Choosing full IB vs partial? Help!

[nicole-mar97]

(I realize I already asked a question like this but I want to rephrase that and clear a few more things up)

INFO: I go to school in Alberta, Canada. My high school offers Biology HL, Chemistry SL, English and History HL, Math SL, and Spanish Ab (this is the language I'm taking, though my school offers others).

My current schedule does not contain IB Chemistry or Biology which at my school is an all or nothing deal, you either take them both or neither (this is the same with English and History). In pre-IB I managed the sciences with above 80%, is this something I'd be able to keep up if I were to take IB in gr.11 or is this too low?

English and History as well as Math are definitely on my schedule, I'm 100% sure about these subjects however, the sciences is where I'm not so sure. I need to know whether it's worth taking.

My schedule contains Bio 20, Chem 20, Math 20 and 30, English and History 20, Spanish 20, and Physics 30 (Gr.12 level). Is managing 6 courses too much to do? This is my concern, that if I were to take full IB that my marks in Bio and Chem may lack. Math, English, Spanish, and History are less of a concern. I can manage those. But I sometimes found the sciences difficult even at a preIB level. I'm willing to put in the work if taking full IB will help me in the long run, but ONLY if it will help.

How do colleges/universities view having the full IB diploma vs only taking certain courses in IB? I'm especially looking at the U.K and the States. If I don't have the full IB diploma does that greatly reduce my chances of acceptance into schools like Standford or Oxford?

Please give me any advice you have and if you're willing to share your personal experiences with the IB program (full or partial) please do so! Any information would be a big help this is my LAST WEEK, I only have a until Friday, to change my schedule.

P.S I apologize for any errors, I'm typing this out as quick as possible! THANK YOU

Edited August 26, 2013 by nicole-mar97

[ChocolateDrop]

From what I've seen, american universities don't really specify about which high school course one should do. Sometimes when competitive US schools, like Stanford, do specify about high school courses, it's usually a vague like inquiring whether you took the hardest school workload. In your school that would probably be the IB.

From checking various college confidential EA/ RD decision threads, people with certificates (and high school curriculum) have managed to get into competitive US universities.

I'm not sure about Oxbridge, but I feel you'd have a better chance if you did A levels or APs or SATs or the full IBDP. I'd imagine doing just certificates wouldn't do you any favors.

[nicole-mar97]

@ChocolateDrop

That's what one of my main fears is, that I only do certificates and find out that I required the full diploma for admission. From what research I've done some schools don't recognize certificates as a big acheivement and only the full IB diploma will do you any good. Whether or not that's true however is yet to be seen, there's a lot of different information and while one person says this, another says the opposite.

My school only offers the IB program, we don't have AP courses which is a real downside.

Thank you for your help!!

[Sandwich]

In the UK, you need the full diploma to make any serious application to anywhere. Even to do a degree in photography, you'll be asked for the whole IB diploma!

The whole point is that doing the whole diploma is hard and tests you across subjects which you may be weaker in. So the whole diploma is required everywhere. For the US, they don't seem too bothered.

[nicole-mar97]

Okay! That is actually a big help!! I wasn't sure if that was true or not.

Thank you for this information! Knowing this is a huge relief even if it means that I have to work extra hard. I want to make sure I open up as many options as possible.

[by.andrew]

I know some schools in the US will look at Course Load/rigor so taking the "Hardest" courses over "easier" ones may put you in a more competitive pool of applicants. Some US unis give credits for even completing the diploma (and give additional credits for HLs) so it might be a good decision.

Personally, I'm not too sure about the UK, but there are seniors at my school who weren't IB, and they got accepted to study medicine at places like Southampton and St.Andrews. Not too sure how that works. For reference, I go to a public school in Ontario.

[nicole-mar97]

Yeah, figuring these things out are really hard! Many people say that universities really look at theses things and others say it doesn't matter. It makes the truth a lot harder to find. I want to set myself up as best as I can to make things easier after high school, even if that means the next two years will be really difficult, I think opening up as many options for myself as possible is the best choice. I've heard many stories about IB, some bad, some good, and many said that transitioning between high school and college/university was easy; That's also what I want to gain from this.

Thank you for you help! I want to get as much information compiled before grade 12 so every bit helps

[mm8888]

It depends on where you want to study but I could recommend to take all the IB diploma since if you want to be taken into account in important university you need to have all and if you are already doing it you mind as well do it complete

[nicole-mar97]

That's what I felt too. And if I do full then at least I have the year to explore the subjects and decide if I'd rather take full in grade 12 or pick one to focus on.