IB Diploma vs. All IB/AP Classes

Applying to College
1

Hi there!

I’m currently finishing my sophomore year at a top public high school in the US that’s known for both its rigorous IB and AP programs. I’m currently deciding whether or not it’s worth it to do the full-on IB Diploma (with ToK, EE, CAS, etc.) or just take all IB/AP classes in my junior and senior year. I’m currently in a position where I’m in all the right honors/pre-IB classes right now in order to do the diploma and doing well in them so it wouldn’t be an academic stretch at all, yet I have a lot of interests and extracurriculars that I’m pretty dedicated to (musical theatre, choir, writing, speech & debate, National Honor Society and other service projects, JV tennis) and I would not have a lunch second semester of junior year and probably a lot of extra work if I decide to do the diploma, so I’m just wondering if being a diploma candidate will give me a noticeable edge/play a significant role in the viewpoints of highly selective colleges (Yale, Northwestern, Brown, Barnard).

Let me know what you think!

2

Hi! I’m currently a senior in high school doing the full IB diploma.

Since my school only offers the full IB diploma and I’m an international student, the situation was different for me—as in, I didn’t have a choice.

As you are only applying to US colleges, I’d say that doing the full IB diploma doesn’t necessarily give you that much of a boost in comparison to taking all AP/IB classes. Well, it depends on what your predicted grades are for the IB diploma.

I have 3 friends doing the full IB diploma, predicted 45/45 that just got into Princeton, Brown, and Upenn, then waitlisted by Cornell and Harvard. The third just got into Stanford doing full IB as well. The fact that they were predicted full marks might have been a boost. But we really don’t think that college admissions value the IB diploma over AP/IB classes. It’s really based on your essays, test scores, ECs. We think that ECs were what set those 3 apart from others (one of them wrote a book, another founded this charity). Once you get in, US colleges really don’t mind what you get in the IB diploma (unless you drop drastically, of course).

IB diploma is really valued quite equally to all IB/AP classes (which it really shouldn’t be cause IB diploma is so much harder cries). And doing the full IB is really difficult, DEPENDING on what your subjects are, and hence also difficult to maintain a high GPA. The 3 friends mentioned above are seriously super smart that they were able to be predicted 45s. But I’d say, to avoid the unnecessary stress that IB diploma causes… Don’t do it.

The EE is a huge pain, so is TOK. Also very time consuming. Taking IB/AP classes would definitely be less stressful, since there are sooo many deadlines for IB. If you’re going for the science route, I seriously suggest you to forget about the IB diploma. Because you’ll choose to take them at Higher Level, and it’s really difficult juggling the difficult sciences with other subjects. But if you want to go for the humanities route, it’s definitely not as bad. I went for the Sciences route, I’m doing Chemistry and Biology at higher level, and I honestly struggled and tried soooo hard, at the moment I’m predicted a 41/45, but that’s the best case scenario.

If you have any more questions regarding the IB diploma, feel free to ask me! Best of luck to you.

3

Btw: Private message me if you do have more questions, since I can’t get notifications from comments for some reason.

4

Talk to your guidance counselor about whether only full IB students get the coveted “most rigorous curriculum” box checked on the guidance counselor’s recommendation or whether blended AP/IB students also get that designation. The most selective schools expect to see that students took the most challenging curriculum available to them so, if your school only gives that designation to full Diploma kids, that is something to consider. At our school, only full Diploma kids get that designation, not certificate kids and not AP kids, unless those other kids are not doing the diploma because they are taking local college classes after maxing out the offerings at our school in a field of interest. Then those kids also get the “most rigorous curriculum” designation on the counselor’s form.

While US schools may not make it as easy to get college credit for IB scores as they do for AP scores, there are benefits in completing the full program beyond course credit. The intensive reading and writing, the project management with the EE, and the activities reflected in CAS hours, all show colleges that a student is well-prepared for college level work.

5

Some collegees give you extra credits over the class credits for iB…e.g., SUNY Binghamton

Students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program may receive up to 32 credits. To receive the full 32 credits, the following conditions must be met:

The IB Diploma must be completed with a score of 30 or more points; and
The student must complete at least three Higher Level exams with a score of 5 or higher.
Diploma holders who meet these conditions receive credit for their individual exam scores plus additional liberal arts elective credit to total 32 credits.

6

If you’re asking the age-old question of whether or not IB is worth it, my answer is that it depends.
What are your motives? Are you considering IB SOLELY to get into a good college?
If you only want to appeal to colleges, then no, it’s not worth it. That’s not even the purpose of the program. It’s essentially a college-prep program, so it is meant to instill good habits and knowledge in you suited for the academic nature of college rather than to get you into the college itself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s looked well upon by adcoms since you’re challenging yourself, I’m sure, but there is A LOT more adcoms look at than just IB, so it alone will not constitute admission to prestigious universities.
On the other hand, if you wish to, as I mentioned before, develop skills like time management that will be useful for college, then by all means, go for it.
You will not lose sleep, and you will not suffer as many people are saying. The only time that happens is when people procrastinate and try to finish things last minute like their Internal Assessments or Extended Essay, for instance. These types of people just so happen to make up almost the entire program. Not everyone procrastinates, but if you join the program, you will see that finishing your assignments on time already puts you above over half of your class.
As long as you pay attention, take good notes, and PROPERLY MANAGE YOUR TIME–yes, that means resisting distractions and sticking to your schedule–you will survive IB. I’ve had my fair share of procrastination, but for the most part, I try to get everything done ahead of time and stick to about an hour to two hours of studying per day (2-4 during exams), and I’m not dying.

You'll have some days where the world seems like it's ending, but alas, you'll get through it, and college won't seem as intimidating to you as it will to others.

Assess your motives for joining IB. If it’s just for college, then do AP. Join clubs and stay loyal to them throughout high-school. Volunteer some places and get a job maybe. You can do dual-enrollment, or perhaps a sport or two. These all appeal to colleges as IB would since they show endeavor to challenge yourself and broaden your horizons.

Do whatever you think is right, and I'm sure you'll succeed.

Oh, and on a side note, here are the actual IB Diploma requirements:
“In order to receive an IB diploma, candidates must receive a minimum of 24 points or an average of four (or C) out of a possible seven points for six subjects. Candidates must also receive a minimum of 12 points from their Higher Level subjects and a minimum of 9 points from their Standard Level subjects.”
Keep in mind you can potentially receive 3 points collectively from your TOK essay and Extended Essay (though people on average get 2 or 1).

7

Depending on how your school does CAS, all of the extra curricular will count towards CAS, so you are killing two birds with one stone. What I wouldn’t necessarily see the point of doing is taking any IB without the Diploma. In order to get credit at most colleges, you would have to take an HL for two years. Instead, you could take an AP for 1 and get credit.

I agree with the above poster that you should have the right reasons for being in IB. I think programs and the amount of work can differ by school and teacher. My D18 has lost a lot of sleep. She’s in two musicals and her teachers pour on the work. It does not help that she writes OVER the word count every time and does everything to the extreme- so some of it is her fault. Time management is key as well. Yes, IB will be more work and more time consuming!

At our school the requirement is that both English and History have to be an HL, so it can be limiting. Does your school have certain courses that have to be taken at an HL Level?

Has the IB program been around for a while at your school? They should have stats on admissions for AP vs. IB.