kh9296 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 How important is IB to universities in the US? I would really like to go to Brown or Darthmouth. I have pretty good SAT/ACT scores and GPA plus some extracurricular activities. I would like your opinion on whether doing IB will really improve my chances of getting into those schools, or if I should focus more attention on leadership and extracurriculars. If I do work on starting a club or something like that, I'm afraid I wouldn't have as much energy for IB stuff. Basically, I would like to know whether US unis prefer IB or extracurricular activities.I didn't see another thread about this, but if there is, sorry and could you please point it out? Thanks in advance for your help! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetnsimple786 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Both are important, but the extracirrics are more fundamental. Most admitted students aren't in IB. However, I don't think you should just say "Okay I have to start a club, which will take X hours a week, so I'll only do half of my homework/studying now."I started a club a couple of years back, and it's a crapload of work, but I do IB and the club. The operative word is balance [or time management, but that's two words ] So I have two more things to say1) To US colleges, doing well in IB means that you can handle a tough coursework, which means that you will probably transition into their school just fine. A good balance between academics and extracirrics is what colleges are looking for, but you're looking at Ivies. Getting Bs and Cs, even in IB classes, will put you at a disadvantage. You can definitely get in with lower grades on your transcript, but it's just that much harder. 2) Starting a club is great. It shows initiative and leadership, but you don't have to start one. Now if you're not graduating for a couple of years, starting a club will be more beneficial for you, but even so, being proactive in 2 or 3 activities is better than having leadership posistions and clubs where you're just the president in name. PS Try to do something "incredible" every summer you can. A trip to Oxford, research opportunities, something that interests YOU =) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zibblay Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 PS Try to do something "incredible" every summer you can. A trip to Oxford, research opportunities, something that interests YOU =)Could you give some example? I would really appreciate Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh9296 Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 sweetnsimple786, thanks for the advice. My main problem now is that I'm about to start my senior year, so it is too late for me to do much in terms of summer activities. I have an internship with the mayor's office, but I didn't do much the previous summers, which I now regret. I think I will try to organize a club for something that interests me during the next school year.From their policies on credit for IB exams, US Universities don't seem to like IB as much as AP. I've heard people say that IB does impress the schools, but unis are giving credit to AP classes that do half the work of IB but no credit for IB exams. In my school, some AP and IB classes are combined. For Psychology SL, we took AP Psychology, which is only one semester, plus an extra semester. However, must universities that give credit will give it for AP Psychology but not IB because it is only SL, even though we study double the material. I just hope that universities understand IB better than those policies show. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Well, i think some things that can be done are like doing contests, especially from the universities that you want to go to and also volenteer in the field of study that you're going into. (not just any random volenteering) And yes, i think leadership is definately important. I have a friend that was ranked pretty high in canada and also the leader of his school's chess team and he got a scholorship to go to princeton so that was pretty good.I have another friend that had like 900hours of volenteering and a 95 average in acedemics (not IB) with 42 high school creduts and got into harvard with a scholorship so ya...And i heard that universities care more about extra-curricular than acedemics...They don't want ppl that just study for the sake of studying. Hope this helps Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forester Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 You have to do everything you have said (like starting a club), and keep up your IB grades. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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