IB students: Was It Worth It?

Bayhawk
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:29:27 +0000

^I totally agree
I applied to the IB program as a bright-eyed and intelligent middle schooler. The academic rigor and intrinsic social security appealed to me, the thought of college credit was a secondary, almost ethereal thought. After a round of essays and standardized testing, I was admitted, and began freshman year in what my school system called “Pre-IB.” I was tethered to a group of intellectual snobs, disillusioned by the ease with which my peers resorted to academic dishonesty and disgusted by the malicious rumors, ritalin abuse, and prevalence of mental imbalance.For me, the opportunity cost associated with IB was much too high. I left the IB program and soon found the Advanced Placement Program. If you’re a top student and IB isn’t an option, AP’s what you do.

AP kids work just as earnestly as IB kids, albeit with more pressure and less prestige. I’ve completed Calculus(my favorite subject) problemsets at the break of dawn, only to begin reading complete volumes of text for APUSH or AP Lit. High scorers are a commodity and prospective teachers actively recruit the best for the toughies like Physics C and AP Euro. My AP class is a family, we hold each other together during the darkest times throughout the courses, in the heat of AP season, and as we open the nondescript envelopes bearing the fruit of our 6 month accomplishments.

If you can relate to my AP experience, your IB program is probably worth it. While I may not have been suited to the IB setting, there are many people who are. The friends of mine whom stuck it out do attest that they have better study skills than some of their standard kid counterparts, however the same can be said for any student whom applies himself in a more rigorous academic setting. The real test of your high school’s worth is, upon matriculating, whether you are capable of functioning as a productive member of the collegiate community, in academic, as well as social and spiritual capacities.

There’s my take.