It’s the time of year now, when Grade 9 students are completing their registration for High School, and one question that is often posed at this time is “What is the IB Program, and should I take it?” As a guide for those students, here is a complete blog post dedicated to discussing the IB program, to help them choose the right path for high school.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
IB stands for International Baccalaureate. IB is an academic program (for typically two years in Grades 11 and 12) based on a more rigorous international curriculum. It works to provide a well-balanced education and foster personal and academic development for students. IB offers a variety of courses that you can choose from, and two program choices, either a full IB Diploma or IB Certificate.
In order to obtain a full IB Diploma, you require a total of 6 IB courses; three of which have to be taken on a Higher level (and the remaining can be taken at Standard Level). Higher Level is a subdivision within IB courses, it implies harder content, more rigorous examinations, and usually more hours of learning. Standard Level, on the other hand, is still rigorous and difficult, but it may not be as academically challenging as a higher level. Here is a list comprising of all the IB courses offered. However, these may vary according to schools, and certain schools may require you to pursue certain subjects for completion of the IB diploma.
In addition to this, the IB diploma also comprises of three core elements:
- TOK – Theory of Knowledge is a course that all IB Diploma students are required to take, “in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know.”
- Extended Essay is a self-directed research paper composed of 4000 words, that students need to write in order to graduate the IB Program (usually in Grade 12).
- CAS – Creativity, Action, Service is where students have to complete a project related to these concepts (sometimes there is a certain number of volunteer hours you need to complete).
Including these elements overall, you are given a mark out of 45. A grade out of 7 is awarded for each of the courses you finish in IB, since there are 6 courses in the IB Diploma, you get 42 marks. Furthermore, three marks in combination may be awarded for the Extended Essay, TOK, and CAS requirements, resulting in a total grade of 45.
If you do not want to pursue the IB Diploma, another option is the IB certificate program (also known as Partial IB). In this program, you may choose to take certain IB courses that you are interested in, with a minimum of two courses. After completion, you are awarded a mark out of 7 and a certificate of IB in those courses. Depending on your school, you may be required to still complete some of the requirements of CAS and TOK.
Why take IB?
There are many reasons why an individual may want to take the IB program, including:
- University Acceptance – Although it is not required that a person should take IB in order to get into university, taking the IB program may result in easier acceptance, as colleges are aware of the more challenging, rigorous course load in IB. This holds true for especially international university acceptance.
- More Challenging Workload – Another reason why people take IB is to challenge themselves to take more difficult and rigorous courses (and learn more in-depth content) to help them better prepare for university.
- Earning College Credits – Some colleges recognize IB courses as credits in their university. For example, if you take English IB, some universities recognize this as equivalent to a first-year English course, so you will not have to do the course; this can save money and time in college.
TL;DR (A Summary)
In this blog post, I discussed the foundations of the IB program and the reasons why the IB program may be beneficial. In the end, it is your choice whether you think the IB program is the right fit for you. Nevertheless, I hope this information helps!
Sources (& Good Resources that have information on the IB Program): IB Website/1/2/3