IB Programs

Kelowna
Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:55:06 +0000

ellemenope wrote:

>>But, if the school is offering an IB route and a student takes “only” AP, GC can’t put in your recommendation that you have taken the most difficult course of studies.<<

Not true–at our high school, if you are in the IB program, the counselors will automatically check the most rigorous box. If you take all AP courses (many of our top courses are AP/IB–the kids are in the same class)–the counselors will examine your coursework and decide whether to check the most rigorous box or not.



I agree. I was too fast to make a generalization like that. Since the school is very flexible, many kids take university level courses at our flagship in addition to taking APs at school. So I believe that in cases like that, GC will also mark “the most rigorous” box. However, like ellemenope pointed herself, in the case of IB candidate, it is automatic.
At the HS I am describing, Theory of Knowledge class is taken during spring of Junior and fall of Senior year. And personally I also believe that there is way too much hype regarding the essay. 4000 words is not a dissertation after all. Yes, it is supposed to be a research paper, but the subject itself is totally up to the student.
This school brings together some of the best students in the city and the area. Most Ivies admissions ( and I would take a guess that as close as 80% for our state) come from this school. I do not know about workload/homework, but I do not think that it was perceived as excessive by my friends who had their son there. But like I have said before, each school is different.