How do IB HL classes compare to a freshman/sophomore-level equivalent college course? For example, IB physics HL and freshman college physics.
I don’t know about each particular class, but my boyfriend is an IB diploma graduate, and we just finished our freshman year of college in engineering. He said that the workload was quite similar in magnitude.
I’ve found that junior and senior years of IB DP are comparable in workload to freshman year in college - that was my experience anyways. However the classes themselves are very different. College classes move at essentially double the pace of an IB course and is generally more in depth. For example (and this is a bad example) the two year IB Physics HL class is covered in one year in college. But instead of spending time on the “fun” options. college physics goes more in depth into the fundamentals. (Note: I say this is a bad example because IB Physics is algebra based whereas college physics is calcuus based, but since that was the example you gave I went with it).
Additionally every semester in college you will have finals which are just as stressful as (if not more stressful than) your IB exams.
Physics was a bad example for me to ask of, but I see. From others I’ve heard other things regarding some of the other IB courses. Thanks for the reply!
Does knowing algebra-based physics make calculus-based physics easier, particularly when compared to someone taking calculus-based with no prior physics background?
For some branches of physics yes - mechanics particularly is easy to learn algebraicly, and learning algebraic mechanics will give you a leg up with learning calculus based mechanics. Other branches are very confusing / impossible to learn properly without calculus.
A nearby college for me has the first two physics courses as calculus-based mechanics and magnestism/electrcity classes, which sounds very similar to AP Physics C.
Also my high school, and most high schools I know of, have finals each semester too.
@krvenkat so did mine, but high school finals are no where near as stressful as IB tests and college finals.