IB

[EdHunter]

I'm starting it today.

Higher History, English A1 and German B
Standard Music, Physics and Maths

Should be an interesting couple of years. Anyone else here currently, or formerly, take the program?

[bmc]

Both of my daughters did the IB at Ecolint in Geneva. They never worked harder and actually found university a breeze. It's an intense work load.

Good for you.

Good luck.

[MakiSupaStar]

The school I teach at is an IB school.

[sloasdaylight]

I was in the program in High School. It's a great program that will challenge you. You'll learn a lot and make really good friends.

FWIW my classes were:
Higher History, Higher English, Higher Psychology
Standard Math, Standard Spanish, Standard Physics

[username n/a]

DEUTSCH!!

[stratovani]

What's IB?

[sloasdaylight]

International Baccalaureate Program.

http://www.ibo.org/

[coolrunner989]

Good luck.

Like it has been said, the level of intellectual work you do is on par with top college courses, but the workload is far higher. College has been easier for me than IB was because I'm not in class for 7+ hours every single week day with 4+ hours of homework every single night.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by sloasdaylight

International Baccalaureate Program.

http://www.ibo.org/

Very nice! I never knew such a thing existed! Thank you!

[EdHunter]

First day - I survived....

Things are looking good, decent teachers, good syllabus. It'll be hard, but as the great man himself said: "If you are going through Hell, keep going".

[bmc]

When you get to your extended essay, you might want to lean on some of us older guys for help if you needed it, once you decide upon a topic.

When my youngest was wrapping up her first term at university, she was laughing at the students in her dorm that were freaking out about reviewing three months of material. When you write your finals for the IB, you are reviewing two years of material.

Aside from the course material, you will learn how to organize your time and your study habits. This will be invaluable after high school.

[EdHunter]

I've been told about organisation...

But I've been decided on my EE topic since the middle of 9th Grade - "To What Extent Did RAF Bomber Command Contribute To The Defeat Of Nazi Germany From 1939-1945?".

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

I've been told about organisation...

But I've been decided on my EE topic since the middle of 9th Grade - "To What Extent Did RAF Bomber Command Contribute To The Defeat Of Nazi Germany From 1939-1945?".

That's a pretty good EE topic.

Also, I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there. Take your classes seriously, but you can afford a B or two. Don't break your back with book bags that weigh 30 pounds. My IB years, 11th and 12th grade for those not familiar, I carried around a binder and 1-2 text books per day, and that was it, and I graduated with near straight As while playing football, running track, and chasing girls.


Basically what I'm saying is don't forget that you're a teenager and don't forget to have fun, cause it's really easy to get wrapped up in your studies.

Life moves pretty fast, if you don't look up from time to time, you'll miss it.

[EdHunter]

Originally Posted by sloasdaylight

That's a pretty good EE topic.

Also, I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there. Take your classes seriously, but you can afford a B or two. Don't break your back with book bags that weigh 30 pounds. My IB years, 11th and 12th grade for those not familiar, I carried around a binder and 1-2 text books per day, and that was it, and I graduated with near straight As while playing football, running track, and chasing girls.


Basically what I'm saying is don't forget that you're a teenager and don't forget to have fun.

Well, alongside my playing football (soccer), watching the football (FC Zurich), the band (we're finally discussing gigging locally) and my constant quest to appeal to the fairer sex (as yet unsuccesful), I'm gonna put as much as I can into my classes. That said, I can accept a 5 in Maths, as long as I blitz the others and the EE/ToK extra points (which I'm pretty sure I can as long as I stay focused...).

Oh yeah, and I'm rep for my Grade in our Student Council.

[sloasdaylight]

Ok cool.
I saw a bunch of my friends wind up buckling under the weight of the program, some of it undoubtedly put there by themselves, and stopped doing the things they did the first 2 years of HS because of it, and they were miserable.

[EdHunter]

Originally Posted by sloasdaylight

Ok cool.
I saw a bunch of my friends wind up buckling under the weight of the program, some of it undoubtedly put there by themselves, and stopped doing the things they did the first 2 years of HS because of it, and they were miserable.

I gave half a thought to taking 4 highers, adding Music to English German and History. But I decided not to for obvious reasons...

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

I gave half a thought to taking 4 highers, adding Music to English German and History. But I decided not to for obvious reasons...

Good lol, that would have been a God awful idea.

[blendermassacre]

My sister did it. She's a great student, but it was still pretty brutal for her. However, she's going to graduate college in 2.5 years, instead of 4, so that helps a bunch, obviously. Finding IB accepting colleges in the US is kind of a trick, though.

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by blendermassacre

My sister did it. She's a great student, but it was still pretty brutal for her. However, she's going to graduate college in 2.5 years, instead of 4, so that helps a bunch, obviously. Finding IB accepting colleges in the US is kind of a trick, though.

Not really, the majority of State Universities accept IB at least some IB credit, and some accept all of it. I went to UF with 30 credits.

[EdHunter]

Quick update!
First set of grades came through.
English A1 HL - 7
History HL - 6
German B HL - 6
Maths SL - 4
Music SL - 6
Physics SL - 3

Bumb Maths and Physics up a point, get the bonus points (CAS is going very well, as is TOK)) and I'm well on my way to TCD.