Every year, thousands of students work towards achieving their Cambridge Diploma. Is the Cambridge diploma worth achieving? The diploma is effective when it comes to getting into good colleges.
The Cambridge program includes what are called AICE courses. AICE stands for The Advanced International Certificate of Education. Cambridge was designed to be an advanced academic curriculum and assessment program. The Cambridge program is accessible worldwide to be able to achieve. Passing several AICE exams can lead to you possibly getting college credits. High schoolers who earn the AICE Diploma and complete 100 service hours can automatically earn the Florida Academic Scholars tuition scholarship.
There are different steps you need to take to achieve the Cambridge AICE Diploma. You must get 1 credit from each of the 4 groups, Group 1: Mathematics & Science, Group 2: Languages, Group 3: Arts & Humanities, and Group 4: Interdisciplinary and Skills-based subjects. AICE classes specifically if you’re able to pass the end-of-the-year AICE exam. This will lead to you getting college credits which could result in your freshman year of college pretty much being done and over with. There is a maximum of 45 college credits you could earn in your high school years. You also must take and pass the exam for Global Perspectives & Research in your Junior year. One thing to always remember is Cambridge/AICE credits and Advanced Placement (AP) credits cannot be combined to earn the AICE Diploma.
More than 500 students at CSC are enrolled in at least one Cambridge class. In reality, what is the difference between taking Cambridge classes to normal classes? The difference is that AICE classes are college-level classes and regular classes are connected to the grade level that you are in. This signifies that you could be done with some college classes by the time you get to college that way you could just move on to the next thing. Gaining your Cambridge Diploma can increase your GPA, the possibility of earning college credits, and Bright Future Scholarship. However, for you to be able to achieve a scholarship other than getting your Cambridge Diploma, your SAT score has to be 1340 and your ACT has to be 29, you need a GPA of 3.50 and 100 service hours for Florida Academic Scholars. Florida Medallion Scholars need 1210 SAT scores, 25 ACT scores and 75 hours. Therefore, there are better benefits that are being given when you are trying to get your Cambridge Diploma and end up succeeding.
What if you are not trying to get your Cambridge Diploma? Is it going to affect you? Getting your Cambridge Diploma or not getting it will not affect you. This is because the Cambridge Diploma is used to get into better schools and gives you college credits as well. Although it is advised to be going for your Cambridge Diploma sometimes people don’t want to. If you stay taking the regular classes for your grade level it is not going to affect you. You will just be going at a normal pace. If getting the Cambridge Diploma is not in the cards for you, you can stay on the regular path since the AICE classes are normally seen as advanced classes.
Overall, I believe trying to achieve your Cambridge Diploma is worth it. Getting your Cambridge Diploma and taking those AICE classes come with so many benefits. College credits, competing for higher colleges and so many more. This will make your options so much easier for college and will most likely complete your freshman year of college if you start in high school and pass the end of the year AICE Cambridge exams. Yes, it will be more work than going through the regular path but in the end, it will be worth it.
