<p>I'm a freshman, and I was considering staying in my current school throughout sophomore year, and go to this other school in the city. I previously went to the middle school that is in that school district, but I kind of hated everyone since it is technically a "rich kid school". It has a bad reputation in our city for being the school for obnoxious kids, and so on. I really want to go to it though due to the academics, and the medical classes that are available, but my current school has IB while the school that I want to go to has AP (even though I think the "obnoxious" school is more academically challenging). I also know that I probably wont make friends since I didn't really have any friends in middle school, and all of the people from my middle school go to this "obnoxious" school. There is also the fact that getting into the top 10% or even remotely being acknowledged by the school is slim to none since everyone is extremely smart, and my current school has people who couldn't care less about college or school.</p>
<p>Well if you’re happy in your current school, stay. IB is difficult, and is probably just as good as doing AP.
If you don’t absolutely need to, don’t go back to a school where you’ll be miserable.</p>
<p>If you stay where you are, do you have at least a few peers that like school and learning? Are there a few teachers who will appreciate your interest and work ethic and will be informal advisors and mentors for you? If so, then stay where you can excel, and just be sure to learn enough to do well on the standardized tests. And, when you’re choosing colleges in a few years, remember your middle school experience, and don’t just choose a brand name full of kids like your former classmates. You know what to look for.</p>
<p>IB is as good as AP in terms of recognition and rigor etc. My friends were actually talking about this earlier this week to a teacher or sub(I don’t remember) and although AP work is supposed to be harder, IB requires way more and you learn a lil more. Past graduates have said they were really prepared for college. Plus if you’re a dedicated student, teachers will recognize it and you will excel in school and get to know everyone in IB really well. Plus if you go to the other school, you will be miserable if what you say is true.</p>