<p>First let me clarify, I am not doing the diploma, just certificate.
The IB classes I am taking are:
IB French 5
IB English HL
IB History HL
IB Film HL</p>
<p>The non IB classes I'm taking are AP Chem and Hon Precal</p>
<p>I am just asking about the difficulty and content of the IB classes mostly History bc I don't know much about it. Thanks!</p>
<p>Please help! Anyone?</p>
<p>My son was actually an IB film student in HS, and now attending FSU. He actually thought the IB classes were somewhat easier, esp. english and history(definitely not harder than AP), and did well on the exams; Film is his thing(film school at fsu) so that was the easiest class. I don’t know anything about french, but in spanish, IB was definitely easier than AP. Why wouldn’t you get the diploma if you can?</p>
<p>I’m not doing diploma because:
First, my counselor recommended I don’t
Second, I want to take AP Chem/BC Calc and it doesn’t fit into my diploma schedule</p>
<p>IB depends on the school, in my old school, pre-ib english and human geography I had freshmen year were tenfolds harder than the honors english and honors gov’t I had in my new school (both schools go onto the IB track) </p>
<p>so taken that into consideration, generally IB languages+ histories are considered harder than AP since they require more interpretation (which true english/history analysis is all about) and this is often harder, more abstract than AP English’s Multiple Choice questions</p>
<p>your schedule as of now seems manageable, definitely a challenge but not unreasonable</p>
<p>out of all your classes I think the hardest ones are AP Chem, IB English, and IB History
film should be fine</p>
<p>Which history are you taking? I am in History of the Americas so I can tell you about that.</p>
<p>It’s European history</p>
<p>Well for IB English at my school we have a lot of reading to do (obviously) and we must annotate and analyze in order to write commentaries and just in general prepare for the exams. Since I’m a slow reader this class often results in the most homework for me, but I like my teacher and the subject so it’s not too bad. It could be stressful since it all comes down to how the grader feels about what you wrote, not as black and white as math for instance. Also there are several papers/presentations for IAs.</p>
<p>IB English HL is a lot of reading, but it’s pretty nice. I’ve generally liked the books I’ve had to read. I’ve already done the IOP and the IOC, which were a little daunting but pretty easy once you got down to it.</p>
<p>It depends upon the school. My D has several European teachers who grade harshly and think “C"s are good grades for the IB program. That means you did everything that was expected. B” mean that you did an exceptional job. Also the grades are not weighed.</p>
<p>I take history (world history) HL. Its very interesting, but very hard. It has the lowest average score of any IB class at my school</p>
<p>Taking both English HL and History HL (I’m a senior). As a humanities-inclined student, I have found them to be both interesting and strenuous (lots of writing). </p>
<p>The curriculums of both classes can vary greatly, depending on the teacher, so you might want to talk to the teachers about the specifics</p>
<p>I think the level of difficulty depends on a variety of factors including the school, the teacher, and the individual student. Some students study more than others, some may be naturally smarter than others, etc.</p>
<p>You’ll do fine.</p>
<p>One note about AP vs IB: My thoughts are that AP teaches you about a ton of information not very deeply in content, and you’re expected to reproduce it. IB teaches you more deeply on certain subjects, and I think you develop more critical thinking skills. So it depends. Med school would be comparable to AP, as there is a ton of information thrown at you and you’re expected to remember it all. So as some people may say IB is so much better, but if you think about it, most profession schools have a similar format of learning. And I’m saying it as an ex IB and not AP student, so it’s not really biased.</p>