<p>I am glad I've done IB as well -- all 7 years worth. VERY glad to be moving on though! Was it worth it? Yea -- but glad to moving on!</p>
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all 7 years worth
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they offer it for 7 years..wow...in my hs, its for juniors and seniors</p>
<p>6th to 10th called MYP (not pre IB) by the IBO. Our school was the first in the U.S. to offer it so they are pretty serious about it. Where I live you do it 6 - 12 grade or 9-12. So, you either get 4 years or 7 years of it. </p>
<p>In my case, since 6th grade I've taken all MYP and IB courses (except Art). Never had a choice of what courses to take because the "plan" is all spelled out for you. That is why I am anxious to move on.</p>
<p>wows thats crazy...so much weighting points and so much hardwork</p>
<p>Not particularly. IB is easy until you get into 11-12. I was in the IB program from 7-12 grade, and most people stayed in until the end of their sophomore year. After that they started dropping like flies.</p>
<p>^^ True, many do indeed drop out after 10th grade.</p>
<p>Ok so it seems IB prepares you much better for college, and it also looks better (generally) on your transcript, right?</p>
<p>yes a lot.....it prepares for you college, especially for english.....so thats what i heard from last years seniors........and yes it looks good on your transcript, because college sees you have challenged yourself in school by taking rigoruous courses instead of just regular classes</p>
<p>YOU DON'T WANT TO START A FIGHT SON?!?!? SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU DISSED THE IB PROGRAM...
Meh, ib...really depends on what you do with it (and whether it gets you into your first choice college). But IB isn't at a uniform level difficulty anyways. YOu still have class choices. There are at least 3 distinct levels of difficulty for ib in our school, based on which classes you decide to take. I took the hell route. Basically, i'm wondering if it was a good idea to spend so much time ibing and stuff. Finding out scholarships and such ask about volunteer activites more than about the rigor of my classes or my million ecs... but as far as ib vs. ap.
I don't know how it is at your school, but ap at my school is a joke. Even the "easy" ib classes are hardest than any ap class at our school. Thats partially because our school tries to get as many peeps taking ap tests as possible though (State of Florida pays them for everyone that takes a test or something). Anyways, ap tests are also a joke. Actually, ib sl tests are even more of a joke but... even though i haven't actually taken any, i can tell ib higher levels are no joke- and ib hl classes are definitely no joke (CHEMISTRY, + MATH HL= YIKES). The only ap classes/tests i think are even moderately difficult are calculus bc (pretty hard), physics c (HOLY ****), and language tests (you actually have to know the language, can't cram or bs like other aps). Thats my 20 cents on the issue.</p>
<p>Maybe college is 2 sexy 4 you...</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Ok so it seems IB prepares you much better for college, and it also looks better (generally) on your transcript, right?<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>IB prepares you for life, because there is life beyond h.s. and college. AP = how high can you score on the test so you can get the college credit. IB = much more than that.</p>
<p>An IB diploma is MUCH better than taking AP courses. Taking advantage of the IB diploma takes dedication, it's not like cherry picking AP courses. I'm not comparing IB to AP courses, I am comparing a full IB diploma against someone who has taken AP courses (I don't care how many).</p>
<p>I took an AP US History class sophomore year, the main homework being "notecards" so that we would learn the dates and names for DBQs/FRQs...I stopped doing the notecards the second half of the year, got a 4 on the AP exam (and my teacher had to boost my grade up an A, but that's not really the point...). </p>
<p>I'm now taking IB Euro History with the most amazing teacher. I couldn't really tell you any dates from US History, but I could tell you in-depth about German Unification, the various views on the causes of WWI, Russian Revolution...</p>
<p>Another example
last year, I was in honors American Lit. with half PIB kids and half honors kids (kids who'd go on to be in AP)...I barely did any work on any essays and I got As on everything, as compared to my friends in there who basically failed everything</p>
