Is the International Baccalaureate Diplomma Programme Worth It?

I don't know what the heck that is, but it sure looks like it would be impressive on a college application.

 

I graduated from Bellaire 10 years ago and took IB classes, but not in the actual program. It seemed like it was awfully stressful on a lot of people taking it. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, but your weak spots still need to be at a semi-college level to succeed. That wasn't for me. I think my GPA (graduated with a 4.3) would have taken a bad hit if I had been in the program.

That said, I'm sure the diploma really helps open doors in a competetive college application market.

Evan

 

question is - what is she aiming for in terms of college?

if she's saying state school, then forget it.

if she's going to go top 20, well then IB does say something. and the top schools do look at it.

 

If her GPA and SAT's are high enough, as far as admission goes, she doesnt need the IB. Depending on what her major is I serioulsy doubt it will give her an edge while in college. You also don't want to burn her out before she gets to college. I know many people who were all about doing everything they could before they got to college, then got burned out their freshman/sophmore year and switched to an easier major/took year off or dropped out.

 

my friend had that from France, he got some credits for it at college, he thought it was worth it.

 

IB is totally worthless, especially in the US. If your daughter wants to do stuff in other countries and is applying to say Oxford or something of that nature, then IB is a must.

However, for US colleges it means very little. On top of that, you don't recieve the IB diploma until after you graduate so you can't even put down that you have an IB diploma on your college apps.

I think a few colleges in the US like it. (Stanford I know is a fan) but it's certainly not the end all, be all and if your daughter's grades are in order, along with the extra-curriculurs and standardized test scores, she should be fine.

Unless she wants to put up with all the extra work and tests, you shouldn't be too worried if she decides not to do it. When I went to Bellaire, maybe 10 kids would do the IB every year and almost all of them said they regretted it by the time they finished. It just isn't worth anything in this country.

 

I have no idea really... I went to a top 20 university and took AP courses in high school and I think most of the people I knew in college also took AP courses..
My high school didn't offer the IB program so I don't know much about it.

I think it is important to show that you are taking the toughest courses the school offers (at least from everything I've seen, that is important).... so whether that be IB or AP or whatever... it certainly helps in the admissions process to be taking the toughest courses the high school offers.

 

So basically I have no idea about the program.. but it is always good to be taking tough courses... everyone I knew did AP though so I don't know much about IB

 

It's just a different series of tests. You take the same classes as everyone else. (Example - Your Geography AP class would double as an AP/IB class where they teach the curriculum for both AP and IB) Most of the time the tests overlap pretty well so you don't have to do too much more, but it gets pretty different on occasion. You just get a little more work to do.

 

Geeimsobored... thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if they had AP and IB people in the same classes or what.... don't think I had heard of IB before until I got to college

 

I can barely pronounce it, so it must be good...

 

Everything he said.

I went to Bellaire and came away with the exact same impression.

 

What year did you graduate?

1990 bellaire grad here. Man, that sounds old.

 

Hi,

I went to Lamar and graduated in 04, so I know somewhat more about the IB Program. I did not get the diploma, but I did take IB Classes and got college credit for it.

The main benefit of advanced classes in college is to get college credit. The IB Higher Level classes give you alot of college credit (more than even the AP exams). However, to take Higher Level classes, you need to take Standard Level before.

My advice is for your daughter is two fold:
1. If you plan on going abroad for College, then the IB Diploma means alot.
2. In the US, the best bet is to take as many higher level IB classes as possible (Chemistry HL, Biology HL, English HL, Foreign Language HL). A foreign language HL credit gives you 10 college hours. Any HL classes covers your entire first year (not just semester) of college. So Chem HL is good for both Chem 1 w/lab and Chem 2 w/lab. Thus, taking those classes will help her in college a lot.

2a. For other courses, like Calculus AB/BC take the AP exam because that will cover both. Also, take AP Exam's for government, history and other subjects. Just get an AP prep book and study for it on your own. A few hours of studying and a couple hour test might save you 400-500 dollars at a public institution.

Also, tell your daughter to take Calculus with Mr. Budd. Best teacher I ever had, in which I learned so much more than I ever have in any of my classes at Lamar combined.

 

Also, I had a friend who got the IB Diploma.

His motivation was that this was the last time you'll ever get such a strenuous education for free.

One thing, I have noticed for people who do complete the entire diploma is that college seems alot easier.

 

I was part of the first Lamar class that had IB and I thought it was a pretty good experience. I think only one person in my class actually got the IB diploma but the experience of going through it certainly helped me in college and made me a more well rounded intellectual. Depending where your daughter wants to go to school to and what she wants to major in the IB might not do that much but in general I thought it was a good program that I learned a lot in.

Good to hear that its still going.

 

If you're going to take the HL tests, why don't you just do the rest and get the diploma. You just have to do the extended essay (which no one really cares about) and the other smaller essays. If you're going to do the tests, just finish it and get the IB.

 

I didn't start taking IB classes until I was a senior at Sharpstown. I don't know much about the program but the classes were far superior to the regular classes. They didn't treat us like we were stupid and they didn't give us a bunch of busy work. Plus if you got an A or a B it was worth an extra GPA point. You'd have to really not try to get a C in most teachers classes too. You could always tell that the teachers looked forward to teaching the IB classes because it wasn't a bunch of dumbass kids.

My advice would be to take as many IB classes that are offered and then take AP tests and try to get some college credit before enrolling.