High school chemistry and physics are often recommended prerequisites (not substitutes) for the college courses in those subjects.
For AP and IB HL versions, they are more likely to be accepted as substitutes for chemistry than physics.
@ucbalumnus About Physics HL,
GaTech accepts a score of 7 for a year of physics credit, 8 hours (PHYS 2211 and PHYS 2212) Mechanics and E&M.
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/academics/undergraduate/credit-tests-scores/international-baccalaureate-exams/
MIT accepts a score of 7 on the HL Physics exam, for a semester of credit for the class 8.01 ( Mechanics )
The idea that calculus is absolutely needed to learn and master mechanics is not agreed upon, by GaTech and MIT.
However, almost all the students who score a 7 on HL physics also take calculus anyway, so its not an issue really.
I had a son who repeated all physics with calculus at Case Western (physics major) and said he should have skipped Physics 1 there,
and I had a son who got credit for a year of physics classes at GaTech, but I believe his high school IB HL physics teacher did NOT teach E&M, so I feel disappointed in GaTech’s generosity ! (CS major so he thinks he is OK, I disagree !)
If you want a lot of IB credits, look at public universities states like Georgia, Colorado and Florida that mandate IB credits in their state legislature, but be prepared to repeat E&M if you are a physics major or EE major.
@brooklynlydia General Chem is algebra based. She will need calculus for physical chemistry but not for general or organic.
A 6 or 7 in HL chemistry is equivalent to college general chemistry. I have taught college general chemistry and tutor students in college chem and HL.
A good reference to compare them is the ACS exam prep materials and the HL Exam prep materials. They are at a very similar level.
My D18 isn’t confident about a 6-7 in her HL Chemistry, even though she LOVES everything chem - she’s just not super great with timed testing. She will find out scores next week, but regardless she is comfortable with a chem refresher (and can certainly use the GPA boost!) She took Pre-Calculus for IB Math (other choice was Statistics) and the Physics Class/Lab she is signed up for is a Calc based approach and requires Calculus and a co-requisite.
Thanks to you all for weighing in!
IB math is either HL, SL or SL Math studies. HL is equivalent to Cal BC + more, SL is equivalent to Cal AB, Math Studies is more of a general college algebra/stats class for non stem majors.
@VickiSoCal I can’t remember what was SL and what was HL these days … our school designated the difference - one was Calculus based and the other was Statistics. My D took Calculus based as she was/is a STEM focus with HL Chem.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Let’s move off the topic of IB/AP, please.