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Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Old Feb 25th 2009, 10:59 pm
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Default Sorry, another (HS) school question.

My daughter will be going to High School this September and today has been invited to apply for the International Baccalaureate Program at one school and the Advanced Placement Program at another school.

I am so proud at the moment but she can't see what the big deal about it all is. So my question is does anyone know what the differences in the programmes are and wether it is a beneficial thing to do. She wants to be a vet or marine biologist, so I'm thinking this is a good thing. We do have some meetings to go to next month.
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Old Feb 25th 2009, 11:08 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Sorry cannot help, just wanted to say congrats to you and your daughter.
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Old Feb 25th 2009, 11:16 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Originally Posted by purple80
Sorry cannot help, just wanted to say congrats to you and your daughter.
Oh thank you.
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Old Feb 25th 2009, 11:25 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Hi PP, no I'm not much use either, they both sound an amazing opportunities for her though, Congratulations xx
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Old Feb 25th 2009, 11:35 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Didn't you know that you can Google almost everything today. She is obviously a talented student.

http://www.ibo.org/
http://www.ap.ca/
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Old Feb 25th 2009, 11:56 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

IB is an international programme (of real use if your kids want to go back to the UK to attend University). It's programmes might not replicate the diploma programme of the province. It's a great programme thougfh.

AP takes the kids through the diploma programme and preps them for their university courses in the same subject. It may even cover some first year university material and may exempt the student from the introductory courses.

IB has more international cachet.
AP may save your kids some time in Uni.

There's nothing wrong with just doing the diploma courses and getting good marks there.
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 12:14 am
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Our children are still quite young, but our local secondary school offers the IB and I'm going to steer them that way when the time comes - they are dual Canadian/British citizens so having the IB seems like a useful pathway to univeristy/post-graduate educations and employment in Europe, if they should ever choose to return there when they are adults.
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 1:36 am
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

You really need to go to the meetings so that you can make an informed decision. My daughter completed the IB Diploma and received credit at 2 of the 3 universities she applied to.
I know it is a bit early at the moment but if your daughter has any idea which university she wants to go to she can check online if she will receive any credit for the AP or IB.
From my daughter's experience I would recommend the IB but it is very tough, if you would like any other info please pm me otherwise this post could go on forever
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 1:58 am
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Originally Posted by Bellanova
Hi PP, no I'm not much use either, they both sound an amazing opportunities for her though, Congratulations xx
Thank you
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 2:12 am
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Originally Posted by Auld Yin
Didn't you know that you can Google almost everything today. She is obviously a talented student.

http://www.ibo.org/
http://www.ap.ca/
Google doesn't give you experience. I have looked at the school websites and followed the links.

Originally Posted by triumphguy
IB is an international programme (of real use if your kids want to go back to the UK to attend University). It's programmes might not replicate the diploma programme of the province. It's a great programme thougfh.

AP takes the kids through the diploma programme and preps them for their university courses in the same subject. It may even cover some first year university material and may exempt the student from the introductory courses.

IB has more international cachet.
AP may save your kids some time in Uni.

There's nothing wrong with just doing the diploma courses and getting good marks there.
Thank you so much, that has sorted it out in my head, the IB would be a better one to do but either one is better than not doing it at all.
Originally Posted by indigoagain
Our children are still quite young, but our local secondary school offers the IB and I'm going to steer them that way when the time comes - they are dual Canadian/British citizens so having the IB seems like a useful pathway to univeristy/post-graduate educations and employment in Europe, if they should ever choose to return there when they are adults.
That's what I'm thinking.
Originally Posted by ottawaharvey
You really need to go to the meetings so that you can make an informed decision. My daughter completed the IB Diploma and received credit at 2 of the 3 universities she applied to.
I know it is a bit early at the moment but if your daughter has any idea which university she wants to go to she can check online if she will receive any credit for the AP or IB.
From my daughter's experience I would recommend the IB but it is very tough, if you would like any other info please pm me otherwise this post could go on forever

The meetings are on the calendar, we will attend both. They are at the 2 different high schools that she could go - AP is the catchment and IB isn't, apparently it is now really hard to get into the none catchment school, I am hoping that if we want to go the IB route then our nationality my help as it is possible she'll want to go to Uni in the UK.

One thing that does concern me is my kid is one of those that if it's too hard then we just give up. BUT you only have to tell her something one and she's usually got it.

If I have anymore quetions after the meetings I'll pm you if that's OK.


Thank you everyone for the responses.
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 5:11 am
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Hi Piff

I went to these meetings last year for Hannah - two city High Schools in Lethbridge each offering one or the other.

