AnalysisandSurveyDesignbyStrategicTechnologySolutions

RichLaValley,President

Methodology SampleofCollegeGraduatewhowentthroughIBfromSocialNetworkSites

Emailsenttoover650potentialrespondentswith6questions

215emailswerereturnedwithresponses Resultscompiledandsummarized.

Demographicsoftherespondents

•26states•8foreigncountriesnotshown

1)DidIBhelpincollegeprep?Whathelped?Writingskills?Studyskills?

•96.7%saidIBhelpedwithcollegepreparedness.

•73%saidwritingskillsdevelopedinIBhelped•60%saidstudyskillsdevelopedinIBhelped•47%saidIBwasharderthancollegeandtheywerereadyforcollege•35%saidcriticalandanalyticalthinkingskillsdevelopedinIBhelped•26%saidtimemanagementskillsdevelopedinIBhelped.•

2)DidyoureceivecollegecreditoradvancementforyourIBwork?Didithelpyoutobeadvanced?

•83%ofrespondentsreceivedadvancementincollege(throughcreditoradvancement)•74%ofrespondentsreceivedsomecreditforgoingintocollegestandingortakingdepartmenttesting)•23%receivedsophomorestanding•4%receivedsecondsemestersophomorestanding

ItshouldbenotedthatitwasnotpossibletoseparateIBfromAPcredits!

3)Didyougraduatefromcollege?Whatschool?Orifstillincollege,whatwasyourGPAafter4semesters?

•65%ofrespondentshadgraduatedfromcollege•34.5%ofrespondentswerestillincollege•.5%didnotgraduatefromcollege

•71%ofrespondentshadGPAgreaterthanorequalto3.5•29%ofrespondentshadGPAlessthan3.5

4)Ifyougraduatedfromcollege,areyouinacareerrelatedtoyourcollegedegree?

•58%ofrespondentswhohadgraduatedwereincareersrelatedtoundergraduatemajor•21%ofrespondentswhohadgraduatedwereincareersnotrelatedtotheirundergraduatemajor•41%ofrespondentswhohadgraduatedhadgoneontopostgraduateworkorwerestillingraduatework

5)Inhighschool,didyoutakeanyAPexamsinadditiontoIBexams?Ifso,whatdidyouscoreanddidyoutakewithout

additionalpreparation?DidyourschoolofferjointIB/APcourses?•55%ofrespondentstookAPtestsinadditiontoIBtests•45%ofrespondentsdidnottakeAPtests

•36%ofrespondentswhotookAPteststookthemwithnopreparationotherthanIB•28%tookjointIB/APclassespriortoAPtests•80%received4orhigheronAPtests

IB emphasizesa lotof readingandwriting skills. IBalsohasa verywellroundedcurriculumwithprojects,papers,presentations.Asafreshman,Iwasreadyfortheworkload of college classes. I also was very prepared forthedifferenttypesofassignmentsandgroupwork.ThisisprobablyoneofthebiggeststrengthsofIB.IBDiplomaGraduatefromMinnesota

Yes,itdid.LittleIdidincollegechallengedmeasmuchasIBdid.Havingtotake7‐8college level coursesfivedaysaweekmakesactual college easy toadapt toandsucceed in. Mywriting skillswere such that by college I never had towritemorethantwodraftsonanyassignment.ThestudydisciplineIhadtodeveloptosucceedin IBmade it easy forme to study in an environment where I had plenty else todistractme.IBDiplomaGraduateColorado

Yes,enormously. Collegehasbeeneasierthanhighschool. IhadstrongerwritingskillsandinmyfreshmanEnglishcourseswastheonlystudentwhoknewhowtodothekindofwritingwewereaskedtodo. Timemanagementskills,studyskills,andanabilitytodomorethanjustschool(becauseofCAS).Ialsohadnoproblemwithlongexams.Inaddition,mybreadthofknowledgefrommyHLclassesseemstobehigherthanthatofmynon‐IBpeers..IBDiplomaGraduatefromMaryland

IfeltverywellpreparedforcollegeonceIgotthere.IhadbeenalittleapprehensiveaboutSwarthmore's reputation foracademic intensity,but felt that IBprogram inhigh school preparedmewell and the transition to college levelworkwasnot toodifficult at all. I especially liked TOK, which I'm sure helped me to develop mywritingskills.IBDiplomaGraduateWashington

Absolutely it helped. I'd say that more than anything, they emphasized thinkingcritically about each subject. Specifically the English classes, the 4‐year foreignlanguage requirement (I hated this at the time, but now I'm very happy this wasrequired‐habloespañolconfluidez),ToKandofcourse,theEEwereallexcellent.Itdefinitely prepares your timemanagement and study skills for college, due to theoverwhelmingamountofworkyouget.;)IBDiplomaGraduateFlorida

Absolutely.IBcoursesweremuchmoredemandingandinvolvedthanthecoursesItake at college. My writing skills were strongly developed, however, most of mycollegecoursesonlyusemultiplechoiceexaminations.Criticalthinkingskillswerethemostvaluabletome.

