As an IB school, Palmer High School students are constantly wondering if they should go through the full IB Diploma Program. The IB diploma program, short for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, is a two-year educational program aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds. This intense and difficult program curriculum is made up of six primary subjects: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), creativity, activity, service (CAS), and the extended essay. These courses build stronger academic, emotional, and career skills. But is this program really worth it?  

For some the diploma program is the key to their academic success and future. For others, it does not mean so much. The Diploma Program is a worldwide recognized and respected program aimed to help students focus on their intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being. Being such a respected program, students who go through the IB diploma program have better and more opportunities for colleges and their futures. So for many the program is essential to their future plans and goals. For example both Justin Trudeau (the prime minister of Canada) and King Willem-Alexander of Netherlands, graduated from the IB Diploma Program. Both of them have said it helped them be good communicators, open-mindedness, internationalism, collaboration, and community service that allowed them to become who they are today.  

Despite these benefits, many people tend to choose to avoid the IB diploma due to the academically challenging and intense workload nature of this program. As a matter of fact, so many people decide not to do this program, that classes only typically have about 16 kids per class or subject. However this is not necessarily a bad thing for the many students doing the IB Diploma Program. It allows them to have more personal and professional connections with their teacher. which is leading them to have a better understanding of the materials and the curriculum. Many teachers also prefer teaching a higher level of understanding, so you end up with  more excited and active teachers. Which, will lead  to a more fun and engaging learning environment despite the intense and rigors workload the program requires 

However the diploma program is not for those who aren’t as motivated or constantly starving and striving for the best and most fulfilling academic career. It has one of the most intense workloads and strenuous exams in all of IB and AP . Not only that but the grading system is on a whole other level. This causes so much stress and puts extreme amounts of pressure on the perfectionistic students of the IB diploma program. This stress causes the students to drop the program or burn out and cause them to be less motivated and fail the courses.  

So knowing all of this is it really worth it to do the IB diploma program? It all really depends on a students future plans and goals. Because yes IB diploma will help with many things in your  future, it may also cause you to want to stop working at all costs. Therefore the IB diploma program is only meant for a select amount of people who are actively willing and motivated to always strive for the best academic careers. No matter what they must do to get there eve if that is intense and overpowering workloads followed by incredibly difficult essays and exams. So to answer the question of whether it is a good idea to do IB diploma, the simple answer  is no, you should not. It is really overwhelming and stressful for all students who do it.