IB diploma? Bright Futures scholarships?

[5lilfish]

We are coming from an area that doesn't have IB. I know nothing about it. We might be moving to a school that has an IB program (daughters will be going into 9th grade). They also have AP courses, which we are familiar with. I kind of thought IB would be the way to go (but again, I don't know anything about it). Then I talked to an assistant principal at this school and he was very luke-warm about IB. I guess his own son dropped out of it and ended up with a great academic scholarship.

Can anyone explain IB? I don't know how to begin deciding what to do.

Also...does anyone know about the Bright Futures scholarships? I'm wondering how that works too.

Thanks...
Jess

 

[QueenIsabella]

I can't help you with the Bright Futures thing, but my DD17 is about to graduate with her IB diploma.

It really depends on the student. Basically, IB kids start taking college-level courses in 11th grade. At the end of the year, they take tests, similar to AP tests, scored 1-7. You can get college credit (can depend on the college) for a score of 5 or higher (sometimes 4, depends on the school and subject). You have to get a cumulative score of 24 in order to get the diploma, and if you get more than one "2", you can't get it. Foreign language is required, you have to write a special extended essay that the kids put a lot into. In a few areas, such as math, you can choose the "hard" track or the "easy" one.

The cohort is very close, since they take mostly all the same classes. There are minor perks--we hosted IB kids from Denmark, and DD was supposed to go there--stupid pandemic! She was also supposed to go to Italy (different trip) as an IB-related thing, but again, pandemic.

You can't take an IB class and an AP class in the same subject (too similar), but if there's no IB course available, you are expected to take the AP one instead--DD is currently taking AP Human Geography.

For our district, our HS is the "magnet" for all IB kids in the district. Going into freshman year, there were ~150 kids who expressed interest in the IB program. There are ~35 who will actually graduate with the diploma. At least one kid that I know of was asked to leave--obviously, others dropped out along the way.

Certainly, IB isn't for everyone, but my DD has enjoyed the program and done well in it. My DS15 wasn't interested--he was out, as soon as he heard about the essay. He plans to go the AP/dual enrollment route instead.

 

[low-key]

I once got a IBS diploma

 

[1GoldenSun]

Bright Futures is a program in Florida where a student needs to maintain a certain GPA (I don't know exactly what is is) and put in a certain number of volunteer hours and then in-state college tuition and fees are covered. I think a very small amount of other expenses are also covered but I don't think the vast majority of room, board, books, and other expenses are included.

Edited to add that there's also a minimum SAT or ACT score required.

 

[VandVsmama]

We are coming from an area that doesn't have IB. I know nothing about it. We might be moving to a school that has an IB program (daughters will be going into 9th grade). They also have AP courses, which we are familiar with. I kind of thought IB would be the way to go (but again, I don't know anything about it). Then I talked to an assistant principal at this school and he was very luke-warm about IB. I guess his own son dropped out of it and ended up with a great academic scholarship.

Can anyone explain IB? I don't know how to begin deciding what to do.

Also...does anyone know about the Bright Futures scholarships? I'm wondering how that works too.

Thanks...
Jess

you need to go ask this on College Confidential.

 

[JimMIA]

Some kids LOVE IB, others not so much. Two of DD's "skate sisters" did IB and loved it -- one is a senior at UF, the other is a junior at Duke. Another skate sister dropped out of IB and just last week got a full ride to Dartmouth. It's very intense, and a lot of work. All 3 were in the IB program at Coral Reef HS in SW Miami.

Once you establish Florida residence, you will be eligible for two programs. One is Florida Prepaid, which allows you to purchase tuition and dorm room at a discount. If you go out of state, you either get your money back, or get tuition paid at Florida in-state tuition rates. Read the details; great program.

The other is Bright Futures. Bright Futures pays 100% or 75% of tuition and fees depending on the level, at any Florida state college or university. Bright futures will also pay an equal monetary amount to qualifying in-state private colleges and universities. There are other requirements, but the main one is 1330 SAT for 100% and 1210 for 75%.

Bright Futures pays on top of any scholarships, Prepaid, etc, so many BF students graduate with money in the bank instead of debt. Amazing program, 100% funded by the Florida Lottery.

Here's a link, and it also has links to Florida Prepaid: https://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/co...da-bright-futures-scholarship-program-update/

 

[JimMIA]

You should also know that many Florida HS's have many other very worthwhile programs besides IB. Some require application to a particular high school and not everybody who wants a particular program gets in.

Where are you moving?

 

[Suger Mag]

If your area has a duel enrollment program with the local community colleges... I (college proff) suggest skipping all the entities like AP classes etc). and just take your college classes direct.

AP classes often have a fee.... you have to take extra tests AFTER the class to get college credit and sometimes there is issue with transfer. NONE of that will apply to the CC classes... yes you will have to pay, but those college classes will transfer much easier. Once you finish the semester, the class is done, and college credit is secure..

