I remember a lot of my classmates were disillusioned when they got to the college app process - said they had thought an IB diploma would guarantee them admittance to any college, and that wasn't the case. But even with all the griping, I think everyone with the diploma did get into their first choice school. The HS DOES still offer IB, but the district is struggling - the neighborhoods that feed into it have changed dramatically, becoming mostly made up of families in a lower socioeconomic status. Also, I think most folks don't really understand what IB is...and also realize that it really isn't for most kids! To pursue the full diploma, you really need a VERY bright kid - it is very challenging.
I think our program was fairly new when I did it - within 5 years or so - but I thought it was great. And yes, my classmates in this program were wonderful - it was really valid to care about learning things just because they were interesting. I feel very lucky to have had this experience.
Of course, I don't know if this can be extrapolated to other programs and people!
