2013 conversion

[Dana4survival]

lol times are changing i guess...but it seems that the conversion for 2013 changed as well. So i was wondering if anyone knows what the 2013 conversion scales are?
and is it true that if you take HL theatre...you'll get negative 1 point? cause that's not cool...cause it's actually a really tough course...soooooo much work involved!

[Sandwich]

What conversions are you talking about - who is converting what, why are they doing it and where it is used?

[Wicquor]

I believe the conversion the OP is talking about is between IB points and whatever local course is offered and that said conversion rate changes from time to time. Here it's between the IB and the SACE. I've been told that it works in some reverse empirical form, by judging the capacities of IB and SACE students in universities, then assuming the SACE student's high school ATAR (overall score out of 100) is the same as the IB student ... though that system seems ridiculously flawed to me, so it's probably not correct.

Also, I have not heard of such a rumour and I'm sure the IBO would not penalise people for work.

o.o

[cricketcrazynerd]

I believe the conversion the OP is talking about is between IB points and whatever local course is offered and that said conversion rate changes from time to time. Here it's between the IB and the SACE. I've been told that it works in some reverse empirical form, by judging the capacities of IB and SACE students in universities, then assuming the SACE student's high school ATAR (overall score out of 100) is the same as the IB student ... though that system seems ridiculously flawed to me, so it's probably not correct.

Also, I have not heard of such a rumour and I'm sure the IBO would not penalise people for work.

o.o

What's SACE? I haven't heard about it before...is it like the HSC or VCE. There are fixed IB to ATAR conversion rates each year btw that Australian universities refer to. I don't really think it's flawed, it's actually way more convenient for us IBers.

[Wicquor]

SACE is the South Australian Certificate of Education ... I think. I live in SA, so ..

I would assume it's like the HSC; it gives people more flexibility in subject choice and allows them to focus on subjects they wish to.

And well, it's positive for us IB peeps, but the variables in this process are ... numerous. And it's not absolute and I see that as somewhat flawed. Oh well, as long as it works out well for us, then ;D

[flinquinnster]

Isn't South Australia one of the crazy states which does that thing where you get a full ATAR of 99.95 once you get 43+ on the Diploma? As a NSW kid, where a 43 is only 99.5 or something thereabouts, I must say I am jealous Perhaps I should move over to SA. I personally feel that the conversion rates from IB-ATAR are currently quite generous overall, but it doesn't account for the difficulty levels of the subject combinations a student is taking (but really, any combination is already quite tough!). And by the way, I don't think conversions are fixed - they change every year, but not by much. Unfortunately, they typically get less generous each year!

Anyway, considering the OP is from Canada, Australian conversions are probably not that relevant. I'm guessing each system has their own way of converting IB marks into a standardised state system, but I would think that this would be based on a holistic judgement of the student's performance - i.e. looking at their HL and SL subjects as a whole - rather than evaluating it subject-by-subject! It seems really unfair to judge Theatre HL as being worth 'less' than another subject! I'm afraid I'm not much help, but try asking teachers about the exact conversion in your local system.

Edited April 18, 2013 by flinquinnster

[Wicquor]

Isn't South Australia one of the crazy states which does that thing where you get a full ATAR of 99.95 once you get 43+ on the Diploma? As a NSW kid, where a 43 is only 99.5 or something thereabouts, I must say I am jealous Perhaps I should move over to SA. I personally feel that the conversion rates from IB-ATAR are currently quite generous overall, but it doesn't account for the difficulty levels of the subject combinations a student is taking (but really, any combination is already quite tough!). And by the way, I don't think conversions are fixed - they change every year, but not by much. Unfortunately, they typically get less generous each year!

Anyway, considering the OP is from Canada, Australian conversions are probably not that relevant. I'm guessing each system has their own way of converting IB marks into a standardised state system, but I would think that this would be based on a holistic judgement of the student's performance - i.e. looking at their HL and SL subjects as a whole - rather than evaluating it subject-by-subject! It seems really unfair to judge Theatre HL as being worth 'less' than another subject! I'm afraid I'm not much help, but try asking teachers about the exact conversion in your local system.

