IB World

[yeithau]

Hi,
I would like to get some opinion and experiences from you guys about International Baccalaureate (IB) Program since this program is very rare in Malaysia compared to A level....

[Yvette]

IB world is so hectic man!!!

[yeithau]

Y u say so.... IB is a very good program la.. i think the best among the best in malaysia.....

[Patrick]

IB is a relaxed, 2 year course.

It really depends on you.
If you want to deluge yourself with assignments, then you will be busy and the programme will be hectic.

[bush]

It sucks if you did it in some God-knows-where college.

It would be an experience if you're doing it at ISKL or UWC. Not really what you want if it's in KMB.

[sealy]

Sri KDU Smart School will start offering the IB Diploma soon. I'm not sure it will start but I have heard that it should be in January 2007. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[forrestcat]

After their exam, it takes about 6-12 months before they enter Unis overseas, so the duration is like 2-3 years. They are already old when they enter Uni....hehe

[claypot]

After their exam, it takes about 6-12 months before they enter Unis overseas, so the duration is like 2-3 years. They are already old when they enter Uni....hehe

why u cay so.... is it true IB student have to wait for 6-12 months before we can fly overseas.... don tell lies....

[claypot]

After their exam, it takes about 6-12 months before they enter Unis overseas, so the duration is like 2-3 years. They are already old when they enter Uni....hehe

why u cay so.... is it true IB student have to wait for 6-12 months before we can fly overseas.... don tell lies....

[sealy]

Most of the time the IB starts in August/September as is the case in most UWCs(except Waterford) and ISKL. I takes up to 2 years and usually it ends in May. People who have US/UK unis in mind would then enter uni in the Fall of that year itself. Only some people who are going to Australia need wait for half a year.

The IB offered in Sri KDU from what I've heard, starts in January and last 2 years.

[kram]

IB is a relaxed, 2 year course.

It really depends on you.
If you want to deluge yourself with assignments, then you will be busy and the programme will be hectic.

The IB is packed with thigns to do... if you have a good coordinator which is able to tellwhen to do stuff and when not to do it, then you should be fine...as long as you stick to the deadline. If you procrastinate, which is what we usually do, then you're asking for trouble. other than that, the IBis a relaxed, 2 year course.

check this out...
Ramblings of the Sleep Deprived
community.livejournal.com/ibscrewed

cheers

[forrestcat]

Well, IB students who manage to get a place in UK/Canada can fly earlier, meanwhile students who go to Australia and other countreis will have to start early the following year, about 6 months after they get their results.

My IB friend only ew to Australia 6 months after he receive his result, and before that, waited for 2-3 months for his IB result.

And meanwhile, all their counterparts in AUSMAT, ADFP, and A-Level programs would have finished their first/second semester at Uni.

However,IB is advantageous coz since it's an extensive program, u can drop some subjects at Uni.

[Yvette]

claypot, where are you studying IB??

So far, so good ah??

[claypot]

Y u wanna know where i study....
u wanna visit me is it?
my school is some where in malaysia
what about u?

ISP or ISKL or KMB

[Yvette]

Y u wanna know where i study....
u wanna visit me is it?
my school is some where in malaysia
what about u?

ISP or ISKL or KMB

yeah i wanna visit you. then you can treat me with claypot rice..heehehe...
my school is also somewhere in malaysia..I dun wanna disclose where...

[sealy]

Mine's not in Malaysia... T.T

[claypot]

Mine's not in Malaysia... T.T

U r not studying in Malaysia.
then where r u studying right now?

[sealy]

Am gonna fly off next month to do the IB.....

[claypot]

where r u going to study IB.... Malaysia?
Where r u from actually... i mean which country....
what subject r u going to take in IB program....

[sealy]

I am a Malaysian :D and I'll be flying off to a UWC next month. My subject combinations for the time being are HL english, biology, chemistry, SL spanish AB, geography, math. I'm thinking of taking a 7th subject which will either be theatre, philosophy or human rights...

