IB DON'T take Chinese B HL

bobbycheung

foolish.mom 發表於 14-12-19 23:49
As a CIS parent, I am here to clarify some facts, not to argue.
All students in CIS will take Englis ...

foolish.mom,

I hate to argue either.  I enjoy reading posts by parents like you as I get to learn a lot.  When I look at CIS's data, I notice that there were 106 students in Class 2014.  As you said, all 106 students took English A.  There were also 37 students taking Chinese A and it amounts to 34.9% (which, if you don't mind me saying, is not an insignificant percentage).  Only 3 of these students got 7 points in Chinese A and the majority got 6 points.  Had these students taken Chinese B instead, I believe almost all of them would have got 7 points.  They sacrificed the 1 point and took Chinese A instead, was it because they want to get the bilingual diploma?  Or was it because they didn't meet the criteria for Group 2?  Or they thought Chinese A is better Chinese B when they apply to university?  Any idea why this was so?
http://www.cis.edu.hk/data/files/gallery/ContentGallery/1_2014_MAY_IBDP_Grade_distribution__Gradedistribution.pdf

There were 63 students taking Chinese B (ie. 59.4%) and I wonder how many of these students had been learning Chinese at CIS since primary school.

There is no need to be modest, I think CIS' university placement records are amongst the best (if not the best) in HK.

I am not challenging or arguing with you.  As you are a CIS parent, I am just wondering if you could tell us these details.

foolish.mom

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

34.9% of 2014 cohort of CIS graduates studied Chinese A. But in 2013 cohort, only 11% studied Chinese A. So the percentages of students studying Chinese A vary from 11% to 35%. It also means majority of students (65% to 89%) study Chinese B. I listed out the data mainly to show that, despite majority of CIS students studied Chinese B, many students still got offers from good universities.CIS is quite loose to allow students switching from Chinese A to Chinese B, but the school recommends deciding the stream before year 11 (final year of MYP). The reason is that the emphasis of Chinese A and Chinese B is different. If a student switches from A to B in year 12, he needs time to adjust. The concern of switching is usually on whether to get a bilingual diploma, whether the student can cope with Chinese A, whether the student wants to challenge himself to study difficult Chinese. University application was not yet in picture at the end of year 10.
I remember that when school gave guidance to choose IB diploma subjects, they didn't mention Chinese A or B, because at that time the subject has mostly been decided according to ability. The emphasis was on which UK/HK university courses require which subjects, e.g. HL Chem for Medicine, HL Math and Physics for Engineering...The school, however, strongly recommends taking English Literature, instead of Eng Lang & Lit, as the former course is highly regarded by university language courses and law courses. I was also told that US universities don't care much which 6 subjects are chosen at IB, so long as the courses chosen are seen as rigorous enough.
Hope this answers your questions.

foolish.mom

回覆 foolish.mom 的帖子

Having said that, I feel taking Chinese B HL as the 3rd HL subject may really have some disadvantages for certain high demanding courses in UK. For example, while most Medicine applicants get 7's in HL Chem, Bio, Math, and a student gets 7's in HL Chem, Bio, Chinese, I personally think that this student's results are comparatively weaker.
Therefore, I recommend that if a student cannot take Chinese A in group 2, take Chinese B HL as the 4th HL subject, so that the student can have 3 other HL subjects to compare with A-level applicants in UK.

bobbycheung

foolish.mom,

Thanks!  講開又講, 其實CIS學生申請美國大學時多唔多人有 legacy status?

foolish.mom

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

About legacy, the percentage of students having legacy of top uni should be well above average of other schools, but these students are only minority of the total student body.