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I'm wondering...


afitz

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The French Bac is meant to be pretty hard.

Well it may have used to have been, but I can tell you that now it isn't as difficult as it used to be.

This is however untrue if you take the "S" option for this baccalaureate(s standing for scientific).

It is however considered to be good enough so as to be taken outside of France. Some schools in the United States offer it, along with the international option it offers.

Despite this, I still decided to quit the French system and go to an IB school, and I can safely say that it is harder, as i observed quite a harsh fall in my overall grades.(This may also be due to the impact of changing school system and having to re adapt, as my grades are gradually getting better other time.)

To be fair, I know that only my friends still in the french system taking the "S" option and an international option are having the same amount of work as me. So yes, in some cases the French Bac is hard. I should mention that I am taking 4 HL(Math, Physics, History, Visual Arts).

Edited by Unperfect
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My IB coordinator insists that it is the most rigorous and challenging pre-university program out there...and I trust him.

They say the same thing at our school, because I don't recall ever hearing that AP can make you skip courses in university, but in the US, if you take an IB HL course (let's say Psych) and you get a 6 or above for your exam, they let you skip a semester or a year (depending on the university)

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The French Bac? Well, I was in it last year and I was top of my class. I transefered to IB and the difference is huge. IB prepares you 100 times better for college, IB teaches you stuff you need and focuses on the information whereas the French Bac focuses on useless stuff and on how to present your information. S (scientific) in the French Bac is hard simply because there are a lot of different subjects (useless too) and the sciences can be tough at times. Despite that, I think the workload in IB is bigger. My school is divided into French Bac, IB and another crappy national program. So it is easy for me to compare and I can say that IB students (constantly in the library) work much more than S students.

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It certainly feels like the most challenging course... I heard that AP and IBH math are both pretty hard, if you start taking courses into consideration. Otherwise I'd say yeah, it seems like the IB offers the most challenging courses out there. My old French teacher said that the only thing that would make the French Bac easier than the International Bac is the fact that you don't have to excel in all the subjects you take, like you have to do for the IB. (Is that true?)

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They say the same thing at our school, because I don't recall ever hearing that AP can make you skip courses in university, but in the US, if you take an IB HL course (let's say Psych) and you get a 6 or above for your exam, they let you skip a semester or a year (depending on the university)

In Canada as well. :rolleyes:

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In North America and Europe, IB is definitely the hardest public program, however, some private schools offer programs that are less well rounded but more rigorous than the IB, but are almost all tailored for a specific course. Where HL math covers one year of university, some private schools in N.A. and China cover two years of uni math instead, and the public Chinese system goes at least as far as SL math as far as that is concerned. In addition to this, some AP physics courses use calculus, whereas IB physics does not.

In any case, for the humanities, IB is definitely where it's at, and it does do a good job with the sciences, though I am definitely feeling that History and Art are dragging down my ability in math and physics this year, due to time issues. I would much rather spend 3-4 hours a day on math, as that is what I plan on pursuing. Science oriented programs that do a minimal english/socials curriculum are able to better prepare students for University in sciences, though the students would end up as less well-rounded.

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It certainly feels like the most challenging course... I heard that AP and IBH math are both pretty hard, if you start taking courses into consideration. Otherwise I'd say yeah, it seems like the IB offers the most challenging courses out there. My old French teacher said that the only thing that would make the French Bac easier than the International Bac is the fact that you don't have to excel in all the subjects you take, like you have to do for the IB. (Is that true?)

Yes, it is true. In IB you only have 6 subjects whereas in the French Bac you have around 10 subjects. So if you don't have to excel in all the subjects, if you're failing in one it's really not a big deal since there are other subjects that can back it up. The influence of each subject on your final grade is greater in IB than in the French bac.

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  • 1 month later...

The IB may be the hardest in Europe and in the general Northern Hemisphere, but the education systems in Asia are harder by 89436513461321687 times.

No kidding. You think this is hard? Go to China, Korea or Japan.

Why do you think Asians are so good at maths? Because they have to do 100 maths questions every single day.

Some of my Chinese friends know this. They've come from schools where they went to school at 5 in the morning and finished at 10 in the evening.

Stop pitying yourself.

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Umm

I have to agree with the above person, the IB isn't the most difficult on the map. Tawjeehi is just plain murder. Everyday there's a test (sometimes 2 tests) and you need to basically stuff all the information you can in little time. I see my friends suffering over it and the sad part is it's not even accepted in many good universities.

I pity them.

But I'm so glad I'm out of the Tawjeehi, I'm not good at memorizing and performing tests all the time.

And the grading is also brutal so...

Anyway, I think the IB is over-exaggerate but ironically under-appreciated in unis. But I say overall IB prepares you much better for university work than A-Levels, SATs, AP, and so on.

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Under-appreciated?

I think not... I know dozens of people (IB graduates) who attend Uni in the UK and the US, and most of their classmates think very highly of the IB, given that it is a priviledged system which is both very demanding (by their standards) and in most cases, very expensive.

Edited by lindieeluieee
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Under-appreciated?

I think not... I know dozens of people (IB graduates) who attend Uni in the UK and the US, and most of their classmates think very highly of the IB, given that it is a priviledged system which is both very demanding (by their standards) and in most cases, very expensive.

Erm, It's much easier to get AAA than to get a 42, also my dad was telling me how the A levels standards has gotten lower but the IB is getting stronger and yet the grades tehy demand from the IB is ridiculous. Also in A Levels you only do 3 subjects, while in Ib you have to do 6 different subjects including TOK and EE, and imo universities don't give much appreciation to that.

I've also had many people telling me I'm lucky to do the IB cause it's easier, in which I have to correct them and say silly beasts, it isn't THAT easy.

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  • 3 weeks later...
In North America and Europe, IB is definitely the hardest public program, however, some private schools offer programs that are less well rounded but more rigorous than the IB, but are almost all tailored for a specific course. Where HL math covers one year of university, some private schools in N.A. and China cover two years of uni math instead, and the public Chinese system goes at least as far as SL math as far as that is concerned. In addition to this, some AP physics courses use calculus, whereas IB physics does not.

Do you have any evidences to back up that statement? Have you ever flipped open a Chinese maths textbook?!?!?!?!

The Chinese high school system is the most rigurous (in my opinion) with so many people living in China, entrance into a decent uni is highly competitive. Mum gave me a 12th grade Chinese Maths book as a reference*. I don't even understand 3/4 of the stuff and I've been getting 7 for every maths test/exam this year.

A friend of mine came to NZ from China. She's doing HL maths and she sleeps during lessons. Yet she still got 7 for HL maths.

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