>bump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Bump!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Oh god, the ignorance :D
Of course they see your predicted grades, it is actually the MOST important part. That is why they put a lot of emphasis on it. And btw, ur predicted grades are dependent upon this June's internal exams....so study a lot.</p>

<p>Plus, unis LOOOOVE the IB program because it is much more of a collegiate program than AP, plus there is the extended and TOK. And i've heard cases where people god in solely based on their extended essays. And no, the school wont say "oh, they are new to this, lets cut em some slack". But if u r good enough, that will come through. </p>

<p>IB ROCKS---------------/</p>

<p>Yeah the EE definitely gives you a piece of significant scholarship that you submit as a supplement to your application for Harvard/Yale/etc.</p>

<p>Actually, we asked DS2's IB coordinator about this a couple of weeks ago, and she told us that if we didn't want predicted grades on the school recommendation, we could opt to take them off. Probably varies by school, and I wonder what colleges would think if they didn't see them, but it at least sounded like there was a choice in the matter.</p>

<p>I think we will wait to see how IB and AP scores compare for those subjects before making any decisions.</p>

<p>"predicted" grades? A university soliciting speculative grades from high school personnel? It doesn't inspire confidence, if what it sounds like is what it is.</p>

<p>I believe that predicted grades are an important a feature of the IB program (it does not exist for AP). Below is a FAQ from the Vanderbilt University website:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I’m in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program. Do you need my predicted scores?</p>

<p>Yes. If you attend a school that can provide accurate predicted IB scores, we will need them for review.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't know what Harvard would consider good predicted grades, since IB or AP scores per se are not supposed to count for admission. This may be quite different from what is considered for credit.</p>

<p>If your school is new to the IB program and cannot predict accurately, this should be noted. </p>

<p>For credit, which is used mostly for placement into advanced courses and for Advanced Standing, you need to have 3 scores of 7 on the IB exams. You need to declare AS at the end of your freshman year only.</p>

<p>Other than name recognition at universities, what other benefits does IB have compared to taking AP? I mean, the only good part about it I can find is the selectivity factor which looks good on college applications.</p>

<p>With AP, more credits can be accepted at certain universities with usually higher credit given than the equivalent IB, you do not have to take "mandatory" classes which IMO are pointless(i.e. information tech.), and you have a wider course selection range.</p>

<p>If I go to University of Maryland with a 5 or 4 on every AP exam I plan on taking, I can get 36 credits which promotes me to sophomore status easily(30 credits required for sophomore status). If I go to U of M with a 6 or 7 on every equivalent IB exam, then I can get 31 credits.</p>

<p>Some IB classes seem to be even below the par of AP classes like physics is rewarded with 4 credits for the IB, while the AP physics (2 exams) is rewarded with 8 credits.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.tce.umd.edu/apibclep.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.tce.umd.edu/apibclep.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>P.S. AP credit is accepted worldwide. I have no idea what the "I" in IB stands for anymore.</p>

<p>The international focus in the actual curriculum, perhaps?</p>

<p>What do you mean?
<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/intad.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/intad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How can you have an international focus in chemistry, biology, physics, etc.????</p>

<p>The AP curriculum is as rigorous or more than IB, although some courses seem harder (mainly in certain humanities). My APWH (world history) class is very non-Eurocentric. It is pretty neutral and has a strong international focus.</p>

<p>First of all, you have to understand wether or not the physics you are talking about is higher level or standard level IB. Both are considered at least honors, but one course takes 2 years to complete, and the other takes a year. AP classes run a year. If you were to compare AP Chemistry to IB HL(higher level) Chemistry, IB is a lot more rigorous. AP takes about 2/3 of what you learn in IB and compacts it in a year. IB goes into great depth over 2 years. Also IB requires an extended essay, which is similar to a college thesis to qualify for a diploma. Also IB requires a minimum of 150 hours of community service to be completed during your junior and senior years. It totals about 350 service hours throughout your entire high school career.</p>

