How the University of Rochester Loves IB
IB puts you at an ideal jumping off point to excel in college.
The International Baccalaureate program features a broad and deep curricular exploration of the intersections between disciplines. This prepares students to attack the innumerable academic possibilities once they get here. It guides you in an understanding of answering big, hard questions through research in the form of the extended essay. College is the place for you to challenge norms and make contributions to what we know about our world (and others!), and you're coming in better prepared than most to take on these challenges. The coursework that you engage in is not simply preparation for an exam; rather, the exam is the culmination of a complex series of individual efforts that are intentionally interrelated to one another. For these reasons and more, we are happy to welcome IB students to campus.
A few months ago, we sent out a poster and a letter to almost 2,500 IB coordinators all over the world describing our love of the International Baccalaureate program. Here's the introductory paragraph:
"The time and effort your students are putting into the International Baccalaureate program isn’t going unnoticed. The University of Rochester considers the IB Diploma to be one of the most demanding secondary school curricula. Whether students are on the diploma track or taking a few IB courses that interest them, we understand how rigorous their coursework is, and we want to reward them for it. The University of Rochester is the only university in the Northeast to offer a scholarship to students pursuing the IB Diploma."
It's true. Do well in the IB program, follow all of the steps to apply to Rochester, conduct an interview with us, and you could receive between $7,000 and $20,000 in merit scholarship awards at Rochester. That's how big a deal we think you are. We believe that students coming out of the IB program are not just prepared for college, but are uniquely prepared to take advantage of an equally unique program of study at the University of Rochester. Here, there are no required subjects to graduate; you can build your own program of study with our flexible curriculum and take classes only in the subject areas that interest you. You will do your best work when you're loving what you're learning!