IB DP at ISB
Sophomore Parent/Guardian Night
February 2014
Topics of the Evening
1. What is the IB Diploma Program (DP)?
2. Why do the IB?
3. Forecasting
4. World Student Conference!
What is the IB Diploma?
 It’s a TWO-YEAR course of study where students:
 take three (or four) Higher Level (HL) courses,
 take three (or two) Standard Level (SL) courses,
 write an Extended Essay,
 take Theory of Knowledge, and
 complete a full CAS (Creativity, Action and
Service) program.
More Specifics
 Students earn an IB Diploma when they earn a
satisfactory score on all internal and external
assessments for all 6 subjects, earn a passing score
for their ToK assessments and their EE, and
successfully complete their CAS program.
 It is NOT a BSD Diploma…..
Even MORE Specifics
 Extended Essay: Independently researched & written
3500-4000 word essay supervised by ISB faculty member.
Completed by October of the SR year. (A high school
graduation requirement!)
 Theory of Knowledge: 2-yr course that challenges
students to ask questions about their knowledge and
experiences; concurrent through the program of study.
 CAS: it’s not all about coursework, rather it is also about
Creativity, Action and Service! Students initiate, do and
reflect on activities throughout the two years, concurrent
with their academics (MB)
The assessments…
 Internal Assessments – internally assessed work, i.e. orals,
papers, presentations, lab work. Teacher work is
moderated by IBO.
 External assessments – exams and essays
 Exams take place in May of Senior year and are 1-2 days
long
 Registration for exams happens in early November
 Exam fees… you can start paying as soon as you’d like!
Costs for 2014 exams are $845
IB at ISB…
 We are a FULL IB school so our students are full IB students unless
an individual’s Four Year Plan & Profile needs to be adjusted to
support HS graduation requirements.
________________________________________________________

This is all we do.

DP students have a whole school community for support.

We know every kid can achieve success in an IB for All school.

We encourage every kid to test as this is an important
opportunity for personal growth.
Why do the IB anyway??
Successful IB students…
 Study!
 Are balanced
 Set goals
 Self-advocate – with friends & adults
 Are internally motivated to do the IB
What do Colleges think about IB?
In a 2012 study of diverse alumni from IB programmes in
Chicago public schools, researchers from the University of
Chicago found that, compared to a matched sample, DP
students are more likely to:
 enroll in college
 attend a more selective college
 stay enrolled in college.
The DP prepares students for college
 High degree of alignment with college readiness
standards in all subject areas
 Many individual IB standards were more advanced than
those required for success in entry-level college courses
 IB standards address key cognitive strategies (critical
thinking, intellectual inquisitiveness and interpretation skills)
that have been identified by college instructors as necessary
for college success.
IB students more likely to succeed in
college
A 2010 study that looked at performance on IB exams and college
GPA of over 1500 IB students enrolled in the University of
California system found:
 IB students earned higher GPAs and graduated at higher
rates than a matched comparison group. This held across
all family income levels
 Performance in the Diploma Programme was the strongest
predictor of college GPA.
College Acceptance
 The average acceptance rate of IB students into
university/college is 22% higher than the average acceptance
rate of the total population.
 The acceptance rate of IB students into Ivy League institutions
(Princeton, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell,
Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania) is between 3% and
13% higher compared to the total population acceptance rate.
Forecasting
These are two year courses and students
will not be allowed to drop IB Courses from
their schedule or change their schedule
from the courses they choose once the
course begins in the fall.
A Full IB Candidate
 Each student needs to test in 3 HL courses and 3 SL
courses.
 IB does allow students to take 4 HL courses (Not 5)
 Depending on the plan, some students will forecast for
more then 4 HL courses, however, they will need to
choose your senior year which 4 they will test in.
Groups 1-5
 Group 1: IB English Literature
 Group 2: IB Spanish, Mandarin or Japanese
 Group 3: IB History of Asia
 Group 4: IB Biology
 Group 5: IB Math Studies, IB Math SL, IB Math HL
 Group 6…..
Group 6
Options: Info about this courses found on the ISB Website under Diploma Program.





IB Visual Arts
IB Music Choir
IB Music Band
IB Psychology
IB Chemistry
Please select your first and second and third choice by writing a 1 in your first
choice and a 2 in your second choice...
If we do not have enough students signed up for one of these courses, we will be
unable to offer that course and you will be placed in your second choice
World Student Conferences
 July 6-12: University of Queensland, Australia
 July 20-26: McGill University, Canada
 July 27-August 2: University of Bath, England
 Earlybird registration is $850 until February 21;
then $925
WWW.IBO.ORG/WSC