Yeah, SA does that. You should move, then! And help me with my pathetic maths grades

But when I try looking at it from a non-IB-student's perspective it just seems harsh; then again, it's their problem not mine, lol. That and I think the reverse conversions are a little ... well, vague for the same reasons you said; the conversion doesn't take into consideration how HLs can be harder than SLs and if a student's ATAR was lowered as a result, it's easy to simply judge them based on that number.

And I think it does change and get less generous :c.

[susanne]

I believe the conversion the OP is talking about is between IB points and whatever local course is offered and that said conversion rate changes from time to time. Here it's between the IB and the SACE. I've been told that it works in some reverse empirical form, by judging the capacities of IB and SACE students in universities, then assuming the SACE student's high school ATAR (overall score out of 100) is the same as the IB student ... though that system seems ridiculously flawed to me, so it's probably not correct.

Also, I have not heard of such a rumour and I'm sure the IBO would not penalise people for work.

o.o

What's SACE? I haven't heard about it before...is it like the HSC or VCE. There are fixed IB to ATAR conversion rates each year btw that Australian universities refer to. I don't really think it's flawed, it's actually way more convenient for us IBers.

it's similar to HSC, it's basically the fundamental course offered in South Australia for you to get a certificate/ATAR to get into Uni or TAFE. I think it is kind of flawed considering how the conversion rate changes from state to state, like 38 would be a 98 in SA but a 96 in NSW. It is also kind of flawed because the different amount/depth and breath IB and SACE goes into. Since I am doing IB Biology and have done SACE Biology, I can say that the two courses are very different. SACE Biology involves you memorizing and copying down teacher's notes and very little lab work, but IB is more LAB WORK, IA, Imma kill you DATA-BASED QUESTIONS, TESTS, PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS, PRAC REPORTS, EASY LOG and all that. SACE kids are pretty dismissive of Biology (at least in my last years class cos loads of people show up late, and barely does their homework, and me myself did the bare-minimum to get an A), but in IB it's like I"M DYING

Many lectures in Uni I know says that there is a significant difference between an IB kid's report and learning and a SACE Kid's lab reports; they usually prefer IB kids

[Wicquor]

I think that specifically is only SACE, not all other local courses.

I blame SACE for not being challenging enough >_>

[susanne]

Isn't South Australia one of the crazy states which does that thing where you get a full ATAR of 99.95 once you get 43+ on the Diploma? As a NSW kid, where a 43 is only 99.5 or something thereabouts, I must say I am jealous Perhaps I should move over to SA. I personally feel that the conversion rates from IB-ATAR are currently quite generous overall, but it doesn't account for the difficulty levels of the subject combinations a student is taking (but really, any combination is already quite tough!). And by the way, I don't think conversions are fixed - they change every year, but not by much. Unfortunately, they typically get less generous each year!

Anyway, considering the OP is from Canada, Australian conversions are probably not that relevant. I'm guessing each system has their own way of converting IB marks into a standardised state system, but I would think that this would be based on a holistic judgement of the student's performance - i.e. looking at their HL and SL subjects as a whole - rather than evaluating it subject-by-subject! It seems really unfair to judge Theatre HL as being worth 'less' than another subject! I'm afraid I'm not much help, but try asking teachers about the exact conversion in your local system.

oy oy, don't diss SA, we're heaps good, bro.

kiddings, but SA is the state that gets the least funding. Or maybe because we only have about 300 kids doing IB, and very little people actually getting 43+, and there is no selective school, so...

But I think in SA as long as you get 43+, the ATAR shouldn't change

[susanne]

I think that specifically is only SACE, not all other local courses.

I blame SACE for not being challenging enough >_>

Neh, depends on what course you take,

Maths 3 is slightly harder than Maths SL, in the trig section, because we had to do addition and subtraction formulae the sin(A+B), and tan double formulae and we were supposed to do auxiliary angle,

but yeah, courses like Food and Nutrition is practically just a joke, which is the course my parents is pushing me to do if I drop to SACE

I have a vague feeling that physics is a joke too, judging by the marks Queenie got and she asian-failed it last year

[Wicquor]

Nah, I'm looking at it overall. SACE peeps don't need CAS or do TOK or write about as many essays as we do, seeing as most of them don't even choose to do humanities.

I'm not denying that SACE isn't challenging, but from where we IB-ers are, it's .. really not that challenging.

I think most of them accept it as well. My SACE friends are always all "Oh man, I feel sorry for you; SACE is a piece of cake!" when they see how much work I have.