<p>There’s only about a 46% acceptance rate, not sure how that compares to Chicago exactly, I’m sure Chicago is more competitive but the gap is definitely closing in. For my program, molecular and microbiology, competition is fierce. I’m in classes with pre-med students who have excellent GPAs, research experience and credentials. I am by no means at the top of the class but I’m in a rigorous program and I’m doing my best.</p>
<p>My IB program was ranked as one of the most rigorous ones in the US. In 2006, it was ranked in the top 1% of IB programs worldwide. I had VERY smart peers and I mean they got into Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Berk…, etc. I didn’t apply to any ivy leagues so I’m not sure how I would have stacked up. </p>
<p>I had 4 years of IB preparation, it started in 9th grade, we took all pre-IB/AP level classes. Then we moved on to the full IB program junior year. We began preparing for those exams from day one of 9th grade.</p>
<p>I did nt mean the acceptance rate but more of expectations in the classes or amount of work needed to do well in the classes. So there was one person on this thread who implied tufts was nt as hard as his IB while another person said Chicago classes are far harder. Lets say some classes have only a certain number of As allowed but in some schools As are common for 50% of the kids who do ok in a class. So if you are competing in classes where only 20% of the class can expect A, then your program is pretty hard irrespective of how good your classmates may or may not be.</p>
<p>It sounds like your high school is to blame and not IB for your burnout!</p>
<p>I’d like to disagree… So far it seems as though IB did a good job in preparing me for college…</p>
<p>All of Gen Chem I (I passed the SL test with a 5) and Calculus III (I passed the HL test with a 4) has been review. I have yet to have had to sit down and study for math/chem.</p>
<p>It’ll change really soon in math, we’re starting vector functions next week, so I’m excited to have actual work to do.</p>
<p>The issue of getting college credit for IB (or AP) courses may not matter that much for a lot of kids, depending on where they go to college and what they major in–unless they want to accelerate and graduate in less than 4 years. My son had a bunch of IB scores, as well as a number of AP scores in the same classes, and the only one that made any difference in college was that his French AP score (which he took at the end of senior year, after taking the French SL exam in junior year, and one semester of French senior year) gave him placement. If he hadn’t had that score, he would have had to take the school’s placement test, and might have gotten exactly the same placement.</p>
<p>I am having the opposite problem, my AP/IB scores were ALL accepted so now I have too many credits without a degree…I had 60 credits freshman year…most all of them independent study. The only thing I really needed was my language credits, english and psychology, bio credits. They took everything and now they’re trying to cut off my financial aid because I have too many credits.</p>
<p>Ok to clarify, it isn’t absolute that all Chicago classes are more difficult than IB classes were.
For example, my Econ SL class was actually kind of difficult, whereas my intro to micro class at chicago was a cakewalk.
In fact, perhaps on some of the humanities such as history, English A1, French etc, IB is stronger in preparation than AP.
But, as the above two posters mentioned, should there be a chance to do it over I would have opted for more AP instead, particularly in math and science.</p>
<p>Yeah its a shame because when I was accepted into the IB program they made it seem like I was guaranteed to excel, that classes would fulfill me and that college would be easy. Rather than buying into that, I wish I had considered all of the options mainly AP.</p>
<p>Would nt you have the same problem though, i.e., AP credits causing problems with your financial aid? It seems to come down to you having too many credits.</p>
<p>:P I’m giving the CIE GCE A’ Levels.
Undergraduate(Bachelors) in a lot of UK(Cambridge/Oxford) typically a 3 year course as opposed to the 4 years in the US(Better!).
Some of my seniors that have enrolled in US Colleges say that the first year(US) curriculum has a lot of overlap with the A’ Level syllabus(they also get credit for getting A’s in specific courses, Phy/Maths, apparently not Bio/Chem, varies among schools), but the UK colleges are in tune with the A’ Level Syllabus, sort of picks up where it stops.
UK Uni. are quite focused and its hard to get out of your Dep.
US colleges give the students a more rounded education and way more space.
