IB and Succeeding in College
IB doesn't get you into college and neither does AP, you get yourself into college. What IB does do to is prepare you for college in a way that no other curriculum could, by giving you college-style classes, homework, workload and research papers. IB is for students who want success after they get into the school of their choice, and believe me, if you really want one of the best schools in the country, you'll need all the help you can get.
-Kevin Bai, IB Class of 2014
Testimony of an IB Senior
Read here to find out what IB is really about!
IB and Research
The International Baccalaureate Program strengthened my interest in research.
This program gave us an opportunity to think critically about the subjects that we were studying, may it be history, science, or even mathematics. Writing research papers for each class strengthened our understanding of the material, rather than just allowing us to rely on pure memorization when it came to tests. This program guided me to pursue research in my undergraduate program at University of the Pacific and even now as a dental school student. I encourage everyone who wants to excel in college and graduate programs to definitely partake in this wonderful academic program!
-Dhwani Shah, IB Class of 2008
IB and College Credit
Because of my IB classes and my IB diploma, I had senior standing after my first quarter of my second year at UCI. This senior standing has enabled me to have an earlier enrollment window for classes which was, and still is, extremely important for me as a Bio major since many bio classes at preferred times, or with preferred teachers, tend to get filled up quickly. My IB diploma, by itself, gave me roughly 22 units and my IB/AP classes got me another ~20 units which allowed me to get priority registration for my classes.
-Lawrence Liu 2009 IB
Here is a message of advice from Ben Sayawat DBHS IB Alumnus, Class of 2010:
Regardless of being an AP or IB student (or neither for that regard), the most successful college student is the ambitious and hardworking one. That being said, the IB program offers one thing that I think the AP courses do not offer: writing skills. With all the (painful) Internal and External assessments, as well as the EE in particular, the IB student will learn how to write properly, which is an essential skill used throughout the rest of one's life. I'm not talking about just humanities majors or what not, but all other majors, including mathematics, business, and science majors as well. Being able to write well makes professors, employers, and peers take them seriously in any of their future ambitions. This is why it is so important to improve one's writing skills as early on (or late) as their junior and senior high school years, and for this reason alone, I would definitely recommend the IB program.