By Madeline Maes
The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is one of the most challenging high school curriculums in the world: but is it really worth it? As a Senior at an IB school, this is a question often thought of but persistently avoided. No one wants to consider the idea that their past four years of hard work amounted to nothing. But what is it that determines whether or not something is “worth it”? I don’t mean to get all TOK on you, but there are a lot of things to consider when determining whether or not your high school experience was a waste. Whether it’s college credits, the difficulty level of college post-IB, the intellectual enrichment of the program, or the people that you meet, there are pros and cons to every high school experience. You just have to know how to make the most of it.
If you determine the quality of your high school experience on the amount of college credits you are able to receive, I hope you aren’t picky about where you want to go to school. While the IB is considered a challenging program by colleges, not all of them reward credits for IB classes, and most that do only offer them for Higher Level (HL) courses. For some context, there are both HL and SL (standard level) courses in IB. Students take 6 IB courses, normally 3 HLs and 3 SLs, and all courses are considered college level classes. Despite this, there is a relatively short list of schools that award credits for IB SL courses, so most IB students only receive half of the credits for their college level courses. In addition to this, some colleges require near perfect scores on the IB exams to receive credits. This makes it very challenging for students to receive full credit for their college level classes at most colleges. There are some colleges that are very generous, awarding students nearly 2 years worth of college credits, but this is a short list. So, if one of these universities is of interest to you, then you could receive college credit for your classes. But if you’re in IB just for the college credit, then I would suggest that you look to other ways to measure the worth of your IB high school experience.
I have heard varying stories as to the amount of credits received for IB in college, but the most consistent feedback that I get from IB alumni is how much easier college is after IB. So if you determine the worth of IB through college readiness, IB is definitely worth it for you. The overbearing workload, obnoxiously long essays, lab report upon lab report, in-depth analysis, 30-minute presentations, and all of the other things that IB puts us through puts us at such an advantage going into college. We know how to better manage our time, research for and write long essays, study large amounts of material, learn independently, and how to effectively procrastinate of course. In addition to the intensity of the courses we take, we have 6 of them and a high school schedule. In college, most students have about 4-5 classes spread out over a week, with 2-3 classes a day. So not only are you very prepared for the difficulty of a college class, but you are used to having less time to juggle more classes. For me, this is one of the main advantages I am looking forward to getting out of my IB experience. I look forward to less stress, and more time to enjoy my college experience.
Regardless of what comes after high school, it is also worth it to consider how the IB helps you to grow intellectually. One of the most important things that IB has taught me is how to think, rather than what to think. Rather than aimlessly memorizing material, this program requires analytical thought. This gives purpose to your learning, and allows for a better understanding not only of the material you are studying, but how it applies to the world around you. This program teaches students to be open-minded, capable of critical and independent thought, and always OPVL your sources of course. It taught me the importance of considering other perspectives and thinking about where our knowledge comes from. Despite all that IB has put me through, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it, and I am a better person because of it.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the people that you meet. Now, I know that every IB school is not like my tiny 100-person-per-class school, but there is nothing quite like the bond I have with the people that I have gone through this insanely difficult program with. No matter how hard things got, or how impossible they seemed, we were never alone. We are the survivors, and we couldn’t have done it without each other. No one else will understand quite what you’re going through except for the ones that are facing the same IB monster that you are. I’m not saying that you’ll all be the best of friends for the rest of your lives, but you will always have people you know that you can count on. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t invite them to your birthday party or don't talk to them all the time, when it’s the night before EEs are due, you can count on them to help you figure out how to format your cover page, or share that Quizlet for the German test, or figure out that one math problem you never quite got. You become a family whether you like it or not, because at the end of the day we all want to succeed, and we want to see each other succeed, because we have made it this far and there’s no point in giving up now. There is nothing quite like the bond I have with the people that I have gone through high school with, and I think that is one of the most important aspects of the IB high school experience.
So even though I may not get all of the credits for the classes I’ve taken and I have a lot on my plate right now, I wouldn’t trade my IB experience for the world because it has made me the person I am today and given me a unique kind of family that I will never forget. The key to making the most out of your IB experience is having the right mindset. If your only goal is to get college credit, it won’t be worth it for you. If you value a holistic and challenging education and the bonds that you make with the people around you, then every minute will be worth it.
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