<p>I am only a 9th grader right now, but it's really hard for me to make decisions so I want to start thinking about it now. Well first, let me post my prospective classes, I.B. and AP. 11th Grade
I.B: AP Calc BC, SL Chem or Physics, HL english year 1, HL History of the Americas, AP Art History, SL Spanish year 1
AP: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP Lang/Comp, AP US History, AP Art History, Spanish 3</p>
<p>12th grade
I.B.:HL Math, HL Biology, HL English 2, HL History of the Americas, Some SL class, SL Spanish Year 2
AP: HL Math, AP Physics, HL English 2, AP Gov/Econ, Some AP elective, Early release????
So, I'm not that good at English, I gotten all A's in English so far, but in 11th and 12th grade the classes are going to be much harder, and I might get B's or even worse. I don't want to taint my grade. Looking at my prospective schedule, is it worth it to do I.B.? The big reason I would do I.B. is because colleges want you to take the hardest classes possible, but is it worth it?</p>
<p>In my opinion, it’s better to struggle but learn how to write well in high school then go to college with poor English skills. Also, colleges view AP the same difficulty level as IB, but IB has a lot more writing-hence why kids in IB graduate with better writing skills. Try taking honors English in 9th and 10th grade as preparation, good luck!</p>
<p>@FrenchieXX Yes, I am taking Pre-AP English this year and AP Literature and Composition in 10th grade. I agree that the IB program will help me a lot. The thing is, isn’t it a it more outside work? Such as, Theory of Knowledge, IAs, CAS, and such?</p>
<p>Don’t forget the extended essay haha. Honestly, it’s an individual thing. Some kids thrive under the pressure and workload (and there is quite a lot of it) while some kids just aren’t cut out for it. But, if you’re taking rigorous classes now, you should be prepared for IB, even with the added work.
Btw, your schools IB Biology HL is only in 12th grade? HLs are usually supposed to be over two years </p>
<p>@FrenchieXX Yeah, we do AP Calculus BC in 11th grade, which is kind of like our first year of HL Math. The thing is, I’m not quite sure if I will thrive under pressure or not. I complain about homework a lot already, mostly weekend homework. I also have a severely autistic brother whom I have help to take care of and that makes it harder for me to do homework. But I don’t want it to seem like I was lazy on my college application if I don’t do I.B. even though it was offered at my school. I am aiming for UCLA, haha.</p>
<p>My school does that too, but even we have 2 full years for I Bio HL. At my school, plenty of kids don’t do IB and do AP instead because it offers more leeway for course selection and they still get into really good schools. And then there’s kids that do the IB and they also get into really good schools. To colleges, completing the IB diploma or taking a ton of AP classes are virtually the same.
In my opinion, I think once you start hitting HL classes, IB is harder especially with the added stuff but U.S. colleges don’t seem to recognize this 8-| luckily for you, you still got a good year and a half before you commit yourself to anything.
IB requires you to be a strong writer because of how many essays you have to write. It also requires complete and utter dedication; meaning if you only want to take IB because it looks good to colleges, you’re probably better off taking AP.</p>
<p>Good point FrenchieXX. Thank you for your help. Luckily I still have all this time! Right now, AP sounds better to me. And the only reason I would do I.B. is to look better on college admissions, so that is a good point.</p>
<p>Are you doing Full IB Diploma or just IB subjects? The former requires good writing skills; the latter does not require it to such a large extent. The key to a strong English grade in IB is surprisingly, not a command of the languages, but a keen sense of awareness of linguistics, logical reasoning in language, and understanding how social contexts work together with language.</p>
<p>@Skyrior-Well, I know I’m going to be taking some I.B. classes such as H.L. Math and H.L. Biology, so I might as well just do the full diploma program, right?</p>