For IB seniors, part of their college search should include researching  the benefits available for IB students.

“Some schools [have] ‘favors’ offered to IB diploma students, ranging from scholarships, admittance to honors programs, special housing, advanced registration, advanced placement in courses but without credit, or simply getting into an institution that would have been beyond their reach without the IB Programme on their transcript,” Mrs. Brenda Brayko, IB coordinator, said.. 

Therefore, simply by participating in the IB program, a diploma or certificate student may be able to receive scholarships, admittance, credits or advance placement in college. To see what IB can offer, Mrs. Brayko suggests researching potential colleges and what they award for participation in the program.

“[The college]determines if someone who has completed an IB course will receive credit and how much.  They usually do this by deciding what scores will be acceptable to replace courses at their university.  Sometimes it matters if a course is a higher level or standard level IB course.  It is important for students to research schools they are thinking about applying to in order to find out what their policies are,” she explained. Mrs. Brayko also emphasized that because of IB’s challenging coursework, colleges and universities are looking for students willing to take such a challenge.

“Being a full diploma program student communicates to them that you have pursued the most rigorous program accessible to you at your school.  Parents come back again and again after college visits with their kids and tell me that colleges and universities are looking to see that the student has taken the most rigorous courses available.  This factor appears to be even more important than the student’s grade point average,” she said.

“Another benefit rarely mentioned is that the IB diploma candidate is much more likely to GRADUATE from college in four years.  Many go on to graduate school or double-major in just four or five years,” Mrs. Brayko added.

Thanks to her IB success, a double major became reality for Maria Slusarek, St. Norbert College, who received 12 immediate credits, eight retroactive credits and tested out of several classes.  “I was not intending to double major, but with the availabilities IB presented, I couldn’t resist!”

Since colleges seem to stress the full diploma program, what can the students who only take a few IB courses expect?

“Being a student who takes one or more IB classes will indicate good things about you, too, but the most desirable candidates are those who are full diploma.  Statistically, certificate candidates get accepted into college at a greater rate than the general candidate and the diploma candidates get accepted into college at a greater rate than either the certificate or the general candidate,” Mrs. Brayko said.

Results from NDA’s  first IB class varied, depending on the student, their scores and the college or university attended.

Haley Kerkhoff, freshman at UW-Madison, took two IB classes at NDA, English and history.   As a result of her scores, she started college with six hours of history credit and six hours of credit in English literature.  Kerkhoff, who admits she enjoys numbers, figured she saved over $2800, thanks to IB.

A similar story comes from Jackie Adrians, whose only IB course was English.  Marquette University gave her six English credits and she is now in an upper-level English class.

Stephanie Calawerts, who took all IB classes, said that she “started at St. Catherine University as a junior.”

Some colleges do give IB students advance placement, but sometimes only for high scores, as was the case for Aodhan Bowman who now attends Colby College in Maine. “I  think that Colby gives out placement (no credit, though) for high scores on IB tests; however, I only scored 5’s on my HL classes—not enough to merit recognition and thus higher placement,” he said.

Now at UW-Milwaukee, Kelsey McCole, who took the full IB program,  said she has received “five additional history credits plus testing out of history, credit for  English 101 and 102 and credit for two semesters of math.”

Some students, including those who took the full IB Diploma Programme and others who only received certificates, say that even though they haven’t received anything for their efforts in IB, they have noticed some benefits from taking the courses. Emily Schmitt, certificate student, did not receive credit but says that she “did benefit by learning how to analyze literature [and] write a solid essay.”

Margot Cullen, Yale, shared that “the most amazing part is how several of my classes ask me to think in ways similar to our Theory of Knowledge class.”

While IB can be challenging, prospective IB students should research colleges and universities to determine what financial and credit benefits are available.  In some cases, such as Kassie Mattia at Santa Clara University, being an IB diploma recipient turned into a full-tuition scholarship.   Yet, Mattia emphasized  a benefit beyond money, saying, “I am most appreciative of how the program changed my way of thinking, anaylyzing and communicating.”

IB classes can, if nothing else, prepare students for college work.  Jaqueline Patz, University of Notre Dame, said, “IB mostly has helped me to realize how I learn best.  It has made me look at the world with questioning eyes and only accept information after I have examined it thoroughly enough to claim that I know it as true.  I have become a better studier and a better learner.  I am infinitely more inquisitive and have a deeper love of knowledge.”