Not really related, just saying ;)</p>
<p>No texas, it wouldn’t of because they gave me credit for both AP AND IB scores. If I had just taken AP it wouldn’t have given me multiple credits for just one AP class either.</p>
<p>No I didn’t take both classes, I took both exams because my teachers and coordinator said that taking both exams would be in my best interest. I wish I had known that the credits wouldn’t cancel each other out for the same subject, i.e. i got 6 credits each for english 1, 2 and general psych. I was up north but I transferred to a school in FL.</p>
<p>In Texas, people who have your problem join Engineering. The schools at both UT and A&M require a minimum of three years of required classes and so they still can’t finish early despite starting as almost juniors based on their credits.</p>
<p>OTOH, people have just graduated and gone on to masters.</p>
<p>biologynerd, did you have to take the IB/AP credits? Maybe it varies from college to college, but at my daughters’ school they could choose whether or not to take the credit. D2 is currently retaking a course she could have gotten credit for but because it is her major and she wants to take it at her school as a review and to get to know the department before taking more difficult courses.</p>
<p>I am an IB Bio teacher, and have been for 10 years. I’ve also taught AP Bio for 7 years, but frankly we have phased that out in favor of IB. Both my daughters were IB diploma recipients. I am a huge fan of the program, both from a teacher’s standpoint and a parent’s. My children did the program more to make them competitive for college admission and scholarships, and it did work for them. I tell the students I teach that there is no one right path. Each student needs to figure out what they need to get from their high school education, and what the colleges they want to attend look for. I will say that the intellectual growth I saw in my own children by the end of their senior year was amazing. And there is a huge difference in taking some IB courses and being a full IB diploma candidate. Having to take courses in your weaknesses as well as your strengths, having to do extensive research in the extended essay and several of the internal assessments, participating in the creativity, action, and service component, having to evaluate your beliefs and learn to understand other points of view in the Theory of Knowledge class make for a very rigorous, well rounded education. As we were told by an admissions counselor at a very selective LAC “it is the best education you can get in a public school”. But I would not say it is necessary for or even desired by everyone.</p>
<p>dheldreth, yes unfortunately I was required to report all of my scores from every test that I took. Had I known it was going to come to that I probably wouldn’t have taken the AP tests and just stuck with my IB scores.</p>
<p>I loved IB biology. I took 3 years of it and I have nothing but awesome things to say. I aced biology 2 in college because of all the emphasis on evolution. My biology teacher wrote me a great rec for college and I will be forever thankful to him for enriching our learning and for my love of biology. The study of living organisms is one of the most intricate and fascinating things to study. </p>
<p>I did receive the diploma and I wrote all of my essays, CAS, etc. I agree I did learn how to manage a heavy courseload and the amount of work better but its also a big sacrifice to make. I missed out on my 17th birthday because I was up all night perfecting my extended essay draft. I didn’t have a lot of friends outside IB and I didn’t have much of a social life outside of IB activities. I may not have the critical thinking skills I’ve acquired now if I chose not to do IB and there is no use regretting it now. I had some really great and inspiring professors and overall I think the program is a good concept. It works for some people, that said, it set me back a lot in college and I burned out quickly.</p>
<p>I do get the concern with burnout. A lot of my seniors won’t even apply to the honors colleges at the State U’s because they say they don’t want to work so hard anymore, they want to be in the regular university.</p>
<p>Honors programs are probably the best bet though. You get so much more personalized attention and many more resources. I transferred schools and wasn’t eligible for the honors program although I’m going to try for honors in the major. I’ve also been working a lot and trying to do a rigorous molecular and microbio program. The program is so intense they recommend that you don’t work at all. For awhile I had 2 jobs. I also worked 40 hours a week and took a full time load. Needless to say, every aspect of my life suffered from that. I definitely think that has also contributed to my feeling of burnout. </p>
<p>But I am determined to finish regardless of what has happened. I can’t go back and change my choices but I wanted to warn others who are considering IB that it really isn’t all its cracked up to be.</p>
<p>From what I gather - the issue is that you have too many credits because you took IB and AP tests and the college was too generous in giving you 60 credits upfront by doublecrediting for the same subjects. That is forcing you finish your undergrad too fast (2 years?) because they want to revoke your aid because you have too many credits already. You feel burnout because you worked too hard in high school and worked 40 hours in college while doing a full load. These are issues unique to you. It does nt result in a conclusion that says IB is nt all that it is cracked up to be. </p>
<p>So what has any of this got to do with IB? It is just a stepping stone to college admissions. If the elite schools stop saying we like IB candidates because it is a rigorous program and start stating that they don’t care if someone is completing an IB diploma vs regular high school in Podunk High then IB becomes irrelevant.</p>