IB vs AP classes

My school offers both AP classes and IB classes. However, there are significantly more math and science courses available in AP than IB. I chose not to do IB because of that reason. Our school only offers IB Biology and IB Math interpretations. There’s no IB Chemistry or Physics, and no other math courses, but two-year IB history and English courses are offered more. There are more Dual Credit, Dual Enrollment, and AP math and science classes than IB. As for AP classes, our school offers AP Physics 1, AP Chemistry 2, AP Environmental Science, AP Biology 2, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, etc. I am very strong in math and science, and I am not the best at English and history. However, I know that colleges prefer “taking the hardest courses available”, so will I be looked down upon if I take a lot of AP math and science courses, but don’t participate in the IB program?

Many students who are focused on STEM end up going the AP route for that very reason. You will be fine for college admission.

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For colleges that use the counselor report, what your counselor indicates as the difficulty of your course choices (“most demanding”, etc.) factors into what they see in your application regarding how you challenged yourself.

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The IB diploma program is very, very well regarded, and there’s plenty of evidence that IB Diploma students are sought after and even preferred by many universities. However–I have never seen any evidence that an individual IB class has any more weight than an individual AP class. In part what makes IB special is the large research project and the CAS requirements, neither of which are part of individual classes. So if it is matter of taking a single class or two outside of the diploma program, I honestly doubt the difference between IB and AP matters. Others may know more than I do. Good luck!

However, the OP’s school’s IB program seems unbalanced and poorly suited for a student whose academic strengths and interests are in subjects besides history and English.

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Link?

Try this, which is based on a student survey from about ten years ago:

That does not mean that an IB student is necessarily preferred over a similarly strong student who chooses a similarly-rigorous non-IB course selection. The higher admission rate for IB students reflects a selection effect in that IB programs mainly attract a subset of the strongest students to begin with, rather than students from the full range of college-bound students.

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I’m not going to argue with that, but I chose to believe that a B+ IB student is preferred over a B+ non-IB student, all else being equal.

Regardless, the point I was trying to make is that as far as I can tell, simply taking an individual IB class won’t confer the same type of advantage. I believe–and this is just my own feeling–that the reason IB students are favored has to do with the other stuff I mentioned, because it makes students better prepared to handle large projects and time constraints when they reach college.

Incidentally, the University of Rochester used to have a page on their web site where they openly solicited IB diploma students to apply and stated flat-out how much they wanted IB students at UR, but it appears that page has been taken down.

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In many high schools the IB program is the highest rigor option, so the strongest students choose the IB program, so that non-IB students are generally not as strong students. Again, this is a selection effect.

I disagree, and this is somewhat insulting to students who chose not to pursue IB. There are plenty of non-elite, non-superstar IB students in the IB diploma program, too, kids who get Bs and B-plusses and score less than 1500 on their SAT. I don’t want to argue with you, and this thread is not the place to have this discussion, but there are plenty of statements by college admissions officers raving about the value of the IB education that you can find on the internet as easily as I can.

And yet you are. Both of you need to move the conversation forward; this is not a debate society.

This 100%. My son takes a combo of IB/AP classes, which is considered “highest rigor” at our HS. Find out what your counselor considers “highest rigor” to help you decide.

At our school I think it’s based on the number of IB/AP that you take. There is no additional rigor for Full IB (even though that is very challenging).

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I considered doing a mix of AP and IB classes, however my school has a policy that students cannot take IB classes unless they are enrolled in the program and going for the full IB diploma. IB students can take AP classes but it’s not the same way around for AP students.

You’re okay, don’t worry about it.
As long as you have English, Math, Science, Social Science, and Foreign Language every year (or up to level 4 for foreign language if that’s earlier than senior year), and about 6-8 APs, you’re good!

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D18 & D21 received an IB education from kindergarten through high school. They opted not to pursue an IB diploma and enrolled in AP courses. They are at Amherst College and Williams College, so I believe it did nothing but enhance their application.

AP offered them more options to pursue courses of interest as well as allow for certain electives they had a passion for to fit in their class schedule.

When D21 submitted her transcript for a summer program at a top LAC, during the interview the AO specifically addressed the mixture of course work and said they found it impressive.

I think if you pursue rigorous courses and allow for the transcript to tell a story of your interests as well as your success, that is most impressive. No one worth their weight should “look down” on you. If they do, I wouldn’t think that school is a good fit anyway.

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If you do the IB program at your school, can you still take the AP classes in math and science that you want? I would talk to your counselor about your proposed schedule to see if it would earn the “most challenging” distinction on your school report. Even if it’s not the most challenging course load, you still may want to take the courses that interest and suit you. Part of your decision could be influenced by the types of colleges to which you want to apply, but you should mostly pursue your interests and do your best in those classes.
My S19 did the full IB diploma program and he was still able to take the following AP classes: Chem, Econ, Gov, Lang, Physics, Statistics, World History. So, it’s usually not either/or.