Actually, the mediocre amount of foreign language skills required to do OK in the course is surprising. The weekly speaking on a tape and the written monthly essays may appear time consuming, but the tape recording only has to last two minutes and it takes only about thirty to forty-five minutes for the essay. Colleges prefer high schoolers that take challenging course loads. They d rather see a B in a college level course, maybe even a C, than an A in an extremely easy course. Some prestigious colleges, like Duke, even ask applicants to list any IB courses they ve taken.
Money is a nice thing to have and saving it is even better.
The city pays for IBs, but you pay for APs. Moreover, you can also be awarded college credit in many of these courses, thus saving hundreds of dollars in college. T.O.K. is taken once every sixth day junior year and every day for one semester during senior year, and it is mostly talking and philosophizing. The things constituting a C.A.S. folder are often ridiculous. If you re not athletic, walking at the mall for two hours could count.