<p>I am going to throw IB options into the dilemma here…</p>
<p>I think my sons did well with college admissions in that both are at schools that appear to suit them very well and at which they are happy. One is at an Ivy, but that is really irrelevant to my discussion- both are at rigorous schools with stimulating professors and classmates… With that in mind, I have reflected often on what they did or did not do in terms of the “formulae” that most people would use- </p>
<p>The best choice my kids made in HS was to NOT do the full IB diploma that our school pushes for top students. Not only were they(and others planning US college admissions who have made this choice) not disadvantaged in the college admissions process (I think at our school at least the chief advantage for full IB is the weighting of grades in a greater percentage of classes), they were able to do things THEY wanted to do, not because some person arbitrarily decided in Belgium that X or Y or Z constitutes a ‘better program.’ The did community service because they wanted to, not because they had to. They took classes like Music Theory and Electronic Music which fed their passions (as well as taking Physics, and Calculus and all the rest)…and, perhaps most importantly, they had the English teacher of the century twice in HS!! They also had time to do really cool EC’s which they explored in diverse situations to a high level of skill. They had time for this in part because they did not do a extended essay for the IB diploma- only one element of the full IB program that I/we felt did not suit them well at this time. </p>
<p>They covered their bases by taking 4(at least) years of the 5 core classes- because they wanted to, because they did well enough in them to continue on, because the wanted the challenge of higher level classes (IB or AP) accross the board. Each ‘sat’ about 7 or 8 exams, a combination of AP, IB Higher and IB standard. There was value in test preparation- consolidation of learning, challenging oneself to push to a higher level- that went beyond the scores they would get or how those scores would translate into their college admissions or programs. Each did well on their exams which was an added bonus. </p>
<p>Coming from our school at least, there is no quantifiable advantage (except as noted above) of full IB over AP or a mixture of the two. The last few rounds of admissions have been blind to the distinctions (perhaps to the dismay of our counseling staff, though I am not sure anyone is really that reflective- IB diploma it is just a party line here). </p>
<p>The “best preparation for college admissions” loses out in significance to the “best preparation for being a complete person” when it comes to the ultimate decisions in elite college admissions- at least in my book. All the grinding away at meaningless stuff (meaningless to the student) is reflected in a disgenuineness and dreariness of person- and I believe this is how, ultimately, schools like MIT(used as an example only)- which could happily take a very high % of their applicants, try to decide. </p>
<p>In trying to figure out why the prescribed ‘formula’ doesn’t always work, perhaps it is useful to consider-- there really isn’t a formula, there are really only guidelines. The IB person in Belgium doesn’t know my kids, why would I guess they know what is best for them? The only question worth asking is who is this child and what is best for this child…every single step of the way.</p>
). There is an annual design-build competition at The Tech Museum of Innovation here, and the six of them decided to come up with a device to enter one year. They designed it at the dining room table in one boy’s house, built it in our garage and driveway, whipped up a design notebook and slideshow about it, toted it in someone’s pickup truck to the Museum, and won the grand prize at the competition. It was one of the least fancy, most basic, and most reliable devices entered. They were all from the same school class and noted that on their entry, but it was not a school-sponsored activity. The next fall, they lobbied the school to let them start a robotics team. Their dedication, enthusiasm, and success on their own persuaded the school to let them start something, with their own fund-raising, and within a year they were winning awards at a FIRST Robotics regional. The team is now in its fifth year, and people act as if it’s ALWAYS been an available EC activity. It does still happen “covertly” like that sometimes. :)</p>
I used to know this!!! i just forgot!</p>