Hey everyone,
I am very confused and I need some help. I am currently a sophomore who will be starting the IB program next year and I intend to apply to some schools that do not accept IB credit. I’ve been thinking that I should probably take the AP tests for the corresponding classes.
The problem that I have encountered is that my school is strictly an IB school with about 5-10 AP classes only. I am certain that most of the IB classes that I will be taking are not offered as AP. Does this mean I cannot take the AP test?
Also, can I take the IB test and the AP test? Please let me know because I am confused. The following IB classes are the ones that I will likely be taking next year and the following year.
Junior Year:
-IB English Lit 1 HL
-IB History of the Americas 1 SL
-IB Theory of Knowledge 1
-IB Environmental Science 1 SL
-IB Physics 1 SL
-IB Spanish 1 SL
-IB Design Technology 1 HL
I know there are only 2 HL classes, but my school does not offer Physics HL in junior year. I take Physics HL senior year.
Senior Year (Projected):
-IB English Lit 2 HL
-IB Math Methods SL (possibly IB Pre-Calc HL if I do well next year)
-IB Economics SL
-IB TOK 2
-IB Chem or Bio SL (haven’t decided which yet)
-IB Physics 2 HL
-IB Spanish 2 SL
-IB Design Technology HL
Let me know which AP tests I can take after completion of the IB course.
AP Tests don’t have a “you must take the corresponding AP class” as a prerequisite. You can take any and all as a long as there is a location for you to take them at. Keep in mind they are structured differently from IB tests and may require some separate studying.
You can DEFINELTY still take an AP test, while pursing the IB Program and you can DEFINETLY take both AP and IB Tests. The thing about IB is that is a global-based program that can be transferred around the world, but you are definitely right AP very prominent only in the US and there are some schools only take AP, but not that many anymore. IB courses are very impressive and I totally encourage you to take take them because not many schools offer the IB program, as opposed to the many that offer AP, not downplaying APs because they are still great too. IB courses come along with the test, as mentioned above you can take the AP Exams you would like without taking the course, but that will take a lot of self-studying. IB tests alone will require a vast amount of studying and if you do decide to take APs without the course, you will have to do a lot of self studying which will take away time for other things like social aspects and extracurriculars. I myself attend a strictly IB school that offers some APs as well. If you are very balanced, I think you will be fine, but if not you will encounter a lot of problems while doing this. If you really want to attend these AP-Credit only schools, you can go ahead and try it out 
At my school we usually take APs previous do the IB Course, to have more knowledge, background,and insight before taking the IB Course. It is all up to and I hope this helped! Lastly, like I said before if you aren’t a very balanced person and you don’t handle stress well, taking the AP Exams, while doing the IB program is not suggested. I wish you luck!
Most IB teachers also teach the AP curriculum. You take every ap as long as it is the same subject as those Ib classes. Honestly I would take Spanish as a junior so that I can get over with my language requirement for graduation. If you are a native speaker go for Spanish another year.