What School Did you Accept?

Pre-College Issues International Baccalaureate (IB)
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For those of you in the IB Diploma Program, what college did you choose? D was somewhat disappointed in what she had hoped would be the IB advantage when applying. She got into several mid-tier schools but was waitlisted at all the top 20 LACs she applied to and rejected outright from the best of them. Honestly, her 2070 SAT held her back from those schools that weigh heavily on test scores.

Now that she’s taking the IB exams and expects to do very well, she’s questioning her school choice. I told her to wait and see what her end score is in July and if its as good as she thinks it will be, she can consider looking at top universities as a transfer possibility if after her freshman year she still feels the same way.

So, where are you going? GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAMS!!!

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My IB D got into her first choice school with significant merit aid, the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. It’s a top 100 school, but not elite. We needed the financial boost to send her there and followed the rule of “being in the top 25% of the applicant pool” to get good merit aid. SAT of around 2280 super scored. Good thing D’s top choice and the $$ matched. Was also recruited for her sport, but is Div III so no money attached to sport.

When we were touring schools last summer, the coach’s reactions were, “You’re IB -good. You’re used to working hard.” The coaches set us up to talk with other athletes that did IB in high school. Do I think IB gave her an admissions advantage? Probably not, but what is telling to me is that the top students at her school are all in IB. It seemed to me the universities weighted IB and AP equally. However, I think my D is a much better critical thinker and writer than if she had gone straight AP. I am amazed at how she reacts to stories on the tv news or to political commercials - she sees through all the BS and asks questions that get to the heart of the issues! She is now going into engineering (she was on the high school’s pre-med track) and I feel the IB foundation will serve her well in the future.

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Thanks milwaukeegirl, great to see kids who work hard get into their choice schools :slight_smile: In the end, D was offered a fantastic package at Skidmore College which had always been on her list of choices. I’m just curious to see how the IB has helped or not helped kids in their college applications. D did extraordinarily well on her mock exams and her projected scores put her in line with what Ivies look for but we were somewhat disappointed in the rejections she got from some of the schools. As you know, the IB program is an incredible amount of work. And no, its not for nothing, I agree that these students have a different high school academic ethic and focus that will serve them their entire lives and for that we are thankful ! Best of luck to your D.