IB Diploma vs AP Classes

<p>W&M Admissions-- Is it true that W&M considers the IB Diploma curriculum to be the most challenging (if offered at a school)? I stumbled upon an "AP vs IB" article that included the below quote, attributed to W&M Admissions, from a study conducted by a township in Pennsylvania (Upper St. Clair School). Does this quote ring true? Thanks!</p>

<p>From William and Mary Admissions Office:
“In schools such as Upper St. Clair where both AP and IB are offered, we do consider the IB diploma program to be the most demanding course of studies offered to students. The full IB program, including the Theory of Knowledge course and the extended essay, does strike us as being the best overall preparation for a challenging liberal arts and sciences college curriculum offered at the secondary school level. If a student is able to supplement the IB program with AP courses, the completion of AP Calculus is always recommended and looked upon quite favorably (and we do understand just how demanding such a program would be).</p>

<p>Students who choose to take individual AP and/or IB courses are still seen as pursuing a challenging course of studies, especially at a premier school district like USC, and are competitive applicants within our applicant pool. However, the most competitive applicants from a school where the IB program is offered are those pursuing the full diploma. Again, we find these students to be best prepared for the rigors of college academics, and with the attention the IB program pays to thought and community service, they are often students who seek involvement and really add to the campus community.” (College of William and Mary)</p>

<p>Yes, this still rings true for the entire quote. If we are looking at a Full IB student and an IB certificate student, the diploma candidate will be more competitive as far as course rigor is concerned (that student may be less competitive in other areas like testing, grades, extracurricular activities, etc). We obviously do not compare IB students to non-IB students since IB is limited in its availability but if a student is enrolled at a high school where he/she is able to pursue the Full IB diploma we highly encourage that student to do so. We also recognize that some schools offer both IB and AP but only those students selected for admission to IB are able to take those classes (sometimes one school will be an IB magnet so to speak for the country). In that case, we do not expect those students who are simply districted to that school to pursue IB. We take everything about a high school’s context into consideration when evaluating the rigor of a student’s curriculum.</p>

<p>There’s another thread right now that I just commented on where a student chose AP over IB to pursue music classes. We do realize that IB can limit a student’s curricular flexibility and while we always encourage pursuit of the full diploma when possible, we recognize that AP curricula can be extremely rigorous as well. We simply encourage those students to explain to us why they chose not to pursue the IB program so that we can understand why they made the choices they did.</p>

<p>W&M Admissions, as always I greatly appreciate your candor and insight! Your response makes perfect sense.</p>

<p>As always, happy to help</p>

<p>Thanks for this discussion! I’m also a W&M '83 alum. My son is starting high school in the fall and has just been accepted into the school’s pre-IB program, but I didn’t have a very coherent answer for him when he asked about the benefits of an IB diploma versus AP classes. This is really useful info, especially the insight about the student who chose AP to gain more flexibility to take music classes - my son is artistic as well. Jeez, we had it so much easier 32 years ago!</p>

<p>dramakidz, in the end, we believe course/program select should be a student and family choice. The student must do what’s best for them and their goals. We recommend the student chooses to pursue the most challenging courses in which they can do well.</p>

<p>We think the IB program is a great way for students to prepare themselves for the college environment. The extended essay, two-year courses and research mesh well with liberal arts curricula such as those at W&M that emphasize research, in-depth learning and learning in breadth across disciplines. Many IB programs do offer students the ability to pursue arts courses (ther are IB theatre, music and arts courses that can be part of a student’s IB diploma). Definitely encourage your student to talk to his/her counselor to see what options the school provides for students to pursue IB and the arts</p>

<p>Yay this makes me happy! I’m a diploma candidate taking 6 IB classes (as I did my junior year) and I feel like AP kids don’t realize how much harder work it is…with the extended essay, CAS, IA’s, it’s so much. I’m glad W&M recognizes this. :)</p>

<p>We certainly recognize the rigor of IB course work. That being said, a student who pursues the IB diploma but gets all Bs and Cs isn’t doing themselves any good but certainly a student getting As and Bs is given credit for their work as we review applications.</p>

<p>However, we don’t penalize students who don’t have IB available to them. Those students who pursue rigorous AP courses are also given their due in our review process because we understand that many schools do not make IB an option.</p>