<p>In May, my school is expecting me to take both IB and AP tests in all my subjects which will cost around 750 dollars for me. I know I will perform way better on the AP tests, because I'm getting taught out of AP text books and am enrolled in AP classes (there's no differentiation). The only thing I do different than other AP students is take the tests (and TOK, CAS etc.) seriously. </p>
<p>My school's principal said I could not take the classes I wanted my senior year (both physics and chemistry) unless I continued with IB after my junior year (trust me i was about to quit). He also said he would only mark that I took the "most demanding" courses on my college apps if I took IB. I feel like all I'm getting out of this is a different colored robe on graduation day.</p>
<p>Should I quit or is this going to help me in terms of college admission? </p>
<p>(IB is very young and terribly put together at my school)</p>
<p>I would completely disagree. It does for college what taking the hardest classes does. Get all A’s in straight AP classes while your school offers IB, and an admissions officer will wonder why the student didn’t just take the IB. Why most the time? Laziness. Students are lazy and colleges know that, and don’t want that. Is IB harder than AP? No. I find it easier. IB though, through the IA’s, grading scales, and EE’s, prepares you better for college because the way you will attack papers in college will be different than if you didn’t take IB.</p>
<p>At my school, IB isn’t necessarrilly harder, but it’s more work intensive and moves at a much faster speed then AP. For example: IB Math isn’t like Calculus, it’s like a combo if PreCal, Calc, Stats, Vectors on Steroids. Much harder. But if your schools IB program isn’t well established, and AP is, then go AP. Getting a low score on IB tests isn’t going to make you look good to colleges or not receiving the diploma.</p>
<p>You’ve already answered your own question. To take the classes you want, you have to do IB. To get marked as demanding courses on your apps, you have to do IB. You’re going to an IB school, so there will be a lot of applicants there applying to the same schools as you’re applying to who have both of those things. So do IB.</p>
<p>Tke the classes you want. I go to an IB school, but am not doing Full IB. Instead, I am taking the classes I want like AP Chem, and AP Physics and AP Calc (those 2 next year) that I would not have been able to do in Full IB. IB is not necessarily better. Pick the classes you want to take then decide.</p>
<p>Not all schools allow you to do that. Mine, for example, was a public school, so it’s really only worth it (on their side) to offer the course if you’re going to graduate with the diploma and make the school look good. I wouldn’t have been allowed to take any IB courses without being in the full program.</p>
<p>Only classes in the junior can be used by college admission officials. You are not allowed to take the IB HL exams in the junior year. Read the following article.</p>
<p>First of all, that’s wrong. Colleges use senior year classes all the time, ESPECIALLY if you apply Regular Decision. Even Early Action/Decision requires you to send in your grades from mid-year, and you always have to list the classes you’re currently taking, even if you don’t have grades yet.</p>
<p>Second, US schools don’t care about the exams themselves anyway. They look at the difficulty of courses and obviously getting good scores looks really good, but they technically aren’t “allowed” to use the actual exams in consideration for IB or AP (even though they probably do a little) since not all schools offer the same coursework. That’s why your counselor has to put the difficulty of your courses based on what is offered at your school. But IB exams after senior year? They don’t care in the slightest. The exam results only matter for what classes you can exempt out of in college. (Note that UK/Europe schools are different.)</p>
<p>Third, the complaint in that article is based on the fact that the students started IB in their second year of high school, finishing the IB HL class in the junior year. The vast majority of students, including the OP, start IB their junior year and finish their senior year, making the entire argument pointless.</p>
<p>Lastly you’ve now posted that exact same article three times- completely disregarding what the actual topic of the thread is about. Stop spamming. Also, they misspelled Cardiff. If you’re going to complain about IB, use spell-check.</p>