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Everything You Need to Know About IB

  • Hadley Homan
  • Aug 30, 2025
  • 9 min read

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is a rigorous academic curriculum designed for High School students to foster an open minded generation with respect for the perspectives of nations all over the world in order to create a more peaceful global society. Here in Union County, IB is an option for every high school student. Marvin Ridge High School has an IB program, and any other student who lives in Union County and isn't zoned for MRHS can attend the IB Program at the Central Academy of Technology and Arts.




The IB Diploma

The IB program lasts 2 years: your Junior and Senior year. You take the same 7 classes for both of those years, all of the material being cumulative. At the end of the program, each class has specific assessments, some of which are similar to an AP exam, while others are more unique. Each assessment is scored from 1-7, 7 being the highest score possible. There are 45 possible points students can earn, 3 coming from the IB core, and the rest from 6 IB courses. You need to earn at least 24 points across all subjects, with at least 12 points from Higher Level (HL) courses and 9 points from Standard Level (SL) courses.



Here is it laid out by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO):

  • CAS requirements are met.

  • The candidate has achieved at least 24 total points.

  • A grade has been awarded in all subjects, TOK and the EE.

  • A grade of at least a 2 has been awarded in all subjects.

  • There are no more than two grade 2s awarded (SL or HL).

  • There are no more than three grade 3s or below awarded (SL or HL).

  • The candidate has at least 12 points on HL subjects. (For candidates who register for four HL subjects, the three highest grades count).

  • Candidates have at least 9 points on SL subjects. (Candidates who register for two SL subjects must be awarded at least 5 points at SL).


In North Carolina, you are required to take more specific courses than the IBO requires in order to earn a diploma from your high school. You must take at least 3 HL courses and at least 2 SL courses.


English: NC requires that IB students take HL IB Language A English Literature.

History: NC requires that IB students take HL IB History of the Americas, which counts as both an American history credit as well as a world history credit.




Foreign Language: One of your SL classes will be your foreign language class. You are required to take either IB Spanish, Chinese, German, French, or French AB Initio. You must take 3 courses of your chosen language as prerequisites for the IB course, except for French AB Initio, which is essentially French 1 and 2, designed for those not confident in their chosen language. AB Initio is a 4.0 credit rather than a 5.0 credit, though.


Math: You are also required to take a math class. There are 3 math classes: SL Applications and Interpretations, SL Analysis and Approaches, and HL. The prerequisites for Applications is Math 1,2, and 3. For analysis you must have taken Precalculus, and for HL you must have taken Calculus AB/BC. The difference between the two SLs is that Applications focuses on a statistics based curriculum while Analysis has a more calculus-based curriculum.


Science: You must take at least one science course, and the IB courses to choose from are SL chemistry, SL Sports Exercise Health Science (SEHS), SL Physics, and HL Biology. Because you need to take 3 HL courses, if you aren't taking HL math, you need to take either HL Biology or an HL elective.



Elective: The electives offered in Union County are HL Business Management, SL Digital Societies, SL Visual Art, HL Visual Art, and SL Music. If you aren't taking HL math and are taking an SL science, then you must take either HL Business Management or HL Visual Art.


You need to consider this when deciding if you want to do IB. You are far more constrained in choosing your courses than if you decided to take AP and Dual Enrollment classes. It is also a large course load that you are committing to for 2 years instead of 1. On the other hand, you are able to learn a lot at a very in-depth level over the course of 2 years, and the program forces you to be a well-rounded learner.


The IB Core

To earn an IB Diploma, you must complete the necessary course load as well as the IB Core. The IB Core has 3 parts: the Extended Essay (EE), Theory of Knowledge (TOK), and Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS).



The Extended Essay is exactly what it sounds like. You must choose a subject and a very narrow topic within that subject to write a 4,000 word research paper on. While 4,000 words might seem like a lot, to complete all the necessary criteria within the paper, your research question must be extremely focused. You are guided in this process by an EE advisor, usually a teacher of the subject your paper is about. This assessment taught me a lot about both writing and research. The one-on-one mentoring within the research made me feel so much more prepared for research papers I will inevitably have to complete in college.


TOK is a class. Some compare it to a philosophy class, but it focuses very specifically on how the nature of knowledge allows people with different points of view to both be right. In this class you have to complete an exhibition, which is a 3 part investigation into a knowledge question of your choice. Investigating each knowledge question through group discussions is a big part of the class. The goal is for students to showcase how what they learn in TOK manifests in real life. This exhibition is an assessment, which makes up 1 of the 3 points part of the IB Core. One other point of the core comes from TOK, which is the Prescribed Title. This is an essay based on a narrower knowledge question IB releases each year. This class has truly altered the way that I think and how I learn. Overall, it is also a very easy class.


