IB- Good or Bad?

Ugh. Why did I have to choose the super demanding academic program that consumes about all of my time in homework and studying and blech. Welcome, fellow bloggers, to the world of an IB student.

For those of you who don’t know what IB is (and unless you take it/have taken it/know someone who takes it you probably won’t know it), it stands for International Baccalaureate. It’s an international academically enriched program, and it sucks the life out of just about everyone who takes it. Basically, you take a bunch of smart kids and dump a load of work on them. The top definition in Urban Dictionary is:

IB, A.K.A. International Baccalaureate – A malicious program aimed at the unnaturally brighter population in an attempt to overload their brains, thus reducing them to vegetables without lives. However, a true IB student will respond by adapting and bsing their way through.

IB, therefore I BS.

And that’s honestly what it is. IB students count themselves lucky if they have only 2 hours of homework a night rather than about 6. Really. And just to set the record straight, IB and AP are NOT comparable. I have several friends in AP, and man their lives are so much less cluttered than mine.

But, then again, there are upsides to it. You have to do a 4000 word essay in grade 11/12, so when university profs hand out a 2000 word essay, it’s no problem. The transition to University is much easier too. You’re already learning to work hard, manage your time (mostly) and that you really do need to study for tests. Cause TBH, before IB, I was doing none of those things.

So to all of you out there thinking about going into IB, think very carefully. It can be a great thing for some people, i know i absolutely love it (despite the ranting above), but my brother would not like it. Also think about workload. You’ll probably be spending a couple hours a night working on homework, so do you have the time for that?

But you know what, overall, I’m completely certain that going into IB was the right decision for me. It boosted my self confidence to see that liking school wasn’t a bad thing, that there were others who like it too, and I don’t have to explain things a thousand times before they get it.  SO think about it, but to al you smart cookies out there, definitely think about coming to IB.

❤