Take our quiz to find out what your revision personality is! >>

Important ib grades?

hey, guys,
so I was wondering,

if i am planning on going to North-America to continue my studies as an undergraduate.

How important are my IB1 results? and consequently, my IB2 results?

I hear that you can get admitted to universities without your diploma, true?

Reply 1

francescafrancesca

What IB1 results? The only grades you will have are the ones your school predicts you. For American, these are more important than your final IB grades, as offers from American universities are unconditional and received before your exam results.

Reply 2

arrowhead

Insofar as American Unis are concerned, they look at your performance all through your IB1 and IB2 years. For their sakes, your school generally provides a GPA (Grade Point Average) conversion of your IB scores and they make their decision based on that.

For American Unis, other than the Ivy leagues, most of them don't really understand the difference between IB and AP classes. In fact some of the American Unis that came to visit my IB school even said that they considered doing the IB as an extra curricular more than anything else.

They take into account a large number of other factors as compared to Britsh Unis where grades are pretty much everything. The style of writing your Admissions' essay is very different, if you write a British Personal Statement, the American Unis will probably not even read the entire thing. You have to tell them something interesting about you and whether or not if that's related to the course you're applying for is hardly ever important.

They look to make sure that you have a balanced curriculum, i.e. no over-concentration of particular courses and they like to see that you've challenged yourself. Furthermore, they only count your HL subjects as worthy of acknowledgement for college credit, not your SLs.

There is a serious difference between the two and you should do a lot of research on that before making your application. I would suggest you get in contact with the Admissions' Office of the American Unis you're interested in and see what they specifically are looking for before making your application.

Best of luck,
Arrowhead.

Reply 3

The Man of the Hour

So, I'm a Canadian and here's my perspective on your issue if you are planning to go to Canada for further education.

How important are my IB1 results? and consequently, my IB2 results?
Well, most schools in Canada that do IB complete one or two final IB exams in your first year. If you have completed a class or two before, these marks will get assessed and added to predicted marks in all of your IB classes AND the predicted marks for TOK and EE. As well, applicants are often assessed by their teachers on CAS; if they believe you are going to complete all your CAS hours and your paperwork, then they will indicate that on your application. So yes, first year certainly counts if you have courses completed. Otherwise, the predicted marks of IB in year two and the EE and TOK will be assessed, with an indication of whether or not you will likely be completing CAS.

I hear that you can get admitted to universities without your diploma, true?
Most of the Canadian universities have unconditional acceptances to university...provided you meet a "similar academic standard" (ie at least come close to getting the diploma). They accept certificates of IB courses, yes, but if you only have certificates and not the diploma, they will likely assess your application differently. I've seen some people go to university without passing IB, but others are not quite as lucky. I doubt they would do that at a place like McGill. Depending on where you go, you can get transfer credit for EVERY COURSE...transfer credit for the HLs only...or a certain # of credit hours so you will get your degree quicker. There's lots of choice. Good luck.