<p>Hello everyone!
I am a newcomer to CC. I am from India and I am currently in a dilemma.
Which one is better with the pros and cons, A level or IB?
Prospectively, I want to attend a US college
Can you all please help me out?
Thank you!</p>
<p>Both will allow you to attend a college in the US.</p>
<p>I think you should decide based on your own preferences. If the Indian A-levels are anything like the British A-levels, you would start specializing earlier. The IB, on the other hand, forces you to take a bunch of classes you may not be interested in.</p>
<p>For US colleges I think IB looks better. Gives you a boost in the admission process.</p>
<p>
Can you back this up? I have heard a lot of people on CC complain about how colleges underappreciate the IB in comparison with APs and other mix-and-match high school programs. For example, many colleges won’t give students credit for standard-level IB courses even though they are almost equivalent to APs.</p>
<p>I think IB is still more familiar to US colleges than A-levels are.</p>
<p>Colleges might get more applicants with an IB background than with A-levels but that doesn’t mean that the IB is the preferred program. Colleges are familiar with both programs: when you look at course placement handouts of most colleges with a significant international student population, you will see that A-levels are typically among the credentials discussed, along with APs, the IB and maybe a few other European high school credentials.</p>
<p>If you know what you want to study, A-levels can give you an advantage in the long run because they allow you to place out of a the introductory and some intermediate courses in the subject. Thus you get to the more interesting higher-level courses faster. Trust me, you get a lot of perks as the youngest student in a class :)</p>
<p>On the other hand, the IB will give you a broader background and some people will argue that its rigor prepares you better for college than A-levels.</p>
<p>you serious? oh dear…i am currently studying the A levels, but i was recently notified that i was accepted into a overseas school that offeres the IB…maybe i should turn down the offer?</p>
<p>Well, I mean even schools Cambridge, LSE and etc. have said that the A-Level is less rigorous than IB. For A-level most people take 3-4 subjects for IB its 6 and at the same time you take TOK and Extended Essay and CAS. Its much more well rounded and rigorous and for college admission process course rigor might be one of the most important, if not the most important admission factor (at least for Stanford). </p>
<p>-My opinion is based on my school counselors opinions and some CC people’s opinion. Like how they say if you are predicted 40+ you have a good shot at schools like Princeton.</p>
<p>Oh and if you want the most rigorous curriculum. Take HL Math, Phyiscs, Chemistry (or biology), HL (Any of the human sciences). Haha…</p>
<p>Btw my statement on Princeton of course depends on everything in your application. But a 40+ will definitely help you, not just mean you are academically qualified.</p>
<p>hmm…im taking physics now…is IB biology easy? haha…curious cause i might just decide to change over to biology cause i took all three sciences…</p>
<p>It really, really depends.</p>
<p>A lot depends on where your interests lie and how you plan to pursue them in college, if at all. In general, it’s easier to get credit for A Levels than IB, and you will do more writing in IB. A Levels allow more specialization and IB will make you more well-rounded.</p>
<p>I don’t know where the Indian A Levels stand relative to other A Level programs - do you do the same A Levels as British students? If you do, I think IB will probably be slightly better regarded, thanks to the grade inflation of the British A Levels.</p>
<p>Hermann: Same thing - it depends. The Singapore-GCE A Levels are much tougher though, and MOE/UCLES H3s don’t have an AP/IB equivalent (so advanced you can’t get college credit for them ;)). There’s the contrasting subject requirement, which often doesn’t mean anything (I did KI Lit History TSD - contrasting, my foot). On the other hand, I’d say the opportunity to do TOK and EE is priceless. Personally I’d argue that the experiences and academic rigor available to an IB Diploma candidate are also available to JC students (CIP, sports, SYF, KI for TOK, many H3s* for EE, etc). In terms of recognition and rigor, I believe IB and Singapore-GCE A Levels are about the same. It’s really just a matter of which set of requirements you prefer.</p>
<ul>
<li>MOE Lit, History and Geog H3s are 3500 word research papers, but the other H3s, I believe, are exams. I know VJC offers a Science Research H3 which requires a research paper of similar length… looks like NJ and HC also offer something similar but I don’t know about any other schools. Again, it depends on what you want.</li>
</ul>
<p>phantompong, the Indian A levels are pretty much identical to the British ones
i might boil down on doing IB with a few AP exams
that might show a good repertoire!</p>
<p>oh yeah, do you get credit for college by giving an AP exam WITHOUT do a year long course </p>
<p>thank you all for the great info!!</p>
<p>i think IB and i’ll be doing it next year.</p>
<p>Its less mugging -oriented like A levels. </p>
<p>Its more challenging but more rewarding as well. </p>
<p>Prepare for alot of essay writing though. And your final marks are determined by your everyday work as well. </p>
<p></p>