<p>This year, after that little confidence booster, in my IB English class, about five kids had As for the first semester (I was .4 points away)...But, my writing has improved so much, that I'm thankful for being in such a challenging class.</p>
<p>I don't know...the way IB teaches you to think, or the fact that most teachers are not just teaching for the exam...probably because most have two years to teach whatever, making it so much more analytical and challenging. Dates are important, but so is being able to connect history...</p>
<p>never took ap courses, but agree with Brerocks.....IB English has helped me be the best writer that hs can offer, IB History goes is so much depth, that you fully understand them much better....for example in honors history they told us the reasons for the start of ww1, which was MANIAC....But then after taking IB History, we found out there is actually 34 REASONS NOT NO 6 reasons...</p>
<p>I teach in a school that has both IB & AP. We prepare our students for the AP exam primarily, and while we have a good pass rate on AP, we have a 100% pass rate on IB. IB is easier to pass because it's more communication based and less picky. AP requires accuracy and correctness.</p>
<p>100% pass rate- awesome. However, when you say IB has a 100% pass rate i assume you mean everyone that goes through ib in your school qualifies for the diploma. This doesn't really reflect performance on individual exams and so can't be used for comparison to ap (since ap peeps aren't going for any kind of certificate).</p>
<p>The difficulty issue has been discussed a lot and most people say that it's easier to PASS an IB exam than it is to PASS an AP exam, but a 5 on an AP exam is much easier than a 7 on an IB.</p>
<p>My school's pass rate for IB is 100% in the last few years and something like 94% since we've had the program. I have no idea for AP.</p>
<p>IB helps. Its easier than what a lot of people go thru and holds more prestige</p>
<p>At UBC, Canada.. the presidents scholarship u get if ($4000)
U have 36 credits in IB or 95% overall</p>
<p>U can be einstien and not get even 90% at my school... whereas I know some average students go way above 36... thats kinda easy is what my cousin tells me</p>
<p>They should reduce the IB program's prestige. IB program is like David Beckham, good but miserably overrated</p>
<p>I don't think IB is overrated - it doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves. Most US schools give credit for only IB HL exams, though I've found that SL courses correspond well with the AP tests that do get credit. I took AP Chem after one year of IB HL Chem (the first year = SL Chem) and got a 5. I will take AP Macroecon after my IB SL Economics class. IB SL English is more rigorous than AP English.</p>
<p>Colleges, I think, don't really understand the IB program - which is understandable because they have so, so many more AP applicants.</p>
<p>You also forget that people that go through IB have a lot more at stake. Two years of work is great motivation to ensure someone doesn't fail, whereas with AP tests the score does not carry too much weight if you don't care about credits. The IB students have great motivation to try harder and thus ensure they pass.</p>
<p>Question for kids who have taken both IB and AP classes: </p>
<p>My son is considering which of these two tracks to take. Both seem to be well regarded in our school system. As a freshman he has another year to decide.</p>
<p>Complicating factor: he has ADD but seems to be coping well with medication this year. He's currently in private school, very rigorous & writing intensive, and has about a 3.5; wants to go to the public school next year which offers both AP & IB.</p>
<p>He is the kind of kid who does NOT like 'busy work' but, when intellectually engaged, he does not mind hard work. Good writer. He likes history, politics, philosophy-- the "why's" behind world events & people's behavior/ thinking. So far, science has not lit any fire in him, but that may change. Math: he has A's but is not gifted in Math-- as a freshman is in Algebra, not Geometry or higher with the math-brilliant kids.</p>
<p>We were leaning towards IB because it seemed to offer deeper engagement with subject matter and TOK sounded right up his alley. OTOH, heavy workload harder for ADD kids; possibly the depth in science and math may be asking too much?</p>
<p>I would love to hear your thoughts....</p>
<p>what is your goal? I'd say forget AP and if you don't have to worry about the restrictive nature of IB then choose that path. It is no the be all that it is sold as in American Suburban Private Schools but it is recognized.</p>