The IB I know for sure is accepted by European Uni's - one of my waitresses in the UK was an Army child who had taken that route in Germany and then moved back to the UK. She got treated equally at the Uni in the UK and during her interviews received really positive feedback that she had been educated to that standard. So I already had the knowledge about this stream.

So when I went to the AP meeting at the other school I was amazed at the opportunities that the kids in this programme had been given. I came to the conclusion that if our kids wanted to go to a Canadian/North American Uni then I would be better placing them in the AP programme.

Why ?? It appears that kids on AP when they apply for the scholarships etc available over here the AP stands in better stead than the IB.

Did I want the kids to go back to the UK for Uni or stay here ? Well we have a wonderful Uni here but I would love them to be able to attend a University in their country of birth. My problem was that if they were to go to Uni in the UK although I worked and paid my taxes from 16 to 41 to the country our kids would have to pay International Student fees to attend a UK Uni.

Our local AP school also offers the programme from Grade 9 and up and also Grade 10 - we were advised that sometimes it is also better to place a kid in mainstream for Grade 9 and then attack the AP programme in Grade 10 as this helps a child to settle in at a High School.

Very difficult call to make as a parent and even worse to make as a child so I would get the most obviously from both meetings and then sit and discuss this with your wee one and see what she really want to do. At this age girls especially are very difficult and I would be very reluctant to put too much pressure on a girl of this age as I think that they have enough to think about with their hormonal changes - and boy dont we know they have them

Good Luck PP

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Old Feb 26th 2009, 2:00 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Thanks for that Gaynor. My hormonal teen is a :curse: nightmare at the moment, I have bought her some hormone balancing tablets from the health food store that really help but when she forgets to take them

She doesn't understand why I was so excited for her yesterday and apparently didn't go to the meeting in school the other week for AP and IB students because she didn't think she was one, it will be something we speak to her about and discuss as a family and we will all go to the meetings together. I did tell her that Red Deer colege has a pre course for vet school, to which she was mortified at having to do 2 more years, so maybe this is one way to encourage her to work a little harder to maybe escape some of the pre qualifiying classes. At the moment she just coasts along so IF she applied herself........
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 2:32 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

The IB is an internationally accredited qualification. In the UK a good IB diploma is being given a credit for up to 7 A'levels. Students applying to high level study such as medicine or law are finding that the IB is a good ticket to such studies. I would strongly recommend it.

As for it being a tough course, it is actually a very flexible course but many schools choose to deliver it in a very academic way. It can be deilvered in much more accessible ways though so check out the actual curriculum that is delivered locally.
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 2:47 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Sometimes more information doesn't help

I used to teach in highschool in Calgary.

There's no real bad decision; that's why I included the "just do the regular courses" comment.

Some kids thrive in those "higher" level courses. Some wilt. There's lots going on in the highschool years and adding stress (if your kid finds it stressful) may not be beneficial.

There's lots of doctors, lawyers, engineers etc who never did IB or AP.

The best outcome to shoot for is that your child finishes grade 12 with a sense of accomplishment and feeling succesful. Your child might be capable of doing those "higher" courses, but they might not be "helpful" at the point where she is in her life. (And I don't know your daughter, so my comments are generic, obviously).

When picking courses - where will she feel most accomplished? Where will she have more success?

Good luck - There's no real bad decision here.
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Old Feb 26th 2009, 7:26 pm
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Default Re: Sorry, another (HS) school question.

Originally Posted by triumphguy
Sometimes more information doesn't help

I used to teach in highschool in Calgary.

There's no real bad decision; that's why I included the "just do the regular courses" comment.

Some kids thrive in those "higher" level courses. Some wilt. There's lots going on in the highschool years and adding stress (if your kid finds it stressful) may not be beneficial.

There's lots of doctors, lawyers, engineers etc who never did IB or AP.

The best outcome to shoot for is that your child finishes grade 12 with a sense of accomplishment and feeling succesful. Your child might be capable of doing those "higher" courses, but they might not be "helpful" at the point where she is in her life. (And I don't know your daughter, so my comments are generic, obviously).

When picking courses - where will she feel most accomplished? Where will she have more success?

Good luck - There's no real bad decision here.
I agree. Not all kids are academic high achievers. My main point about IB is that depending on how it is delivered, it doesn't have to be just for high achievers. There can be a big focus on the "service" aspect for example, which allows for very practical work in the community.

There is an assumption that IB is for high achievers because of how many institutions deliver it, however, some deliver it in a much more inclusive way, hence my suggestion to get more info to see if it is the right course for the child in question.

I also agree that education is about much more than academics. The end product of a fully rounded individual with happy memories of his or her school days is an achievement in itself.
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