<p>I don't care about being prepared to succeed in college, I can worry about that when I get there. Do colleges like the Ivys, Stanford, Cal Tech, etc. weight IB any higher than AP, and would I succeed in this courseload?</p>
<p>Freshman year I have:</p>
<p>Bio H: 97
English H: 94
Algebra IIH: 94
French II: 99
World History H: 95</p>
<p>our school requires us to make decision about pre-ib as sophomores, any advice?</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>So here’s a straight answer…</p>
<p>My DD is graduating from the IB program this May, and has just finished applying to universities. Her SAT score was decent for our area, but not outstanding (<1900). However, she did very well (4.0 UW) in a rigorous, bilingual IB program at an international school overseas. She was accepted at some of her reach schools (she didn’t apply to Ivies, but was accepted at a few top LACs such as Oberlin and Scripps). She was also invited to Honors programs and given generous merit scholarships at some match schools. Of the schools she applied to, she did <em>not</em> get accepted at Stanford, Wellesley, or U-Michigan – we believe her SAT score may have been a factor there.</p>
<p>Of course, universities look at a range of things, including essays, ECs, and how you would make a positive contribution to their campus. To answer your question: We don’t feel that our DD would have been as successful as she’s been in the college application process if she <em>didn’t</em> go through the full IB diploma program. APs are not offered at her school, though, so I cannot comment on whether AP would have been an equally good choice in terms of results. However, I do know that some schools give specific merit scholarships and sophomore standing to IB diploma students (especially in Florida and Oregon).</p>
<p>If you’re planning to take the IB program in order to “guarantee” top acceptances, you’re bound to be disappointed. University acceptances are based on a great many factors. Also, you don’t care about being prepared for college, but you should consider this another major benefit of doing the full IB diploma program. It’s not hype or a lie. I’ve seen valedictorians flunk out of college their first year because they’re not prepared.</p>
<p>Well, unless you study a whole lot more, your grades most likely will not be the same as they are now. They will take a drop your junior year just because of the sudden newness and amount that you must do, then climb back up. And like the above poster said, you should put more emphasis on college preparedness into your decision. The vast majority of universities in America state they do not weigh AP over IB or vice versa, but continually I have heard from former students that they are doing very well in college and that it’s easy.</p>
<p>no.</p>
<p>Unless you want to go to school in Europe, AP > IB. The workload just isn’t worth it imo. However, IB does prepare you for college, and i’ve heard from many past graduates from my HS that their colleges (including some Ivies) are easier than the HS.</p>
<p>In one sentence: Yes the IB is worth it!</p>
<p>The reason why most (all?) IB graduates find college easy is not because they find the workload is less or their classes are easier, it is because they have a work ethic unmatched by your average AP student.</p>
<p>I would say Yes, it is worth it! We lived overseas during my DD’s junior/senior year and she got her IB degree. It prepared her for college level work, and based on her scores she will get 32 credits at SUNY Binghamton. She thinks she can graduate a year early.</p>
<p>[IB</a> Diploma Programme recognition - SUNY - Binghamton University](<a href=“http://www.ibo.org/country/university_info.cfm?university_name=SUNY%20-%20Binghamton%20University¤t_country=UNITED%20STATES]IB”>http://www.ibo.org/country/university_info.cfm?university_name=SUNY%20-%20Binghamton%20University¤t_country=UNITED%20STATES)</p>
<p>IB is 100% worth it .</p>
<p>I would only take advice from Full-IB students who have taken both IB and AP classes.</p>
<p>Thirdhand information is worthless.</p>
<p>It depends on where you want to go with IB.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t decide to admit someone because they are doing IB. There is nothing inherently superior in doing IB especially if the school one goes to is all IB school. So if 200 students in an IB school are graduating with an IB diploma, they don’t instantly become superior to some other high school’s grads.</p>
<p>What matters is how well you do in your school, if your IB training has provided you with better writing skills which in turn lead to better college essays etc. IB also has TOK which improves thinking skills and 200 hours of service in various areas which force the students to look into ECs. So all of these give you a more rounded application.</p>
<p>VS. AP, IB is weighted about the same for US universities.</p>
<p>Still worth taking though since it shows you’re a strong student.</p>
<p>For schools in the United States, the quality of IB can vary greatly. It can be excellent, and well worth pursuing, or it can be not so great. It’s important to investigate the specific program.</p>
<p>I think the IB curriculum is good, if delivered well. US colleges probably consider it as equivalent to a heavy AP load.</p>
<p>A very heavy AP load</p>
