4 ms·

I went to a very elite high school in the US and my final exams included questions similar to that (the IB). Some of my teachers literally wrote the textbooks o

I went to a very elite high school in the US and my final exams included questions similar to that (the IB). Some of my teachers literally wrote the textbooks on their subjects. That doesn't mean my high school classes were anywhere near the depth or intensity of my college classes. While high school provided me with a solid foundation in all the disciplines, it's not set up to go in depth on specific areas. As a computer science major in college, I have had the opportunity to do in-depth, semester-long investigations of the Armenian genocide, the evolution of interactive media, laughter in theater, the 2008 financial crisis, Arab history in China, the philosophy of consciousness and dozens of other interesting subjects. These are not at all equivalent to what's offered at even the best high schools in the world and I wouldn't give it up to have a slightly cheaper or more efficient college career.

criddell 11y ago
What do you think about the IB program? My daughter is on a track that leads to IB in 11th grade and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
- umanwizard 11y ago
  I did IB. It's the best you are going to get in the US. What are your reservations?
  - criddell 11y ago
    Time demands. It sounds like the program is a lot of work and I don't think having school crowd out everything else is necessarily healthy.
    - umanwizard 11y ago
      I'm a slacker and I did fine in IB. She will have to work more than the average high school student (that is to say, more than basically zero) but it's completely possible to have other hobbies and activities.
      - criddell 11y ago
        That's good to hear. Thanks.
- morgante 11y ago
  In my experience, it's excellent. I definitely found my IB classes a lot more intellectually challenging and invigorating than my AP classes. The curriculum is well-rounded and in-depth. Plus, the requirement of choosing only 4 HLs provides an automatic defense against excessive commitments. I'm not sure how generalizable my experience is though. My AP classes were at a normal public high school while my IB classes were at an elite boarding school. I will say that the exams are definitely much better for the IB (they're much more detailed and require actual understanding rather than rote memorization).
umanwizard 11y ago
Where did you go to college? Also, I did IB too (got a 7/7 in HL History ;) ), and anecdotally I think it's dramatically easier than the French high school diploma. The History exam, at least, may not be multiple choice but it usually asks about very concrete things. "1. With reference to one war before 1945 and one war after 1945, assess the significance of either air power or naval power in deciding its outcome." This is basically a step up from regurgitating facts. I agree it is not as deep as what you will have to learn in a university course. The questions I gave in my example were much more open-ended and require a lot of independent analysis and synthesis to approach, as well as knowing a lot of facts.
- morgante 11y ago
  > Where did you go to college? I went to New York University. > Also, I did IB too, and anecdotally I think it's dramatically easier than the French high school diploma. French exams are notorious for their grading. That doesn't mean the education actually includes greater depth. Anecdotally, my friends who went through the French education system have a keen appreciation for difficult exams but aren't any more knowledgeable than me. I don't think you could convincingly argue that an IB-level of education isn't a "functioning" education system though. After all, even in France you do in fact have higher education beyond high school.
  - umanwizard 11y ago
    > After all, even in France you do in fact have higher education beyond high school. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about broad "liberal arts" curricula that touch on a variety of subjects. In France, it would be very unusual for a math student in university to take classes on philosophy, literature, etc. (ok, maybe some easy English classes for practical reasons, but that's it) Yes I of course agree that high school doesn't teach you everything you need to know about your topic of specialization. But a good high school education in advanced European countries is basically comparable to undergrad liberal arts/distribution requirements at average American universities. BTW, NYU is not typical; it's an elite school. You can't compare your experience there to typical colleges in the US.

criddell 11y ago

What do you think about the IB program? My daughter is on a track that leads to IB in 11th grade and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

umanwizard 11y ago
I did IB. It's the best you are going to get in the US. What are your reservations?
- criddell 11y ago
  Time demands. It sounds like the program is a lot of work and I don't think having school crowd out everything else is necessarily healthy.
  - umanwizard 11y ago
    I'm a slacker and I did fine in IB. She will have to work more than the average high school student (that is to say, more than basically zero) but it's completely possible to have other hobbies and activities.
    - criddell 11y ago
      That's good to hear. Thanks.
morgante 11y ago
In my experience, it's excellent. I definitely found my IB classes a lot more intellectually challenging and invigorating than my AP classes. The curriculum is well-rounded and in-depth. Plus, the requirement of choosing only 4 HLs provides an automatic defense against excessive commitments. I'm not sure how generalizable my experience is though. My AP classes were at a normal public high school while my IB classes were at an elite boarding school. I will say that the exams are definitely much better for the IB (they're much more detailed and require actual understanding rather than rote memorization).

umanwizard 11y ago

Where did you go to college? Also, I did IB too (got a 7/7 in HL History ;) ), and anecdotally I think it's dramatically easier than the French high school diploma. The History exam, at least, may not be multiple choice but it usually asks about very concrete things. "1. With reference to one war before 1945 and one war after 1945, assess the significance of either air power or naval power in deciding its outcome." This is basically a step up from regurgitating facts. I agree it is not as deep as what you will have to learn in a university course. The questions I gave in my example were much more open-ended and require a lot of independent analysis and synthesis to approach, as well as knowing a lot of facts.

morgante 11y ago
> Where did you go to college? I went to New York University. > Also, I did IB too, and anecdotally I think it's dramatically easier than the French high school diploma. French exams are notorious for their grading. That doesn't mean the education actually includes greater depth. Anecdotally, my friends who went through the French education system have a keen appreciation for difficult exams but aren't any more knowledgeable than me. I don't think you could convincingly argue that an IB-level of education isn't a "functioning" education system though. After all, even in France you do in fact have higher education beyond high school.
- umanwizard 11y ago
  > After all, even in France you do in fact have higher education beyond high school. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about broad "liberal arts" curricula that touch on a variety of subjects. In France, it would be very unusual for a math student in university to take classes on philosophy, literature, etc. (ok, maybe some easy English classes for practical reasons, but that's it) Yes I of course agree that high school doesn't teach you everything you need to know about your topic of specialization. But a good high school education in advanced European countries is basically comparable to undergrad liberal arts/distribution requirements at average American universities. BTW, NYU is not typical; it's an elite school. You can't compare your experience there to typical colleges in the US.