IBDiplomaGraduateVirginia

IBhelpedimmenselyincollegepreparation.Becauseofthelargeworkload,Ilearnedto prioritize what I wanted to get done and by when I wanted to get it done. IBhelpedme learn to focusonwhat Iworkedonwithoutgettingdistractedand thishasbeenhelpfulincollegebecauseIamabletoworkfasterandmoreefficiently.MywritingskillsalsoimprovedthroughIBbecauseofthemassiveamountsofwritingwewererequiredtodoinmanydifferentsubjects.TheIBexamsforcedmetolearnhow to write papers quickly but still maintain good quality which is amazinglyhelpfulatcollege.IBDiplomaGraduateVirginia

IfeelthatIBhelpedincollegeprep,especiallyintworegards.Thefirstbeingtimemanagement,IBisanextremelyholisticanddemandingprogramandduringmyfinal two years of high school I experienced a course load that far exceededanythingIencounteredduringmyfirstyearofcollege.BecauseofthisIlearnedtostudywellandfelt Ihadastepupfrommypeershereatuniversity. Becauseofthe comprehensivenessof theprogram I felt thatbothmywritingand speakingskillsimprovedaswell.Analyticalskillsandtheabilitytoresearcheffectivelywerealsonecessaryfortheprogram.

IBDiplomaGraduateSwitzerland

Yeah,Ithelped.Especiallyinmywritingmorethananythingelse.Butstudyskillsdidhelp aswell. (Annotatingwhile reading is somethingmy IBEnglish teacherdrilleduswith,anditdefinitelyhelpedwithmystudyskillsincollege)

IBDiplomaGraduateGeorgia

IBwas invaluable forcollegepreparation.While Ihave founddemandingcourseworkandengagingclasses,thankstotherigorofIBIhaveneverfeltoverwhelmedor surprised by professor expectations orworkload.Mywriting skills have beenmore than adequate and word counts are not intimidating. In fact, manyassignments do not compare to what was expected in IB, especially for generaleducationrequirements.

IBDiplomaGraduateOregon

IBhelpedpreparemeforcollegeverywell,particularlyintheareaofstudyskills.ManyofmypeershavenoideahowtostudyormanagetheirtimeandIfeelthatIBgavemetheknowledgetoknowhowtotimemanageandstudyeffectively.

IBDiplomaGraduateKansas

Absolutely!IactuallyfeltIBwasmorechallengingthancollege.IBmademyundergraduateworkabreeze.IfeltmywritingskillswereaverageforIB,butadvancedatthecollegelevel.MywritingskillswerealsoadvancedattheMaster'slevelaswell.Ihavehonestlyneverbeenverygoodat"studying".However,IBtaughtmehowtothinkandunderstandmaterialwhichmademeveryefficientwithmystudying.Ihavealwaysexcelledincomparisontothosewhospendfarmoretimetryingtomemorize.

IBCertificateGraduateCalifornia

Yes,IBhelpedincollegeprep.Ithelpedinstudyskills;organizingourtime;becauseitisaprogramandnotjustindividualclasses,ithelpedmeviewourcollegeclasses/lifeasa"Program"andnotjustindividualclasses;itmadememoreselfconfident(Becausecollegeseemedmucheasier‐thefirstyear);thisobviouslyhelpedmegetintotheswingofcollegeeasierandfaster.

IBCertificateGraduateWyoming

Yes,IBabsolutelyhelped.ItwasthemostchallengingeducationalexperienceIhad,surpassingcollegeandlawschool.Itwascriticalintermsoftimemanagement,tobeabletohandletheworkloadplusalloftheextracurricularactivitieswewereencouragedtoparticipatein.Inmyprogram,thestudentsweremoreactiveinschoolclubsandteamsthannonIB‐students.IBDiplomaGraduateKansas

Yes, I received 18 credits, as well as was passed through Calc 1 withnocreditsattached. I was passed through lower level writing(3 credits I think), 5 creditsofbiology,3creditsofhistory,3creditsofliterature,andsomethingelseIthink.IBDiplomaGraduatefromColorado

Basedonmyexamscores,Iwasabletoreceive36creditsgoingintomyfirstyearofschool;essentially,Istartedmycollegecareerasasophomore.This,Ifeel,putmeatboth an advantage and a disadvantage. Because I had so many credits, I couldbypassmostofthegeneraled/coreclassesthatwererequired, i.e.,saveonayear'sworth of tuition. However, though I do not regretmy choice of majors (PoliticalScienceandSpanish),IfeelthatIwassomewhatrushedintomakingadecisionastowhat Iwould study. Becausemy core classeswere taken care of, I needed to pickclassesthatwould count towardsmymajors, but I wasn't sure of whatIwantedtostudyrightaway.Iwouldhavelikedtohavetakenmoreelectiveclasses.ButIBdefinitelyhelped;Igraduatedinthreeyears.

