To anyone doing the IB . . .

iCraig · 1 May 2006 at 20:17

Mohinder said:
Little bit of both.

I'm going to release pictures of me eating the results on to t'internet.

Why we we bother with paperwork, declarations and treaties, when this medium of presenting facts is so much more appealing to watch?

PardonTheWait · 1 May 2006 at 20:19

Arcade Fire said:
Can you provide us with an abstract, to whet our appetites?

I dunno what an abstract is.

So...

Yellow.

Dave · 1 May 2006 at 20:20

Didn't expect this thread to be such a source of needing-to-clarify-ponciness

The IB has 6 subject groups:
- Group 1: Literature (for me; English literature)
- Group 2: Second language (for me; French literature)
- Group 3: Humanity (Geography for me)
- Group 4: Science (Physics for me)
- Group 5: Maths
- Group 6: "free" choice (Chemistry for me)

Usually you do 3 Standard Levels and 3 Higher Levels, roughly equivalent to 3 AS and 3 A2. In my case, I do 4 HL's. (my 2 SL's are french and english literature)

Each subject is marked out of 7, so a maximum of 42 marks. There are 3 bonus points for the "core" subjects, which are Theory of Knowledge, essentially a cut-down philosophy course; Extended Essay, a 4000-word essay in a subject of your choice (I did mine in English Literature) and finally CAS. (150 hours of community service) If you don't complete any of the 3 core components, you fail automatically.

It's been tough but I glad I did the IB in the end. Now it's just putting the old head down and getting through the exams!

iCraig · 1 May 2006 at 20:22

Mohinder said:
I dunno what an abstract is.

So...

Yellow.

Piece of art, innit?

b (thats it) · 1 May 2006 at 20:26

Good luck, not taking the IBs myself but i've got plenty of friends who are. I am taking three AP exams in the next two weeks though (Calculus AB, Physics BC, and Microeconomics)

Psyk · 1 May 2006 at 20:27

Mohinder said:
I'm going to release pictures of me eating the results on to t'internet.

Not quite the same but there's a video of me eating an exam paper. Not on the internet though, unless someone convinces me to upload it.

[TW]Fox · 1 May 2006 at 20:29

How much practical use is it given many employers will not have heard of it, whereas everyone is familier with A levels?

Do UCAS recognise the IB for admission into University?

cleanbluesky · 1 May 2006 at 20:30

Psyk said:
Not quite the same but there's a video of me eating an exam paper. Not on the internet though, unless someone convinces me to upload it.

Doesn't sound like you'd take much convincing but if i were to watch such a video it might be said that I'd have a fetish so will leave that path alone...

Arcade Fire · 1 May 2006 at 20:31

[TW]Fox said:
How much practical use is it given many employers will not have heard of it, whereas everyone is familier with A levels?

Do UCAS recognise the IB for admission into University?

Almost all universities recognise it, and some even recognise that it's harder than A Levels. A major gripe though is that many places will see a B in IB as on par with a B in an A Level, whereas in reality getting the equivalent grade in IB is much more difficult.

I don't know about employers recognising it, though.

Nix · 1 May 2006 at 20:36

I've not heard of many institutions that actually teach the IB, how have you all found out about it?

Arcade Fire · 1 May 2006 at 20:38

I read Wikipedia obsessively.

Also, I'm just generally interested in education. I read the Guardian education supplement every week, and I often pinch my sister's books on teaching - she's training to be a teacher at the moment.

Dave · 1 May 2006 at 20:40

[TW]Fox said:
How much practical use is it given many employers will not have heard of it, whereas everyone is familier with A levels?

Do UCAS recognise the IB for admission into University?

Yes; I applied through UCAS with my IB.

The gripe is, as Arcade Fire mentioned, universities don't recognise that a 7 (maximum mark) in IB doesn't equal an A. Last year in Maths HL, something like 3% of candidates got a 7. (I read for A levels it was something like 30%)

The hardest IB subject is meant to be Geography HL; where last year only 1.5% of candidates got a 7. Our school has never had a 7 in HL Geography either. Not good signs for me

Ex-RoNiN · 1 May 2006 at 20:40

[TW]Fox said:
How much practical use is it given many employers will not have heard of it, whereas everyone is familier with A levels?

Do UCAS recognise the IB for admission into University?

The IB is not only very well known, but it is held in a much higher regard, too.

Psyk · 1 May 2006 at 20:47

Ex-RoNiN said:
The IB is not only very well known, but it is held in a much higher regard, too.

Isn't it the norm for most of europe for 16-19 education? I'd find it very odd if a university didn't accept them, unless they don't take any international students since many of them will have IBs.

Personally I'd have hated doing an IB because I can't stand language based subjects, eg. english lang, english lit, foreign languages, etc. With A-levels I like being able to stick to maths/science related subjects.

RobH · 1 May 2006 at 20:52

I went to a "City Technology College" and they don't do A levels, at the time I left they were doing IB, BTEC and AVCE. IB is thought quite highly of to Universities.

Dave · 1 May 2006 at 20:54

Psyk said:
Isn't it the norm for most of europe for 16-19 education? I'd find it very odd if a university didn't accept them, unless they don't take any international students since many of them will have IBs.

Personally I'd have hated doing an IB because I can't stand language based subjects, eg. english lang, english lit, foreign languages, etc. With A-levels I like being able to stick to maths/science related subjects.

I'm a sciences person (why I have Maths, Physics, Chemistry HL) yet I still do both English and French literature. I don't mind them at all; so much so that I ended up doing my Extended Essay in English Literature.

If I had done A-levels I would've done Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics. In the end I've done the IB for the "broadening out." I've plenty of time at uni for specialising

Nix · 1 May 2006 at 20:54

See, I don't understand this. Why bother with an IB if you intend to do a degree anyway?

Each section of education is a stepping stone to the next. Why make it more difficult?

I could understand, if you had no intention of going to university and intended on entering the job market on the IB's merits alone.

RobH · 1 May 2006 at 21:00

Nix said:
See, I don't understand this. Why bother with an IB if you intend to do a degree anyway?

After 2 weeks of IB that was my feeling, I though to myself, I hate studying English, German and Geography, the only parts of this course I like are Computer Science and Design Technology. That's why I switched to AVCE ICT & Business.

When I started Uni, I found out that if I had done Computer Science at IB I'd have been repeating everything I would have learnt. I suppose IB is good if you are completely clueless about what you want to do when you leave school, it leaves your options open.

Arcade Fire · 1 May 2006 at 21:01

Nix said:
See, I don't understand this. Why bother with an IB if you intend to do a degree anyway?

Because education shouldn't just be about getting to the next stage with the minimum of effort. If you believe that it is, then you're missing the point entirely.

Dave · 1 May 2006 at 21:01

Nix said:
See, I don't understand this. Why bother with an IB if you intend to do a degree anyway?

Each section of education is a stepping stone to the next. Why make it more difficult?

I could understand, if you had no intention of going to university and intended on entering the job market on the IB's merits alone.

Because I can't get into university (one which I want to go to) without it?

(here I have the choice of either IB or BOI, which is the baccalaureate option international, essentially the french bac but with histoire/geo in english)

edit/ Arcade Fire, you a Flaming Lips fan? Great band