<p>Okay so ever since I have been looking at colleges i've noticed everyone talking about how you need to have certain amounts of AP classes and do well on the tests. The problem is my school has absolutley no AP classes. My school Is an all IB (international Baccalaureate) school. I am planning on doing the diploma program but i was just wondering if the fact that I have no AP classes would hurt me if i wanted to apply to Harvard?</p>
<p>You are considered in the context of your school. So, if your school does not have AP offerings, you will not be worse off for not having AP’s.</p>
<p>But, if your school has TONS of IB offerings and you don’t take ANY of them, that would hurt you. Harvard wants to see applicants that are passionate about learning and who take advantage of the opportunities in front of them.</p>
<p>The elite schools all want you to take the most rigorous program available to you. In fact, the statement they use to make that point is practically the same from school to school.</p>
<p>some argue that IB is more difficult than AP in fact, so as long as you take those classes you’re in good shape.</p>
<p>I come to echo the sentiments of the posters before me. If your school has AP and IB courses, you should take them. If it doesn’t, admissions officers will realize that.</p>
<p>In fact I’ve had counselors at selective schools tell me this explicitly. One speaker at Kenyon told us that if our school doesn’t offer AP, that’s fine, but if it offers one AP class and we pass it up, adcoms are going to wonder why. In short, take the most rigorous course load available to you, and you’ll be on par with the rest of us!</p>
<p>You may want to use the Additional Info section to sweetly remind your reader that your school was devoid of AP courses–or not. Really, they should know this. Personally, I used my additional info section to explain that I had to drop a course due to a schedule conflict. How you use it is up to you.</p>
<p>All these responses should give you a clear answer to your question, so let me sum it up with my own two cents: While you won’t be hurt for going to a school that doesn’t offer AP classes, other students will use solid AP scores to give their application an edge. A lot of us take 5 or 6 of these college-level courses a year, and that takes a significant time commitment. How have you used that time instead? Where have you volunteered? Which leadership positions have you held? What lessons have you learned from reading books? As long as you show deep passions and great achievement in other areas of your application, you’ll have the same chances that we do. But if you’ve played videogames in all your free time, then that’s something to worry about.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much! I will take the most rigorous course available! I just wanted to know if Harvard (and top schools) accept IB and doesnt look down on the program. Again thanks for answering so soon! :)</p>
<p>The IB is tougher than AP.</p>