[sealy]

The IB has also recently been given due recognition and is now deemed superior compared to the A levels. Have a look at the following articles:

http://www.ibo.org/media/pressreleasejuly06.cfm
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/06/nucas06.xml

30 IB points = 3.5A's at A level and 38 IB points = 5A's at A level!

[claypot]

i take
Chemistry HL,
Physic HL,
Mathematics HL,
Malay SL,
English SL,
Business and Management SL..

[claypot]

The IB has also recently been given due recognition and is now deemed superior compared to the A levels. Have a look at the following articles:

http://www.ibo.org/media/pressreleasejuly06.cfm
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/06/nucas06.xml

30 IB points = 3.5A's at A level and 38 IB points = 5A's at A level!

wow... that is good for us, who take IB la...
haha
so our qualification is better than a level student...
haha...

[sealy]

Which school are u from? I'll be off to Rode Kors Nordic UWC...

[bush]

Well, IB is really a great course since one must study language, humanities and the sciences. As if that's not enough, one still needs to be a quasi-philosopher cum community worker. However, I do not agree on 'IB more superior' or 'IB student more qualified that A-level student'.

A few reasons. As stated in the article from the telegraph newspaper, Oxford and Cambridge typically ask for 40 points. Now how many people can achieve 40 points? If tones of students can score 37+ or so(As reported in the article), then a rather stupid reason would be, the higher the bar, the less students would make it. Hence making it easy for Cambridge and Oxford to decide.

This itself will give rise to a few pressing questions. If everybody can score such high marks, it only means two things. Grade inflation or the students themselves are very competitive.

If not many people can score 37+. This would only mean IB is blardy tough.

Either way, nothing changes the fact that Oxbridge asks for 40 for IB and 3As or 4As for certain courses. Students from both streams are not exempted from the many admission tests Oxbridge are notorious for, so nothing to dispute.

Now if you were to look closer, you may catch a conspicuous difference in admission conditions. If 3 or 4As plus a superb performance in the interview and tests is good enough for admission into Oxbridge. Why in the world would they ask for 40 points when 40 points is equivalent to 5.5 As? Are they trying to say that you need 40 points(which is one of the best scores in IB) to match up with 4 As at A-level? Does it mean you need to do extra work to match up with 4 As at A-level?

It's not objective so you speculate.

[forrestcat]

Anyone here from KMB, Banting? Are the IB results out already? Just curious.

[sealy]

Those results have just been released while the entry requirements to Oxbridge were from a few years back. So for all we know, Oxbridge might just change that this year. And students who do the IB generally have better academics. Like for the UWCs, one is chosen based on merit. KMB on the other hand is only for scholarship holders and is one of the largest IB schools in the world. As for SriKDU which will only start offering the IB next year, their entry requirements are much higher than that of A levels and other pre-u programmes.

Extract from SriKDU website:
For SPM ?A? in English
Minimum ?3B? in 5 of the following subjects:
- BM
- Modern Mathematics / Additional Mathematics
- General Science / History
- Physics / Chemistry / Biology
- Economics/ Commerce / Accounting

For O-levels ?A? in English
Minimum ?B? in 5 subjects

And here's another link For SPM ?A? in English
Minimum ?3B? in 5 of the following subjects:
- BM
- Modern Mathematics / Additional Mathematics
- General Science / History
- Physics / Chemistry / Biology
- Economics/ Commerce / Accounting

For O-levels ?A? in English
Minimum ?B? in 5 subjects

A far cry from colleges who offer A levels but only require 5 credits for entry.

And here's another link:
http://www.tes.co.uk/2256783


Forestcat, the IB results were released weeks ago. Are you an IB first year or second year?

[bush]

UCAS tariff points chart is just a uniform points chart. If you excelled in the 6-7 subjects in IB, isn't it obvious that when compared in the chart, wouldn't be 5 or 6 equivalent A-level As? If one did 6 subjects at A-level, wouldn't it be like IB? If you're still hell-bent on saying IB is superior and whatnot, then I can also say UEC is much more superior than IB since UEC candidates must take 8 subjects or so.

