Hi, so first things first. I moved to the U.S. Almost 3 years ago from Spain and I’m doing the IB Programme next year. I’ve been debating between Certificate and Diploma. I already got accepted for Diploma but I’m not sure I’m prepared for it. People at my school that usually do Diploma have been taking honors since middle school and took 3 AP courses sophomore year. I started with honors in my sophomore year and took 1 AP course. I felt like I could do Diploma because I’m a hard worker and I’ve gone from speaking Spanish my whole life to taking IB after less than 3 years after I came to the U.S… So, I can take a challenge; I’m just scared Diploma is too big of a challenge and that I might be overestimating myself.
In IB, you have to be well rounded in the subject areas. AP gives you a much broader choice and more flexibility on where you want to develop. For me… I am more of a math person. However, I ended up taking social studies classes that I probably would have never thought about…IB Geo, Microeconomics and I probably would have quit language after fulfilling my 2 year requirement. Instead I took 4 years of language with my last year testing in IB. I would have taken more science and math classes had I been able to
Yes, the IB Diploma program is challenging, but I wouldn’t completely psych yourself out. I just graduated from the program, and several of my classmates did individual certificates. To be honest, many of the certificate students did almost as much work at the IB Diploma candidates - they probably could have achieved them if they had been in the full program.
I have taken both IB and AP courses, and I think the differences mostly lie in the workload. To be frank, I had far more homework in my AP classes. It was heavily textbook based, and a single exam determines your entire score. A lot of it was based on memorization and detail. IB is more about growth and consciousness. You learn how to do research, question the theory of knowledge, and you complete several examinations over the course of your classes.
For example, I did several assignments throughout my literature course (including a presentation and written assignment during my junior year, and a group presentation + prepared poetry commentary at the beginning of my senior year). By the time I took my literature exam in May, roughly 70% of my IB score was already determined - unlike AP, where the final exam would have 100% determined my score.
In addition, you don’t need to compare yourself to your classmates. It’s really not that big of a deal if they did honors in middle school and took a couple more AP classes than you - it doesn’t make them smarter than your, nor does it make them a harder worker. Frankly, honors and regular classes in middle school are not different from each other. You’re probably not as far behind as you think.
I also think the fact that you aren’t a native English speaker would be better suited to IB over AP. IB is a global program. They understand that a great deal of students taking examinations are not necessarily native English speakers. I just finished taking several exams, and while preparing, I found out that graders are instructed not to count off points for grammar/spelling errors (barring language examinations, of course).
IB also requires a language course and exam for the diploma. If you were to take Spanish or another language you might be fluent in, then you could easily score a 7 (and you only need 24 points to get the full diploma).
Sorry for the essay, but this is essentially what I’m saying: don’t underestimate yourself. IB is not that hard. Yes, it’s challenging, and yes, it can be stressful at times - but why not at least try? Besides, if you don’t get your diploma, it’s not the end of the world. You won’t even find out until July after your senior year, and at that point, you will probably already be committed to a college.