<p>I got accepted into the IB diploma program last week at one of the best IB schools in the middle east, but the thing is i dont know if i should enroll at the school or at the american school that offers AP courses.</p>
<p>Pros (IB route):</p>
<p>-The IB school (British school btw) offers 34 IB subjects and also offer pilot courses such as global politics etc. They definitely have a wide range of subjects to choose from which i like, they also have a extensive CAS program and get good grades (average ib score of 34-35 points).
-The program seems appealing to me as it seems like very good preparation for University (i am interested in American AND canadian universities - i am a US citizen though)
-My extracurriculars are weak at the moment because my school doesn't offer much, therefore going to the IB school will open up a lot of opportunities extracurricular wise, which is obviously important for US universities.
-Their IB program is well managed and they have good teachers</p>
<p>Cons:</p>
<p>-I really don't like the fact of having to do a english
-The workload is much much more than AP
-Probably won't do as well in IB than i would in AP hence i wont get into better colleges
-Since, i wont be capable of doing HL maths (too hard- since im only in a math class equivalent to pre-calculus ) it would be a great disadvantage because i wont be able to take the hardest math course available - important for me cause i plan to major in finance. Atleast if i go the AP route i know i will put into AP calculus AB junior year, and BC senior year (which is harder than SL maths- which is what i'll have to take if i do IB)</p>
<p>Pros (AP)</p>
<p>-Can choose which ever AP courses i like and won't be forced to take certain classes
-Will get more credits at college
-Less workload therefore i can focus on studying for the PSAT, SAT/ACT and 3 SAT II subject tests
-The school offers 17 AP courses which i think is good enough
-Will be easier to get leadership positions in clubs etc since the IB school doesnt offer positions in clubs, the only way you can achieve leadership roles is by applying for the positions such as senior prefect, house captain, head girl/boy etc.
-The school gets people into pretty good universities (US/Canada) where as the IB school (since it s British) get people into better British/European/Canadian universities.</p>
<p>Cons</p>
<p>-A lot of grade inflation (i know that should be a good thing but i dunno...). My friend who was in my class in 9th grade moved to this school after 9th and is currently getting straight A's when she was getting C/D's at my school (british one). Therefore, attending this school would probably not challenge me enough
-The IB school has much better resources and i've heard that a lot of the teachers suck at the school but i cant confirm anything</p>
<p>If you guys were in my position which would you choose? IB or AP? If i go the AP route i'd probably do 7-8 AP courses in total during junior and senior year.</p>
<p>Thanks (I posted this in the IB forum but didnt get any responses so i'd really appreciate any advice)</p>
<p>My vote goes to the AP school. If the AP school has a good track record of getting students into the kind of US schools you might want to attend, then that seems like the obvious choice. In addition, the AP program gives you much more flexibility over your curriculum, which you say you care about, and you could take the most rigorous math sequence there but not at the IB school.</p>
<p>IB students on CollegeConfidential often complain that the IB is undervalued by American colleges: the sheer workload of the program isn’t appreciated (and it cuts into free time for ECs), the “grade deflation” (much easier to get a 4.0 GPA than a perfect IB score, yet the top colleges seem to expect top IB scores anyway), the level of the coursework (not enough transfer credit awarded compared to an equivalent AP load), etc. </p>
<p>Does the AP school rank? If they don’t rank, then grade inflation is actually good for your college and scholarship applications! (If they do rank, your class rank will be more important than your GPA and it would suck to get stuck with a mediocre class rank just because other students took 10 AP classes and you only took 8…)</p>
<p>The school doesnt rank thankfully, but even if they did i’d definitely be in the top 10% atleast since my friend said most people there don’t even take ap’s and if they do they usually dont do more than 5 in total. That would mean my schedule is much more rigorous than all most all the people. </p>
<p>The only reason i’m inclined to go to the IB school is because i know i’ll have good teachers and would probably be much more prepared for university. But since i probably won’t stand out from the rest of my peers i think the ap school would be better. </p>
<p>Be careful also that the British scale is different from the American scale, so that your friend may not have enjoyed as much grade inflation as you think and the courses may therefore be quite challenging.
The British scale is A, B, C, D, etc (E-G/U), for the American scale A, A-, B+/B, B-/C+. So the jump is not as high as from a British C to a British A.
I too would go with the AP school since it seems to prepare you for the type of colleges you’re looking for.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 It might not have been grade inflation but i cant definitely tell you that the courses at the AP school are much much easier than what we do at our school. My friend has told me so herself and so has another girl i know that attends that school. </p>
<p>Yes, the AP school would probably prepare me better for getting into the colleges i would like. But since the courses in that school are much easier than what we do at our school, i’d probably get into the college I like and struggle a lot. Since the school work i’ve been doing for the past 2 years wasnt rigorous enough.</p>
<p>I may sound like i prefer the IB school but i actually don’t its just that i’d rather be well prepared for university (by doing IB) then doing AP at a school with quite a few bad teachers/less rigorous courses. Plus, having bad teachers would mean i’d need to teach myself everything which could result in a low score. If i do choose to go to the AP school, would it be hard to teach myself most things or would it be a disaster? </p>
<p>If you take AP classes and attend an American college, you’ll be surrounded by high-achievers who also took AP courses. So you will not struggle (anymore than your classmates).
I understand and anyway going from a British C to an American A does indicate grade inflation, since she should be at B/B+. If the Ap curriculum is easier than what you’re used to, you’d be expected to get straight A’s AND take on leadership roles in the school or in the community, develop passions and interests and skills, etc.</p>
<p>I just found out that students there are only allowed to take a maximum of two AP’s during junior year - isn’t that bad? But i’m allowed to take as many as i wish during senior year. </p>
<p>if that’s the school limit, make sure that the GC says so on the school profile, which I’m pretty sure is the case, and there’s no penalty. If you take 2 AP’s junior year and 4-5 senior year, you should be fine, but make sure to take on leadership role, demonstrate initiative, etc.</p>
<p>if that’s the school limit, make sure that the GC says so on the school profile, which I’m pretty sure is the case, and there’s no penalty. If you take 2 AP’s junior year and 4-5 senior year, you should be fine, but make sure to take on leadership role, demonstrate initiative, etc.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I’ve decided to do the IB diploma instead after visiting the ap school yesterday. The campus is run down and the resources were bad. And from what i gathered from the students there, most of the teachers are bad. Not to generalise or anything, but most of the students didn’t seem to care about their studies and therefore i’d rather not be in such an environment for the next two years! </p>
<p>Okay, thanks for reporting back! Your reasoning is sound. You’ll have to do incredibly well if you go full IB (or if you just take some IB classes to complement Honors, you’ll have to have lots of extracurriculars).</p>