<p>I was skimming through IB v.s. AP threads and I wanted to know if anyone had any information on this: Does it look bad to colleges if you DON'T do IB if your school offers it? </p>
<p>Because as it turns out, I have a choice of going to IB or regular and doing AP classes. I'm sort of leaning towards AP after all the comments I've seen. (don't be affected by my decision if you are in the same position ! do what is right for YOU.) I just don't want this decision to affect how colleges look at my application/my chances of getting into a good college. </p>
<p>My school offers IB, but I chose not to do it and do full AP instead (in fact, while deciding, I made an IB vs AP thread here). My decision was based on four main factors:</p>
<ol>
<li>The IB program at my school is not terribly well-developed, while the AP program has been there for many years, and the passage rates are much higher. Also, doing IB diploma would mean giving up some AP courses I would love to take.</li>
<li>I plan on majoring in math and/or science, while IB is more humanities-focused.</li>
<li>After consideration, I decided that I will stay in the United States to get my undergraduate degree; IB is more for those who wish to go international for their education.</li>
<li>Going along with #3, AP gets much better college credit at most of the colleges I am interested in.</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, I haven’t applied to colleges yet, but at my school, most of the people who got into top schools (HYPSM, etc) chose not to do IB diploma.</p>
<p>The IB diploma is quite difficult to get. It requires multiple projects, papers, and at least 150 hours separated into three areas: community service, action, and creativity. There is a minimum 4,000 word paper that is not for any class, and therefore is only graded by IB and not a grade for a class. The tests last almost every day from the beginning to the end of May. </p>
<p>It’s impressive, but if you are not interested in the classes IB offers, you will be miserable. As long as you match with as many AP classes as you can, you’ll probably balance out. However, realize that those with a higher rank will be in the IB program, so that’s a factor.</p>
<p>Go ask someone at your school what the IB Diploma rate is for your school. It varies widely, as does the program, really. At D’s school the IB program is co-ordinated with the AP program, they really work together. And the program has been around long enough to work out the kinks. You really need to know how the program works at your school.</p>
<p>“The IB diploma is quite difficult to get. It requires multiple projects, papers, and at least 150 hours separated into three areas: community service, action, and creativity. There is a minimum 4,000 word paper that is not for any class, and therefore is only graded by IB and not a grade for a class. The tests last almost every day from the beginning to the end of May.”</p>
<p>Labs and IAs or the art book are very well written out in explanation and aren’t too difficult in reality, they’re done over the course or weeks at the very least. CAS hours can be easily done with ECs (I have more actually). 4000 is the max and turns out to be not so much, trust me, mine was way over and I actually had to cut it down a lot. The tests are each a few hours, AP tests are harder in my opinion. The IB tests are more specific and thus easier to prepare for.</p>
<p>I just wanna throw that all out there. I think doing a full load of APs is harder than IB but that’s just me.</p>
<p>Question:
How are you supposed to study for IB exams?
Are there prep books available in Europe that I could order?</p>
<p>I have 2 (Psych/Physics SL) coming up, but I have no clue about their format. My classes at my school are all APs, but we take the corresponding IB for whatever reason. =/.</p>
<p>Study for IB exams the same way you’d study for any other exam. They’re not some kind of three-headed monster. (Then again, I don’t know the format of APs, so I probably shouldn’t talk.)</p>
<p>I know that there are some IB study guides- just check out Amazon. BookDepository.co.uk is a British site that offers free delivery worldwide, so you could take a look at that too.</p>
<p>Oh. Sorry. I do a full load of AP’s and my twin sister does the IB program. She must have been exaggerating more than I thought. . . She’s worse at time management than I am so she is always getting things done at the last minute. The only IB class I am taking the year is IB Spanish SL and the teacher runs it more like an AP class.</p>