International  Baccalaureate Program

Aiken High School offers the International Baccalaureate Program.  This is a rigorous pre-university course of studies, leading to examinations, that meets the needs of highly motivated secondary school students.  The program is designed as a comprehensive two-year curriculum that allows its graduates to fulfill requirements that leads to a diploma that is recognized around the world.

Pre-IB courses are taken in the ninth and tenth grades to prepare students for the IB courses that are taken their junior and senior year.  At the end of the sophomore year students can apply for admission to the IB program.

For more information about the IB program, please read the rest of this webpage or visit http://www.ibo.org or to see where IB is in the news go to http://www.ibo.org/news/index.cfm

You may contact our IB Coordinator, Mr. Ron Johnson, at

rjohnson@aiken.k12.sc.us.

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 Senior IB Students Major Assignments

• October 1^st Extended Essay 2^nd draft due
• October 5th, German AP/IB test 
• October 15^th Extended Essay 3^rd draft due   ^th 
• November 5^th  Theory of Knowledge Essay 2^nd draft due  
• November 12th Theory of Knowledge Essay 3^rd draft due
• December 1^st History of Americas: 20^th Century Topics Internal assessment first draft
• December 3^rd Theory of Knowledge Internal Assessment due
• January 30^th IB Psychology Internal Assessment started
• Feb. 25^th IB Psychology Internal Assessment due
• February 27^th  English A1 Internal Assessment due
• March 1^st History of Americas: 20^th Century Topics Internal Assessment final paper due for outside moderation 
• March 19^th  Math Internal Assessment due
• March 30^th  Physics/Chemistry/Biology Internal Assessment & Group 4 Project Due
• March31^st All CAS logs/activities completed; Portfolios turned in; Final Reflections due
• April 1^st French/Spanish/German Internal Assessment due

Junior IB Students Major Assignments

• November 28^th CAS logs for 40 hours
• January 30^th IB Psychology Internal Assessment started. 
• January 31^st    logs for 140 hours
• Feb. 25^th IB Psychology Internal Assessment due
• March 30^th  Physics/Chemistry/Biology Internal Assessment & Group 4 Project Due
• April 1^st French/Spanish/German Internal Assessment due
•  May 31^st Theory of Knowledge Essay 1^st draft due 
• May 28^th logs for 80 hours

Why IB?

Andrew Beatty--Aiken High 2003 & Yale  2007

"I definitely think the program is worth it. For one, it's not any more work

than just taking AP classes -- the extra stuff you have to do is very minor.

In addition, having to write the extended essay really helps prepare you for

writing research papers in college. So really, it's not that hard.

That said, it is very well-respected. All sorts of people are impressed when

they find out you did the program -- friends at Oxford, others kids at Yale

who did IB, and  professors, too. People always like to hear what you wrote

your EE on, or what you thought about HL math, etc.

This respect for IB certainly brings about tangible results, as well: After

being accepted to Amherst, the number one liberal arts college in the

country, I received a hand-written note from the admissions officer

congratulating me, in which he specifically cited my enrollment in the IB

diploma program as one of the reasons I got in. Because South Carolina is

not especially known for having good high schools, the IB program is the

best way to demonstrate that you are competitive on a national level and

deserve to get into schools with a national reputation."

Keegan Dyer  Aiken High 2007 & Furman University

"Pros:

The program gets you used to having to do a lot of work, when everyone around you has to do about half as much.  This may not seem like an immediate benefit, but If you just relax and not let yourself get too stressed you'll probably find that you're able to get everything done without to much trouble.  If you get really good at it, you may even find that you're able to get all the work done with minimal effort and still get a good grade.  This skill of being able to handle a lot of course work without having a nervous breakdown becomes invaluable in college.  Personally, I managed to get a 4.0 in my first semester at Furman, studying less and doing less work than almost anyone else on my hall.  I have to credit this to IB.  My senior year at Aiken High was probably twice as challenging as Furman has been.  Due to of the high demands of the program, I find myself able to complete my course work and study for tests in about half the time as my classmates.  And trust me its worth it.  It’s whole lot better to have to suffer a 'crudy' year of high school, then to have to spend all your time during your freshmen year of college studying.

Cons:

The IB program is not going to get you into Princeton.  It’s not going to get you into Cal Tech.  It may help your application look better and flesh it out, but the diploma itself is not a guarantee for success. I didn't get into any of the out of state schools I applied to.  This is not to say that the IB program is going to keep you out, but it alone may not get you in.  If you are going to apply to really prestigious schools, you're going to need to do more.  At first I was absolutely furious when I didn't get into Swarthmore or Claremont McKenna.  I felt as though I had wasted my time with the IB program, because it didn't do the one thing that I wanted of it, which was to get me into a top ranked college.   You have to understand that it is not a ticket into the best schools in the country; it’s really more training for college level courses."

How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century--(a Time Magazine Article)

 Read the entire article if you click below for some really good reasons to do IB:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html

Or click on the below to see immediately where the IB is mentioned and credited:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480-3,00.html

  More explanations and reasons

 http://www.stpaulsschool.org/academics/internationalbacca_faq.asp

http://chesterfield.k12.va.us/Schools/Midlothian_HS/ib/info/benefits.htm

http://northport.k12.ny.us/ib/Benefits%20of%20an%20IB%20Diploma-4.htm