Which college was he trying to get into?

You still need good marks to make it into a decent college/university from IB, it's not a free ticket. But, if I was to look at a university in Canada or somewhere in Europe, they regard it quite highly. As well, it does prepare you much better than a regular program. Wether it's a waste of time or not, I suppose two years from now when applying to universities I will find out.