International Program Catches On in U.S. Schools
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: July 2, 2010
CUMBERLAND, Me. — SAT, ACT, A.P. ... I.B.?
The alphabet soup of college admissions is getting more complicated, as the International Baccalaureate, or I.B., grows in popularity as an alternative to the better-known Advanced Placement program.
The College Board’s A.P. program, which offers a long menu of single-subject courses, is still by far the most common option for giving students a head start on college work — and a potential edge in admissions. But the lesser-known I.B., a rigorous two-year curriculum developed in the 1960s at an international school in Switzerland, is now offered in more than 700 American high schools.
To earn an I.B. diploma, students must devote their full junior and senior year to the program, which requires English and another language, math, science, social science and art, plus a course on theory of knowledge, a 4,000-word essay, oral presentations and community service.
Here in Cumberland, Greely High School adopted the I.B. this year to ma
The Coveted but Elusive Summer Internship
Deidre Schoo for The New York Times
REDIRECTED Sarah Green’s internship trouble led to a change in plans.
By HILARY STOUT
Published: July 2, 2010
IT’S been a rough summer so far for the Baltimore Orioles, Miley Cyrus and (it goes without saying) BP. Now, summer interns may have joined the list.
Stephanie Diani for The New York Times
LEARNING EXPERIENCE Emily Lennox interns at Smiling Planet in Marina del Rey, Calif.
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Between the sputtering economy and updated federal guidelines governing the employment of unpaid interns, many students have had a tougher time than they anticipated in landing résumé-enhancing experience this summer.
Tales of frustration abound. One junior at Penn State had his paid corporate internship offer revoked during the last week of classes this spring. A journalism student in Washington had to walk away from three internship opportunities because she wouldn’t receive academic credit. After an “awesome” internship at aventure capital firm last summer, a student in an M.B.A. program in Los Angeles struggled to find 15 hours a week of unpaid work this time around. And at ESPN, Howard Hamilton, a vice president of human resources, said that