<p>My school is a suburban public school that offers both AP and IB. We definitely hold IB in higher esteem than AP, and counselors absolutely refuse to mark the “most rigorous course load” box on applications unless the student is a diploma candidate. AP Calc BC is a prerequisite for HL Math, AP Bio is a prerequisite for HL Bio, AP Spanish Language for HL Spanish, and APUSH for HL History of the Americas. The school also offers AP English Language to sophomores so they will be prepared for HL English.</p>
<p>^Those prereqs are ridiculous and unnecessary.</p>
<p>That said I think IB is better at encouraging critical thinking. AP focuses on memorization.</p>
<p>I don’t really care nor do I think one is fundamentally superior but AP Physics was a joke.</p>
<p>lolz
IB for sure.</p>
<p>And to the kid who said IB HL english was a joke, go take that class and if you come out of it not crying then we can talk. Okay?</p>
<p>AP is just a boatload of stuff that you need to remember. IB is focused and has a global perspective, hence IB wins.</p>
<p>That said I think IB is better at encouraging critical thinking. AP focuses on memorization.</p>
<p>I mean, you can argue that, but I got 5s on my math/econ APs through critical thinking. My memorization ability is sub-par at best. It depends on the AP. And the student. I can’t personally attest to the level of memorization v critical thinking on IBs, but from what I know from others that isn’t true on every section.</p>
<p>Was this Physics B?</p>
<p>Mhmmmmmmmm</p>
<p>I think that IB courses are more well rounded. You’re not only expected to memorize a lot, you’re expected to apply any and everything to any scenario. For example, IB math tests are always real world problems for us and just… Well… Awful :)</p>
<p>Oxy, why do you still have one post? lol</p>
<p>Try taking C then, it’s a lil harder.</p>
<p>It really depends on what you want to do. Yes IB of course is much more challenging than AP but if youre not going to get much out of it in terms of college admission and college credit, is it still worth it?</p>
<p>If your school offers IB, and if you think you can get into a top notch school (Stanford, Wash U, Cornell), then obviously take it. If you think your top school will give you a 15k+ scholarship for doing the IB diploma, then take it.
If you just want to go to a state school or mediocre school that barely gives you any credit, then I suggest not taking it and just take running start or AP.</p>
<p>For me, I really regret pursuing the IB diploma. I’m going to a somewhat good school (U of Rochester), but I would have gotten such a better GPA if I did partial and would have still gotten in. I literally got nothing and will get nothing for doing the IB diploma. While Rochester does offer credit (but for most, you have to get 6 or 7 for HL exams), theres really no point of receiving credit when there is no general education requirement for that school.</p>
<p>Call me crazy, but I have not studied for any IB exam (maybe like 10 minutes before the exam), when I do not see any purpose as to why I should. i completely bsed my entire history exam and I wont be surprised if i get a 2 on it. </p>
<p>Oh, just personal observation, literally 80% of my IB cohort is going to UW-madison, our state school, because they failed to get into any top notch school(Most had 3.8+gpa). It makes me question why people do IB when most of them are going to end up going to a state school. Yes, they give you credit but you could have gone through a much easier route and still receive more credit. Also, do realize that taking 6 IB tests adds up to almost 1000 dollars and if you dont get any credit, you just wasted a thousand dollars. (If you do end up getting credit for one test, you’re basically just getting your money back)</p>
<p>Basically, if you have any intentions of getting into a super good school or have a dream school that will give you heaps of cash, then IB will be worth it in the end.