 

[cvjw]

In my state, we have IB and magnet schools. Very similar programs. The kids are told which classes to take to achieve the special diploma. My oldest took the magnet school route. He lasted 2 years. We quickly determined that he was required to take AP classes in subjects that he wasn’t academically strong in. It was a struggle for him - 3 AP classes a semester in areas where tutors were involved. We pulled him out of the program and let him take AP classes in areas where he was academically strong.

We quickly figured out that making a C in an AP class brought your GPA down so much that getting into his college of choice would not be possible. Even with the special magnet diploma. Several of his friends did not figure this out in time and had to go to lesser schools with their magnet diploma.

Just go into this process with your eyes open. All the administrators at my sons program had blinders on. They only proclaimed the virtues of the program, not the downsides. We saw lots of very smart kids struggle and ultimately graduate with a lower GPA than they would have if they just went the traditional route. The special diplomas don’t guarantee you a spot in your college of choice if your GPA slipped while trying to achieve it.

My son did get early admission to UGA while lots of the kids who stayed in the magnet program did not.

I also suggest the dual enrollment route. Both my kids did this their senior year of high school. Both had 8 classes that transferred directly to UGA. But, not all classes will transfer to your college of choice. Just do your homework beforehand.

 

[White Cat]

The assistant principal might be giving you bad advice. But anyway, mine took advantage of bright futures. It works for those that qualify if that’s what your asking.

 

[mom2rtk]

If your area has a duel enrollment program with the local community colleges... I (college proff) suggest skipping all the entities like AP classes etc). and just take your college classes direct.

AP classes often have a fee.... you have to take extra tests AFTER the class to get college credit and sometimes there is issue with transfer. NONE of that will apply to the CC classes... yes you will have to pay, but those college classes will transfer much easier. Once you finish the semester, the class is done, and college credit is secure..

That's true for most colleges, but not all. There are a few colleges that won't take transfer dual credit.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My daughter graduated in 2020 and earned her IB diploma. It is a lot of work, but she would do it again. I think it prepared her very well for college. It is a lot of writing. That is why my current sophomore is not doing it. He doesn't enjoy writing.

I liken it to a liberal arts degree. You have to take classes in different areas. You have to take three HL (higher level) and 3 SL (standard level). The higher level classes are two years. Although my daughter did SL Spanish and she was able to take the SL test after her fourth year of Spanish. It was the same fourth year Spanish as non IB kids, but the IB kids have to schedule time to meet with the teacher for explanation and help on their IB paper.

Besides the different classes, there is a big paper to write. At our school there is not a dedicated class, but they talk to them about the paper at the end of junior year, so they can start thinking, planning over the summer. They have to pick a faculty advisor to work with them and have meetings throughout first semester senior year. There is a service component. They did a couple service projects as an IB class, but I think she had to turn in volunteer hours also.

My daughter got into some of the more competitive colleges, and I am going to guess IB had something to do with that. Her HL classes earned her a lot of credits. Her one dual credit class from sophomore year did not transfer, so just know that not all dual credit classes transfer.

 

[Suger Mag]

I wonder if it has to do with states. Here we had students graduating with their associate in some cases BEFORE they got their official high school diploma....

 

[kanerf]

I started taking classes at the local junior college when I was in the 10th grade. It helped that the college shared the campus with the high school and some of the teachers taught at both. There was no official program for this and you might look into this as an alternative to IB. Many junior colleges have night classes, so this would not impact the school day.

 

[mjkacmom]

If your area has a duel enrollment program with the local community colleges... I (college proff) suggest skipping all the entities like AP classes etc). and just take your college classes direct.

AP classes often have a fee.... you have to take extra tests AFTER the class to get college credit and sometimes there is issue with transfer. NONE of that will apply to the CC classes... yes you will have to pay, but those college classes will transfer much easier. Once you finish the semester, the class is done, and college credit is secure..

My kids have taken dual enrollment classes that didn’t transfer, and the fees for those classes were more than the AP test fee.

 

[Suger Mag]

My kids have taken dual enrollment classes that didn’t transfer, and the fees for those classes were more than the AP test fee.

Perhaps not all dual enrollment plans/classes are created equal.

Here, the programs are funded in part by the public schools, but the classes are actual college classes, it is an agreement with the college and there are advisers provided etc, but the classes remain at the college and are part of an official transcript... like for example I often have dual enrollment students taking my CC Intro Bio classes... or my Anatomy and Physiology classes... these are 100 and 200 level college classes that are the real deal... they enroll and take them with actual college students at the college.

While my daughter was in high school, I would occasionally see 'college classes' that were offered through the program...but were held at the school and only had high school students.

