Non-Running Education Q

do it

Can you expand on that a little?

escargot wrote:

Can you expand on that a little?

"Do it" means you should go forward with the plan.

Which plan, genius? I think our poky French friend wanted to know why (s)he thought it should be done.

i got the IB, the education is much better than in public schools and it will help college applications immensely... i cant think of a single reason why you wouldnt do it, except maybe the costs (~$500 for the final exams) and some lab fees here and there

The IB system is much like the AP system in regular schools. It's supposed to be higher level classes that can count for college credit if a student does well enough on the IB exams. If your son can enroll in such a program and DO WELL, then please enroll him. However, if he will barely be scraping by, then it's probably better to have him in a regular program where he'll learn more.

Thank you all for your responses so far. My son is quite talented, but, I'm afraid, not too motivated (although he's just starting 5th grade); although he received all A's every marking period for the last two years. I don't think he has to work hard to do well right now. He's reading at a HS level and scored in the 99th percentile on an IQ test administered to him for admission into the GATE program. Unfortunately, the GATE program consisted of 6 hours of instruction in Spanish spread out over 8 weeks! They really don't offer much.

I'm at Oxford at the moment and lots of the people here have IB- if he's truly bright and hard-working then it's definately the better option- if he's the sort who is bright but not that inclined to work super-hard then generally the normal school system is better.

Reason is (well in UK and I'm assuming US system is vaguely similiar- if not then someone let me know), when you're bright and don't want to work then you can just scrap As the whole time- colleges don't see the "only just As" and the "high As", on the other hand as IB has a lot more relative deviation between the grades then you need to work a lot harder- but it shows very clearly in the grades- whilst with the traditional system the A remains an A.

Thank you. That is a fair point. I'm hoping that a change of environment will also change his attitude. He's a very competitive person. I think that, desp

ite my best efforts to instill an intrinsic interest in learning, he still thinks that getting A's is sufficient. My hope is that if he were only around more motivated children in a more academically intensive program, he would rise to the challenge, if, for no other reason than that he wants to be the best.

If it didn't work out, though, I suppose I could pull him. I don't think admissions officers look at middle school grades much, so, even if he did poorly, the damage wouldn't be severe.

My only other concern is that it will be a big social adjustment for him. He'll be going to a school in an entirely different city (about 30 miles away, actually) and so will have to make new friends etc.

Again, thank you all for your responses so far. It's good to see that you can get constructive advice here sometimes.

I can't recommend the IB program enough. I personally went through it and felt the study habits and skills learned as a result gave me an advantage over a lot of my peers at the college I went to. There's a TON of homework involved though, so just know that from the start.

Also, I'm not 100% sure that the "IB" diploma was any better than just taking AP classes with regards to college admissions. The biggest plus I would say is the preparation it gives you to excel in college. Hope this helps, please ask if you have any other questions.

I getted the 1B program and is was well. Kan't went wrong with iit.