<p>I am planning to apply ED to Penn. There are at least 8 students who are applying ED. My school also offers IB program. There are couple of people of guys who are in IB program. Though all of us (Applicants) have equally good credentials in terms of GPA, SAT scores, I was wondering if being in IB program gives you an advantage over other applicants?
Can someone answer this question. Thanks</p>
<p>can anyone help me out here. Thanks</p>
<p>Probably not. Or the difference would be small enough to be considered not a benefit at all. I doubt it’s weighted any different than AP</p>
<p>IB is considered by most colleges to be the most challenging curriculum. AP is considered less challenging and basically teaches one to regurgitate information on multiple choice tests. IB actually forces one to critically think and analyze.</p>
<p>@abbyhooker: because you know, getting 5’s on AP tests takes no effort at all…</p>
<p>IB is a program. They are not just classes, but they have their own curriculum and everything. You can’t compare IB classes to AP classes because in IB you have so much more time to learn and synthesize the information, and your teachers work with your schedule. AP classes are basically like college courses. AND YES, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD FOR IT.</p>
<p>I am also in an IB program, and I definitely think that IB is more challenging and from what I understand, it can give a candidate the “upper edge” in certain situations. IB requires not just tests, but other things such as extended essay and internal assessments making it more challenging.</p>
<p>AP classes have tests, essays and other assignments too…</p>
<p>Bottom line…</p>
<p>If IB is offered at your school and you are not in the program, your fellow students will probably get a better review.</p>
<p>If IB was not offered at your school, only AP, then it would not matter. </p>
<p>Schools seek the student who takes the most rigorous courses. If IB is offered, IB would be deemed the most difficult. </p>
<p>Do I think, having had one in an IB and two not that it’s worth it…NO! Much easier to get a good GPA w/o all the brain damage of IB with AP only. Additionally, colleges have said what I stated above. Basically, S2 killed himself to compete equally against kids taking AP. S1 and D1 glided through AP. Cannot compare the workload, writing assignments and oral exams. I’ve seen it and know. IB is brutal.</p>
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<p>IB and AP programs are evaluated equally, and when run competently are of similar difficulty. </p>
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<p>6 AP classes of given subjects = 6 IB classes of the same subjects, assuming 3 are SL and 3 are HL. Due to the AP program’s substantial flexibility, it can be made immeasurably more difficult then IB.</p>
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<p>Any decent student considering selective universities would have written at least 3 or 4 papers (and probably more) of extended essay length anyway, as part of their normal high school curriculum.</p>
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<p>One APUSH teacher at my school makes students write two 20 page papers and 2 8ish page papers over the year. Granted, in AP Calc AB we don’t have writing assignments.</p>
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<p>You are totally wrong and misinformed dude. IB is offered at my school and nobody who is in the top 10% of our class takes it. They takes AP classes. If it was the most challenging, the top kids in our class would be taking it…but they clearly don’t because they feel that it’s kind of pointless. If you don’t score high enough for each subject, you don’t get an IB diploma. That is why i appreciate AP much better, you get credit for each individual subject, and your scores don’t affect your elegibility of receiving a certificate, it just indicates whether or not you will have to take the course again in college.</p>
<p>From the couple of times that I have heard Penn admission officers speak on the subject, it is my impression that AP and IB classes are considered equal. I know that those involved in IB programs tend to think that colleges prefer them over AP classes and while this is possibly true at some colleges, I do not think that it is generally true. I have attended presentations at more than 20 prestigious colleges and have never heard any of the admission officers say that they prefer IB over AP.</p>
<p>From what I have seen, the IB students at my school are the snobby elitist kids who think they’re the best at everything. These are the same kids who take the bare minimum, easy IB classes and think they’re better than a kid who’s taking five or six “hard” AP classes. Of course, this is only from personal experience. I’m an AP kid and I wouldn’t trade AP for IB, ever. I’m not bashing IB; I’m simply saying that whichever program you join is your choice, but just remember that there is no “better” program. Assuming a full AP courseload given that IB is an option, you can’t go wrong unless if you take only the easy AP classes.</p>
<p>Taking IB classes is comparable to taking AP classes. Going through the IB Diploma Program, however, is completely different. Most AP classes, from what I’ve gathered, don’t require anything similar to the extended essay, 150 CAS hours, Theory of Knowledge, internal assessments and oral commentaries, or the Group-4 projects. </p>
<p>I cannot question the difficulty of AP; they’re intended to be college-level and I’m confident that they fulfill that reputation. Though, it is clear that the IB Diploma Program is clearly more rigorous than a schedule with 6 APs. I’m a Full-IB candidate at this point, and with another school in the district offering APs and several friends taking these classes, the two aren’t comparable. Difficulty-wise, yes. Work-load, no.</p>
<p>Do colleges view them differently? It depends solely on the admissions committee and varies from school to school. It is widely accepted that they highly regard the IB Program because it’s a process and likely does a better job preparing students for college life than the APs would.</p>
<p>Just an opinion, feel free to differ.</p>
<p>thumbs up to CentralFC! i agree!
