One of the highlights of teaching IB is to speak to students who return from university in the holidays.  "How are you getting on?", is a question which always presents itself. Many students describe how the IB was great preparation and how their uni colleagues are not all so well prepared.  The anecdotes students often tell point to the challenges of the extended essay or the IB diploma in general.  Now the IB has published findings from a range of research projects around the world which provide some more scientific evidence for the relative success of IB students. Key findings from research on the Impact of the IB Diploma Studies in Australia, Mexico and Ecuador show general evidence that IB students are more successful in their studies, and more interestingly a study in the UK investigated reasons why IB students are more successful.  It found that the Extended Essay may well have strengthened the students' critical thinking skills and capacity for independent research.  In Virginia, USA, a study showed a statistically significant relationship between the students' Extended Essay scores and college grade point averages. 

More details can be found on the IB research website.