Thursday, February 16, 2017

10 Worst Things They Don’t Tell You About IB

10 Worst Things They Don’t Tell You About IB


     As an IB student you learn to either love or hate the IB program, I learned to dislike it. Hate is such a strong word. You see there’re some things that people won’t tell you about the IB; they masquerade it as a holy grail, accessible to the few, but they (the people who convince you to join IB) won’t tell you the dark side of IB. Here’s where I come in and tell you the truth.

  1. The first thing that I’d like to mention about the IB Program is that there’s a preconceived notion that IB gives you credit for college. Now, this is true, but not entirely. Yes, you can earn those college level courses if you pass the IB exams, just like AP, but it’s not going to give you enough credit for a two-year college level advancement. You’re going to take exams that are going to be harder than the AP exams for the same course. Plus, guess what, only 3-4 of those courses would be transferable. So.. Choose your poison wisely.
  2. Secondly, if you like to sleep, don’t join the IB. The reason for why people lose sleep is due to poor time management. Not only do students poorly manage their time but teachers don’t know how to manage their time either. Almost all teachers manage to not post work for two weeks and then assign work at the end of the third week. This would continue until you’re exhausted from 2-3 all nighters within a given week.
  3. People don’t usually know how to manage IB. For example, if your IB school is fairly new and/ or your school just fired a new staff. Be ready for some turbulence not only in your grades but also your sleep cycle. This is probably the worst possibility to have when attending an IB school, and I can attest because I’m experiencing it right now. Therefore, be warned.
  4. You won’t feel smart. After months and months of sleep deprivation and chronic stress, your brain will end up feeling mindless and dumb. Of course, the first few months of the MYP (Middle Year Program) you feel really intelligent but wait until Sophomore year and/or DP (Diploma Program), your mind will feel groggy and tired from sleep deprivation. Plus, there will be some people who would actually be beaming in the morning on the day of the exams, all tidily dressed, with no eye bags and a coffee cup in their hands. They will pass the test no problem with great grades. Those are the non-human population, if you’re to like them, you will not enjoy IB. 
  5. Guess what will happen to all of those holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years, Spring Break, your birthday. You won’t be able to participate because you’re too busy finishing up an IA.
  6. If your school offers an IB program and the “Traditional”, or the regular people program, you will most likely never see them. 
  7. The sheer amount of essays and projects that you have to write. Not only do you have to write 2-3 essays a week, on a good week, but you also have to do 1 Personal Project during your Sophomore year but in DP, you have to do 5 IAs (Internal Assessments- which are essays/labs/reports in courses such as History, Math, Chemistry, etc.), 1 EE (Extended Essay- which is a 4,000 word research paper about anything under the sun), CAS (Creativity Action and Service- where you have to do 150 hours of either community service, athletic action, or creative task), Group 4 project (this is a project where you have 3 other people in the group from different science courses all doing an experiment as a group during the summer… yey!), 1 IOC (Language and Literature oral about a book), 4 written tasks for HL Language and Literature (Basically essays about books), 2 Written Tasks for Spanish (essay formatted writing in Spanish), TOK Essay (A legible essay about a bunch of gibberish) while also having a life, sports, theater, chores, and maybe a job.
  8. Your college won’t even know if you passed or failed the IB. If you do the IB Program you’ll get your results on if you passed or failed during the summer. 
  9. Not all colleges like the IB program. Some colleges won’t even accept your IB credits, and if they do then you must score pretty high in your IB course.
  10. You might have a mental breakdown; I’ve known some students leave school for a month or two due to being stressed. Personally, I cried and rolled in my blanket on the floor due to not making progress on my Math IA after 5 hours of research.


      Well, there you have it. You can take my advice and not attend the IB school or you can go and face the hardships on your own. At least you won’t say that nobody told you. Plus, if you also want to know about the positive aspects of the IB program, check out the page right here

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