im a IB diploma candidate as well! just suffered through IOC haha</p>
<p>CentralFC-</p>
<p>“It is widely accepted that they highly regard the IB Program because it’s a process and likely does a better job preparing students for college life than the APs would.” </p>
<p>What do you base this statement on? Is this something you have heard from a college admissions officer? Someone at Penn? Thanks for sharing your opinion.</p>
<p>I’m an IB kid and I took 9 APs. Generally, AP tests are harder than IB tests (except for math, as far as I know). I took BC Calc last year and got a 5. But this year, all I can say is that IB’s Higher Level Math is something else. AP takes more of a specific focus while IB takes a general focus. That’s part of the reason why AP tests are harder; you have to know the little details in language, science, or other memory based class.</p>
<p>AaronBurr </p>
<p>Tell me exactly what you got on all those AP and IB tests that you took? What was your total IB score? Did you get the diploma? It is a lot harder to do well in a variety of subjects than it is to do well in subjects you like and do well naturally. </p>
<p>The top kids at dd’s high school were all IB students. The very top ones were both IB and AP students. The top IB students also earned AP scholars awards. My dd only took 3 AP classes so was only an AP scholar. She will tell anyone that wants to listen, IB is much more difficult. The top IB student at her school last year is currently attending Penn. She also is an AP scholar with distinction. </p>
<p>What is true is that any student that takes IB and does well is going to do well in AP. Not always the case for those that take AP that they will do well in IB. If the AP student is very good well rounded student, than they would have done well in IB too.</p>
<p>@momof3greatgirls</p>
<p>I’m still a senior in high school so I haven’t taken the actual IB exams. But our tests in school are composed of questions from previous IB exams and my predicted grades are 6’s and 7s. </p>
<p>As for the AP, I got the National AP Scholar award. 5 5’s and 4 4’s. </p>
<p>The IB kids in my school are also the top kids. But that’s because IB is more selective at my school than AP is. Anyone’s allowed to take AP classes. I’m sure that at schools that don’t offer IB, AP kids are at the top. But if your school offers IB and AP, generally the top kids will be those that do both, because its not impossible.</p>
<p>IB Higher Level Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics Examinations are much more difficult than their AP counterparts. At my school, all higher level science and math students take the AP exam Junior year, and the IB exam senior year (each course is two years). For last year’s class there were 9-11 AP Chemistry 5s and 0 HL Chemistry 7s. There were 12-15 AP Bio 5s and 5 HL Bio 7s, there were 7 BC Calc 5s and 2 HL Math 7s. Our Chemistry teacher is both an AP and IB grader, and our Biology teacher co-authored the IB textbook. I think these results speak for themselves. </p>
<p>IB vs AP: IB is more work with a greater emphasis on writing, but AP 5s and IB 7s are usually given the same credit/placement by universities.</p>