The IB Diploma: Why its Beneficial to Pursue It
Some of you may have heard of the IB program and are either planning to take it or avoid it. The IB program is one of the more challenging courses. However, the IB Diploma is a valuable experience that will help jumpstart your college experience.
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What is the IB Diploma?
The full IB Diploma consists of six different subjects that are from separate areas of study.
Three of the subjects are selected to be Higher level and the other three to be Standard Level.
In addition, there are three core IB components called CAS (Creativity, Action, and Service), TOK (Theory of Knowledge), and the EE(Extended Essay). Some of these components may seem to be rather pointless, but they are what helps to train you to be a student as you get ready for college.
IB Core Components
One of the most significant issues that many students face is time management; the IB program would incentivize students to focus on time management due to the need to balance all the different components together.
Work-life balance through CAS shows students that there is more to school life than just academics. However, CAS may be irritating because it forces you to conduct community service, sports, etc. Nevertheless, it helps foster the idea of a balanced academic life, which should be one of the critical lessons we take away from it.
The EE would be the most straightforward component of the entire Diploma because it is essentially focused research into a particular subject area. Therefore, the EE could be an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate your interest.
TOK would be the most controversial component of the three core components of the IB, with some students considering it to be a relatively useless subject.
TOK is a rather complex subject to put into words.
Even the official definition fails to show what makes TOK unique and helpful for students properly. TOK is genuinely a challenging subject to understand.
It teaches us to think deeply about many core concepts of the world that we take for granted. It puts into perspective how each of the different subjects you study for the IB is related. It shows the depth of the subject and how they don't exist independently of each other.
The higher level and standard level split is not as crucial as many would think.
Studying a higher level course just means that you would be going a lot more in-depth into that particular subject and would require to do one additional exam paper. Each subject's higher level differs differently from their standard level.
Thus, it is best to conduct your own research to determine what you want to take for a higher and standard level. A general guideline would be to select higher-level subjects related to whatever future degree you plan to pursue in college or subjects related to your core passions.
The Internal Assessment
Each of the subjects for the IB has an interesting assessment called the IA(Internal Assessment), which contributes 20 to 25% of your final grade.
The IA allows the IB to provide a different approach to academics through assignments and not a purely examination-based system. It further adds to the element that time management is a rather important skill. This is because the IA is conducted concurrently with the rest of your subjects.
The Benefits of an IB Diploma
All of these components combined may seem daunting, but don't be afraid. It may be difficult. You may feel stressed and lost at times. Still, it's important to remember that both the journey and destination are equally important.
With the IB, you get to pick up errors in your study habits early on and not let them affect your college life and grades, which may play a larger role in your life as a whole.
Remember failure is part of the process of learning.
How would you know how to improve yourself? The IB Diploma has taught me many lessons, but this is perhaps the most important one. I hope you all get to experience why I feel the IB Diploma is worth pursuing.
