DIPLOMA PROGRAM or AP?

Pre-College Issues International Baccalaureate (IB)
1

<p>I will be entering my junior year of high school in the US this following 2014-2015 school year and my school allows the students to choose whether to take diploma program or AP. I am sure both programs are great, but I cannot decide which program to choose especially considering the circumstances. There is one guy in my class who is deciding not to take the diploma program and has decided to stack up on the AP classes instead, constructing his schedule to consist of only AP classes and 3 free periods (we have 8 classes available in our schedule, therefore he will be taking 5 AP classes). If I am using the correct technique to calculate weighted GPAs, he will have a 5.0 by the end of junior year if he maintains all A's, which makes him well on his way to becoming valedictorian. I am a viable candidate for a top spot in the class ranking but am unsure whether I should follow this guy in order to compete for that top spot or do diploma program. If I took diploma program, my tentative schedule would consist of 5 AP classes and 2 regular classes (due to the DP requirement of Theory of Knowledge and a language). I have not decided whether to leave my 8th labeled as free on my schedule and continue playing on the basketball team which I've been playing on since I was a freshman, so that it does not lower my potential GPA, or give up my sport and fill it in with an extra AP class to raise my GPA (assuming I get an A). Which leads me to my next question: should I give up my sport and fill it in with an extra AP class? However, I would still play club basketball and run track because the track team allows for athletes to not take the sport as a class, both of which I have been doing since I was a freshman. But back to my first question: whether I leave my 8th as free or fill it in with an AP class my GPA will range from 4.71 to 4.75 (again, assuming that I maintain all A's), still remarkably lower than the other guy's potential 5.0 GPA. So in a college admissions perspective, the underlying overall question is, "Who looks better: the valedictorian who did not take the diploma program or the top 5/10 who took the diploma program?" And if you could answer another question, does it look better to colleges if you fill in your schedule with a lot of classes to look like you are challenging yourself or to take less but the highest point-earning classes?</p>

<p>So to sum it all up, here are my three questions:
1. Should I take diploma program or AP considering my situation?
2. Who looks better: the valedictorian who did not take the diploma program or the top 5/10 who took the diploma program?
3. If you think I should do diploma program, should I give up my high school sport and fill it in with an extra AP class?</p>

<p>Thank you for your answers.</p>

2

<p>TOK isn’t weighted? At my S’s IB school, TOK is a 5.0, as are all IB classes. Sometimes the way schools weight classes doesn’t seem logical, and certainly not consistent. Maybe you could speak with your guidance counselor and see what he or she would consider “most rigorous.” With CAS, EE, and TOK, the Diploma Programme seems more rigorous. I think that colleges know that part of being valedictorian is strategy, and not always the brightest or hardest working student, so if you are looking for a selective school, I would choose rigor over val, as long as your class rank doesn’t slip too far due to the class weighting situation. (My son is likely val this year, but his school is IB only) If you enjoy your sport, do it. </p>

3

<p>Take as many APs as you can. In the US, IB does not do much for you. I am currently a 12th grader and a diploma candidate. (I’m CC right now instead of studying for my IB exams.) I am going to a good university next year and it allows students to use scores of 4/5 on AP exams and scores of 7 on IB HL exams for college credit and the former is much easier to achieve in my experience. I would have a much greater advantage going into college had I attended a school that offers AP courses. Instead, I’ve wasted hundreds of dollars on IB exams that probably won’t do anything for me. Additionally, College Board makes both the AP and SAT exams; there is thus more overlap in curriculum material with AP exams and SAT II exams. I had to study a lot more for my SAT II’s than I would’ve if I had taken AP classes.</p>