IB vs SPANISH BACHILLERTATO

Hi,

I have to decide which course to take next year. I live in Spain and am bi-lingual but I'm not sure which program to go for. So, I have a few questions:

1- Does anyone have an opinion on the IB vs the Bachillerato (Social Sciences)? Which is easier?

2- I want to go to university in Ireland. I'm not sure if you show your "Selectividad" results or just the Bachillerato results to get in from a Spanish system. Anyone know?

3- Has anyone done the IB in the American School in Barcelona? What's it like?

Thanks!!
Julia

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Reply 1

EmUIbA

Hi, Julia, I have done both pre-university programmes, so I quite know what I'm talking about.

1- I'd say the IB is harder, mainly because of the EE, which takes a lot of time. You'd also have to consider that with the IB you just take the exams once, while with bachillerato you also take exams during the year, which count towards the final grade.

2- Check with the CAO. I know that for British unis you get in just with bachillerato results.

3- Nope, sorry. And I hope it's better than Ramiro de Maeztu, which is really disorganized IBwise.

I'd recommend you do the IB, anyway :wink:

Reply 2

julia page

Hi Emuiba,
Thanks for the reply. Which subjects did you take in both? Apart from the EE, would you say they're about equal in difficulty? Which are you more likely to get good results in? The higher the points, the better, I suppose.
Thanks again & sorry for all the questions!
Julia

Reply 3

EmUIbA

I actually got more or less equivalent results in both. Consider that at the American school, which I assume is a private school, you'll probably get better teachers than at a public (state in British English) school.

Reply 4

oleahi

Hi,

I'm currently studying IB and Bachillerato together and I recommend you to do both of them.
I don't go to an international school nor American school so I had to do both of them if I wanted to do the IB.

It is very tough.. but in fact you do learn a lot.
Also, as British universities prefer IB it can be helpful to get in.

IB is more difficult Bachillerato! This is for sure though
It's your decision to make anyways

Reply 5

Victor-PP

Original post by julia page

Don't do the bachillerato! Specially if you're planning to study abroad.

I'm a Spanish student myself and have opted for self-teaching A-levels rather than attending a state(public) school. Plus, if you reside in Barcelona, your bachillerato will be conducted in Catalan, not in Spanish.

I don't know anything about the American School of Barcelona. I know it's expensive. lol. On the other hand, I know a bit about the British School of Barcelona(where I sit my exams).

Btw, I live in Tarragona :biggrin:

If you need anything else, let me know.

EDIT: Oh god, I just realised how old this thread is. But I'm gonna post what I had written so far anyway. :biggrin:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

oleahi

One question,

Have you guys applied to any British universities this year....? I mean for the 2011 entry (or 2012 deferred entry)

Reply 7

andyyy

Original post by oleahi

It is very tough.. but in fact you do learn a lot.
Also, as British universities prefer IB it can be helpful to get in.

I know people who got in really competitive courses at UCL and Imperial with European baccalaureates so I doubt unis care that much whether you take IB or the bac. As long as you take relevant subjects and get good grades either one will do.

Reply 8

oleahi

Original post by andyyy

hm...actually I do agree with you as I know some people studying at imperial and they only had bachillerato (and haven't done extracurricular things)..
I just assumed that British universities prefer the IB as they are more difficult..

Reply 9

HyperInSugar

Original post by julia page

1. I know people who did "Bachillerato en Ciencias Sociales", and others who have done IB (in which I'm included btw). Both are different and cover different syllabus, but may I say that for example, the Maths being offered in Ciencias Sociales is basically at the same level than those done in Math Studies. Ciencias Sociales focus more on sciences which are aimed to be done in Medicine, whilst IB is broader and covers six different subjects from each subject group + CAS & TOK.

2. Either way, you will still have to do a special type of Selectividad with IB. The "Nota de Corte" in Selectividad cannot be reached with only the IB subjects and points (max.45), so you will have to do Acesso Directo, in which you take an special exam on two subjects of your choice (for example, I'm taking Matematicas & Fisica) and that is done by UNED (Universidad a Distancia).

3. Well, it's a well known school and what I've see so far is that offers a lot of subject options and has been offering the IB program since November 2006. I cannot say if it's good or bad, as I don't know but you should ask any seniors in order to seek their opinions of the IB and how they are dealing with it. I am currently taking mine at Aloha College, Marbella and well, I am liking it so far.

