Do you think IB sets you back?

[LeeHits]

For those of us who aren't planning on going to Cambridge or Harvard...do you think that you would have an equal or if not better chance of going to the university of your choice if you were in the regular curriculum? Like a lot of people, my marks have dropped dramatically since I entered IB. My predicted are not meeting the standards of acceptance for the universities I want to go to. I still have a year to go but I fear for the worst. I can't help but think that I would be better off in the provincial curriculum and getting straight A's. The mark scheme my school uses to convert IB scores into Provinical percentage is very skewed. A predicted score of 6 would translate to about a percentage of 90 to 95 and vice versa. That's incredibly hard, especially for my HL classes.
I realize that for the more how should I say...intellectually endowed, IB presents opportunities that the normal diploma programmes will never offer. But for us regular IB folks, I don't see much advantage, if any in taking IB since we'll probably end up in the same universities that everyone else will go to. I'm seriously doubting my chances of success next year...

Edited July 4, 2008 by LeeHits

[Ivan91]

Well it doesn't really set you back,the universities recognize the rigor of your courses and judge accordingly.If someone was applying with only elective classes and had a high gpa they would not really give that much weight.It also depends where you want to go,for the US you have to do SAT and even SAt IIs depending on your university.

[schouston1991]

[quote name='LeeHits' post='19272' date='Jul 4 2008, 07:20 AM']For those of us who aren't planning on going to Cambridge or Harvard...do you think that you would have an equal or if not better chance of going to the university of your choice if you were in the regular curriculum? Like a lot of people, my marks have dropped dramatically since I entered IB. My predicted are not meeting the standards of acceptance for the universities I want to go to. I still have a year to go but I fear for the worst. I can't help but think that I would be better off in the provincial curriculum and getting straight A's. The mark scheme my school uses to convert IB scores into Provinical percentage is very skewed. A predicted score of 6 would translate to about a percentage of 90 to 95 and vice versa. That's incredibly hard, especially for my HL classes.
I realize that for the more how should I say...intellectually endowed, IB presents opportunities that the normal diploma programmes will never offer. But for us regular IB folks, I don't see much advantage, if any in taking IB since we'll probably end up in the same universities that everyone else will go to. I'm seriously doubting my chances of success next year...[/quote]

No way! I deffinatly don't think that the IB sets you back. Sure for the more 'intellectually endowed' it is a bit easier than for the rest of us, but they reckon that anyone who is at least average or above average should be able to do it. I would deffinately say that the IB requires a lot more effort and time to be put into it, but if you do that then you should be okay.

From what i've heard the Ib does give you an advantage in terms of how universitys and colleges view students, even if its not harvard or cambridge.

You;ve probably found that you're marks have dropped because they are comparing you to the standard that they expect you to be at by the end of the course. Don't look at it as you failure now, but as the bench mark you need to reach in a years time.

As for the mark scheme you're school uses i cant say much about that, but if you are seriously having doubt go and see you year dean or careers advisor. thats what they are there for. I've had the same doubts myself a million times over so maybe the advice i've given you is my own optimistic hopeful thoughts that the IB will be worth it in the long run. i certainly hope not though

-soph x

[__inthemaking]

Not really, because once I get my IB marks back and get them translated to Ontario marks, they're superb!

Last year I was getting a 94 in maths SL and a 91 in french B SL (regular marks). After I got a 7 and a 6 in my exams (respectively), my 94 in maths was changed to a 99 and my 91 was translated to a 95.

Our predicteds are also translated like yours (level 6 would get you 90-95) but my HL subjects are easier than yours and I managed to get predicted 6 in all of them.

I think a lot of this depends on where you live..in Ontario, universities obtain your admission average by taking your top 6 grade 12 courses (must included prereqs to your uni program). So I already have 3 of my top 6 marks (math, math, french = 99, 99, 95) and I'm just waiting on how my chem, bio and english exams turned out.

Edited July 4, 2008 by __inthemaking

[Ib_slave]

Even though I have to spend an EXTRA ONE YEAR in school because of IB (I used to follow the normal Philippine highschool curriculum), I still think it's worth it because I now have an internationally recognized education and I suppose my grades are still relatively the same.

[CodeRed15]

Unlike the people above, I feel your pain man.Sometimes I feel that maybe we are being cheated. If my friends in the normal curriculum are getting 90's and they can get into a reputable university, then IB seems as a waste. Yes I know it prepares us better for university but still. Is it worth the sacrifice?

[starry-night]

I used to think like you too, but now after researching diff. unis I think IB is definitely worth it. true, it's more challenging and requires you to put a lot of hours into it but in the end you also gain a lot. About the grade conversion, what our school does is converts our marks based on the mark boundaries of the previous years - in eco for example, if you get a 77+ (your normal course mark) you automatically get predicted a 7 and your mark is boosed to a 95+. even though your school doesn't follow this system, some marks do get inflated a lot in the end because the mark boundaries for some subjects are insanely low so you can do well in the exams. if you are giving 100% and you are still not getting the marks that you would like to have then maybe ib isn't right for you but if you procrastinate and study a day before your tests then don't expect those marks to go up anytime soon (trust me I know....i am THE procrastinator )

Edited July 5, 2008 by starry-night

[thatgirl]

It depends on where you want to go. As far as I'm concerned, IB doesn't set you back, on the contrary, it gives you a better chance of getting into a good university because they realise that IB classes are harder than regular ones, and you're also more prepared.