<p>From the IBO:
The International Baccalaureate Organization was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968 as a non-profit educational foundation. Its original purpose was to facilitate the international mobility of students preparing for university by providing schools with a curriculum and diploma recognized by universities around the world. Since then its mission has expanded, and it now seeks to make an IB education available to students of all ages.</p>
<p>As the mom of two IB diploma holders (int’l school) my guess is that a large part of the recognition afforded the IB is the amount of external grading and verification that goes into final diploma scores. A 7 is a 7 is a 7. Colleges don’t have to do as much adjusting based on the school, since the school gets “dinged” for predicted scores that vary by more than one number from the actual (and actually send the exam to an additional grader when this happens).It also works a bit like a good US liberal arts school in terms of breadth and depth…while ensuring that a balance of non academic takes place via the CAS component. Kids also learn to research and write. </p>
<p>And fyi…both dd’s are at ivies and think college is easier than the IB. Some of this is probably because they’re able to choose what to study…and some is because they’re only taking four classes a semester. Either way, the IB served them well and while they would tell you they really didn’t like it, they do like what it did for them.</p>