Regarding Oxbridge. I don't quite get you. You said 40 points for admission into Oxbridge is a thing of the past. So what is the the present thing? Higher? or lower? If they are asking for higher marks, the previous argument stands, that one needs to prove their worth by doing more work(since when the requirements go up, the standard of the qualification goes down), or Oxbridge is just a sucker. If it's lower, it wouldn't make sense, since everybody can score like 30 and above.

There are many people who can get into the UWC, they couldn't make it because of funds. Recom has one, 'expectation'. Also, quoting UWC and KMB wouldn't be a good thing since they are not opened to all who have the potential to do IB. Do note that these institutions are not profit driven, their sole purpose is to provide a good education.

SriKDU on the other hand is a good example but don't forget that we also have KYUEM and KTJ who offer A-levels. The entry requirements at KYUEM is similar to that of SriKDU. Similar entry requirements for A-levels and IB, what does it mean?

http://www.kyuem.edu.my/prospective.student.admission.asp

KTJ does not state the entry requirements, but I believe it is similar to that of KYUEM.

As you can see, it is dependent on the the respective schools to set the minimum entry requirements. Of course, if SriKDU were to set a low entry requirement, everybody can enroll, but not all can cope with the stuff IB throws at them. You'll only end up with lots of failures. That's the same for KYUEM.

Private colleges like Sunway, HELP, Taylor's etc are only in for the money. The lower the entry requirements, the better it will be.

[sealy]

Personally, I cannot prove that the IB is the best pre-u programme, because I have not even been through it let alone started it. Regarding the Oxbridge entry requirements, I was only saying that there might be a change this year due to the recent accreditation the IB has just received. And the reason I mentioned KMB and UWC is just to prove why most IB candidates score above 30, coz these 2 institutions are one the largest IB schools in the world and constitute for a better part of the IB candidates every year. And there are only a few who could not make it into the UWC every year because full fee-paying places range around 1 or 2 a year only, while the other places come with a scholarship. 'expectation' did accept a scholarship place to Bosnia but that place was later withdrawn by the college. Hope she still gets it though.... And the IB is special in a way because it has the CAS, TOK and extended essay components. And based on the IB website, the only schools that offer the IB in Malaysia are International School of Kuala Lumpur, KDU Smart School Sdn Bhd, MARA Banting, Seremban, Mont Kiara International School and Penang International School. KTJ and KYUEM offers A levels only...

[bush]

Personally, I cannot prove that the IB is the best pre-u programme, because I have not even been through it let alone started it. Regarding the Oxbridge entry requirements, I was only saying that there might be a change this year due to the recent accreditation the IB has just received. And the reason I mentioned KMB and UWC is just to prove why most IB candidates score above 30, coz these 2 institutions are one the largest IB schools in the world and constitute for a better part of the IB candidates every year. And there are only a few who could not make it into the UWC every year because full fee-paying places range around 1 or 2 a year only, while the other places come with a scholarship. 'expectation' did accept a scholarship place to Bosnia but that place was later withdrawn by the college. Hope she still gets it though.... And the IB is special in a way because it has the CAS, TOK and extended essay components. And based on the IB website, the only schools that offer the IB in Malaysia are International School of Kuala Lumpur, KDU Smart School Sdn Bhd, MARA Banting, Seremban, Mont Kiara International School and Penang International School. KTJ and KYUEM offers A levels only...

IB is one of the best if not the best pre-u program. I do not dispute that.

It's just claims like 'IB is superior' and whatnot that are worrisome. Worrisome because one does not analyse beforehand but jump to a conclusion before anything can be done.

[sealy]

Haha, my fault. Should not have used that "strong" a term...

[claypot]

Can anyone can tell me more about what is the main purpose of CAS which stands for creative, action and service....?

i m still blurr about the objective behind it?

[Dr_Tay]

IB is okay but frankly with the dilution of education standards I would say go to Beijing University and brush up on Mandarin and linguistic skills. Learning Mandarin, English and Spanish would be the next best thing to a degree in medicine or biotech. Infact, in time to come being able to cross divides between all three worlds will stand you in good stead.

UWC candidates usually belong to wealthy Asian families who have companies for their offspring to run when they return from their stint abroad. Others who aren't so lucky well have to make do with less. Do a diploma and then a degree with TAR College, would be a better bet.

