<p>I am an upcoming IB Diploma student and I was wondering:</p>
<p>a) How much does it hurt you if you take SL Math Studies but want to do Uchicago Science?
b) How much does Uchicago care about your 9th and 10th grades or your grades before you enter IB?
c) Does Uchicago only look at your IB grades, do the 9th and 10th grades not matter at all?
d) If take my three strongest subjects for highers does that make it seem as if I am not challenging myself?
e) Does Uchicago highly recognize IB? As in, do IB students have an advantage when it comes to Uchicago?</p>
<p>If you have some C's/4's in your 9th or 10th grade how much will it affect Uchicago considering you? I am trying hard to raise my sophomore year grades but hypothetically if I improve and I reach Uchicago IB requirements and the SAT requirements then would that mean that they will still consider me (Does anyone happen to know what they are by any chance, sorry) Will my 9th or 10th grades put me at a disadvantage compared to other students in my school or region?</p>
<p>a) Not really. As long as you take a moderately challenging selection of classes that fits you, you’re fine. The importance of course rigor is a bit exaggerated in this forum.
b) They do.
c) All four years count.
d) No. Go ahead because it’s only logical.
e) No. If you want to earn credits for “college courses” taken in high school, you’ll be better off taking AP courses rather than IB.</p>
<p>If you have improved a lot during your junior and senior years, I think they will give you some kinda pass for your bad grades in freshman and sophomore years. But don’t quote me on that.</p>
<p>a) SL Math Studies is not very good for science at any selective university.
b) Don’t have a good answer, but C’s are probably not on Chicago’s level.
c) All grades matter.
d) No. Take the ones you enjoy and will do well in.
e) Yes and no - [Examination</a> Credit and Transfer Credit - University of Chicago Catalog](<a href=“http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/examinationcreditandtransfercredit/]Examination”>Examination Credit < University of Chicago Catalog)
In my opinion, AP is easier for credit, but you can if you do well in IB. My IB school has sent many kids to Chicago.</p>
<p>There are no “requirements” for the IB diploma or the SAT, per se.</p>
<p>Current student:
a) IB Math standard level anything is generally not good preparation for the math and sciences at prestigious universities, let alone Math Studies. You will be seriously behind, because, I will venture to say, the majority of science students at top universities will have had taken AP calculus or equivalent during high school.
b) Not too sure entirely, but they will be looked at. Of course, they are in the past now, and your best bet would be to do extremely well junior year and first quarter senior year. If you have one or at most two Cs, you might still be able to pull it off.
c) Chicago does not look at your IB scores at all. Unless you mean classroom grades. In that case, again no. They will look at everything.
d) No. In fact, that’s probably what I would encourage you to do.
e) It’s very difficult to get credit for IB, but I feel like Chicago looks favorably upon the program in terms of admissions. Perhaps because the rigid structuring of IB is somewhat similar to the core curriculum. </p>
<p>I don’t understand why Chicago wouldn’t look at the IB seeing as the courses are far more intensive than the AP and focus on writing skills (how to get students to bs effectively), which would seem like something Chicago would like in an applicant. Anyway, Isurus is right, IB Math Studies is a complete joke, I would strongly recommend taking the actual Math SL exam if you are trying to look more impressive to a college.</p>
<p>Lots of my teachers at my AP curriculum school say IB is just a fad on its way out. But they are definitely not in admissions or the smartest most open-minded people. i would think IB is just as worthy as AP especily when so many schools are switching to it.</p>
<p>Current student:
a) I would suggest you take HL Maths for UChicago or supplement SL or studies with AP calc. Studies is honestly a joke.
b) I’d say they care least about the 9th- I had Bs and Cs at 9th and still got in. Off course this was in direct contrast to my other 3 years in which I got straight A’s.
c) HonorsCentaur speaks the truth here.
d) Take the most difficult courses you can ^^
e) The IB is as good as AP in most cases</p>
<p>As a current IB senior who applied to Chicago, I’m going to call huge BS on the notion that “IB is as good as AP”, let alone that a student would be “better off taking AP courses rather than IB”. IB is leagues (a bit exaggerated) ahead of AP. I took AP exams without taking the classes and the exams were extremely easy. IB is based on critical thinking and forces you to look at many perspectives when analyzing a situation. AP is purely memorization. </p>
<p>In addition, IB teaches you to be a well-rounded student. With IAs, CAS, EE, TOK paper/presentation, etc., you really learn how to balance academics with extracurricular activities. In my opinion, IB>AP any day in the admissions process at Chicago. Chicago is a critical thinking school; it is known to be a place for abstract thinkers. These are the kind of thinkers IB produces, not AP.</p>
<p>^I’m glad you liked IB and that it was so helpful for you. However, I do not believe IB is superior to AP, especially for non-diploma candidates. </p>
<p>I find that AP classes helped me better prepare for Chicago, and as an added bonus, AP’s are easier to obtain credit for.</p>
<p>My S did IB and I think it prepared him well for UC. </p>
<p>It is certainly possible for AP courses to teach to the test at the expense of term papers, oral presentations, lab reports, and other valuable activities that won’t be tested. Whether or not this happens will depend on the teacher. IB requires all of these things. </p>
<p>But UChicago is much more generous with credit for APs than IB courses. I think they need to look at this and revise their policy, but it is what it is. At S’s high school, they assumed students would take both exams and planned for that in the curriculum. He ended up getting quite a few more credits from the AP exams than the IB exams. </p>
<p>Agree with the others about the math. Take at least the regular SL math.</p>
<p>I do apologize if my post seemed condescending. I guess the difference lies in a student’s goals. If your goal is truly to obtain knowledge and become a critical thinker, IB is the way to go. If your goal is to get into college and obtain as many credits as possible, AP is the way to go. Neither goal is superior to the other, they are just different :)</p>
<p>I did the IB in the UK, and took Standard Level Mathematics (I’m not a Maths person at all), just because I wanted to ensure that UChicago understood that I took the most difficult course level available without sacrificing something else at Higher Level. The IB definitely prepared me for UChicago - especially Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. The CAS hours were pretty good at helping me to balance out my time too, in that I fully understood that here I wanted to be able to do creative, active and service-based activities. </p>
<p>The University of Chicago recognizes both IB and AP credits, and your Adviser will help you to figure out what counts once you get here. People have done both, and excelled.</p>
<p>UChicago may even expect/look for IB maths at higher level, depending on what you say you want to study, i.e. they probably won’t accept someone with a 5 at maths sl who claims to be interested in studying applied mathematics. maths studies is just too easy though</p>
<p>@collegeguyyeah, as far as I’m informed, the IB is losing students because it is too hard. Sounds ironic, but The Guardian recently published an article about it. Especially in England schools are switching back to A-levels</p>
<p>personally I’ve seen AP calculus papers, and I think calculus in ib maths hl is a lot harder…but then that’s the only one I know</p>
<p>@bucsfan2012:
Haha I didn’t find your post condescending at all! As a student who took both IB and AP classes, I was just offering my thoughts on the matter. I am indeed glad you found IB helpful, I just wish I stuck more with AP’s! :P</p>