IB diploma compared with AP

<p>well, i live in HK(international school) and i take the IB programe, so im not rlly familiar at all with the AP courses and such, the IB program is a two year course, and basically u take three higher level subjects (more intense, and gets college credit like AP), and 3 standard level subjects (im posting this cuz maybe some of u mite not noe). my school doesnt give a gpa nor rank. so i was just wondering if anyone noe wat an IB transcript score is in the range for a wharton applicant? (im most probably going for ED) the marking range is from 1-7 (7 being best, A* equivalent i guess), i currently take HL econ, physics, and math, SL chinese (A1), english (A2), ITGS.
im not sure who is familiar with the IB (as well as the APs and such), pls help me out here.
extra info:
i took the igcse during my freshman and sophomore year (did pretty decently for the exam, 3A* 6A 1B) and i guess my transcipt were pretty good
my first semester for juniour year, i got 6 for all subjects excpet a 7 in phy and 5 for math:/(this is the transcript tht the uni wil see), i just finished my junior year, but i havent seen my transcript yeet, i would gues it owuld be at least 38, with eocn 7, phy 7, math at least a 6, ITGS at least 6, and eng and chiense are 6 and will most probably remain 6.</p>

<p>it would help if anyone noe wat kind of scores i mite needa get to be considered in range for wharton (most probably ED)
thx in advance : ) (sorry if this is long and unorganised…)</p>

<p>type whole words, at least.</p>

<p>i did the IB program too (from canada though), taking hl geo/english/chem and sl math/econ/spanish B. </p>

<p>i applied early to wharton with a 44, got deferred, went down to 42, and then got accepted... it didnt make sense to me. </p>

<p>also, ITGS is regarded as a joker IB course (much like math studies) so i dont know if penn will look favorably on that.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, wharton will probably like that you are taking HL math and econ. my school didnt offer hl econ, so i had to take sl. </p>

<p>the fact that you're an international may make it more difficult... </p>

<p>i would try to raise math to a 7, and make sure you get the 3 bonus points for EE/TOK. </p>

<p>if you can get your total to 41 or 42, you have a very good shot because you took mostly hard classes in IB. also make sure you have high SATs (for wharton id say 2100+), get good letters of recommendation, and make sure your "why penn" essay (if they have one this year) is amazing. thats one of the most important parts of your app.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

<p>Ok, so if I understand it correctly, your school grades the subjects you take using the 1-7 IB scale, correct? If your school does not rank, I would suggest that you at least put an estimate of your rank. Otherwise, your grades don't mean a lot. Usually a 40+ is considered an excellent overall score, but that's for the actual final grade you get (or at least your official predicted grades). If Penn doesn't have a reference as to how difficult it is to get a "7" in your school, then try to tell your counselor/teachers to include it in their recommendation letters. Are you going to know your real IB grades from your exams before you apply to Wharton? In other words, are you going to take your exams in May or in November?</p>

<p>If you think you have a 38, I think that would be "in range" for Wharon, but then again, it's not a real 38, but a 38 from your school.</p>

<p>well, id say.. out of the almost 100 ppl, i should be somewhere around 10-20%. well, our school constantly has 2-3 students accept to upenn every year (our amount of graduates is rising by 10 ppl per year...10 years ago, i think tehre was only 50 students in our graduating class), so they probably do noe our grading system. i wont be taking the IB exam b4 i apply, and if i go for ED, they wont even see my first semester senior grades since i take the exam in 2006 may(im actually struggling if i should go RD or ED cuz of this, since my junior grades arent too impressive, 36 and 38+) i noe im getting a 38 at least since my progress grade (calculated from our coursework and test etc, but the uni wont see this) is 38.. im pretty sure my school doesnt grade easily, i guess they do definitely reflect the score the true IB will give at least.
hahaha, i noe itgs is a joker subject.. i guesss i jsut didnt want to 'overload' myself too much cuz im pretty lazy :P
i'll most probably get an awesome rec from my economics teacher, but probably an average-good rec from my math teacher only.. and i dont think my EC's are average only, most 'impressive' is only 3 years chinese co-editor/writer of student led school magazine, and a co-ordinator of an activity.. :/
i got 1980 for my june SAT1(800 math, 580 CR, 600 writing) i think i can improve it in oct one
and my SAT 2: chinese 800, math 2c 730, phy 680 (i guess i screwed this up)
do i actually stand a chance?</p>

<p>you do but its a big reach. raise your sat's to 2100 (try and get 650+ in CR and writing) and 700+ on all SAT 2's. i say this because wharton is MUCH tougher to get into than the college. </p>

<p>the strategic method, if you think that you can pull a 3.9 or 4.0 at penn your first year, would be to apply ED to the college (which is much easier to get into than wharton) and then get a 4.0 freshman year, and then transfer to wharton.
some people disapprove of this method, but i think loopholes are there to be taken advantage of.</p>

<p>im sorry to say this, but i really dont think your chances of admission to wharton are that great. from my school (widely considered the best school in canada) no one got into wharton early... out of 4 applicants... and all of us had point totals of 42+. one student with a 40 got into the college.</p>

<p>so my advice is: raise your sat's to 2100+, sat II's to 700+, and apply early to the college, get a 3.9 or 4.0, and transfer. its the smartest way.</p>