IB is definitely worth it. I’ve taken AP classes as electives, and they’re a joke. AP classes are absolutely not as equally rigorous as IB, they’re only interested in getting you to pass a test whereas IB forces you to write and continuously work towards your final score throughout the class rather than just take an exam at the end. Also, IB isn’t a ridiculous amount of work. Yes, there are times when it gets busy but really it’s doable. The horror stories you hear about lack of sleep are from people who put off major things like IAs and EEs until the last night.
At my school IB was pretty much a requirement for getting into top colleges. As an overall learning experience, forigve my heavy bias, but I think that the overall aim of IB classes is much more worthy of a learning experience than AP. From what I’ve learned AP focuses more on learning a vast amount of content while IB focuses more on learning how to take information and interpret it, being an independent thinker.
I’m a senior candidate taking IB as well. I have taken both AP and IB. Overall, I agree with @LexRex. AP focuses more on passing the test while IB is more on learning and writing. For top colleges? IB will help for sure. Why? Because colleges know it’s hard. I would only take AP if I wanted credits. But top colleges don’t even award credits anyways, so I say take IB.
I wrote this in another thread, but for us IB was to high school what an honors program is to college and a gifted program is to elementary school. It gives academically motivated students that something extra that they need to keep from being bored. So, it was worth it for us. With taking a some AP classes in addition to IB and cross testing from IB to AP, my dc will still be able to get 8 AP tests in for colleges that don’t accept IB. My dc was challenged but did not struggle and never missed any sleep, ecs, or social time. I would only recommend it for top students.
Math/Science:
DC is a stem kid and did not get to take Cal 3/Diff Eq or Cal based Physics in high school due to IB. DC will take these first year in college with a broader/deeper background in Cal 2 and algebra-based physics than an AP kid would have which I think will make the college courses easier. For additional science, dc did AP bio and honors chem. So, for stem kids IB is not so much a problem as it is a trade off.
Admission:
Accepted to a top school and I’m sure IB easily got dc the highest possible rigor mark, but probably not higher than AP or DE would have.
In my experience… IB is going to be challenging everywhere, but go to a school that has a good IB program, because that’s what makes it worth the struggle. Go where they have good teachers and resources.