<p>My son attends The International Academy in suburban Detroit, which is a top ranked public school. It is an IB school, with all students required to apply for the DP and take a full IB DP class load. He is presently getting a 3.65 unweighted average.</p>
<p>Compared to my older son who attended a very well respected high school and graduated with an unweighted GPA of 3.9 carrying all AP classes (2 as a sophomore, 5 as a junior and 6 as a senior) his AP work load was no where near the work that my IB son is receiving.</p>
<p>Therein lies the dilemma. In order to receive a "you're admitted" letter from Vanderbilt (everything else being equal), is my 11th grade son better off sticking with the IB and obtain his diploma and a 3.65 unweighted GPA or would he be better off transferring back to his home school, taking 6 AP classes and ending up with a 4.0?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your guidance.</p>
<p>4.0 with AP classes, hands down. rank is too important, and a 3.65 won’t sit well with many schools.</p>
<p>my daughter was in a similar position and left the IB program, best decision she ever made. AP & IB classes are weighted equally and both qualify as “most rigorous” from a college perspective. additionally, my daughter didn’t feel the IB program was harder at all, just had way more requirements, many of which felt like busy work to her. 85% of her friends who graduated in the past two years (stellar kids, many accepted to top 10 schools) didn’t even receive passing grades on the EE, yet they all received the IB diploma. she felt that qualified it as pointless. </p>
<p>anyway, she is graduating with a 3.9UW and 8 AP/IB classes total, and has thus far only received acceptances… she’s still waiting to hear from Vandy, of course! plus, she’s a lot happier than her friends who are current IB students; they are taxed with work that doesn’t really count toward anything.</p>
<p>I applied last year as a full IB candidate with a 3.82 GPA and got into Vanderbilt. I don’t think there’s a clear line that dictates which is better than the other. I think IB does have a slight advantage, however, since most IB students take more AP and IB classes.</p>
<p>Word is that IB courses are hard, but the exams are easy; AP courses are easy, but exams are hard. This explains difference between lower IB GPA vs AP GPA. Unfortunately, colleges don’t weight IB coursework higher due to increased level of difficulty. Therefore, the advice was correct – always go for what will give you a better GPA.</p>