For reference, during my junior and senior years, I plan on taking IB English HL, IB French SL, IB History HL, IB Biology HL, IB Chemistry SL (or HL idk), IB Math AA HL, and TOK; however, I have noticed that several colleges do not give credit for SL courses, especially foreign languages (at my school, IB foreign languages are only offered as SLs). Should I consider being an IB Certificate student, while “patching up” the SLs with AP courses? For example, instead of taking IB French SL, should I take AP French Language and Culture? Also, should I drop TOK altogether? Moreover, I was wondering how many HL courses can you take as an IB Certificate student? Can they all be HLs? Can there be more than four HLs total?
You won’t have time to do much extra , if anything extra, if you do IBDP. So yeah, it’s too much. How many AP courses are needed with IBDP. Zero.
AP and IB are each their own thing, each demonstrating college readiness. You may pursue one or the other or a combination of both. I would focus on taking the five cores in as high a level as you can do well in during the school year. That’s key. Don’t bother self-studying for AP exams or cramming in AP classes in the summer. Colleges on the whole would rather you explore your interests in better ways. The schedule you’ve planned certainly is rigorous, but don’t sacrifice ECs or outside interests lest you come off as a grinder.
For reference, I am currently a rising sophomore and have not taken any AP courses yet. However, I plan on trying to take AP Psychology and AP Statistics throughout this summer. I also plan on taking AP Economics, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1, and AP Physics 2 throughout my sophomore year, while taking Pre-IB English 10, Pre-IB Chemistry, Pre-IB AP US Government, and Pre-IB French III. I also plan on trying to take Dual Enrollment Human Anatomy & Physiology and AP Physics C (Electricity & Magnetism & Mechanics, a two-parter course, through CTD Northwestern) throughout the summer following my sophomore year. Throughout my junior year, I plan on taking AP European History and AP Music Theory, while taking IB English HL, IB French SL, IB History HL, IB Biology HL, IB Chemistry SL (or HL idk), IB Math AA HL, and TOK. Does this seem like too much?