I am taking up International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in grades 11th and 12th. I was planning to appear for a few Advanced Placement (AP) exams as well but I have been told that AP and IBDP hold pretty much the same weightage when it comes to college admission process, so appearing for AP would be an unnecessary waste of time and energy, as IBDP itself is very challenging.
I was planning to appear for the AP language tests and math tests but I was advised to appear for the SAT subject tests for the same subjects instead.
So my main question is- which would be better for me- taking the AP tests or the SAT subject tests? Which one of them is more valuable?
For admissions, if the college recommends/requires them, you need Subject tests. If the college does not recommend/require them, you don’t need either.
If you mean that the weight is close to zero in the admissions process, you would be correct. IB/AP scores can help validate the rigor of your classes, but the scores themselves are primarily used for placement/credit. In most cases, the score reports go straight to the registrar’s office, and admissions never sees them.
Having said that, for college credit purposes, you may want to take an AP test in math because the odds of you getting a 5 on the AP exam are greater than the odds of you getting a 7 on the IB exam.
@skieurope , I have also heard that there is a fair bit of crossover content between IB and AP. If the student isn’t super confident of doing well on the IB exam, would it be in their interest to take the AP in a similar subject, providing they do well on it?
Our school doesn’t recommend taking both, but I don’t necessarily agree. As @skieurope points out, a 5 in AP math is easier to get than a 7 on IB HL Maths. Both will allow you to place out of calculus at most schools. For some subjects (and at some schools) the SL is comparable to the AP, but few colleges will give you credit for an SL exam. I would advise taking BOTH exams in that case. By no means, though, should you skip the IB exams for the AP or you won’t get your diploma. Many schools are quite generous is giving credit for the whole diploma, and that could be quite valuable to you.
With that said, you’d be well advised to buy an AP prep book if you’re going to try to take the AP exam to be sure that you’ve covered everything. I know that SL Chem and AP Chem, for example, cover much of the same material but that each has content the other does not. There’s no point in taking the exam is you haven’t been exposed to most of what you’ll be tested on.
@Lindagaf It depends on the subject. The OP specifically asked about math and language (I don’t know if s/he meant Group 1 or Group 2 when referring to language). Certainly there is overlap in math which is why I suggested potentially taking the AP exam.