IB Diploma Program

City Honors is home to one of the oldest IB Diploma Programs in the United States and was New York State’s first IB Diploma Program outside of the New York Metro area.

Two year course of study - what a typical schedule looks like for Diploma Candidates vs. Course Candidates at City Honors

City Honors IB Blog Link

The Diploma Program services juniors and seniors in high school. IB Diploma Candidates at City Honors take three IB Higher Level (HL) courses (240 course hours) and three IB Standard Level (SL) courses (150 course hours). In addition to this requirement, students must take one course from each of the five IB subject area groups and one elective course from Group 6 or Groups 1-4. At City Honors, all IB Diploma candidates take IB English HL and IB History of the Americas HL (year one of IB History is co-seated with AP US History & Government). Therefore, they must choose one more Higher Level course and three Standard Level courses.

You can read about the differences between Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL) courses here.

Group 1 Studies in Language & Literature (English A: Literature HL - Class of 2025 & English A: Language & Literature - Class of 2026 and after); Group 2 Language Acquisition (French B SL, Spanish B SL, Mandarin B SL); Group 3 Individuals and Societies (History of the Americas HL); Group 4 Sciences (Physics HL or Biology HL); Group 5 Mathematics (Mathematics Analysis & Approaches SL or Mathematics Applications & Interpretation); Group 6 Arts & Electives (Film SL/HL for Class of 2025 only, Visual Arts SL/HL (for Class of 2025 only) , Economics SL, Business Management SL).

The two year IB courses at City Honors are (click on the links to read IB's subject brief for that particular subject):

The one year IB classes at City Honors are (click on the links to read IB's subject brief for that particular subject):

**Here is a chart comparing our two IB DP mathematics courses.**

The difference between HL courses (240 class hours) and SL courses (150 class hours) are explained here.

In addition to the balance between the humanities and sciences, the IB Diploma Program includes three core requirements: TOK, CAS, & the Extended Essay.

  • TOK guide: Theory of Knowledge (TOK): is an interdisciplinary course designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspective
  • Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS): encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports, and community service work, thus fostering students’ awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena. The goal is to participate an hour or two a week in CAS - with there being a balance between the three strands by the end of the program. Reflection on CAS experiences is a key element of completing this requirement.
  • Extended Essay (EE): is an up to 4,000 word college-level analytical research paper. It offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest, and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected in college.
  • The rigor of the IB Diploma Program is recognized by the world’s leading universities and IB Diploma Candidates are accepted into colleges and universities at higher rates than those who are not.
  • Our candidates go on to attend such colleges and universities as: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Howard, NYU, SUNY Potsdam's Honors Program and the University at Buffalo Honor’s College.

A detailed information sheet about how the IB Diploma Program works at City Honors is here.

The program not only prepares students for the academic challenges of college, but it also gives them a chance to receive college credit, provided they do well enough on the assessments. Many of our graduates have received 18-36 college credits for their IB Diploma and sophomore standing. This can directly translate into monetary savings because enough credit can be gained to eliminate an entire year of college.

The best way to find out if a college/university accepts IB credits is to perform a web search for the college/university name along with "international baccalaureate." This search will almost always bring up the page where this information can be accessed.

Resources

Subscribe to Newsletters from IB

IB sends out several different newsletters, in varying degrees of frequency, each year. These include: IB Global News, IB in Practice, IB Alumni Network newsletter, IB Higher Education Update. Click here to sign up for any or all of them!

International Baccalaureate Transcript Information

IB transcripts are automatically sent out in mid-July to the college a student indicated on the senior exit survey that he/she filled out in May. If you are transferring to another school and need a copy of your IB transcript, you must contact IB directly. Information on how to request an IB transcript, as well as answers to frequently asked questions about IB transcripts, can be found here.

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