deltalx："IB is not for everyone."这是我儿子学校的校长如是说,确实很对。在11年级选课时,我没有让我儿子读IB全科(Diploma),只选了一门IB的课--IB Psychology High Level,可以算大学的学分。Bottom line:加拿大的大学入学大部分以平均成绩来衡量,如果读了IB成绩还不如普通科的平均成绩,那就真是头疼了。我儿子告诉我他学校IB program今年就有几个学生毕不了业,假如他们当初留在普通的班上,他们要高中毕业上大学的能力是绰绰有余,真是悲剧。俗话说,宁作鸡首也不当牛后,是这个说法吗?
朋友的两个孩子都送去读IB全科,那读书的苦大概可以和中国拼高考的高中生有得比。每天有做不完的作业,不做到凌晨2点多不能睡觉---sounds familiar in China?哥哥很聪明,IB科科都读得很高分,进了UBC读science(老实说,进UBC不需要读IB,这付出的代价也太高了)当他父母要妹妹也去读IB时,他对妹妹的劝告:如果可能,不要去读IB!
deltalx：读不读IB或AP,见仁见智吧。如果有选择,我宁愿让孩子读AP课。读12年级AP班,学分会被大学承认,可以跳过不用读大学一年级的一些基础课。比如读了12年级AP物理,在大学就不用读一年级物理,如此类推。读了IB high level的课,同样也被大学承认学分,可以免读大学一年级的同类课。但在IB全科diploma中,你不可能全部都读能算大学学分的high level课,规定必须读几门standard level的IB课---这些不能算大学学分。在美国,想进好的大学,竞争激烈,很多中学生都读了3-5门AP课,一来增加自己的竞争力,而来省下一点大学交学费的银子。
deltalx：非常同意让孩子挑战自己的看法和去快班的打算,一定鼓励。当今美国大学新生入学时纷纷拥有多门AP课的现象已经在美国一些主要大学引起faculty和admissions部门的关注。样样东西都是这样,一开始AP学生的质量很高,等到AP课在全美中学遍地开花的时候就开始变质了。据美国《高校记事报》(The Chronicle of Higher Education) 二年前报道,很多美国大学发现,Many AP students are not what they cracked up to be,就是说不少AP课的成绩水分很大。有些大学准备改变对AP课成绩的评估---当然真要改了还有一段日子。
deltalx：绝对同意你的看法, 中学老师的水平太太重要了---再怎么强调也不为过。如果说大学的老师不如中学的老师教的好,一点都不奇怪。一直以来,名大学和以研究为主的大学对教本科生从来都是不重视的。对教授来说,最关心的是拿到研究基金,最终以发表多少有分量的paper来争取到终身教授的职位,也就是常说的“Publish or perish". 各大学里,一年级的基础课大都是助教上的大课---教授从他们的研究基金中播出一部分给学校来减少他们自己教课的时间,以便集中精力做研究。学校就用这些钱雇佣在学的博士生当助教教大课,反复如此。今天美国各大学里(藤校也不例外)教数理化基础课的大都是老中、老印的留学研究生,鲜少看到白人,呵呵。其实,很多华人不知道,但白人家长好、学生很多都知道,真正教得好的大学一、二年级的教师都是在college里面的,美国和加拿大都一样。
2)每年都有IB班的孩子转到一般的班,或从有IB班的学校转到没有IB 班 的学校的。 Mini school 需要特别的申请。进去也不一定能跟的上,它们的课程设置比较特殊。一般建议在一所中学最好上4年,9-12年级。提供成绩单,老师推荐信比较有连贯性。
3)学校有的一般的AP课程(英文,心理学,物理,化学。。。),不用担心,老师会按考试的时间安排进度。但如果有些课学校没有AP课但有普通的课,像宏观经济,微观经济,电脑。自己可以到chapter or amazon.com 买AP的书。 不懂的部分可以问学校的老师。然后参加AP考试。如果有些课,学校没有,而你又要考它的AP,必须去外面的补习班上课了。
美加两国大学录取的标准有很多不同的标准,尽管很多方面也有很多相似的地方。AP与IB不是加拿大大学入学最看重的东西,但不否认有这两样的“好”成绩是很有帮助的。但单凭AP得奖多寡来判断加拿大的水平与美国一个州差不多就有点片面了。这AP毕竟是老美的玩意儿,在加拿大也就是在中国人聚居的地区如大温、大多等地热门,你大概不会看到Halifax的高中生热衷读AP课,考AP,但不要忘了Halifax的Dalhousie University是加拿大有数的名校之一。再说了,在美国高教界里,普遍认同Montreal的McGill大学是加拿大最好的大学,有加拿大的哈佛之称。至于UBC,其名声也就等同西雅图的University of Washington。
California's public universities would no longer let applicants use grade-point averages that give extra weight to honors or Advanced Placement courses, under a legislative proposal for a new state master plan for education. Proponents of the proposal say the move will help improve the quality of all high-school courses, while critics see it as a misguided effort to increase the enrollment of minority students who do not, on average, take as many honors and AP courses as other students do.
