Taking an IB Diploma Programme opens the doors to advanced studies and graduates of West Vancouver Secondary School’s IB Diploma Programme have attended universities around the world. Past students have studied at Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Cambridge, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Oxford, McGill, Queens, UBC and the University of Toronto among other renowned post-secondary institutions.
Here, some of our alumni share testimonials about the impact that pursuing an IB Diploma at West Vancouver Secondary School had on their lives:
“I started the IB Diploma Programme at WVSS in 2012 and graduated in 2014. Later I went to University of Oxford and completed my undergraduate and master studies in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. I am currently living in Switzerland and pursuing a PhD degree in the biomedical field at an institute sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. However, before coming back to academia I also worked for two years in China in various industries, such as pharma, FMCG, and consulting. I am very grateful that I was part of the IB Diploma family, as the comprehensive nature and creative design of the programme have definitely helped me shape who I am today. Not only have I benefited from the competitive advantage of the programme in my application for university, but I have also trained my critical thinking skills and widened my perspective of the world we are living in. These qualities allow me to persevere in my life as an independent thinker and efficient decision maker.” - Devico Shi, PhD Student, WVSS Grad 2014
"The IB experience prepared me for easy transition into university courses. Attaining a high score in a few HL courses allowed me to claim credits for the pre-requisites, which gave me some room to breathe in the difficult and busy first year. The IB program is special and shines even more so with the sense of community among the students. I learned that any difficulty can be overcome with help from my peers. After the IB program I learned the importance of living together and actively engaging in the society we live in. One part of the IB requirements is CAS, and I was "forced" to take on volunteer roles to give back service to my community. However, the volunteer experience was where I found my passion for teaching. Throughout the IB program I supported junior students to succeed in their math class and that experience led me to pursue the career as a teacher." - Do Hoon Lee, Teacher, WVSS Grad 2015