Hi, I’m a junior at high sap cool. Right now, I have 2 SL classes which are history and English, and 1 chemistry HL. I heard that colleges don’t give credits for taking SL classes, and do give for HL classes and AP. Does this work this way? Every college give credits for that? Are those beneficial for me? Because the test fee for IB is really expensive and if I cannot get credits for that, I see no point to take the test. However, our school demand us to take the test…
Very few colleges give credit for SL but most do for HL exams. And that is very unfortunate because each SL is the equivalent of an AP in terms of effort and complexity and an HL is the equivalent of 2 APs. The IBO needs to negotiate better with universities in the US. In my research the universities that offer credit for SL exams are U Oregon, OSU, UF, FSU. There might be more but these i can confirm. Amongst private colleges, Reed values an IB HL as the equivalent of 2 APs (https://www.reed.edu/apply/guide-to-applying/first-year/ap-guide.html) but most value an AP at the same level as an HL.
My recommendation as a parent to a daughter who went to a top 25 nationally ranked school that only offers IB … take AP classes instead. My daughter has had to work extremely hard and is still being categorized with kids who took it easy and took 4 APs, while her workload and level is that of one who took 10 APs.
IB credit is a bit odd and varies by school. Personally I found that even though I got less college credit, the IB program did a very good job in preparing me for doing college level work.
You’ll have to check each schools website, but I’ve found that there are 4 types of schools when it comes to IB credit
- Offers credit for HLs, but not SLs.
Most schools fit in this category. These zm schools offer credit to students who do well (5+ or 6+ depending on the school) on select IB HL exams. Some schools offer credit for virtually every IB HL exam whereas others only offer credit for select exams - for example, Johns Hopkins only offers credit for IB HL (and AP) science and math exams. - Offers credit for obtaining / achieving a certain score on the IB Diploma
This seems more common in public schools - for example the UC system. Achieving a certain score on your IB diploma (I believe it’s a 30/45 for the UCs) gives you a certain ammount of credit - somewhere between a semester and a years worth from what I’ve seen. You can also skip any classes for which you’ve taken and done well on the corresponding IB test. - Offers credit for HL and SL exams
These schools aren’t very common - I think Georgia tech offers credit for some SLs. These schools work similarly to those in category #1, but they offer credit for SLs. - Offer no credit
Some schools offer no credit to incoming students. They’re pretty rare aren’t biased against IB specifically - they don’t offer credit for APs or A levels either.
Every public college in my state will give 24 credits for earning the diploma regardless of score, that is pretty much an entire freshman year for less than $2000.
University of Nebraska gives credit and a scholarship
http://global.unl.edu/academics/honors-programs/international-baccalaureate.aspx
So to get maximum value, choose your college carefully.
Hi, have been following the thread, and am trying to understand the system of college credits as I have no experience with this system. As an IB student, with math physics and chem, all at HL, i understand that some colleges will have the following credits provided the score is between 5 to 7:
Math 16500 and 16600 (8 hours)
Chemistry 11500 and 11600 (8 hours)
English 23100 (3 hours)
Physics 17200 (4 hours)
What does "credit awarding| mean? Does it mean that he does not have to attend certain classes? Or he does not have to write certain exams? If the latter, how is the GPA then calculated?
@Keen2no So, say for example your son (I assume that’s who you mean) takes HL English and makes a 6, which makes him eligible at College X for credit for English 101 (3 credit hours). This means his college transcript will reflect that he has credit for English 101 as if he had taken the class. If College X requires its students to take English 101 as a core class, this means he doesn’t take it. It doesn’t have anything to do with “writing certain exams”. Since it’s a “transfer credit” of sorts, it won’t affect his GPA either way.
However, you have to consider that taking core class credit advances you into much harder classes, choosing to not take the credit for core classes in e.g. engineering might help you protect your freshman GPA if you need it to enter into your speciality. Taking credit though, might get you out of weed out classes (which can damn your GPA anyway LOL). It is really a question you want to pose in terms of your major, and your target school. It can be a double edged sword in tough majors in tough schools.
How many credits given for IB classes was one of the research components of D’s college search. In the end, while Skidmore gave her 12 credits (math/science/spanish), they could only be used as general elective credits. She scored a 6 on the IB Bio exam but is still required to take Bio I and II, clearly repeat classes and she is bored to death. She was also required to take Calc 3, another “repeat” class. The only class she could place out of was Intermediate Spanish. Given her goal of a double major with one minor there is no room for electives per se so those 12 credits are wasted. Also, because the school does not have advanced placement in the sciences or math and she is taking these “repeat” classes, there is little wiggle room if she hopes to graduate in four years.
But my school cancelled almost all the AP classes. So there is no way that I can choose to take ap classes.
You can still sign up for AP tests on your own and take them at a nearby location that’s offering it.