A Look into the IB Diploma
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma is an impressive award given to the best and brightest students. It gives students a better chance at getting into prestigious colleges and looks glamorous on resumes. Or does it? This greatly sought after title may not be as beneficial as students think, especially considering the immense stress and workload that IB students are put under. Senior Justine Gacho (12) said she chose to pursue the IB diploma because of the curriculum it offered. “The IB diploma is actually kind of the reason I went to Lindbergh. I liked the idea of having a curriculum that was all encompassing and that I could be able to do liberal arts in addition to everything else. It turns out it’s basically extra work on top of the AP course load, which shouldn’t be the way it is,” said Gacho. A main principle of the International Baccalaureate is for students to receive a global education and be able to think of an international level, applying what they’ve learned to worldwide issues. Many IB students are also familiar with this global perspective due to the fact that 80% of senior IB candidates this year are immigrants or children of immigrants. “I think being the child of an immigrant helps a lot because in a lot
JESSIE HENSEL
Staff Writer
of the classes you have to apply global aspects to the topic in order to get good grades and being from a background where I have other cultures to use it helps me with my papers, and I can draw on my own experiences,” said Karen Guo (12), an IB candidate whose parents both came to the United States from China. However, despite the beneficial international approach the curriculum gives students. the IB system at Lindbergh is not as helpful as many students think it will be when it comes to college.
“I think the work grinds away at your soul,” ~ Justine Gacho, 12 ~ “I think what a lot of IB students find is, speaking to them after graduation, that they think it’s a waste of time because half of these universities don’t take the IB credits. I knew that coming in so maybe I just hated myself,” joked Gacho, speaking about how IB tends to not help diploma receivers in their higher education. On top of the lack of support IB gives its diploma recipients in college, the
- Complete all aspects in the core; write an extended essay of 4,000 words, take the Theory of Knowlege class, show creativity, activity, and service - Complete IB English, an IB social studies course, IB mathematics, IB science, and an IB second language - Choose a sixth IB subject to study from the category of arts and electives -Complete at least 3 higher level IB tests
All of the 2019-20 IB Diploma candidates
intense workload is often a major stressor for students. IB students will spend anywhere from four to eight hours per night on their homework, which is not good for a student’s mental health. “I think the work grinds away at your soul. I think the hardest part about it is that individually the work is not hard, but after all these years of freaking out over work, it gets to be so much, and at some point you need to learn how to ask for help and that you don’t have to spend every single night getting stressed [and] sick over all this work because it’s not worth it,” said Gacho. After learning all of the hardships that IB candidates go through, one question remains: Is it all worth it? “IB is worth it for me. It has gotten me many scholarships and has really helped me increase my global awareness. The work is tough and it’s a lot of stress but it is still valuable to me,” said Daria Nastasia (12).
IB Diploma Requirements
Opinion
3.23.20
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