International Baccalaureate is partially a gimmick. I know someone who did it, but wasn't accepted to the college he wanted to go to because they didn't care about European standards.
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.