I remember these constant talks from other students about how the IBDP was rigorous and would prepare us for university and that since we had already undergone such a challenging degree, the future would not surprise us in that sense. This was not my experience; university proved to be much more complex, and doing the IB did not give me an edge over other students who had pursued other high school diplomas (French, Abitur, Spanish, A-Levels, AP).
The unique advantage of doing the IB in a school like SIS in China is my mindset. It's an incredibly international environment with many nationalities, and living in Shenzhen allows high schoolers to experience near complete autonomy regarding socializing, events, and extracurriculars. When I got to university, it was very clear who had done a local high school diploma and who had done the IB. IB students were much more open-minded, social, and talkative as opposed to local students if you did not speak their native languages at least. French would hang out with French, Spanish with Spanish, and so on, except for the IB students, who would be friends with multiple people from various backgrounds. My friend group nowadays is very diverse, making it much more interesting.