<p>hehehe.</p>
<p>Well they should.</p>
<p>btw ilym</p>
<p>IB is a program, while AP is a series of classes.
If you are doing IB instead of AP to increase your chances of acceptance, think again. Adcoms view both AP and IB (provided you take 4+ AP classes a year) the same.</p>
<p>My school offers both AP and IB, and both send several students to top colleges every year.</p>
<p>Aah but the initiative of IB!
Actually, I should admit that I don't know anything about IB because it's not offered at my school...
neither are AP classes actually so maybe I should just shut up =X</p>
<p>IB for sure.. not only do u have to do well on an exam ( which is the only case for AP), u have to do your community service which involves sports, ec's and other factors that involve long term papers.. for instance, on the 24th of this month, i have a 12-15 pg paper due on the civil war and some of its components</p>
<p>there is a lot of commitment needed in IB... for this month alone i have to complete my extended essay, business coursework, tok essay, physics practicals (lab)...</p>
<p>If you're taking 5 APs you have to write papers, essays, do tons of coursework, and many labs as well (if you're taking a science). I've never taken IBs, but it couldn't be any more work that what I have right now. AP Classes, although "standardized" depend heavily on the teacher.</p>
<p>I don't know about which one is "hard" or "better", but "hardcore" definately goes to IB.</p>
<p>I don't know but it seems one is more likely to do well on an AP test even without having taken the class than taking IB test without IB class.</p>
<p>I hate to say this, but duh people are going to do "well" on the AP, for goodness sakes there are only 5 different scores as opposed to the 7 different scores of the IB...I think AP is better. People say that the IB program is more of a lifestyle, or whatever. As an AP student, wouldn't it be likely that you would do community service anyhow? I would think that only the motivated students would take AP courses. Wow...you have to write a term paper...<em>sarcastic</em> I'm pretty sure IB is hard, wished it was at my school, and I'm not here to make it into a fight.</p>
<p>IB is hardcore.</p>
<p>With AP, you can choose what you want to take, so if you take courses that interest you, you probably will do well.
In IB, you have to take the requirements.</p>
<p>IB gives a lot more work than AP does (5 APs still does not equal 8 IB's in 1 year), at least I don't think so. AP's depend on the teacher and sometimes the class might be really easy. IB on the other hand has many requirements, such as lab hours, essays, service hours, etc.
IB is also hardcore because it is inflexible, you have to do everything required to get that diploma.
For AP, you can self study for a test without taking the course. And AP's are only 1 year long.
With IB HL, the courses are 2 years long and even if you think you can do well on the exam after 1 year, you still go through 2 years.</p>
<p>An essay or even a book could be written about the differences that make IB more hardcore...</p>
<p>Why spend more than one year on something that you already know, and in a subject matter that can be taught in one year? I think that 2 years is ridiculous, and in reality is slower. So I guess you can say that the 8 HLs/year really only count as one year...Is there something wrong with self-study? You can't really declare the fact about the teacher or class being really easy; that could be said the same for IB courses, naturally. </p>
<p>;-)</p>
<p>As someone taking APs and looking to get into a good college, you don't just take the APs that interest you, you take as many as you can. I am a math and science kid, but I'm still taking AP History, AP Government, and AP English. I don't think there are too many, if any, courses you are required to take that I wouldn't take. I would be willing to bet I have as much work or more than you do. Want to know how my last two days were? I woke up at 6:30 AM and was at school until 6:30. I came home and ate dinner and then worked until 2:30. Both days. Do you have more work than that? I would also be willing to bet I spend more time in the lab for my AP Chem class than you do for IB. I also do community service. There was only one person in my school of over 2,000 that had more community service than I did last year. I also think two years of the same course is a waste, and even if it's the subject matter of two courses, what is the difference in taking one long course or two shorter courses? People who take IB are going to want to think they are doing something harder, but you people are vastly underestimating the time that it takes to have and excel in a full AP schedule.</p>
<p>An essay or even a book could be written about the differences that make AP more hardcore...</p>
<p>Edit: Although I may be taking 5 classes not all of them are 45 minutes. AP Chemistry is a year long block (something like 100 minutes in length). BC Calculus is block first semester and a skinny (47 minutes) second semester. We are learning and doing work during all of that time, not twiddling our thumbs and fingerpainting.</p>
<p>"(5 APs still does not equal 8 IB's in 1 year)"</p>
<p>Uhh, maybe because you're not supposed to take 8 IB's in one year? Nobody is allowed to take more than 6 classes at my school, and even if you did take 8, the extra 2 would be SL classes, so it seems pretty pointless to me.</p>
<p>Same with AP...CB and ETS do not expect anyone to take more than 4 AP's in one year, but if I were taking 6 AP's, I would be willing to bet that it would be much more difficult than your 8 IB courses. The 4 HL courses are actually quite challenging (although you're given 2 years to learn a bit more than one-year AP students). The 4 SL courses would be no better than a "general" course at my school.</p>
<p>Why spend more than one year on a subject you already know?
- Why take a subject if you already know the material then? Why even waste a year if you know the subject, it would be better to learn something you don't know.
