Clearly, a lot of us now have revised expectations of what the International Studies Program will look like at South Iredell. Let’s examine what is still true for your rising high-school junior.

Perhaps this information will alleviate some of your concerns. 53 of U.S. News and World Report’s 2011 Top National Universities give credit for IB students who receive the certificate our Level 5s will receive, not just for the Diploma Candidates. Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index. cfm

Other facts that might ease your mind: 56 % of the Top 100 give subject-specific credit for reaching certain scores on individual IB exams. Combined with sitting for A.P. exams, our students will have more opportunities to earn college credit than their counterparts at traditional high schools. Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index.cfm

Other facts that might ease your mind: 14% give preference in the admissions process to students who have taken the cornerstone DP course Theory of Knowledge (ToK) or completed an Extended Essay, both of which will be a major part of your children’s lives in the next two years at South Iredell. Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index.cfm

Other facts that might ease your mind: The U.S. Naval Academy believes so strongly in students taking the IB exams that it sets no minimum score as an admission criterion. It simply wants incoming Midshipmen to prepare for and take the exams. Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index.cfm

Other facts that might ease your mind: 26 colleges offer scholarships exclusively for IB students, some without successful completion of the DP. Some scholarship- offering schools include: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a top 10 engineering school the University of Oregon Savannah College of Arts and Design the Florida Atlantic University’s Honors College Temple University Texas Tech Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index.cfm Southern Methodist

HL v. SL Both HL and SL in IB are comparable in rigor to A.P. classes. The difference between HL (Higher Level) and SL (Standard Level) courses is normally one of breadth rather than depth. The depth of the course material is the same at HL and SL. In HL, because it is a two-year course, there is more breadth (i.e. more topics studied).

Universities giving college credit for SL classes include: Princeton, No. 2 University of Texas, 45 University of Florida, 53 Texas A&M, 63 Marquette, 75 University of Colorado, 86 UNC-Chapel Hill, 30 University of Illinois, 47 University of Georgia, Purdue, University of Maryland, all tied at 56 Virginia Tech, 69 Baylor, 79 United States Naval Academy, unranked Source: ibo.org/diploma/recognition/recognitionpolicy/index.cfm

A study at the University of Florida showed that IB students suffered less college “shock” than their non-IB peers. UF students from standard college prep programs saw their high- school grades drop 28 percent as freshmen. A.P. students saw a 21 percent drop. IB students only dropped 13 percent. Also, standard college prep students scored 1158 on their S.A.T.s, compared to 1177 for A.P. students and 1213 for IB students.

A study at the University of Florida IB students at UF outperformed their non-IB peers in Introduction to Chemistry (by 33.4%) Upper-level Chemistry (27.8) Quality Analysis 2 (21.3) Quality Analysis 1 (19.2) Technical Writing (18.7) Expository Writing (9.6) Analytical Geometry / Calculus (7.9)

At the College of William & Mary IB students consistently have higher G.P.A.s than the average of their non-IB peers.

Virginia Tech compared students who simply attended schools that had IB programmes and found that the IB environment created this stark of a contrast. Comparing student populations with G.P.A.s above 3.0 (a standard B) Student GroupPercent above 3.0 Non-IB / Non- A.P.33 A.P.41 Students at an IB school88

Case Western Reserve University looked at students who took both A.P. and IB exams. They found that students scoring at the highest IB levels (6-7) correlated to scoring at the highest A.P. levels (4-5), but it did not necessarily correlate that students scoring at the highest A.P. levels (4-5) reached the highest IB scores (6-7). A strong inference to be drawn from this suggests IB is more of a rigorous college preparatory environment than A.P.

Bottom line: Find the best match. The next two years of your child’s academic life will provide him or her with excellent preparation for college and life beyond regardless if your family chooses a traditional environment at Lake Norman, Statesville, or South Iredell’s International Studies Program. The important thing for you to decide is what is the best match for your family.