IB versus college prep

[Jacque]

Please advise me! I have to choose between the IB at Lincoln Park and Whitney Young college prep for my son. He is an outstanding student and his goal in the future is to attend an Ivy League University . Please, any input is really appreciated. Thank you so much!

[Scott]

I haven't looked into the CPS high schools (my oldest kid is 8!) but isn't Whitney Young a selective enrollment school you have to test to get into? Assuming your son has been accepted, congrats!

Here's the CPS pages for each
Whitney M Young Magnet High School --
http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=609755
Lincoln Park High School --
http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=609738

Both school are diverse.

In the Scorecard section, Whitney Young looks to be higher in everything? Sometimes significantly so... For instance, in the "Meet/Exceed PSAE State standards" Lincoln Park is very good with 67% compared to the CPS average of 31.5%. But Whitney Young is 96%!

Of course there are other factors to consider such as how convenient it is for your kid to get to school each day (e.g. a 1.5 hour bus ride or 5 min walk), but all else being equal I would go with Whitney Young.

[Jacque]

I haven't looked into the CPS high schools (my oldest kid is 8!) but isn't Whitney Young a selective enrollment school you have to test to get into? Assuming your son has been accepted, congrats!

Here's the CPS pages for each
Whitney M Young Magnet High School --
http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=609755
Lincoln Park High School --
http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=609738

Both school are diverse.

In the Scorecard section, Whitney Young looks to be higher in everything? Sometimes significantly so... For instance, in the "Meet/Exceed PSAE State standards" Lincoln Park is very good with 67% compared to the CPS average of 31.5%. But Whitney Young is 96%!

Of course there are other factors to consider such as how convenient it is for your kid to get to school each day (e.g. a 1.5 hour bus ride or 5 min walk), but all else being equal I would go with Whitney Young.

My son was already accepted into both schools and he would not be considering lincoln park as a whole, but rather the IB program within Lincoln park. The stats on Lincoln park are for the school as a whole and as such, dilute the results from the ib alone. However, what I am on the fence about, is whether the IB program itself is better than Whitney young or worse.

[Scott]

Sorry I don't know enough about this, but it looks like Lincoln Park is going to become all IB?


http://cpsobsessedforums.com/threads/197-Lincoln-Park-HS-is-now-quot-Wall-to-Wall-IB-quot-for-Sep-2013


I don't know if that means all neighborhood students are automatically enrolled into IB and there is no longer a separate IB program that kids test have to test high to get into?

[CPSObsessed]

Hi - My sense from what I've heard is that IB has a slightly different teaching style in the IB method. It is more collaborative, and the classroom discussions are supposedly more like what you'd get at an Ivy League college. There's a lot of reading and literature and discussion.. I'm forgetting some of the other things they say about IB but my impression is that it really helps prepare kids for the good kind of college classes and writing. I think there's a lot of writing too. The LPIB program is very well regarded, (as I'm sure you know) and supposedly has a LOT of homework. I've also heard that IB kids need to be very self motivated and organized in their study habits. It's not the kind of curriculum where you can stay up all night and study the night before a test.

I don't know much about the WY curriculum but I assume from hearing otherwise that it's more traditional, but obviously rigorous. WY might have more diversity since they use the Tier system while IB does not.

YOu obviously have two great choices here and can't go wrong but I guess I'd determine which learning style is more suited for your child. I love the way IB learning sounds -- not sure if my son would have the dedication for it down the road though.