IB Programs

Hunt
Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:08:34 +0000

My son is in a well-established magnet IB program at a public school. They only have HL English and History.
He is a junior now, and there is a lot of work (as there was also in the 9th and 10th grade “pre-IB.”) However, it is (so far) doable with reasonable time management. I would say that he averages a couple of hours of homework each night–sometimes less, sometimes a good deal more (especially if he has put something off). I also think he’d be getting higher grades at his “home” high school, but I attribute that to it being a magnet program, not IB v. AP.
We have been very impressed with the program–I would say that it is somewhat like a liberal arts “core curriculum” for high school students. It includes a few elements that aren’t in an AP-based program, including a research paper (the Extended Essay), and a mandatory course on the Theory of Knowledge. I do think it is less flexible than AP–at his school, you’re either in IB or out–there’s no option to take only a few IB courses, as there is with AP. Many colleges will give credit for IB courses, but only for Higher Level courses. At my son’s school, many kids will simply take the corresponding AP exam.