Is IB worth it?

music4life
Sun, 27 Mar 2005 16:28:55 +0000

I haven’t read the other replies…

I am a senior going to recieve my IB diploma this May. Personally IB was beneficial to me because I’m recieving college credit for classes I won’t have to take in college. Also here in florida if you recieve an IB diploma then one gets a scholarship called the Bright Futures which pays the 100% tuition fee plus $500 per semester to any florida public school.

I had conflicting feelings about IB also but I stayed with it because it challenged me intellectually and I was with people that had similar goals, we were hardworking and wanted to be successful in the future.

Some of the aspects I did not like about IB were that it isolated us from other students not in the program, which is expected since IB follows a different curriculum. Also I didn’t like CAS. The concept behind it I understand but I felt that the Action and Creativity part was useless.

The myth that if you’re in IB then you don’t have a life is partially true. However it depends on the person…if you’re a procrastinator, which IB students are notorious for, then it will seem like you don’t have a life but you can have a life if you manage your time well. Oh you can do other stuff besides IB, for example I’m in various clubs and I play tennis.

I also want to pt. out that IB in 11th grade is a lil harder than in 12th grade because in 12th grade it’s more lay back. However in 12th grade you do have slightly more work for ex. the internal assessments you will be doing depending on what your HL classes are (these aren’t hard though), the TOK essay/presentation (it’s not hard so don’t worry), and the extended essay (this is meant to be lay back and you start this the summer before your senior year).

Overall I believe IB is worth it and it does make you look good on college applications because IB is the most prestigious program in high school recognized internationally.

P.S. I hope that this helps you in your decision to stay with IB. If you have any questions feel free to ask me and I’ll answer them based on my knowledge and experience in being in IB.