<p>I am a little confused. I see people here getting 90% and up on exams. and some guy says only 90+ get A’s. I was wondering what kinda exams u guys have. are they all multiple choice and fill in the blank type tests. Here we have essay type exams,(you literally have to write an essay for each question) and an A is usually 75 or 80%+ and even 70+ for hard exams like further mathematics and what not(yes the exams are that hard!!!). I was jus wondering</p>
<p>Different schools, different classes, different teachers, different exams.</p>
<p>Multiple choice, matching, free response, short essay, fill-in-the blank, or any combination thereof. There are no set parameters for exams.</p>
<p>And while it depends on the specific school’s or teacher’s grading system, usually a 90+ is an A.</p>
<p>You should know that the U.S. educational system has been declining for decades. Compared to the world’s students, U.S. students are at least two years behind by the time they graduate from college. That’s why “smart” U.S. students take AP classes or IB programs – those are harder, “more advanced” programs that are basically on par for what the rest of the developed world teaches their students of the same age. </p>
<p>As for getting an A for a 75 or multiple choice etc, a lot of that depends on the teacher you have or the school you attend. I have a mixture of fill in the blank, multiple choice, AND essay questions on most of my humanities tests, and “answer the problem” type questions on my math and science tests.</p>
<p>100posts whoa!! destiny</p>
<p>w00t IB! At least with that, there’s a standard for all countries in the world who go by the system.</p>
<p>Yeah, IB is cool. Wish I’d heard about it before twelfth grade.</p>
<p>Would you have gone for the IB diploma? I still sometimes wonder if I would have. I love my school far more than the school I would have otherwise gone to (even though they’re both public schools), but the IB diploma is really really restricting/confining/stressful. Plus, it’s almost useless in the US. If only I wanted to go overseas for college…but I definitely think the IB is more well-rounded and personally enriching than the AP. But personal enrichment and practical application are two seperate things because schools are slowly recognizing IB, but usually still rank it below AP in credit rewards.</p>
<p>I think I would have done the IB if I could have. (My school doesn’t offer it BESIDES the fact I only learned of it this year.) Just for personal strength/challenge. And also for knowing if I could compete with the rest of the world, even if most colleges in the US think it’s strange. Being different is not always bad, and it gives you interesting perspectives.</p>
<p>Oh definitely! The IB really stresses the different perspectives aspect, especially in TOK class where you spend the time debating different areas of knowledge and problems with what we know. I just wish more colleges in the U.S. recognized it and how much work it takes to get a diploma. No slacking off senior year…</p>
<p>Well, thanks for the perspective. I’ll keep that in mind for in twenty-thirty years when I have high-school age kids. I’ll be an evil mom and make them all take IB! 
I wonder if by then IB will be more commonly recognized. </p>
<p>btw, what’s TOK?</p>
<p>TOK is Theory of Knowledge, sort of like philosophy with a twist. It’s discussion based but there are textbooks and we learn things too, but mostly discuss and try to look at things from as many angles as possible. You question conventional knowledge, if there is such a thing as universal knowledge, problems with making knowledge claims (bias, changing values, new technology), a bunch of fun stuff! </p>
<p>The IB also requires an Extended Essay, CAS hours (Creativity Action Service), and a bunch of internal assessments (like big reports and portfolios), labs for the sciences to be graded, and orals for english and other languages. Some of the aforementioned materials are sent in to the IB for them to grade and include in your overall score. As part of the diploma, you have to take a science, math, history, a primary language, a secondary language, and then an elective (economics, another science, another language, music theory). </p>
<p>That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about the IB, but I get so excited when people are interested in it because few people even know it exists!</p>
<p>That completely rocks. My kids are SO doing it. Do you know any websites that discuss IB programs? (Okay, so I don’t need it, but it’s cool!)</p>
<p>The official Web site for the international baccalaureate program is </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ibo.org/ibo/index.cfm[/url]”>500; </p>
<p>and there is quite a bit of information there about the program.</p>
<p><em>IB Mottos</em> </p>
<p><em>Final words, before you Die</em> </p>
<p>“IB, therefore I BS”
“IB, EE, TOK, CAS: FU!”
“IB? I be screwed”
“IB tired, IB stressed, IB in a load of ****ty mess”
“All work and no play makes me an IB student.”
“IB… Better off dumb”
“Got Sleep?” </p>
<p>Here’s a fun IB forum: <a href=“http://www.ibscrewed.net%5B/url%5D”>www.ibscrewed.net</a>
It’s odd though, some of the people on the forum (who aren’t full diploma candidates) describe really erratic/scary behavior from people who are. True that everyone seems stressed…but at my school we don’t go as far as biting desks or hitting our heads on lockers. </p>
<p>And if you want some humorous but often too true IB jokes, here’s a link: <a href=“Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos”>Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos;
<p>Top 10 reasons to be an IB Diploma Candidate:</p>
<p>10) I want to conform to an international standard of educational excellence.
9) I want to be surrounded by other intelligent, dedicated students.
8) I want to work extremely hard.
7) I want to sacrifice almost all of my time to studying.
6) I want my class rank to be as low as it can possibly be.
5) I want to have an overwhelmingly high stress level.
4) I want to immerse myself in an environment of competition and mutual jealousy.
3) I want to burn away any vestiges of creativity or independent thought that I might have left after sophomore year.
2) I want to discover that all of the extra work I did to get the IB Diploma made absolutely no difference in my college admissions.
- I feel masochistic.</p>
<p>the extended essay doesn’t seem that bad. i wrote a 2,800 word short story for english, a 3,000 word economics paper, composed a full-length minuet, not to mention everything else, in the past two weeks.</p>
<p>Are you kidding? I’m a debater. Google is my best friend and I already knew the official website addy for the IB program. I just thought that chatterjoy might know some sites I couldn’t find on Google, and quicker. 
And she did!</p>
<p>Thanks to her, btw. 
And I love reason number 1! ;)</p>
<p>to the original poster: yea grades here place more emphasis on multiple choice and matching. the other types of questions reflect the multiple choice 90% scale, so a good essay will give you over 90% of the points. its just scaled, because the points are overall easier to get here.</p>
<p>Justice, the thing about the EE is that it’s in addition to everything else, which includes World Literature 1 (although we did that last year), orals, commentaries and internal assessments in each of the 6 or 7 IB classes. And IB is picky, to prove that the EE was actually our work, we’re required to submit all these notecards, working drafts, and mentor signatures to confirm things. Otherwise, everybody would just skip right to the final draft. It’s tedious, but most people put it off until last minute anyways. Our school had to ban people from printing it off on the school computers.</p>
<p>Well I don’t think IB is THAT bad, but one thing that is oh-so-true: IB students seem to spend more time complaining about all the work they have to do than actually doing it. We have taken efficiency to an art!</p>
<p>haha, the IB motto at my school is… “sleep is for the weak.” and another one… “i think, therefore IB.”</p>