IBDiplomaGraduateColorado

Yes, IenteredcollegeasasecondsemestersophomorethankstoacombinationofIB,AP(whichourschoolhadustakeinadditiontoIBexams),anddualenrollmentcredits. Iwaseligible forgraduationafter twoandahalfyearsbutstayedanothersemester for another certificate. This put me way ahead of the game in manyrespects. IBDiplomaGraduateFlorida

Absolutely,andthatisoneofthebiggestadvantagesIMOoftheIBprogram.Ienteredmyfreshmanyearwith42collegecredits,allowingmetoobtainmajorsintwodifferentconcentrations.Furthermore(andpossiblyofparticularinteresttoparents),sinceIattendedaprivateinstitutionthattranslatedtovaluabletimeandmoneysaved. IBDiplomaGraduateFlorida

Ireceivedafullyearofcollegecreditandwasabletoavoidanyscience,socialscience,math,orwritingclassesthatwerebasicrequirements.Iwasabletostartoutinadvancedclasses,buttherealbenefitwasthatmyadvancedstandingallowedmetochangemymajortwiceandstillgraduateontime.SoIgottoexplorealotofareasofinteresttome.

IBDiplomaGraduateIllinois

Ireceived45credits,apromiseofscholarshipmoney,anditwasinstrumentalinmyadmissiontotheanhonorsprogram.

IBDiplomaGraduateOregon

Ireceived20hoursfromIBwork.Ithelpedmeregisterforclassesearlier,whichisalwaysabonus.Iwon'tbegraduatingearlierbecauseofthesehoursthough,I'mstillona4yeartrack.

IBDiplomaGraduateTexas

Ireceived35creditsformyIBexamsatVCU,soIcameintotheuniversityasasophomore.IfIchoseonemajorIcouldfinishin3years,buttherealgiftofallthosecreditsishavingmoreroominmyscheduletogrow!Icanhavetwomajors,andstilltakeelectivestoexploremyspecificinterests.SinceIcameinwithsomanycredits,Iwillactuallygraduatewithtwoseparatebachelorsdegrees,oneineachmajors.

IBDiplomaGraduateVirginia

Ireceived20collegecreditsfrommyIBdiploma,whichprobablycouldhavehelpedmegraduateinthreeyearshadInotdecidedtodoadoublemajor.

IBDiplomaGraduateMaryland

Ireceivedcreditforquiteafewclasses,whichwasessentialtomygraduatingwithatriplemajorinfouryears.

IBDiplomaGraduateCalifornia

Yes.Ithelpedmegetpreferentialtreatmentforclassselectionandcouldhavehelpedmegraduateearly,butIchosenottodothat.

IBDiplomaGraduateCalifornia

Ihadhighenoughscorestoget45credits,butmyuniversityonlyallowedmetohave30andstartasasophomore.

IBCertificateGraduateFlorida

As an addendum to the below, I really credit the IB program for keeping meintellectually engaged during high school. That is to say, I think being stuck inregular ed classes - even with a few AP classes - would have been much lesschallenging.

Here's the thing: That the IB program has a set, comprehensive curriculum isimportant because it pushes you in areas you may not otherwise pursue foryourself. For example, I was required to take 4 years of a foreign language,which I would never have pursued on my own. Right now, I am applying for a jobwhere my French training has helped me greatly. I never would have seen thatcoming down the road 8-12 years ago, and I seriously doubt I would have takenall those French classes (or, for that matter, many AP classes that didn'tnominally interest me) of my own volition.

I was a classic high school slacker: aimless, unmotivated and underachieving.And not to toot my horn, but I am no dummy. I owe IB a lot for having kept mechallenged and engaged. Looking back, I truly think I might have otherwisegotten into more trouble or even dropped out of school.

IB Diploma Graduate CO

In addition, I would like to make a couple of less definable points for IBprograms. During my years, there were three additional components that I foundvery helpful:

1) Theory of Knowledge has been my favorite learning experience of my entireeducation (high school, college, doctorate, residency, etc.) It taught not onlycomponents of thought like philosophy, logic, and language but also HOW tothink and different ways to approach learning and problems.

2) The extended essay was a mini-thesis. The topic was open and allowed greatfreedoms while teaching research, professional/publication style writing, andcomposition skills.

3) The CAS component ensured some outside interests besides education. Inmy program, most people participated in sports, music, drama but many also hadjobs, outside and travelling team sports, and significant community serviceactivity.

Overall, IB provided me with innumerable opportunities as a foundation fromwhich to build my life. IB Diploma Graduate KS

Conclusions