So I’m deciding on either or not to transfer into the IB diploma program for my junior year, but what exactly does it give you in which AP doesn’t?
I’m not planning on going out of the country when considering how the best universities are in the U.S, my dream university is either Rice, in which is basically my next door neighbor here in Houston, or Stanford, the only thing good about California.
Now I’m in a case where the Sophomores of this year will be the first class to be placed in the IB Diploma program since it’ll be initiated by the time we enter our junior year, but it just seems like a waste of time when compared to AP courses in our school, not to mention that it doesn’t offer a Physics C equivalent. I’m striving to be in the chemical engineering field, and Rice University sees IB Math HL as the equivalent to Single Variable Calculus l, while AP Calculus BC is considered the equivalent to Single Variable Calculus l AND ll and it’s been like that since 2006 so I don’t expect that to change.
So what I’m asking is do top universities really care if you take IB rather than AP or do they see them as equals and it doesn’t affect your chances of getting into a university at all? The reason this affects me is because I’m planning to transfer to a high school that only offers the AP program and is a newly upgraded school, but my current school will be offering IB next year and if it increases my acceptance rate I’ll definitely stay.
I don’t think you will have more acceptances with an IB diploma.
We visited 20+ colleges/universities in the US. The admission officers don’t think there is a difference of rigor between the IB and AP programs. Of course, we didn’t ask that question at every college, but we did it for a couple of times. All we were told was they were looking whether the kid was on the most rigorous path or not.
It is true that IB Diploma Program prepares well the students to the life after high school But there is a price.
- Kids suffer a lot, especially if they don’t have good time management skills. IB courses are very time consuming.
- Doing the full IB is even more time consuming then taking some IB+AP courses (due to EE, TOK, CAS, IAs, etc).
- Even if you learn well a topic, this doesn’t necessarilly means that you’ll perform well in the related IB exam because most questions require the integration of other topics.
- Getting good grades in IB is much more difficult (no one ever got a uw GPA of 4 out of 4 in my kids’ school). It is the same with the final IB/AP exams. Getting a 7 in an IB exam is more difficult than getting 5 in an AP exam.
Advanced Placement Credit policies are not the same at every university. But it is true that IB Math HL does not cover the C part of AP BC if your IB Math option is not Calculus. Even if it is, there will be few more topics to learn in order to cover all BC topics.
For a science oriented kid I find AP program to be more satisfactory. You have the possibility to take all science courses you want. Whereas in IB, you can normally take only 2 (I understand that the situation can be different in the US). I find the IB system to be similar to the core programs of liberal arts & sciences colleges where you have to take some courses in every different areas.
I didn’t quiet get what you meant by saying “newly upgraded” for the school offering the AP program. If your class will be the first one to start the IB program, I would say it will be much more difficult for those kids since the system will be new to the teachers too.
Btw, I think California.is one of the best things in the US.
Our math track is Calculus BC then HL Math Year 2.
Op, AP is more flexible if you are interested in sciences and math; colleges will not see much difference between the two. A new IB program may have some rough edges the first few years.
@VickiSoCal there’s typically quite a bit of overlap between AP calc BC and Math HL with the calc option (even according to IBO, AP BC covers more calc topics, though lacks the IB’s breadth in other areas). Is it possible that they are studying a different option in HL yr 2? Or perhaps they are just going deeper in order to prepare for the tests?
Unsure. Eldest took pre calc. Followed by math SL. Youngest will take pre calc, then AB, then Calculus BC followed by Math HL. I will report back in about 3 years!
@politeperson
My D took BC last year and is taking HL now. HL covers more than just Calculus, and the Calculus that it does cover it approaches from a different angle or perspective than BC, so they don’t really overalp.
@Bard141
Since are planning to apply to Stanford, you should watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS4BUi3Exog
Sorry if the info was little bland. I’m a Sophomore who’s currently in the AP program and will be taking Calculus BC next year, IB is a new program in our school that will officially recognize our school next year. I’m worried that the teachers won’t master the way the program works by the time of next year, thus I feel like I’m a test subject to see how things will go. In addition to that problem there will be a (basically new) renovated high school that was torn down and rebuilt and that has the AP program only. The reason this new school is in my interest is because most of my family graduated there and it seems as if it’s better than my current high school. The thing that worries me is that there are only 3 IB schools in our city district and I’m worried that if I don’t take this opportunity to join IB I may regret my decision later on. IB looks better and seems more interesting, but people say AP and Ib are equal in which makes me question what path I should take. It seems like IB’s just another name for AP, just not as flexible.
I have hobbies and a bunch of other forums have stated that you could basically say goodbye to those hobbies once you’ve joined IB. Rice University is basically my top choice, it’s nearby and is awesome, and if you look into their AP and IB credit policy you could see how much they prefer AP over IB (And it’s been like that since 2006, so I really don’t expect them to change those credit policies). That’s why I’m taking a second thought on either to stick with AP or join IB.
Honestly, the IB could go really well or really bad. The IB gives you so much that they AP cannot. In IB you do so mich extensive research that most students don’t start until college. All of the Bio and Physics research I did really helped me during the interview process. Also, the first thing I was asked during interviews was about the IB because it caught their eye. And I applied to pretty rigorous schools (I’ve committed to Colombia). The IB definitely gives you an edge because it’s not widely offered like AP is, and schools want unique and different students. Plus AP does not have the EE or TOK which college admissions rep look highly at. Especially the EE because it is intense research. In a nutshell the IB will give you much more bragging rights than AP, and will better prepare you for college. I’ve had friends that went to Ivies say that the workload they get is nothing compared to what the IB gives.
BUT…it’s not for everyone. If you aren’t okay will tons of pressure, deadlines, and sleep deprivation then this is not the program for you. I had success in the IB because I was prepared to work hard and I maintained my 4.0 gpa. If an IB student has a 3.3 gpa and an AP student has a 3.8…the AP student obviously looks better. Because all you did was prove that you could not handle the rigor. However, if hypothetically speaking two students were identically the same and had 4.0 gpas but one was IB and one was AP… the IB would probably look better because of all of the research they have done, extensive essays they have written, and how unique their curriculum is. After all, AP was created in the US…and the US is not ranked high in education. All in all, just pick your poison…they are both terrible.
Also, in regards to the credit thing. Most IB students at my school, including me, took both the IB and AP tests. And our teachers work hard to prepare us for the AP for those who want to take it. The trend has been found that we actually do ALOT better on the AP exams than the IB ones. In our school specifically, we do better than the AP kids on their own exams. Also, I’m in Physics C. You can still take Physics C and do the IB.