<p>I felt like IB was quite rigorous, challenging, and good preparation for college, but I have been frustrated by how little colleges acknowledge it. My high school offered standard level IB chemistry, which would have resulted in no college credit. I chose to take the AP test after the course, did very little studying for it, and got a 5. I did the same thing for calculus.
When people talk about taking 20 AP classes in high school, I feel like AP is no longer achieving the goal of offering challenging, college-level courses to high school students. It seems there’s a lot of trying to cram schedules with AP exams for college credit or to look good on college apps, rather than for the sake of taking challenging coursework to learn.</p>
<p>As for paying for tests, we had to pay for all of our tests. (Not sure what FAFSA parent was referring to about the “IB Diploma exam” though.) If students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, though, their exams were paid for.</p>