I’m in the IB program, but I might be able to finish the CAS component. If I get accepted but then I don’t complete CAS and thus automatically fail, will colleges rescind me?
For highly selective colleges, probably.
A typical acceptance letter will say that it is contingent on you completing all the courses you are signed up for this year and making the same type of grades that you have been making. It will require you to submit final grades and proof of graduation at end of year. If you don’t fulfill these requirements then admission can be rescinded. You should try to complete everything and do your best.
I think if you are able to come up with very good reasons as to why you couldn’t complete the IB, then they might excuse you, but I think in general, they expect seniors to keep up and succeed in the rigorous course load they’ve promised colleges they’re capable of doing.
Are you in an IB program in the United States or elsewhere? Do you have regular semester grades in addition to IB test scores? This may matter in terms of what colleges care about. My kids, for example, were in an IB program in the US, but also had regular grades that were submitted to colleges. I don’t believe their final IB scores were ever sent to colleges, and I don’t think they were ever asked if they actually received the IB diploma or not. If your admission is conditioned on getting final scores close enough to your predicted scores, on the other hand, it may matter.
At my daughter’s school (in the US) failure to complete CAS means she will not receive the IB diploma. She will still graduate #1 in her class with a 3.99 UW GPA having taken all IB classes her junior and senior year. CAS isn’t actually a class, nor is it on her transcript.
Last year was the first year for IB at her school, of the dozen or so diploma candidates only one person actually received the diploma. I don’t expect many more to receive it this year (due to both CAS and the extended essay).
What colleges are you interested in? Do they care about the IB Diploma vs. the courses? Do you get extra credits because of the diploma? For example, for SUNY Binghamton
Students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program may receive up to 32 credits. To receive the full 32 credits, the following conditions must be met:
The IB Diploma must be completed with a score of 30 or more points; and
The student must complete at least three Higher Level exams with a score of 5 or higher.
https://binghamton.edu/harpur/advising/transfer/ib-credits.html
Try to make CAS a priority and do it!
IB tests taken in the senior year are never graded in time to be included for admissions consideration. This might sound a little under-handed, but um, don’t mention it and see how it goes? You still have time to get some CAS hours in, though - I would focus on finding an opportunity that is available.
Are there changes to the number of hours or EE requirements? All four of the students who tried for the full diploma my graduating year got it.
CAS is such a small part of the IB diploma, why on earth would that give you trouble?
My kid got credit for SL scores that wouldn’t have been credited outside of the whole diploma, so that was nice for him to get rid of some fluff in his engineering plan.
But for American kids, it seems impossible to imagine that CAS would be a problem?