I go to a school that offers both AP and IB classes. I am currently a sophomore and am part of a school program which requires me to take advanced classes, many of which but not all, have to be AP classes. If I were to pursue the IB route, I would enroll in all the classes required by the IB program. If I continue in the program that I am currently enrolled in, I would take 6-7 AP classes in my junior and senior year each. By the time I graduate, I would have 20 AP classes, as I would have taken seven between my freshman and sophomore year (one in freshman year and six in sophomore year).
I currently plan on continuing with AP classes. My dilemma, essentially, is whether colleges or not will look down on the fact that I took AP instead of enrolling in IB classes. I plan on applying to Ivy League colleges. Therefore, I am quite worried about my decision as I do not want it to affect my admission.
When discussing the topic, many people often mention that admissions involve many other factors besides classes taken. Therefore, I feel that in order to provide a more complete picture of my academic profile, I should provide some information about myself. I am at the top of my class. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. I also have taken many more high classes than my peers, and am three years ahead in mathematics and two years ahead in science. I am also involved in multiple extracurricular activities and have an abundance of community service hours.
I would appreciate any feedback on whether taking AP instead of IB classes will affect my college admissions process.
Only if the Guidance Counselor checks the “most rigorous” curriculum box only for students in the IB program, so you would have to ask him/her. Otherwise AP vs. IB will make no difference IMO, particularly if you are taking 20 AP courses (which in my mind is just crazy, but it’s your life ).
Thank you so much for your help! I’ll make sure to ask my counselor.
Also, my school requires all students in the IB program to do the full IB diploma. Hence, why I have a preference for AP as I can still take 6-7 AP classes every year but have control over my schedule.
Some, but not all, IB programs work less well for STEM focused students. Since you are “three years ahead in mathematics and two years ahead in science”, do the available IB classes work for you? Or, will you soon be needing dual-enrollment classes for math and science?
For example, what math are you taking now, and what IB Math classes are offered at your school?
Three years ahead in math would mean calculus in 10th grade. So the OP will need to take more advanced math at a local college if s/he wants to continue in math, since neither AP courses nor IB HL courses cover more advanced topics in sufficient breadth and depth to match the college courses in those topics. If the IB diploma prevents the OP from taking math at a local college, but that would be possible otherwise, then that is a disadvantage of doing the IB diploma. Also, if the IB diploma requires taking IB math HL or SL, that may not be too worthwhile a use of time if the student has already completed calculus by then.
Surprisingly, I am not as interested in STEM. I am ahead in STEM because I took high school classes in middle school. I am currently taking AP Calculus AB. Next year, I will take AP Calculus BC and senior year AP Stats. In terms of STEM, AP benefits me more as if I enrolled in IB I would take AP Calculus BC junior year (my school mixes AP and IB for juniors) and IB Calculus and Descriptive Statistics or Math Studies senior year, which would be a bit redundant as I would have taken calculus sophomore and junior year.
In response to ucbalumnus, my interests arent really in question, as I can take classes that interest me in both AP and IB. If there is an AP class offered at my school, the corresponding IB class (which exists for many AP classes) is also offered. As a matter of fact, the same teachers for each subject teach both AP and IB. For example, the AP human geography teacher also teaches IB Human Geography.
You should choose based on what kind of education you want. IB courses will require more writing especially the big TOK (am I getting that right?) paper. My older more STEM oriented guy would have hated it, but it would have been a good fit for my younger son.
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