If not, you will be thinking back in college asking yourself why you went through all this just for nothing.</p>
<p>I like the fact that IB tests have more gradations (7 vs 5) and they have a lot more languages. Other than that, AP > IB.</p>
<p>I will try to be as objective as possible. I come from a mix IB/AP school outside America.</p>
<p>IB is definitely more time consuming; given IAs and Group 3 projects etc. APs allow you to study the week before the exam and, given a level of intelligence, you will get a decent grade. However, it depends on how many you load yourself with. AP students who take 5-6 AP classes a year (damn) easily have the IB workload.</p>
<p>IB is marked more harshly. Compare the amount of AP tests given grade 5s with IB students given grade 7s, and you can clearly see how hard it is to be in that top grade level.</p>
<p>IB builds world citizens. This is, of course, not true for you Americans who only take “IB History of the Americas”. This course doesn’t even formally exist for the rest of the IB schools around the world. IB history units include China from the Boxer rebellion, Russia in Revolution and the Meiji restoration in Japan. </p>
<p>IB HL math covers more material than Calculus BC. When I say material, I don’t just mean calculus. Calculus BC does contain more stand-alone calculus content. However, Math HL students have the option to cover post-Calculus studies in their 2nd year “options” like Linear Algebra. OR, that can take the “Differential equations and series” option and this would give them an equivalent of Calculus BC. </p>
<p>IB maths SL is a lot less than Calculus AB. IB maths SL is for students progressing from Algebra II/Trig with an “A-” or Precalculus with a “B or below”. IB SL is more like 1 year of advanced precalc, then a year of calculus(which goes slower than Calc AB)</p>
<p>However, there is “Further Maths SL” which is FAR more demanding that Calculus BC, but not many schools offer it. </p>
<p>For the purpose of entry into American universities, AP sciences = IB HL sciences. However, AP gains the upper hand here as it is more easily awarded credit AND you complete the course in just one year. This way, you can easily take all 3 sciences before you graduate. The same for IB is quite difficult. But for the UK and for Europe, IB sciences are given more weight.</p>
<p>AP Languages are a complete joke. Apart from English, none of those AP exams give a student an opportunity to study at a fluent level. I took AP Chinese at the age of 12 and got a “5”. I had to write a damn story given some pictures. AP Languages are nothing compared to “Language A” classes, or “Language B HL” classes. In IB Chinese A2 HL, we write essays easily over 2000 words long about ancient Chinese literature and read 800+ page books by ancient Chinese philosophers. Think AP English, but with ANY OTHER LANGUAGE. In my school, AP French and Spanish are put into the same class as their IB1 Language B counterparts. AP French/IB SL B is about at the level of a “DELF B1”(French national proficiency test), while IB A2 French is easily at a “DALF C1” level. However, this means nothing to you guys since most Americans wouldn’t even think about doing a bilingual/trilingual course. IB can get you fluency in a language. AP’s limit ends very early on. Therefore, IB language studies are far superior.</p>
<p>AP social sciences…hmm. I know for one that even combining Micro and Macro AP econs, this does not nearly match the content of IB Economics (even SL for that matter), which includes developmental econs and other topics outside of micro/macro. I know that IB Psych SL graduates take the AP psych test, so perhaps those could be seen as equivalents. AP does offer Comparative government courses, and I think I’ll give the edge to AP here because of their offering of these courses. IB will be coming out with a “World Politics” and “Peace and Conflict resolution” course soon though. It’s already in pilot stages.</p>
<p>There is, of course, TOK. But for the most part, this is pretty useless. Mind opening to the odd student, but useless.</p>
<p>In the end, it depends. The average AP student nationwide, as you all know, takes like 3-4 APs over the course of 2 years. This course load isn’t considered even close to the IB diploma. Then you have the kids who have done over 15 AP courses, which is even more rigorous than IB. Then you have the IB equivalent, who takes a diploma with 4 HLs and like 2 extra HL certificate classes on top of the diploma, and THAT is equally rigorous. </p>
<p>I say for the purpose of Americans, just take AP. American society doesn’t allow one to fully take advantage of the IB. Very rarely does anyone get post-AP proficiency in a language before senior year. But outside of America, people have complete bilingual/trilingual courses which are easily more rigorous than anything their American counterparts do. </p>
<p>Just my (rather long) 2 cents.</p>
<p>^Native Chinese speaker?</p>
<p>There is AP comparative government.</p>
<p>
Don’t know about Calc BC, but teachers at my school say if you’re doing Math HL you’re really doing way beyond HS stuff and you should be considering doing pure mathematics or engineering.
Anyway, I think it really depends on your situation. Some IB students self-study APs.
The thing that is either a plus or minus about IB is that you are very “well rounded”.</p>
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<p>If you took the Chinese exam at 12 and got a 5, you’re either a native speaker or were immersed or something. You had to have known the language really, really well. The thing with foreign language is that if you aren’t fluent by about 12, then it’s a lot harder to learn that language. I just took the AP French Language exam and will be lucky to get a 2. This is due to the fact that A)I’ve never been around native French speakers or lived in a French speaking country B)I began studying very basic French at 11, so my brain was already mostly wired at that point C)I don’t have anywhere where I can practice my French.</p>
<p>Besides. If you want to study a language at the fluent level, you take the Literature exam. The problem is that most American students have absolutely no ability to do that, because they’re still learning the language and there’s no way that they could become fluent. The AP Language exams are to test if you have any sort of fluency or understanding. A native speaker could easily pass them while someone learning the language is going to struggle with it.</p>