The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

graduate admissions at Northwestern University, one of the top-ranked uni- versities in the U.S. “Admissions offi- cers at the nation’s most selective col- leges, including Northwestern, recog- nize the exceptional rigor and range that the International Baccalaureate program offers students,” he says. When Todd and his admissions offi- cers review applications, they look “not only at letter grades, but at the overall challenge of an applicant’s cur- riculum, and we recognize that IB courses, and especially the full diplo- ma, are evidence that applicants are challenging themselves academically at the highest level. This is a definite plus in the admission decision-mak- ing process.” Mari O’Connor, a Foreign Service spouse who recently accompanied her daughter on stateside college vis- its, agrees. “When we toured highly- ranked American universities such as Middlebury or Carleton,” she says, “the admissions officers all said, ‘Do the full IB diploma because it will give your application a boost.’” The IB diploma has a lot going for it. The goal of producing a well- rounded, critical thinker who knows how to write and has engaged in pub- lic service, creative endeavors and athletics is certainly a noble one, and may be enough right there to fuel the decision to enroll in the program. But there are other perks, as well. Because of its level of academic chal- lenge, the IB diploma prepares stu- dents for college perhaps better than any other experience. The curricu- lum, required readings and amount of writing are all at a university level. Probably the first thing current uni- versity students say about the IB diploma is that their adjustment to col- lege was far easier because they had gone through the last two years of high school in such a demanding program. “Nothing I have done since the IB has seemed difficult by comparison,” says Samantha Huffman, who attend- ed George Mason High School in Falls Church, Va. “In fact, my first 90 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT If you are enrolling in the IB Diploma Program solely to receive college credit, it is essential to investigate the possibility thoroughly. Continued on page 92 (Continued from page 88)