To IB or not to IB ... That is the question

mizfallzalot
Sun, 01 Oct 2006 18:50:30 +0000

(I know it’s a little late, but better now than never, eh?)

As an IB student, I can honestly say the “IB Bubble” is nonexistant at my school. The only real difference between the IB kids and the non-IB kids is the classes they’re taking. Maybe I just have a really lucky high school, but I think the “bubble” myth is just something perpetuated by teen movies. There are no cliques, the football players don’t shove kids in lockers. The cheerleaders aren’t the most popular girls in the school. And the IB kids and the AP kids and the Honors kids and the regular kids all hang out together.

And as far as the rigor of the classwork, PIB (freshman and sophomore years) is a joke. I can’t really say that I learned much of anything, except in French and Math, where I’m ahead a year, until this, my Junior year. And, at the risk of receiving comments about my insensitivity, I have no real sympathy for the suicidal and stressed-out kids. IB is as difficult as you make it. If they’re depressed because of the coursework, its their own faults.