Is getting the IB Diploma worth it?

AgeofAquarius
Tue, 08 Feb 2022 07:05:37 +0000

I think the IB Diploma is worth it if you get satisfaction from the work and challenge itself. D22 is also getting her IB Diploma (our high school does offer AP as well), and at all the colleges we visited and asked, the admissions officers said they did not consider IB any different from AP. It seems some of them don’t actually even really know what the IB Diploma is (at one college visit - Cal Poly SLO - the response we got was “what’s IB?”). As you point out, it’s the universities outside of the US that recognize the rigor behind an IB Diploma.

As far as college credits go, the really elite schools don’t seem to give credit for AP/IB at all. And for the schools that I’ve seen that do, sometimes only the HL tests will get credit and SL will not (varies by school). With the IB Diploma you will be capped at how much college credit you can get since there are only six subject tests, whereas if you loaded up like crazy on AP classes/tests then that cap could be higher. Our high school also offers AP classes, some which D has taken, so she’ll finish with the IB Diploma and 5 AP classes altogether. If she ends up in a large public university, whatever credits she gets will help advance her toward having sophomore standing so that she can get earlier registration for classes which may make a big difference in getting a schedule she likes.

Back in my day (decades ago!) I also got the IB Diploma. My college had no idea what it was. I felt like I worked harder in high school than I ever did in college. So if that makes you feel better in any way, I think the IB Diploma program thoroughly prepares you for college level work. So congrats in advance on your IB Diploma and be proud of your accomplishment. It was a lot of work, you did not take the easy way out, and you rose to the challenge. You’ll do great in college.