<p>I think IB is worth it. Not sure how it works, but I think that certain schools look at how rigorous the program is. I’m in it and I don’t regret it.</p>
<p>If your main focus is getting a good HS transcript for university, then I wouldn’t recommend doing the IB - ever. Take AP instead. I personally do the IB, but I know a lot of people who take the AP. </p>
<p>Simply put - there are a LOT more hours and a LOT more work involved for IB. The effort put into getting a 7 in IB is NOT equal to getting a 5 in AP. Yet, most universities generally don’t grasp the true difference in depth or difficulty and think that AP = IB.</p>
<p>So if I were you, I’d forgo IB in favour of more AP courses or something. Also, you’d get more time to do extracurriculars and write college essays if you take AP instead, which are also important factors in admissions - especially to the Ivies. </p>
<p>That being said - IB does prepare you a lot for college. Furthermore, if you love the subject, the syllabus can get really deep and interesting. So IB generally ends up being <em>mostly</em> worth it if you’re not in it for grades. </p>
<p>But if you’re sure that your primary focus is on HS transcript grades, then I wouldn’t recommend you taking the IB at all. You will be in a WORLD of pain and frustration for very few (if any at all) advantages in adcom’s eyes. </p>
<p>tl;dr - don’t do the IB for HS transcript grades, because it is not worth it!</p>
<p>Being an ex-IB student myself, I’ll give you what I got out of the program. I was a Full Diploma candidate my senior year, but dropped it because I didn’t feel it was worth it. I took Biology HL, English HL, European History HL, and Spanish SL (they only offered SL at my school).
I passed them all with 6, 4, 4, and 5 respectively. </p>
<p>I received a lot of college credit, and it extremely prepared me for going to a slightly-less-prestigious-than-Madison state school in Wisconsin (Milwaukee). BTW, I’d like to say UW-Milwaukee is a lot better than people say it is and extremely research-focused. (Sorry if no one on this thread cares haha). </p>
<p>However, I’m a Biology major and with my IB score tested out of the first sequence of biology classes for the major. I’m also pre-physical therapy. However, they had never had someone with a 6 on the test, so they awarded my 6 credits without the lab portion instead of the usual 8 with the lab. Since you need so many lab credits to graduate, this is going to make me take more classes than I really need. Plus, Doctorate of Physical Therapy schools generally want two semesters of general bio with lab, so I have to straighten out with future schools how my requirements will pan out.</p>
<p>So just a thought, depending on the school and whatnot, it may always work out exactly based on what credits you get. However, getting great scores in the other classes has allowed my junior standing at the end of my sophomore year, and getting out of a lot of general education social science and humanities credits I wasn’t too keen on taking anyways. </p>
<p>Just thought I’d give you my experience! Maybe take the classes but not the tests? Who knows.</p>
<p>As an IB student who has also taken many AP exams: yes. IB is definitely worth it. IB students are so much better prepared for college than their peers and colleges recognize the academic rigor (which often pays off for IB students in the form of scholarship money, I might add). My school is an IB school but also uses AP courses as electives and prep courses for IB subjects, and I can tell you I have learned much more in my IB classes and also enjoyed those classes much more; they are more about genuinely learning and exploring different topics, rather than simply teaching to the test as AP courses inevitably do to a degree. While I disagree with your philosophy that you just want to get to college and not worry about your preparation, the great thing about IB is you don’t have to choose: you are prepared and can get in, as IB students typically have higher acceptance rates to colleges (i.e., 82% for IB vs. 42% for total population at University of Florida, 18% at Yale vs. 7% for total population, etc.) I would definitely recommend IB.</p>
<p>Yeah. It’s relatively painless, and you’ll at least be doing tougher material and assignments compared to regular classes.</p>
<p>I have 2 sons in HS. 1 in IB and 1 in pre-IB. Both love it. They don’t love the long nights of studying but they do love the environment of being with other kids who enjoy learning and critical thinking. They love the teachers who know their material and can engage in higher level topics. Of course my guys want good grades and they work hard. They take AP tests and make 5s. But they continue with IB because they are with other students who enjoy learning.</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s alot of work and many from my school didn’t even get their diploma. But it’s challenging. It’s a rigorous course load and colleges see that you challenged yourself! I mean, you can do that with all APs too, but ib will make you a PRO at writing essays.</p>
<p>Don’t do IB. There is absolutely no flexibility in course selection. You don’t have near the same opportunities to experiment and take a unique set of courses that you can tailor to your own interests. IB does not allow for that</p>