- Subjects that are taught more than one year usually go into depth on the material.
If subjects could be taught in one year, then what is the point of having AP Physics B & C, AP Calc AB & BC, AP Comp Sci A & B... why not teach those combined into one year also. Obviously, when there are more levels of a subject, you will learn new stuff and it takes more time to learn.
Why not take Chemistry for one year in high school and cover it all, instead of taking it again college?
-Sometimes you can't learn subjects in one year. Subjects such as Chemistry have different types of Chemistry (Organic, Inorganic, Biomedical, etc). It isn't feasible sometimes. So the point of a 2 year (HL) would be to learn more about the subject.</p>
<p>Is there really anything wrong with self-study?
-Absolutely not, I never said anything was wrong with self-study. If a person has the ambition to learn a subject and can't take it, he might as well learn it on his own.
My point is, with self-study, a person can avoid the workload of an AP level class, making it less hardcore. Some students can just get a prep book and study that on their own and score a 5 on the AP exam. On the other hand, if you want to do IB, you have to take on the courseload. There is no cutting the corners (such as self-study) to take the exam for credit without taking the course.</p>
<p>As for an IB class can be easy... that may be true, no argument about that. But, IB has certain requirements, such as the essays, portfolios, service hours, etc.
In AP, you might not always get those requirements, some teachers may give you those assignments, others may not. So, AP is maybe it will happen, maybe it won't.</p>
<p>Patrick, you have a tough courseload for sure. Does your school offer IB? How do the students workload in IB compare to yours? I think it isn't very comparable if a school doesn't have IB and AP. If it has one or the other, more emphasis will be placed on that program, making it harder.
We're required to do about 30 hours of labs, if that is less than what you all do, then your AP program is hardcore.
I have friends that are doing full IB and full AP. The people doing full IB have a lot more work. </p>
<p>Conker, we take 8 classes at my school. We are on block schedule with 90 minute classes. If we do IB, we must take 8, if we do AP we don't have to take 8.</p>
<p>As we see, it depends on everyone's school. Conker said that 4 SL courses is no better than general. But at my school that is a different story. </p>
<p>Interesting discussion.</p>
<p>How about which is more hardcore between these: AP vs. IB vs. Community College Courses vs. courses higher than AP/IB (if you are able to attend a school that offered these types of courses). Check out the course catalog at <a href="http://www.ncssm.edu%5B/url%5D">www.ncssm.edu</a> (a school I'm applying to next year) which doesn't have IB, but for advanced courses, it has AP and courses higher than AP.</p>
<p>My school doesn't offer IB, but we do offer most AP courses. I think another school in the district has it, be we do not. We do at least 2 hours of lab work a week in Chemistry, which is usually closer to three. We have to complete a lab that takes TWO to THREE WEEKS. That is 100 minutes for ten to fifteen days. That one lab is about as many hours as you'll spend in the lab the whole year. The AP Chem class is very intense with an excellent teacher who hasn't had anyone fail the exam for close to 20 years. In the sense of the two year IB course, she teachers the honors and magnet chemistry I classes and then has them for AP the following year so she teaches the same kids for three straight semesters of a block class. And she definately expects you to remember what you learned in Chem I.</p>
<p>How do you take 8 90 minute classes? That's 12 hours of classes a day not counting lunch, etc. Do you mean 4 actual classes that count as 2 courses a piece?</p>
<p>Oh, and BC calc covers all of the AB material and more and is taught in a single year. Most people don't take both.</p>
<p>lol i read som1 that said 8 HLS in one year....is that some kind of suicide technique or something? 4 hls usually kills ppl buddy..</p>
<p>"lol i read som1 that said 8 HLS in one year...."</p>
<p>Impossible...IBO does not allow anyone to take more than 4 HL's.</p>
<p>"Conker, we take 8 classes at my school. We are on block schedule with 90 minute classes. If we do IB, we must take 8, if we do AP we don't have to take 8."</p>
<p>Interesting...when then do you take TOK? We work on a 7 class rotation, so IB students generally take 4 HL's, 2 SL's, and 1 TOK class.</p>
<p>actually usually one is supposed to take 3 HLs and 3 SLS unless you are allowed to take four by your councelor. ppl take three sometimes four, very rarely 5 HL classes. Also you can do you whole diploma and you can do seprate cirtificates if you wish to self study those classes...however you can only self study a language ..... Anyways I think TOK is the hardest thing about all of IB.. I really dont mind IB but TOK is just SUCH BS.
I got a q..can anyone just take an ap exam? if so do you know where I can register or something?</p>
<p>Oops, I meant that people DO take 4 HL and 2 SL. Of course, people in my school generally take 3 HL and 3 SL. I wasn't aware that you could take 5 HL. I thought that was against IBO policy.</p>
<p>Anybody can register for AP exams. But if your school doesn't offer AP exams at all, I think you're out of luck.</p>
<p>I'm in the IB program; its loads tougher than AP courseload. In terms of tests, I heard a 6,7 is comparable to an AP 5, but depends on the subject. In terms of acceptance chances, this site might help you make up your mind</p>