[Yvette]

The purpose of CAS is to develope the individual as a whole. Not only academically but spiritually as well...claypot, how do you find CAS so far? Does it consume a lot of your time??

[claypot]

the CAS activity really waste loads of time which we can benefit them by studying or doing revision or even doing lab report which is getting harder and harder especially for Physic lab report....
i can see the benefit behind this program,,,, which emphasis mmore to moral value rather than studying PENDIDIKAN MORAL....
for eg. i went to do my external CAS where i have to deal with kids.my job there is to teach the origin people age between 7 to 11 years old in how to read and write and count.... from this activity i realize that to be a teacher in any school is not easy since teachers have to face kids with different attitude... so the moral behind my experience is do respect your teachers....

-claypot-

[kamilchan]

sucks la this IB thing.. especially in kmb. shouldnt have been studying here..life seems miserable..erghh.
but what to do, got a year left..better strive..

[claypot]

oh kamilchan...


pity u ....
i oso don really like IB...
it is hectic especially for the CAS thing don u think so...

[Patrick]

Huh?

I beg to differ.

The IB programme is pretty easy and relaxing if you manage your time well.

By the way, where are you studying at, claypot?

[bert]

UWC candidates usually belong to wealthy Asian families who have companies for their offspring to run when they return from their stint abroad.

seriously... huh?

[sealy]

I've just started my 1st year at the Red Cross Nordic United World College. The Asians here are by no means wealthy and have family businesses. Quite a number of them are from SOS children villages and/or are refugees. Only a small number, about 2 out of 10, are rich. So please don't generalise the Asian UWC candidates. Because I for one do not have a 'wealthy family' nor do I have a company to return to.

[Jei]

What is IB about ?
Can anyone tell me or guide me to some website ?
Thanks.

[Patrick]

What is IB about ?
Can anyone tell me or guide me to some website ?
Thanks.

www.ibo.org

[lan5029]

I am one of the IB student in 1992.. I can assure you it is a very good education system.. it is not only about academics and it also develops you in other part of the you have not aware of.. for example, like me, coming from science stream in Secondary School has make me a one sided person, that is I am only know and understand science/math stuff.. when I joined IB, I hate Literature because for me it is just a waste of time for engineering student to learn it... and there is a lot of extra curriculum activity we need to do to get those CAS credits but as I grew older, I realised that all of these have make me a more rounded person and appreciate life more.. :D

There is also an A-Level student at the college, and they (at that time) only have to do 3 subjects and no extra curriculum activities.. I strongly feel that they have not learn much (aside from academics) as compared to IB students..

The best period of being student for me is during those IB period, even though at that time I do not feel like it.. it is more like a torture for me.. :lol:

[Yvette]

lan5029, where did you study tfor he IB diploma? In Malaysia??
Which college?

[lan5029]

It is in College MARA Banting..

[claypot]

what course did u took and which uni u get at that time Ian5029?

[Yvette]

hmmm.......its so quiet in here...where is everybody?.. :)
i was wondering...when is the right time to start preparing for the extended essay? should we IB students start thinking about it in the first sem?

[claypot]

i think that we should see our senior's Extended essay 1st before we do it... this is to get a brief idea on how to do it.... and if u wanna start now it is not really a good idea.... in my opinion, as an IB student we should focus more on academic 1st, so that we have the knowledge to do the extended essay....

[Patrick]

It's good to have an idea of what you want to do, so you won't be pressured to come up with one later on.

Knowledge, yea, it's important, but usually, you need a lot of extra reading to uncover what you wan't to research on. So, it's good to do some reading about topics that interest you.

And, just read the seniors' extended essay. Don't keep a copy because you'll end up reusing a.k.a copying what they've done instead. Remember, originality is essential!

[claypot]

Huh... talking about extended essay.. I have a big headache here..everything seems to fail at the first time.. huh.. how depressing..