The tentative plan, put forward by the Legislature's Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan, calls on the University of California and California State University to "continue collaborating with [elementary and secondary] schools to increase the rigor of all academic courses to achieve the goals of reducing demand for remedial instruction among freshman students and eliminating the current practice of providing additional weight to honors and AP courses in admissions decisions."
Charles A. Ratliff, senior consultant to the joint committee, calls GPA bonuses for Advanced Placement classes "the wrong direction" for the state. "If we are honest about a level playing field," he says, "we must remove the competitive advantage" students receive if they attend high schools rich in AP offerings. "The incentive for something called 'honors' must be exposure -- deeper, more rigorous academic courses," he adds.
He concedes that the changes could decrease AP enrollment for students who would see less incentive for taking such classes; but, he adds, a "considerable number" of students take the classes only for the GPA bonus, not because they intend to take the Advanced Placement examinations offered by the College Board.
Not High Schools
Mr. Ratliff notes that one-third of California's high-school graduates who end up in the University of California system -- and a full half of in-state high-school graduates who enroll in the California State University System -- need remedial instruction in English, mathematics, or both.
"The colleges will not make themselves high schools," Mr. Ratliff says. He adds that the proposed change, one of 70 in the draft master plan that the committee will present to the Legislature, would grant college administrations the ability to define what they will accept as college-preparatory learning. Giving colleges that control, the plan's architects argue, would bring about a smoother, more controlled transition from the senior year of high school to the freshman year of college.
Mr. Ratliff expects the measure to face "careful consideration," but he is confident that "some form of it will survive in the final analysis -- particularly the alignment of curriculum." Such alignment, he says, would ensure that all professors who teach freshmen could assume that incoming students had a standard knowledge base.
The AP Program offers several AP Scholar Awards to recognize high school students who have demonstrated college-level achievement through AP courses and exams. Although there is no monetary award, in addition to receiving an award certificate, this achievement is acknowledged on any AP score report that is sent to colleges the following fall.
Award Levels
AP Scholar
Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.
AP Scholar with Honor
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.
AP Scholar with Distinction
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
State AP Scholar
Granted to the one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP Exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken.
National AP Scholar
Granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.
National AP Scholar (Canada)
Granted to students in Canada who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on five or more of these exams.
National AP Scholar (Bermuda)
Granted to students in Bermuda who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on five or more of these exams.
DoDEA AP Scholar
Granted to the one male and one female student attending Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools with the highest average score on the greatest number of AP
Exams. The minimum requirement is a score of 3 or higher on three exams.
International AP Scholar
Granted to the one male and one female student attending a school outside the United States and Canada that is not a DoDEA school with the highest average score on the greatest number of AP Exams. The minimum requirement is a score of 3 or higher on three exams.
AP International Diploma
Granted to students who meet criteria outlined here.
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2013-03-01 22:18
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