Considering IB

[Zeke]

Hi, I've just finished my gr. 9 year in BC Canada, and am looking for some advice.

I've been a pretty good student ever since elementary school, getting A's and B's and getting generally high scores on tests and things without having to study much at all. So, normally, I think I would enjoy IB, except I'm also a dedicated music student. Next June I'm taking my gr. 10 RCM piano exam, and I'm planning on doing my ARCT performer's exam in June 2012 (that would be about a month after I would do my ib exams). Anyway, bottom line is that I spend at around 1-2 hrs a day practicing piano. Also, though I still have 5 theory courses to take preferably before June 2012, all of which take at least half a year to do.

I'm interested in the program but I'm worried, do you think it is possible to do IB with extra-curricular activities? Or will I suffer from mental anguish later on? O.o Btw, my current school just got accepted as an IB school, when I start gr 11 we will only be the second group of students to try it out. The courses are limited, but there is also West Vancouver High near by that has had the diploma program since 1986 and has many more choices in terms of courses.

[__inthemaking]

Definitely possible. I had already finished RCM grade 10 piano by elementary school and I didn't bother doing ARCT because I didn't want to do all the theory lol, so I didn't have that problem.

But my best friend just finished teacher's ARCT the summer after we finished IB and she also had to go through all the theory etc..she ended up with 41/45 points in IB. So clearly having to practice piano daily didn't negatively effect her studies .

[greaterthaninfinity]

Since you are in Vancouver and AP is pretty accessible to you (at least to my knowledge? Or is it just 'cause practically all my friends from Vancouver are in AP... so biased sample size there, haha), I would recommend that instead. It is kind of ironic for me to promote AP since I'm not actually enrolled in it and I have never taken it. But it's a lot more worth it, I think. I mean, AP grades are converted rather generously on UBC's scale, at least to my knowledge. A 5 is... 96-100% (equivalent to a 7 in IB, I guess)? But APs are a lot easier; just an example - about 20% of AP students who take the AP Calculus exam get a 5 while a measly 7% of IB HL Math students get a 7. So yeah... :|

The only thing that's stopping me from regretting the IB is the fact that I met THE best people ever in this programme. Then again, my school is one in which there is a pretty scary divide between even the IB students; I mean, there are some pretty "chill" people and some scary people with rather insane work habits (5 hours of homework a day). Some schools have super competitive kids all throughout and that in addition to all the IAs and crap can make school a very negative experience.

Sorry, haha, kind of went off on a tangent there and forgot what you were asking about. I think MOST people will have to study in IB. So, if you divide the work into manageable chunks instead of procrastinating, doing the IB and extracurriculars is totally possible. People I know have done it... and it's kind of funny because it seems to me that these are the people who actually perform the best. They know for a fact that they have to balance their extracurriculars with their school work, so they tend to have the best work habits. Naturally, in IB, if you have the work habits, you'll come out on top.

Edited July 8, 2009 by greaterthaninfinity

[Zeke]

Alright, thanks for the advice. The only school I know of that I would vaguely consider going to that offers AP would be Sentinel, I applied for it last Feb. but I wasn't accepted. Besides, it's an ugly ass school (outside looks alright and it is a good school, but man it is just so dark and oppressive inside...) everything is either grey or dark blue. Even if I don't do IB I want to do a French credit in some shape or form. If I stay here then I have to take French SL but if I go to west van I can take French HL Well, but I'll be kind of pissed off if I end up doing a french credit, because I have already passed French 10 (with 93% no less) which means I could easily start french IB one year early but I never applied because I didn't really foresee this and I hadn't decided if I wanted to do the diploma program yet by the time I should have enrolled for the class, and I doubt I'll be able to switch in September.

Ack, I'm being convoluted... anyway, as it is I'm taking French 11 next year... then I can still take it as IB in gr. 11 but then I will have sort of wasted a year of extra French work. But, hey I'll probably at least try the DP and then even if I never got a year off of french, at least I won't be banging my head because it's not like I could have done it differently. Am I making any sense at all? Also, i COULD take another course next year instead of French while I'm waiting for my gr. 11 year. I've thought of film & television or beginning Spanish. Any thoughts on that? If you had to fill a block with just about any non-IB subject what would you take?

Edited July 8, 2009 by Zeke

[Tilia]

You will have time for other activities even if you do the IB. Music is offered as a subject in many schools and you always have CAS to do, where you can play the piano for creativity.

[rrswong]

I have no idea what Vancouver does, but I have friends who are doing L.Mus violin and piano and doing IB and still doing well, so I think if you manage your time correctly, you can definitely do it.

[godofib]

You should definitely consider IB because IB is not all about work. There is enough time to pursue personal interests as well (for example I play for 3 sports teams outside of school). However, you have to just manage your time well if you want to pursue personal interests on top of IB. Also, another thing you could do is use music as part of your CAS activities (you can look up info. about CAS on this site, there is plenty), since CAS is a mandatory part of IB. In short, you should definitely give IB a try if have doing well academically so far.