[camy]

hm... i'm in SriKDU and have been doing the IB for the past 1 month (JUNE intake). I find it rather fulfilling because i am doing it in a school not a college. That means, we HAVE to take up co-curicullar activities. However, the workload of this programme echoes that of university in my opinion. we have to do case studies for econs, long lab reports, lots of homework ( i have to NOT procrasinate because if i do.... well, u get the idea :wink: ) and on top of that... most of my weekends are filled with CAS activites. i wonder if it is a good idea to finish our CAS hours during the 1st year or spread it our evenly? most of the IBies here are planning to do that and then concentrate more on the harder parts of the syllabus in the second year as well as concentrate on the Extended Essay. How did you cope with IB? what did you do and how did you plan them? i'm bad at organising my schedule so i hope you can give me some pointers. Thanks.

[Junny0711]

hm... i'm in SriKDU and have been doing the IB for the past 1 month (JUNE intake). I find it rather fulfilling because i am doing it in a school not a college. That means, we HAVE to take up co-curicullar activities. However, the workload of this programme echoes that of university in my opinion. we have to do case studies for econs, long lab reports, lots of homework ( i have to NOT procrasinate because if i do.... well, u get the idea :wink: ) and on top of that... most of my weekends are filled with CAS activites. i wonder if it is a good idea to finish our CAS hours during the 1st year or spread it our evenly? most of the IBies here are planning to do that and then concentrate more on the harder parts of the syllabus in the second year as well as concentrate on the Extended Essay. How did you cope with IB? what did you do and how did you plan them? i'm bad at organising my schedule so i hope you can give me some pointers. Thanks.

Ah Camy, welcome to the world of IB. Well i'm about to start my second year of IB, and i can tell u, it's ADVISABLE to finish CAS within the first year.

Actually for me, I finished it within the first term of school, but i dunno what oportunities u guys have in Malaysia, since i'm doing mine in another country lol (i'm Malaysian, but i've never been in a Malaysian skool)...

So here's my advice:

Finish CAS as soon as possible - the faster u reach the 150 hour deadline the better. Then after that u can focus on ur studies or whatever, and u can still do CAS activities, but there's not so much pressure on u. Trust me, i've got friends who haven't bothered to reach their deadline, and they're at risk of not reaching it by the end of the two years.

Well for me, basically ? had coursework to do right to the day before the exam... that's IB for you. Don't let that bother u. Finish what u can as soon as possible, and make sure u study regularly and u'll not have to study last minute like me (unfortunately).

As for the Extended Essay (which i'm currently doing right now), trust me, 4000 words can seem a bit daunting, and it is! So do it on something u're interested in. Think about it as soon as possible, and discuss it with a teacher u would like to be ur mentor. The faster u decide, u won't be at risk of getting a teacher u dont like, or having to take a topic that u don't want to. (I have a friend who left it last minute, and he ended up doing his ext essay in history, which he doesnt take)

Well other than that, i'm not as experienced as the other guys u may find in these forums, but those are the main pointers that i can give u... well i have one year of IB left!!!

Good luck.

[claypot]

I am quite agreed with Junny0711 that IB student should finish their CAS as soon as they get into the college because life in IB School will get more and more hectic as time pass.

And I wonder how is the IB school in other countries too... Can you please brief me a little about the environment and system used in your School??

Claypot.

[Junny0711]

I am quite agreed with Junny0711 that IB student should finish their CAS as soon as they get into the college because life in IB School will get more and more hectic as time pass.

And I wonder how is the IB school in other countries too... Can you please brief me a little about the environment and system used in your School??

Claypot.

Well, I'm doing my IB in my high school, something like ur sixth form (as u can see, i've never attended a malaysian skool in my lfe lol!)...

As for the envrionment, i would say that it's like a normal high school environment tho i'm quite aware that u guys in malaysia change skools after form 5. For us (over here in Dubai), it's basically u start from kindergarden all the way to ur final IB years in the same skool (so i've been here for a pretty long time!!)

So after (equivilent to form 5) 11th grade, we can decide to leave the skool if we dont want to do IB, whereas the others who want to do IB can stay (but obviously there's a minimum overall grade score u must get)...

So that's why in IB, i think we don't feel the impact so much as u local malaysian students would because we already know the teachers, we're comfortable in the school environment, and we're used to the system which the skool runs.

Cheers,

Junny0711