<p>My son is a junior in the IB program.
The school offers TOK class (full year course) only in the second semester of junior and first semester of senior years.
The kids have one semester each year to pick up a short course or to do nothing.
My son really wants to take AP Psychology but there is no way he can take it as a full year class next year. Therefore he decided to take it the first semester of his junior year, then drop it for the second semester to take TOK, only to pick it up for a second semester his senior year. The class will look as dropped, but guidance counselor assures us she will esplain all of it in her letter and it will be just fine.
Your thoughts?</p>
<p>He can completely drop AP Psychology in school and self study it or take an online class. My D’s school did not have AP Psychology and she took it online and scored 5.</p>
<p>I don’t see any problem at all with this arrangement. </p>
<p>The alternative would be to take two one-semester classes that interest him less than AP Psychology. Obviously, that is less desirable.</p>
<p>This is a schedule oddity that is easily explained in the guidance counselor recommendation, so there should be no problem.</p>
<p>Although it is certainly possible to self-study AP Psychology, many IB students do not want to take on additional academic burdens on top of the already demanding IB program. I don’t think your son needs to go that route if he does not want to.</p>
<p>I’d suggest your S find two elective classes that he finds <em>interesting and fun</em> for him and take those instead of AP Psych. Let him stretch in a different area. Full IB diploma students seldom have room for fun electives, anyway. Not that many colleges will give credit for AP Psych. Since he’s already full IB, adding extra APs for show on the college apps is not really worth it, unless one is taking an AP to ensure credit/placement for a SL exam.</p>
<p>BTDT, S2 had full IB plus 11 APs. Neither of his top two colleges gave more than 6 credits for AP/IB.</p>
<p>BTW, there will be a significant paper (NOT the EE) in TOK fall of senior year. Just another bit of joy to add to college app season.</p>
<p>I’d find the electives or take the second semester of AP Psych online.</p>
<p>Our school has the same arrangement for TOK, but they teach TOK at night–2 evenings a week, and the instructor is wonderful, works to accomodate the kids EC’s–even to outside of school EC’s. It sounds strange, but it works. And the IA is done after all the May testing, end of spring Junior year. I have a huge appreciation for how hard the staff works to make the IB program work for the students in a large public school.</p>
<p>OK…what is TOK?</p>
<p>Theory of Knowledge, a required course in the IB Diploma program that wreaks havoc with student schedules.</p>
<p>Whether there is room in an IB student’s schedule for an extra AP seems to depend on how accelerated the student was at the time of entry into the IB program and what choices the student made within the IB program. </p>
<p>My daughter, who was an IB diploma student at the same high school as one of Counting Down’s kids, finished IB SL math and foreign language as a junior and had room in her schedule for an extra AP senior year. She ended up liking that subject so much that she majored in it in college! But some of her classmates with different schedules would not have been able to make time for the extra AP.</p>
<p>TOK in the IB program is highly regarded. Kelowna, I’d suggest that you look at the web sites of a few universities of interest to your son, to see what credit they give for AP Psychology, and then make your decision based on that.</p>
<p>Credit is not always the point of AP courses.</p>
<p>Sometimes, students take APs – especially those in subjects that are not part of the standard high school curriculum – to test their interest in the subject. </p>
<p>One of my kids took AP computer science for this reason; the other took AP economics. They ended up majoring in those subjects in college, and both are now pursuing careers directly related to their majors. Getting college credit for the APs was a secondary consideration (one got it; one didn’t).</p>
<p>Well, um, I was trying to avoid making the comment that AP Psych is an “AP Lite.” Just my personal opinion, but I think that general reading is sufficient to pick up the content of AP Psych. One doesn’t need the course; a student could “self study” it easily. AP computer science is in a somewhat different category–here I think the class helps with pacing the material, and perhaps with providing explanations of some elements that might be unfamiliar, as constructs.</p>
<p>Of course, in the YMMV category: I could conceive of a high school where AP Psych goes well beyond the AP curriculum itself, to the point that it’s actually valuable. Not true most places, to the best of my knowledge.</p>
<p>S2 also finished FL and SL math (through Calc AB) junior year and then took IB Philosophy for fun (did not take the exam, as he had taken SL Econ as his sixth subject junior year) and AP Stat (he thought Stat would be more useful background for his for his intended field vs. BC Calc). Phil turned out to be one of the most useful and enjoyable courses he had in HS.</p>
<p>S2 had a free elective soph year and took IB/AP Enviro because he has always been really interested in the subject. IB would not permit SL Enviro and HL Bio, so the AP was a way he could satisfy his interest. I’m not unsympathetic to a student wanting to find something interesting and worth his/her time and energy.</p>
<p>He tried to get Comparative Religions and AP Comparative Gov’t two years running to fill those one-semester gaps, but was always blocked by course conflicts.</p>
<p>“The class will look as dropped, but guidance counselor assures us she will esplain all of it in her letter and it will be just fine.”</p>
<p>I would be concerned about this, especially if your child is applying to a super competitive college. It may actually not be fine.</p>
<p>I remember those two semesters when the kids take TOK as the busiest of high school, esp. if you are applying early.</p>
<p>TOK was a great class that the kids really seemed to love and it involved a lot of creativity and fun.</p>
<p>I’d agree that TOK is an excellent class for many reasons, not just because it’s required for the IB diploma. It helps a lot in the development abstract thinking and the verbal articulation of abstract concepts.</p>
<p>(I also think that the IB authorities are being deliberately difficult in the way they schedule this class. Your son is not the first to have this problem.)</p>
<p>I don’t have any experience with high school psychology classes – AP or otherwise, but I would think that getting the full IB would demonstrate enough academic rigor. </p>
<p>I would favor the idea of taking two semesters or two electives that would challenge your son in different ways – art, religion, music, creative writing, drama, environmental science. Selective colleges support experimentation and they like to see applicants that have stepped outside of their comfort zone.</p>
<p>The high school where I work teaches AP psych as a one semester course. My D took a 3 week course at CTD and then self-studied for a 5 in May of her freshman year. Honestly, if your child is interested in psych, reading the rest of the text book and studying a prep book should be enough to pass the AP exam.</p>
<p>Not to highjack the thread, but could some experienced IB parents explain to me what students do in their second year if they finish SL courses the first year and are at an IB only school? Surely they don’t just take 3 courses, TOK and EE the second year. My daughter just arrived at her IB school and she was told that she would take exams for SL courses next May. Feel free to message me.</p>
<p>Usually you can take all IB classes in your senior year if you wanted including SL and HL.</p>
<p>You are required to take a minimum of 2 SLs and a total of 3 SLs but most highend colleges give you credit only for HL classes and so it is advisable to take 4 HLs. </p>
<p>Most high schools have a policy to allow HLs only in your senior year. So you are taking a minimum of 3 HLs + TOK in the senior year and you can add something else. The standard practice would be that you take other IB classes that are offered but don’t take the IB exam.</p>
<p>AP Psych is a semester course here. Can be self studied as well, like any AP material.</p>
<p>Kelowna,
I will bet there are other kids who want to do what your child wants to do. Maybe the school can set up 2 classes: AP Psych A which is a half year course first term. AP Psych B which is a half year course 2nd term. Some kids will take it in a single year, other kids- those doing TOK will take it over 2 years, but their transcript won’t require an explanation… Why not do IB Psych?? Not available?? </p>
<p>TOK is a great class if there is a great teacher. The content itself is a big stretch for a lot of kids, and the experience is very teacher dependent as a result. But, if you are doing full IB it is a moot point, you have to take it.</p>