<p>IB also requires all the Internal Assessments that AP kids don't have to do. I know that in my mixed AP/IB classes (Biology, English, Spanish Lit, Calculus BC), the IB kids have to do much more work than the AP kids because we have to do extra labs, essays, "internal assessment" projects, and orals. </p>

<p>My school doesn't even give predicted grades. I know that my counselor is so completely ignorant about IB Diploma and I know she didn't ask my teachers for my predicted grades...so I don't know how it would have shown up to Harvard. Is it bad that I didn't have them?</p>

<p>
[quote]
"predicted" grades? A university soliciting speculative grades from high school personnel? It doesn't inspire confidence, if what it sounds like is what it is.

[/quote]
by siserune:</p>

<p>This just shows that at least u should do some research **before **u trash a program. Predicted grades in IB show what u r expected to get the diploma with (the grade), and most unis love that, since it gives a **very, very accurate **evaluation (and unis know that)</p>

<p>
[quote]
How can you have an international focus in chemistry, biology, physics, etc.????</p>

<p>The AP curriculum is as rigorous or more than IB, although some courses seem harder (mainly in certain humanities). My APWH (world history) class is very non-Eurocentric. It is pretty neutral and has a strong international focus.

[/quote]
by afruff23:</p>

<p>Again, on WHAT evidence do u state that? How many all-nighters have u pulled to get a 41 in IB? None...U have NOOOO idea whatsoever what it takes to get a good grade in IB. The assignments are really hard and the IBO examines u not only through written exams but also through oral commentaries and videotapes, as well as through essays that u HAVE to send. <a href="as%20j07%20has%20very%20pertinently%20pointed%20out">B</a>** This just shows ur ignorance when u say that it is less rigorous than AP. What is more, IB higher levels are imensely demanding, and getting a 7 in your exams there is hard er than AP courses-admittedly, SLs are at the same level with AP courses. And by **INTERNATIONAL FOCUS<a href="again,%20do%20some%20frigging%20research">/B</a> means that the curriculum (which is revised every 7 years, which again shows the strengths of the program) is the same for all students. The teacher has the liberty of choosing from a variety of sources, and most importantly, it is done without bias or discrimination against, i dunno, others (the main example being history)</p>

<p>Okay this doesn't have to devolve into name-calling. (And I'm not accusing but I certainly see a trend of this going there, so let's chill!)</p>

<p>Anyway. The IB program is just that - a full-fledged program. AP, just recently has started to implement a diploma of their own, but it is definitely very loose and not terribly organized, centralized nor does it have an overarching platform. As a matter of fact, many IB students qualify for the AP diploma simply because they perform as well as other AP students on those tests. What does that say about the level of the IB curriculum? It is either as good as or better than an AP education. I only say this because many AP teachers are under qualified to be teaching the courses they do teach. And this only culminates to one big test at the end of the year that can hardly measure your full-potential to actually apply the information you know. </p>

<p>In IB you have numerous internal assessments that are graded by your teacher and many external assessments that are sent to neutral, unbiased assessors across the world. The program has many built in checks-and-balances and at the end of the year, each batch of assessments is evaluated to help that teacher improve the next class. The IB program never settles. Many courses in foreign languages have already been established, whereas AP is just adding new language tests that have yet to be tested out. (e.g. the new Japanese Language and Culture test). There is an epistemology (Theory of Knowledge) paper that helps the student critically analyze what they are learning - something AP doesn't have and only reinforces the fact-memorization weight of those courses. There is also an Extended Essay which is the one large college-level research thesis that involves the student over 3 months of the summer not including the pre and post-research periods that are involved in planning a paper of that magnitude. Overall, IB students leave with a much more liberal arts-based education that allows them to synthesize and use the information they gain instead of having only the basic facts memorized.</p>

<p>Well said, well said indeed Metric</p>