<p>I've gotten so much helpful info off of this site, and now I'm hoping for a littel more. My D attends a school that offers both AP and IB classes. She's decided to go for the full IB diploma with a math/science focus. So her SL and HL courses for her junior and senior years will be:</p>
<p>High level courses will be: AP/IB English, AP/IB Physics and AP/IB Biology
Standard level: Spanish, Calculus AB, and IB ITGS (I think this stands for Information Technology for a Global Society or something like that.)</p>
<p>Anyway, my question is would she be better off replacing that class, IB ITGS SL for AP US History/IB History of the Americas SL.</p>
<p>Her plan is to take regular US History over the summer (since it's a requirement, which is usually taken soph year, but she didn't since she's in the honors program and most honors kids take it at the AP level junior year) and take the IB ITGS junior year. She really hates her honors history class this year, so I think this is a big reason she doesn't want to go any further on that path. Science and math are her thing, so my first instinct was, fine, let her do what she knows best, but in the back of my head I'm wondering if taking AP US History over IB ITGS will have any greater benefits for her. Thanks for any input!!</p>
<p>Only upside of taking APUSH is that the AP prep is also a good prep for the SAT2 in US history. Depending on where she'd like to apply to college, she could end up taking 3 tests, one of which may have to be in a non-math/science field.</p>
<p>My knowledge of IB is limited to our small school with not many offerings, so I may be raising a question that only applies to our school. Don't students have to take a group 6 (arts) course? I know that ITGS can be substituted for arts but I don't think that science can.</p>
<p>FredandVelma,
If she's doing the full diploma program, she MUST have have IB courses in social studies, English, math, science, foreign language and the sixth subject. The sixth subject can be a second science, FL, social studies, arts, etc. -- but she MUST have an IB social studies exam. ITGS can be an elective, but it cannot replace the IB social studies requirement. That's an IB rule -- no exceptions.</p>
<p>Some schools will permit an IB seventh subject (but it costs extra). S2's sixth subject is a second social studies course, and the school he attends is also offering a new IB course next year that covers topics he wanted to take anyway. He'll take that class, but not the seventh IB exam. There are no AP equivalents for it, either. He just likes the topic, it's relevant to what he wants to study in college, and he figures the folks who sign up will be his buddies who argue and debate this stuff all the time -- so it's a win-win.</p>
<p>ITGS is a social studies (technically, "Individuals and Societies") course.</p>
<p>There are relatively few colleges that require an SAT Subject Test in a field that is not math or science. If your daughter runs across one, she could take the Literature test. IB kids tend to do well on it because the IB English course focuses heavily on analyzing literature. Your daughter does not really need AP US History in order to get a decent Subject Test score in a field other than math or science.</p>
<p>My main concern about your daughter's schedule is that she may be ill-prepared to take any SAT Subject Test in science. IB students are not allowed to take HL tests until the end of senior year, but SAT Subject Tests need to be taken early in senior year at the latest. If your daughter's IB physics and biology classes are taught as two-year sequences, she may not have covered some topics at the time when she would take the SAT Subject Test. She may need to find out what topics are not covered until the later part of senior year and self-study those topics in order to be ready for the Subject Test -- if she needs to take a science subject test at all.</p>
<p>Thank you! That is all very helpful info. Yes, Marian is correct, IB ITGS is considered her social studies, so I feel better about her not having the AP US Hist/IB History of the Americas. As for her science classes, they are both taught as two-year courses. Honors Bio and Honors Phys will be junior year and AP/IB levels senior year. Hopefully her school knows about the SAT II requirements and adequately prepares them. That will be a good question for me to ask the honors coordinator.</p>
<p>just make sure that your D doesn't need a US history class to graduate from high school. that is required in VA, or at least, you have to pass a state exam in that subject.</p>
<p>A year of Honors Bio was enough for my son to take the SATII in Bio. That and a good review book. I'm in NY though. Don't know if the course is comparable.</p>