CAS is a project done completely outside of school. The goal of this requirement is to ensure IB students live balanced lives, dedicating their energy to academics, physical wellness, and creative spirits. It requires that each week you log an activity of action, community service, or creativity. Every 6 weeks, you must have logged at least two activities of each strand. Each IB program has a CAS coordinator who keeps track of your logs. You must also complete a CAS project, which can fall under any of the strands. It can be a group project or an individual undertaking. Your project must show thoughtful planning, an outline of progress as well as process, and a meaningful culmination.


SL Classes and HL classes

Both SL and HL classes are worth a 5.0 credit and are equivalent in rigor to an AP class. Their differences lie within their assessments and how in depth students examine the content of the course. HL courses usually require additional materials within their assessments. For example, I took HL Art, and this required almost twice the amount of required artworks for the portfolio (the external assessment graded by IB graders in Switzerland) and more rigorous assessment of the comparative study (the internal assessment graded by your IB teacher). In HL Biology we look at very specific examples within each topic, and these examples are part of the cumulative content we must know for the exam at the end of senior year. As written above, you must earn at least 12 points from HL courses and 9 from SL courses, so you have to do better on your SL assessments if you take less SL classes. You also have to consider how colleges will view your IB credit. Some schools want to see HLs, and others want to see a specific exam score to offer college credit. The only class that this isn't true for is math. All of the math courses are differentiated by content and difficulty.



How Does IB Differ From Other College Level Classes?

IB classes span two years with a cumulative curriculum in 7 classes you are taking simultaneously. AP classes have an exam at the end of the year which counts towards your ability to earn college credit for the course, but it doesn't count towards your grade in that class and therefore doesn't impact your GPA. Because of the competitive nature of college admissions, this is very important to a lot of students. In IB, students take both midterm and end of year cumulative exams that make up 25% of each course's semester grade.

IB also requires far more assessment outside of exams than AP and Dual classes. Each IB class has both Internal Assessments (IAs) and External Assessments.



IAs are more unorthodox examinations by American standards. In most IB courses, your IA will be a research paper about a very specific topic of your choice relating to the subject of the course. In History, I investigated the formation of African American identity through literature of the Harlem Renaissance. In Literature the IA is called your "HL Essay," which is a literary analysis essay about one literary element in one work you study in your course. In Art, the IA is a "Comparative Study" in which you investigate three works of art by different artists spanning different cultural backgrounds and comparing and contrasting them through critical analysis of the elements/styles/ and techniques used in the works, the function and purpose of the works, and the cultural significance of the works, all under a theme of your choice. These are large projects that also make up big portions of your grades both in the courses and as points towards your IB Diploma. These are graded by your teacher, and the IBO chooses a small portion to grade themselves. Once they grade their chosen few, they create a curve to adjust all the scores of that teacher's class, so if they think the teacher was too harsh, everyone's scores will increase and vice versa.



External Assessments are typical exams. SL classes usually have a Paper 1 and 2, but it can vary based on the course. IB Art doesn't have any Paper 1, 2, or 3s. The external assessment is the completed portfolio. HL classes usually have a Paper 1, 2, and 3. Paper 1s, 2s, and 3s are either written response or multiple choice exams. Most courses, such as HL Biology, have one Paper which is a multiple choice test and another paper that is a written response test. All of these assessments must be taken on the official day of that test that every student of that IB course takes across the entire world. Students from Marvin Ridge are taken off-site to a church to take this test in a setting that can be more officially proctored. They are scanned and sent directly to the IBO in Switzerland to be graded.



Scores from both IAs and exams are combined to make up your final score in each course, and those final points combined determine if you receive an IB Diploma and if you pass each course in terms of receiving college credit.


IB has more assessments than APs, and there is more cumulative content because they span 2 years, but both types of courses are rigorous. They each prepare you for courses you might want to take in college. The learning style of IB classes is very different, though. IB teaches skills and content with the intent of allowing students to answer any questions they might encounter through a deep understanding of concepts and how to apply them. AP focuses more on learning content itself. This makes AP classes more easily applicable to specific interests in some cases. If you only want to focus on STEM classes because you know that is what you want to pursue, then you might think that being forced to take HL History and Literature is a waste of your time. IB isn't the right fit for everyone. It was a great fit for me. I felt challenged in a good way, and it has taught me things which have made me a better student and person with a more open mind and ignited love of learning.



IB is an amazing program. It prepared me for college so well because of the more frequent examination, larger course load, and its insistence on a well balanced life and well-rounded education. It is unique because of its impact on your life both inside and outside of school. It promotes engaging with your community, expressing creativity, and being healthy both mentally and physically. It teaches an openminded point of view, an understanding of different perspectives, and a respect for complex human nature surrounding all of academia. I highly recommend IB to any student who thinks that any of that sounds like something they want to get out of their high school education.




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