 

[amcc]

Some kids LOVE IB, others not so much. Two of DD's "skate sisters" did IB and loved it -- one is a senior at UF, the other is a junior at Duke. Another skate sister dropped out of IB and just last week got a full ride to Dartmouth. It's very intense, and a lot of work. All 3 were in the IB program at Coral Reef HS in SW Miami.

Once you establish Florida residence, you will be eligible for two programs. One is Florida Prepaid, which allows you to purchase tuition and dorm room at a discount. If you go out of state, you either get your money back, or get tuition paid at Florida in-state tuition rates. Read the details; great program.

The other is Bright Futures. Bright Futures pays 100% or 75% of tuition and fees depending on the level, at any Florida state university. It is not transferrable out of state or to private universities. There are other requirements, but the main one is 1330 SAT for 100% and 1210 for 75%.

Bright Futures pays on top of any scholarships, Prepaid, etc, so many BF students graduate with money in the bank instead of debt. Amazing program, 100% funded by the Florida Lottery.

Here's a link, and it also has links to Florida Prepaid: https://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/co...da-bright-futures-scholarship-program-update/

Bright Futures gives you a monetary equivalent award if you attend a qualifying private university in Florida

 

[mom2rtk]

Perhaps not all dual enrollment plans/classes are created equal.

Here, the programs are funded in part by the public schools, but the classes are actual college classes, it is an agreement with the college and there are advisers provided etc, but the classes remain at the college and are part of an official transcript... like for example I often have dual enrollment students taking my CC Intro Bio classes... or my Anatomy and Physiology classes... these are 100 and 200 level college classes that are the real deal... they enroll and take them with actual college students at the college.

While my daughter was in high school, I would occasionally see 'college classes' that were offered through the program...but were held at the school and only had high school students.

It's not about any specific program. Some of the highly competitive Universities just won't take them. Or require a special approval process.

 

[ksanftleben]

I don't know anything about Bright Futures, but our daughter graduated in 2000 from an International Baccalaureate program at a Virginia high school. It was a rigorous four-year program and could substitute for the first two years of college if students did well on their final IB exams. I think it is pretty much the same today except the program is now split into two two-year segments: 9th-10th grade and 11th-12th grade.

In her school district, any eighth-grader could apply for the program, but admission wasn't automatic. It was based on middle-school grades and the results of an IB admissions exam. At the time, there was only one IB magnet school in the district, and all IB students started there as a cohort in 9th grade and stayed together for all four years. They had little academic contact with other students at the same school except for classes like PE, band, chorus, drivers ed, etc. They could fully participate in all the school's extracurricular activities (sports, journalism, clubs, etc.)

Her IB program really was a package deal, although students had some choices (e.g., foreign languages). The curriculum was tied together by three additional special features that added a lot to kids' workloads (a year-long philosophy course called Theory of Knowledge that she hated, a two-year independent-study original research thesis that she loved, and a two-year self-designed community service program which she enjoyed but was a pain to fit into her after school and weekend time. That said, she still had time for dating and a lot of outside-of-school fun; she hung out all the time with two other girls and two boys from her cohort.

About half of the students in our daughter's cohort dropped out of the program, most before the end of the second year. It was just too intensive, difficult, or time-consuming for them at that point in their lives. Most of our daughter's friends who left went back to their regular high schools, took AP classes, and did just fine.

Those that finished the program received a Virginia Advanced Studies Diploma with Governor's Seal, an International Baccalaureate Diploma (from Switzerland if I remember correctly), and a whole bunch of college credit depending on their final IB examination scores. They also pretty much had their pick of whatever college they wanted to attend. Our daughter chose William and Mary, but she had good friends that went to Dartmouth, Berkeley, Notre Dame, Duke, West Point, and Annapolis.

Here's a link to the program at her old high school; it looks to have remained pretty much the same as it was twenty years ago:
https://princessannehs.vbschools.com/students/IB_MYP/IB_diploma
And here's a link to the worldwide IB Diploma Programme website:
https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/
Hope this helps with your daughter's decision.

 

[QueenIsabella]

It's not about any specific program. Some of the highly competitive Universities just won't take them. Or require a special approval process.

This is true. My older DD had a friend--very smart--graduated 2nd in his class. He went to Columbia, and they wouldn't take a single AP or college credit for him. They said it was because they wanted him to get the Columbia quality/style of teaching, but I suspect it was so that they could wring more tuition out of the parents.

I know that here (North Carolina), the UNC system will take AP credits, IB credits, and dual enrollment credits. Our DS15 plans to dual enroll At the local UNC, rather than the local community college. The CC is decent, but I don't think it has the higher level math that he'll need (he plans to be an engineer). But, I would say that the CC is a good school--they seem to get a bad rep in some places, but our local one has a lot of good programs.