IB leads to front of the line

By Christy Triece Guest Writer

Full-ride scholarships to Ivy League schools were recently awarded to three Longview High School International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme seniors. As a result of their exceptional academic efforts in the rigorous IB program, Zoe Hightower, Carolina Rodriguez, and Martin Guerrero will receive endowments including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and some travel expenses to Columbia, Notre Dame, and Duke Universities respectively. These three students are shining examples of what impresses college admissions and scholarship officers, and their fellow IB classmates are also at great advantage when applying for admission and scholarships at four year universities. IB participation puts students at the front of the application line because universities recognize the program’s academic rigor and excellent college preparation.

Many qualities of the IB program make high school seniors

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TOP 10 attractive to colleges as prospective students. The Diploma Programme “is a whole program which includes six college level advanced courses taken across two years,” says Margaret Davis, CEO of Texas Council of International Studies, the charter organization for several LISD schools including Longview High School. “Students can’t pick and choose subjects that are easier for them; for example a student who’s strong in math still must take a college level English class. Also, schools have to be authorized by IB to be able to provide the program. Schools can’t just offer the class [like AP or Dual Credit], teachers are required to be trained, and the school must be reauthorized every five years.” According to Mrs. Davis, these standards “are quality control, and all of these quality control components provide the whole school with the ability to prepare students

5th Grade: Bristol Dowdy and Ava Swetnam, 1st place; Andrew Lundy, 2nd place; Joseph Kaan, 3rd place; Andrew Odindi, 4th place; Christy Flores, Kemberly Rocha, and Mia Saucedo, 5th place; Kayden Gabriel, 6th place; Tamya Brown, 7th place; Cera Dykes, Alexas Dehart, and Natalie Kilpatrick, 8th place; Isabel for university.” College admissions officers know that IB graduates “will come to them well prepared and will persist in college.”

In a parent brochure and on their website, IB states that “DP students in the US who enrolled in post-secondary education immediately after high school enrolled in and graduated from four-year institutions at much higher rates than the national average enrollment at four-year institutions (public and private).” Specifically, “95% of DP [Diploma Programme] cohort versus 60% national cohort for enrollment at four-year institutions, and 79% of DP cohort versus 39% of national cohort for graduation rates. (ibo.org).

Locally, Kay Ray, Scholarship Coordinator at Longview High School, points out the benefits of IB, saying that it improves students’ GPA and class rank, thus improving

Bailey, 9th place; Maria Garay and Jason Ramirez, 10th place

Jr. Division: Keshav Vattikuti, 1st place; Reya Srivastava, 2nd place; Amelia Beebe, 3rd place; Zayden Hawkins and Beckham Warren, 4th place; Taryn Morris, 5th place; Henry Mekala, Kaden Starling, and Ram Undavalli, 6th place; Cameron Black, Ruthie Black, 7th place; their chances of ranking in the top 10% and therefore gaining automatic admission to Texas public institutions (with the exception of UT Austin which requires ranking in the top 6%). Some students aspire to being ranked in the top 2% or becoming valedictorian or salutatorian; their chances are also increased by participation in the IB program. Because IB classes are considered the most academically rigorous classes at LHS, they are weighted more heavily than AP or dual credit classes. In addition, Mrs. Ray says that “IB improves chances for admissions to highly selective universities such as Harvard, Rice, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Yale, and Pepperdine,” along with pretigious Texas

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Research Shrestha, 8th place; Que Craig and Isaac Thomas, 9th place; Jamauri Harris, Kennard Lilly, and Addison McGee, 10th place

Sr. Division: Jessica Hernandez, 1st place; Sam Avaltroni, 2nd place; Sydney Hudman, 3rd place; Ryan Hull, 4th place; Kelvona Shephard and Jenetta Carter, 5th place