Would you recommend IB?

[mental valve]

would you recommend IB? and can someone who has done IB/ doing it tell me how hard are IAs and time managing them and any tips on when to start doing them?

[stark relic]

As someone who has not done IB, I would not recommend IB. It forces you to be an all-rounder: kind of like a jack of all trades but a master of none. There are six (6) categories in IB, and you'll need to choose one of each category. The categories are Studies in Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics and the Arts. If you know what to do in university, I suggest doing AUSMAT or foundation (although I understand that only a few countries offer foundation). If you want to specialise early, do take AUSMAT or foundation, as both are one (1) year courses. The difference is that you learn five (5) subjects in AUSMAT for the whole year, while in the foundation course, there will be different subjects that you can take per semester (and you can't repeat that subject unless you failed IIRC).

But hey, that's just my two (2) cents. Hope it helps!

[mental valve]

yaa i dont think foundation is good enough for the colleges i wanna go to and AUSMAT isnt something common where I live, but there are A-levels, however, I'm very confused on what I wanna be so IB seems more suitable as it offers more subjects, ty tho!!

[urban river]

Gave +1 Rep to ∫(ⅆy/ⅆx) dx = f(x)#7332 (2)

[mental valve]

tyy

[stark relic]

Lets have a conversation here, why do you say so?

[stark relic]

Foundation does have more subjects though

[ionic cipher]

if you are malaysian, no i wouldn't personally recommend IB

too expensive and not worth it imo

better opt for a levels or other pre-u programs

[tame nebula]

Yeah it's like around 200,00 rm right?

I would not recommend you to take IB unless you want to be a really appealing candidate for top universities or just enjoy doing a lot of work and having multiple subjects. You need to be a master at time management and you'll constantly be surrounded by things like summatives, formatives, IA, EE, CAS, TOK. If you want to know more about IB, I can help you out (Haven't done IB myself but a lot of people I know have).

[ionic cipher]

yes around 200,000

if you study for a degree at private unis like Monash or nottingham it will be less than that for the whole 3 years 💀

A levels has the same recognition for top unis, so you can take 4 subjects and apply for them instead of wasting more effort on IB. If ib and a levels are around the same in terms of school tuition fees (like india) then ig ib can be considered as well

[stark relic]

You can do more than 3 subjects for a levels

3 is just the minimum

Would Recommend A-levels, but IB has its advantages in it's far higher accceptance rates at unis like oxford, harvard etc

[ionic cipher]

yes

both A levels and IB are equally recognised

[stark relic]

never claimed the opposite

[stark relic]

Agreed

[languid bridge]

you can get more specialised diplomas in ib, my sister did 3 sciences, maths AA, french abi, and english iirc. Plus the Arts is entirely optional (at least where im going) and instead you can take a second one from the other 5 groups

but a levels are more flexible, for sure. You need special permission for a irregular diploma, and need to prove you need the subjects for the field/uni you wanna get into

[urban oracle]

Most people are quick to say no but it does teach you about time and project management, if you're up for that. However, if you're barely getting by with your ig's and studying routinely while doing extra components like your IAs and your EE sounds even remotely difficult, I WOULD NOT ADVISE

[keen steeple]

um but 90% of the people i talked to told me that US unis prefer IB more than A levels

also is taking eng as a first lang mandatory for IBDP? im quite bad at english, got 80% in eng as a sec lang in IGCSE, so im facing problems at that part only, i think i can manage the rest

PS about languages, should you take your mother tongue in IB or a new language that you dont even know from the start but want to learn it!

[ionic cipher]

both are recognised as rigorous curriculums

other programs are on a case-by-case basis usually, although your country's usual high school curriculum done by most peeps is sufficient enough, if supplemented by US admissions tests such as SAT/ACT and perhaps even AP tests

[keen steeple]

oh aight

still do you recommend taking IB if someone doesnt have a good english (not that bad but average) @ionic cipher

[ionic cipher]

Personally no

A levels doesn’t force you to take english but ib kind if does with its lang requirements

[keen steeple]

thats true but i come from india
so i will have to take english in a levels cos thats mandatory to do so

ill be taking general eng AS level only

[ionic cipher]

Yeah that should be somewhat manageable if you do okay in igcse english first lang

[keen steeple]

i did igcse english sec lang

[ionic cipher]

oh

well you have to choose either a levels or ib

[keen steeple]

yes

[ionic cipher]

discuss with someone else in your school perhaps - what do they do a levels or ib

[keen steeple]

i talked to a friend in a levels
he said he is doing a levels rn but feels like ib would've been better (it could be better for me as well)

i dont have any issues in studying sciences, maths, econs and all that
i am just not that good in english

[keen steeple]

for uni of chicago what do you recommend

[keen steeple]

oh lol

for other unis in USA which one u recommend