Any decision that you must take, you've to think it well.

Reply 10

andyyy

Original post by oleahi

I don't think British universities prefer either, they simply have different grade requirements for the IB and for European bacs, the same way they have different grade requirements for A Levels and Advanced Highers. Your grades matter much more than the kind of exam you took because all pre-undergrad courses are roughly at the same level, especially within the EU.

Reply 11

danny111

Original post by EmUIbA

1 - i disagree. we got 1 week off to do our EE in. and then we had the summer to work on it and finish it before xmas of the 2nd year. plenty of time.

Reply 12

EmUIbA

Original post by danny111

1 - i disagree. we got 1 week off to do our EE in. and then we had the summer to work on it and finish it before xmas of the 2nd year. plenty of time.

Congrats. I bet you didn't do IB at a normal Spanish school.

Reply 13

danny111

Original post by EmUIbA

Congrats. I bet you didn't do IB at a normal Spanish school.

But how do you OP's school will be as bad as yours?

Reply 14

Andrea8

Original post by Victor-PP

If you need anything else, let me know.

EDIT: Oh god, I just realised how old this thread is. But I'm gonna post what I had written so far anyway. :biggrin:

I don´t agree with you. I studied both Spanish bachillerato and IB. When I applied to unis they give me the offer with both of them, and I can assure you that the Spanish bachillerato offer was easier to get than the BI. So trust me if I told you that it doesn't matter if you study the spanish one even if you want to study abroad.
Also I have some friends that studied A-levels in a British school and they had some problems to get into the spanish universities.
Anyway if you're sure that you want to study in England A´levels is a good option due to the fact Spanish bachillerato have more subjects. :biggrin:

Reply 15

SergioMZ

For starters, she lives in Barcelona. Spanish Bachillerato in Catalonia includes a Treball de Recerca (TdR, TR).
It's a research project, a good one about 80 pages long, that takes months to complete. Way harder than the EE (some friends knowing about both think the EE is really, really easy, if you compare it to the TR). The EE accounts for 1 out of the 45 points. The TR is a 10% of the total Bachillerato average mark.
Plus, IB consists of six subjects, whilst Catalan Batxillerat has 10 or 11 (or 12, I'm no longer sure).
Irish unis will probably know better how the IB works than how our Bachillerato works.

Even though the circumstances have not been good, leaving Batx and doing A-levels is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

If it serves any purpose, I've got a friend that got admitted to do (from scratch) the IB at a UWC, after he had ended 1r de batx. He accepted, and will enter uni one year later just for the sake of doing the IB (true it is at a UWC, but anyway), losing an entire year of work (he retains the knowledge, useful now, but after two years, these marks are no longer valid for anything, I believe, as opposed to AS-levels).

Reply 16

oleahi

Original post by Andrea8

I hope it happens the same to me :smile:

I applied with both qualifications as well... though haven't got any results yet...

Reply 17

Andrea8

Original post by oleahi

I hope it happens the same to me :smile:

I applied with both qualifications as well... though haven't got any results yet...

when did you apply? I applie in september... I guess you're spanish, aren't you? :tongue:

Reply 18

oleahi

Original post by Andrea8

when did you apply? I applie in september... I guess you're spanish, aren't you? :tongue:

Just got an offer from Bristol for aeronautical engineering! :smile:

Bueno no soy espanol pero vivo en espana y estudio en un colegio espanol jajaja..
Pero me piden el BI... :frown:

no el bachillerato nacional.. es una pena pero bueno!
Pues yo solicite en 15 de octubre :smile:

Reply 19

Andrea8

Original post by oleahi

Just got an offer from Bristol for aeronautical engineering! :smile:

Bueno no soy espanol pero vivo en espana y estudio en un colegio espanol jajaja..
Pero me piden el BI... :frown:

no el bachillerato nacional.. es una pena pero bueno!
Pues yo solicite en 15 de octubre :smile:

Congratulations! Maybe you can ask the university if the can change your offer to the Spanish bachillerato, I did that last year with Sheffield uni and they changed it. You just can try! :biggrin:

De donde eres?