<p>Any feedback on whether the IB program ( with top scores all classes from beginnning on 10th Grade ) gives an edge, increases chances of being accepted?</p>
<p>Thanks !</p>
<p>Of course it increases chances of being accepted, but not by much, since many of the applicants are part of IB/AP Program with top marks in their school.</p>
<p>Is IB more respected than AP? I'm doing Pre-IB right now and it's already hell.</p>
<p>go with AP. IB is recognized widely in Europe, but not in US. AP is much easier (I'm an AP student who has an IB student friend) and is more recognized in US colleges.</p>
<p>Well, that's my point. IB is harder than AP. It's gaining ground, and I'm Canadian so there aren't any AP classes anyway.</p>
<p>You can do both. You can take a full IB program and take corresponding AP courses. I took IB Math SL last year and four AP's and got 7's and 5's respectively. IB Biology HL is a lot like AP Biology, ditto for English HL and AP English Lit. So you don't really have to do too much extra work. Go ahead and do them both if you think you can.</p>
<p>What I am trying to say is that a full IB program, where all your courses are IB HL for the two years, it is like taking ALL AP courses ( or better ). I think that should make a huge difference, since most people just take a few APs from what I see in these posts...I have never run into anyone taking ALL APs the whole two years.</p>
<p>Also, the school does not offer too many APs to those in the IB program because of the higher elite status given to the IB. Again... I am hoping the Ivies are into this also....More thoughts??</p>
<p>Many applicants to Harvard have been taking a full-time load of college courses for high school credit for the two years before they matriculate at Harvard. There are lots of ways to seek academic challenge; just do what fits your local situation and dare to pursue your own interests. The dual-enrollment program in my state is two decades old, so Harvard has lots of experience evaluating applicants with college-as-high-school records.</p>
<p>Highly selective schools recommend that propspective students take the most challenging course their high school offers. If the high school offers the IB Program, and the student is not a full diploma candidate, the guidance counselor would have to answer no to the question asking if the student is in the most rigorous program.
Having said that, please note that the results of the IB Diploma Examinations are released in the summer after graduation...long after students have made their college choices. In fact, the exams are given a month after colleges release their regular decisions.
IB full diploma candidates are highly regarded for completion of the TOK course, and the 4000-word Extended Essay, and the 150 hours of CAS...all of which must be done in the last two years of high school.
The IB Program is rigorous, and it is not for everyone, but it is definitely doable...definitely not hell...specially if CAS is completed by junior year, and the essay is done before the start of senior year.
It is recommended that only three Higher Level subjects be taken, but students taking four or five HL courses are not unheard of...it really all depends on one's focus and maturity.</p>
<p>If you can do IB Diploma, do it. I am probably one of the only IB Diploma candidates who isn't having THAT much trouble with it. It is a rigorous courseload, but one of the above posters was right, it's not THAT bad. My school only allows us to take three HL tests, so that's not so horrible. Also, since all IB tests are all-essay, it is, in my opinion, easier to do well on them than on multiple choice AP tests because at least in some cases there is no right answer. Also, take both IB and AP. Last year I took IB and AP Psych and got a 6 (probably owing to my subpar internal assessment) and a 5 and studying for one helped me tremendously in preparing for the other. Also, I did much better on AP Psych than most kids at my school because through my IB Psych course we delved into much deeper material than just continuous AP practice worksheets and such.</p>
<p>Basically, the time commitment isn't as strenuous as a lot of people make it out to be. It's hard, yes, but I don't think that it is as hellish as it as perceived as.</p>
<p>If two applicants at Harvard are being compared side-by-side, hypothetically, and they have highly similar ranks, ECs, test scores, strength of essays/recs, etc., the one who has an IB Diploma (or is trying to attain one I guess) will probably be accepted over an AP kid. Or at least that's what would make sense to me, if they were virtually identical in all other aspects.</p>
<p>The TOK class is the easiest IB class, the CAS can be completed in a single month, and the essay is barely an introduction to a college thesis. I don't see why people give any weight to these areas of the program. It's all about the hours and hours of homework. Period.</p>