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International Baccalaureate Program

i'm thinking of taking that program and going to a new high school, but people say it's bad because of the area it's in. my sister said it's not worth taking for, but my teachers say it is. the thing is, i'm not i want to go to a different school i'm not even close too and i'll miss my friends. do you think i should try it? any suggestions?

I would not leave a school just so you can be take part in the IB program, but that is of course your decision if you decide to or not. Do you have AP at your school? i mean, it depends on your reasons for wanting to do IB as opposed to whatever is at your existing school right now.

Teachers always glorify IB, students are a better source of information i think, they tend to be anyway.

__________________
Long messages do not equal aggravation of any sort,
rather they reflect nothing more than a response of insight
that should always be read in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Those womyn that seek equality with men, lack determination."

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be wrong."
-Cromwell

quote:

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Originally posted by PsychoSnowman
I would not leave a school just so you can be take part in the IB program, but that is of course your decision if you decide to or not. Do you have AP at your school? i mean, it depends on your reasons for wanting to do IB as opposed to whatever is at your existing school right now.

Teachers always glorify IB, students are a better source of information i think, they tend to be anyway.

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Hmm, that seems like a pretty big decision. I'm just wondering why you're so interested in the IB program? Seems like you're taking other people's word above yours? I'm just asking what your motivation is for wanting to move high schools and leave friends and be in a "bad area" for that program?

quote:

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Originally posted by MellowYellow
Hmm, that seems like a pretty big decision. I'm just wondering why you're so interested in the IB program? Seems like you're taking other people's word above yours? I'm just asking what your motivation is for wanting to move high schools and leave friends and be in a "bad area" for that program?

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As generic and maybe corny as this sounds... remember that you don't live your life for someone else, you live it for you. Take out the family opinion and then see what you're left with. After everything you feel that you really want to do it... well then what's holding you back now?

what are your motives for taking the IB program? college credit? or...?

__________________
Long messages do not equal aggravation of any sort,
rather they reflect nothing more than a response of insight
that should always be read in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Those womyn that seek equality with men, lack determination."

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be wrong."
-Cromwell

quote:

---

Originally posted by PsychoSnowman
what are your motives for taking the IB program? college credit? or...?

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Chinesegrl
it's kind of complicated. it's kind of like, i want to leave things behind, but not most. well, right now i don't really care what anyone says about that area or school because i want to take the challenge. it kind of starts with my family. they say i'm stupid, so i want to show them i'm not dumb and i can succeed with anything i want to do. it has a balance between myself and peers.

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is college credit a motivator as well?

__________________
Long messages do not equal aggravation of any sort,
rather they reflect nothing more than a response of insight
that should always be read in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Those womyn that seek equality with men, lack determination."

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be wrong."
-Cromwell

quote:

---

Originally posted by PsychoSnowman
is college credit a motivator as well?

---

If you are going to do the entire IB diploma program, then it requires you to take 3 or 4 higher level classes...and the reason i mention that is because you can ONLY take that many. higher level type IB classes (2 year) are the only ones that are recognized by any colleges, if they recognize it at all. The other sort of classes they want you to take are standard level (1 year) classes, which amounts to 2-3 classes that you have to take during your junior and senior year. It depends on how many hours in your day you have at your school. But, you could feasibly take more higher level classes if you wanted, but they would not count towards your diploma, and that is not such a big deal.

Higher level classes are arduous, and given the tests, some of them looked much harder than the AP tests, since they are two years and cover a lot of material. You have to do a lot of internal/external assignments and projects (same withi SL classes). And, if you are doing the whole diploma program then your time will be occupied as well by doing the other things they want you to do. Which is the 150 hours of categorically prescribed community service (sports and activities can probably be used for some of it), the 4000 word extended essay, taking the IB Theory of Knowledge class.

Standard level classes have exams as well, ib exams, but they are not worth anything at all even if they are hard as well. They are a waste of time, but you have to do them if you want the diploma. By being not worth anything, i mean that no college i have ever heard of has accepted a SL exam for anything.

I originally had 4 HL classes, but i opted to not take Math HL because i wanted to make sure i did not mess up and got the diploma. So i took Math SL, and the other three HLs i had amounted to little in college. I have 6 credits of english to show for my entire ib experience. The other tests, physics and Business & organization were not recognized.

Math might be worth looking into though, HL. At many colleges, IB Math HL gets a lot of credit. More than AP. But, in general the trend tends to be that of AP getting much more college credit in all for less work. I am not degrading AP, or i do not mean to, i am just saying that IB asks for their students to do a lot of extra work and not all their exams are evevn worth anything (SL exams). a one year AP course gets credit at college, but a one year SL course for IB gets none always, that is the way it is. Colleges like Caltech will ask for a 7 (highest score) on tests for credit on some, while they allow a 4 or 5 credit for AP. Also, the full ib diploma will get you nothing either, in florida and europe pretty much. I think the reason for this is because it has not picked up so much insofar. European schools grant much more credit for IB than america does, i think it might change in the future, but not in the next couple years.

One last thing, IB scores are calculated not only by exams...i think that is a common misconception. The score you get, and the score the college looks at is your overall IB grade that you are assigned throughout the courses with projects, etc. The test is only part of that.

All in all, it is a great education and a great experience. But, if you would like any sort of reward for it, i would not count on it. If you want college credit, go for AP. And, if you want a challenge like you said you did...i think it is a great experience. You get better teachers since they have to be IB certified to teach IB classes, and the students tend to be better people and more intelligent than others (at least i would hope they would be). IB is not going to take up all your time, people will say it will but IB is not as much work as it sounds. If your teachers try to convince you that SL exams might get you credit, do not believe them.

__________________
Long messages do not equal aggravation of any sort,
rather they reflect nothing more than a response of insight
that should always be read in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Those womyn that seek equality with men, lack determination."

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be wrong."
-Cromwell

dropped ib not that long ago, just before payments were due, and i think it was for two reasons, colleges dont look at ib till youre actually accepted by them, and the tests were too expensive for me..if i remember correctly it was 188 a test or somewhere around that area

if you do the ib diploma program, you get your money back. If you just take certain tests, then yeah, it is pricey.

__________________
Long messages do not equal aggravation of any sort,
rather they reflect nothing more than a response of insight
that should always be read in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Those womyn that seek equality with men, lack determination."

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be wrong."
-Cromwell

o yea..i dropped to because no one at my school likes the ib counselor. the way she makes money is by keeping as many people in the program as possible and when people found this out and started dropping she got crazy mad. whatever..all she really cared about was the money and lied to other students so that they wouldnt quit.